[Eug]

...yet.

He's in no pressing need for a new computer since he already has a Vista laptop, but he wants to get a Mac in the next little while for iLife.

So, I told him to wait:

1) Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard's release is coming.
2) iLife '07's release is coming.
3) New iMacs are coming, and will most likely sport the Santa Rosa chipset (800 MHz FSB, 4 GB support).

I predict that we'll see new iMacs with all of the above in 2007 H1. Of note, WWDC 2007 is June 11, but June 2007 seems like the worst case scenario. IOW, the absolute latest we'll see new iMacs, the new iLife, and Leopard is still in 2007 H1.

My friend should have no problem waiting a few months.

[ajprice]

Good advice, I'm waiting for the same things and I agree with you, WWDC will be the latest date they will bring out the new Macs, iLife and OS X 10.5.

[Eug]

The MacRumors buyers' guide says we're now one week shy of the average 168 day release cycle for the iMac.

The last iMac release was September 6, 2006, which incidentally is when I bought my 24" iMac with 7600 GT.

[ajprice]

Out of interest, how long has the current design G5/Intel iMac design been on sale (I'm counting the original G5 without iSight and the newer G5/Intel iSight iMac as the same design), compared to the G3 CRT design (slot load and tray load) and the G4 lampshade design?? Just wondering whether the new iMac will also bring a new design.

[bbales]

Apple's Hot Deals has a refurbished 24-inch imac for just $1,699. I came on this site, intending to post a question -- should I get it? This will replace a more than 6-year-old tower (have upgraded the processor, otherwise I'd have killed myself by now), so obviously I don't buy machines frequently! But since I DON'T replace frequently, I'd just as soon get the newest.

So now I'm thinking ... I'll wait. Who knows -- maybe Apple will actually release a lower-end tower.

[mduell]

Originally Posted by ajprice 

Out of interest, how long has the current design G5/Intel iMac design been on sale (I'm counting the original G5 without iSight and the newer G5/Intel iSight iMac as the same design), compared to the G3 CRT design (slot load and tray load) and the G4 lampshade design?? Just wondering whether the new iMac will also bring a new design.

The G3 design lasted 3.7 years, the G4 design lasted 2.6 years, and the G5/Intel design is currently 2.5 years old.

Aside from eliminating the chin and reducing the bezel, I doubt we'll see any significant changes in the next 5-10 years, just like the pro laptop design hasn't really changed since the TiBook.

[Subnova]

You won't hear anything about new Macs until June at WWDC. To me Leopard won't ship until then either, and Apple has to prep new machines that has Leopard built in.

Plus if that Buyers' Guide is true, then shouldn't Leopard come right out with the new Macs? But it wont because Leopard doesn't have a set date and from what I hear is still in alpha.

He's going to have to wait along time

[sieb]

Don't forget the "second rev. wait."

Better off just buying now and not worrying, otherwise you will be perpetually waiting.

[JKT]

Originally Posted by Subnova 

Plus if that Buyers' Guide is true...

True? It is just a guide to give you an idea of when an update might occur, on the basis of prior periods between updates, not when one will occur. If you look at the bar graph, you will see that some updates happened much earlier than 168 days, some much later.

[experimental]

The new imacs are great. No point to wait really since they can handle pretty much anything and, the options available now mean you can get a very nice configuration.
I get the feeling that it'll be a 4 month wait for the revision and you can probably save a few hundred pesos when the options become standard. Then I'll do some soul searching to see if a new 24 incher will fit on my desk.......... did I just say that?

[imitchellg5]

I would agree with experimental if you aren't going to need 4 gigs of RAM.

[centerchannel68]

Originally Posted by bbales 

Apple's Hot Deals has a refurbished 24-inch imac for just $1,699. I came on this site, intending to post a question -- should I get it? This will replace a more than 6-year-old tower (have upgraded the processor, otherwise I'd have killed myself by now), so obviously I don't buy machines frequently! But since I DON'T replace frequently, I'd just as soon get the newest.

So now I'm thinking ... I'll wait. Who knows -- maybe Apple will actually release a lower-end tower.

It's a nice machine, but I spent the extra $300 to get one with a 7600GT. I'm happy I did.

[buymeaniphone]

If your friend is really wanting a mac now he might as well buy a refurbished iMac and just purchase iLife and Leopard when they are released, Even if they do come out with new iMacs, they'll be pretty expensive compared to a 20" iMac.

[Simon]

IMHO it's quite obvious. If you don't need a new computer now you can always afford to wait. And since we know there's a new OS X, new iLife and new hardware (Santa Rosa) around the corner, it's a no-brainer.

[brokenjago]

Listen to the man. He's right.

[kcmac]

Zactly what I am doing.

[earthlings]

so we won't see any major changes til late summer?

[Pierre B.]

There is an interesting AI discussion about this in the form of riddles: here. For the impatient, it concludes that one of the most significant Apple products to be released "soon", will be a completely redesigned iMac. This was supposed to be for MWSF though... FWIW.

[Eug]

Now that my G5 iMac 2.0 at work has gone south, I'm seriously thinking of getting a new one to replace it once it gets fixed. Once it's fixed I think I'd get reasonable coin for it since it still has over a year of warranty left. (How much do you think a 2 GB 400 GB Radeon 9600 model is worth?) I get a discount on Macs, and a partial reimbursement when I buy a computer for work with my own money, so in the end it wouldn't cost me a huge amount to get in April, say a:

20" iMac
Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard
2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo
800 MHz bus
2 GB DDR2-800 SDRAM
250 GB hard drive
8X DL SuperDrive
ATI Radeon X1650 128 MB
Bluetooth 2.0
Gigabit Ethernet
iSight
802.11 a/g/n

I'd even consider downgrading to a 17" model since I don't need a huge screen size at work. However, the relatively small price difference (CAD$300/US$260) makes the 20" model worth it nonetheless.

I'm not overly concerned if it gets a form factor revamp, but if it does, even better.

They do provide me a computer at work, but it is a POS 1.6 GHz P4 Windows 2000 box. If I hadn't added a DVD burner and extra memory memory, I would have thrown it out the window by now.

[Eug]

BTW, the G5 iMacs released on May 3, 2005 waited specifically for the 10.4 Tiger release, and could only run Tiger. Panther 10.3 didn't work properly.

Of particular interest, the G5 Power Macs were released just a week prior, 2 days before the official public release of Tiger, and could run Panther 10.3.9 properly (even though those Power Macs shipped with Tiger).

I suspect that the new 2007 iMacs won't appear until after 10.5 Leopard does, and won't be able to properly run 10.4 Tiger.

[Eug]

Santa Rosa coming out in May

Intel is currently finalizing its new notebook platform, code-named "Santa Rosa." Sources told TG Daily that the platform is on track for a May release and it looks like that it will come with a quite capable graphics engine.

Intel will launch four FSB800 processors in May, including the T7100 (1.8 GHz), T7300 (2.0 GHz), T7500 (2.2 GHz) and T7600 (2.4 GHz).

[badsey]

Apple product announcements for March? - Business - Macworld UK

-some new units in a few more weeks.