New iMacs imminent, Fox sources say
updated 10:55 am EDT, Fri September 7, 2012
Use of Retina displays still matter of debate
Apple is on the verge of updating the iMac lineup, several sources tell Fox News. The news agency doesn't elaborate on the claims, but does note that Amazon is out of 27-inch iMacs, while Apple is low on stock of them; 21-inch iMacs are still said to be widely available. When Apple might announce the new computers is unknown, but Fox's Clayton Morris says that he isn't holding his breath for it to happen at a rumored October iPad mini event. Apple sometimes updates its desktop computers outside of press events.
In general the new iMacs are expected to get faster CPUs and GPUs, as well as USB 3.0 and better SSD options. Apple may also choose to remove optical drives in a bid to save costs while slimming the computers down even further.
Still up in the air is whether or not Apple plans to create a Retina iMac. In May ABC News reported that Retina support was coming; sources linked to Instapaper creator Marco Arment, however, have said that while an iMac update is coming this fall, there won't be any Retina options. At the moment the main issue is likely pricing. A 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro is already expensive, and so producing 21- or 27-inch Retina iMacs could price them out of the range of most people until manufacturing overhead drops.
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Joined: 09-17-99
Does anyone else have trouble with "sources tell Fox News?" If you have secret Apple intel, are you going to run to Fox News first? What's more likely is "Fox News read from Mac rumor sites."
But, yeah, it's time for a refresh. There won't be double-resolution screens though. Production yields are too low right now to be economically viable.