[Krusty]

... could be made in a 23" format one day? I know I was completely shocked when they stuck the 20" LCD on the iMac G4. I just don't see any reason why this design couldn't accommodate a 23 one day.

Maybe they could even do something cool like put a PCI slot or extra drive bay too. Can't wait to see what they end up doing with this design. Each increase in screen size is a theoretical increase in internal capacity as well.

[mac freak]

Yes, yes, 'twould be cool. I can see it happening, too.

[webb3201]

I think that was one of the ideas behind the design. The last imac was limited to 20" monitors because of the arm design. This model will most likely be released in flavors matching the Apple LCD offerings.

[Lancer409]

Originally posted by Krusty:
... could be made in a 23" format one day? I know I was completely shocked when they stuck the 20" LCD on the iMac G4. I just don't see any reason why this design couldn't accommodate a 23 one day.

Maybe they could even do something cool like put a PCI slot or extra drive bay too. Can't wait to see what they end up doing with this design. Each increase in screen size is a theoretical increase in internal capacity as well.

i dont doubt it. as someone else just said, the hinge was the limitation .. if that's the case, the new one is built on cinema display shells .. or so it seems .. i dont doubt that they could fit it into a 23 display. i wonder if they would lose the big bottom bump/chin in a 23inch display since iit would have more room...

[Parky]

To lose the 'chin' they would need more depth.

The components at the bottom of the case - Speakers, Power Supply are too thick to be put behind the screen in the present design.

I suspect they have tried to slim these down, but there are limits to what you can do with a transformer in a power supply, especially when they need to be 'worldwide' compatible.

The speakers would also start to be compromised if you have less than 2" to work with. I know we have smaller speakers in PowerBooks / iBooks but they are no where near the quality or volume we would expect in an iMac.

My guess is that we will not see the chin removed from any new versions, unless they sacrifice the thickness, which would be a backwards move.

Ian

[Sod Off Sadr]

I love how we've quickly named this part the 'chin.'

[tooki]

Originally posted by Parky:
The components at the bottom of the case - Speakers, Power Supply are too thick to be put behind the screen in the present design.

I suspect they have tried to slim these down, but there are limits to what you can do with a transformer in a power supply, especially when they need to be 'worldwide' compatible.

The speakers would also start to be compromised if you have less than 2" to work with. I know we have smaller speakers in PowerBooks / iBooks but they are no where near the quality or volume we would expect in an iMac.

With all due respect, your comments aren't based in technical reality.

Building a power supply in a shape to fit behind an LCD would be trivial. Have you ever looked inside a switching power supply (the only type used in modern computing)? The only transformers in them are tiny, and all of the components can be laid out as needed. (Large linear power supplies, the kind that use huge power transformers, are expensive, heavy, and inefficient, so they're not much used in computing.) The power supply inside the Power Mac G5 is only about 1.5" thick, and that's a very powerful power supply (over 3x as powerful as the one in the iMac) and was made with plenty of airspace to allow for easy cooling. World compatibility does not significantly increase cost or complexity, especially with switching power supplies, which basically work by decomposing the input current and reassembling it as needed (as opposed to linear power supplies, which just use a big transformer to step-up or -down the voltage).

As for speakers... take a look at electrostatic speakers. A thin Mylar (or similar) membrane is induced to move via electrical current. Of course, small speakers simply cannot produce much bass. Of course, electrostatic speakers are substantially more expensive than comparable moving-coil speakers, so they are unlikely to make it into an iMac anytime soon.

tooki

[Parky]

Originally posted by tooki:
With all due respect, your comments aren't based in technical reality.

Building a power supply in a shape to fit behind an LCD would be trivial. Have you ever looked inside a switching power supply (the only type used in modern computing)? The only transformers in them are tiny, and all of the components can be laid out as needed. (Large linear power supplies, the kind that use huge power transformers, are expensive, heavy, and inefficient, so they're not much used in computing.) The power supply inside the Power Mac G5 is only about 1.5" thick, and that's a very powerful power supply (over 3x as powerful as the one in the iMac) and was made with plenty of airspace to allow for easy cooling. World compatibility does not significantly increase cost or complexity, especially with switching power supplies, which basically work by decomposing the input current and reassembling it as needed (as opposed to linear power supplies, which just use a big transformer to step-up or -down the voltage).

As for speakers... take a look at electrostatic speakers. A thin Mylar (or similar) membrane is induced to move via electrical current. Of course, small speakers simply cannot produce much bass. Of course, electrostatic speakers are substantially more expensive than comparable moving-coil speakers, so they are unlikely to make it into an iMac anytime soon.

tooki

So why don't they use all the things you stated? It could have been even thinner.

[iBorg]

Originally posted by Parky:
So why don't they use all the things you stated? It could have been even thinner.

Cost.



iBorg