Will a >30" redesigned iMac arrive in 2021?

It is kind of time for me to update my 2011 iMac, but I don't need a new one right now.

I use my iMac mainly for webdevelopment, but I occasionally like to play games (but mostly AAA-titles on Windows, not the casual stuff).

I thought hard about upgrading my iMac to the 2019 one, but it feels to me this was a minor update and also that a redesign is around the corner (expecting 2020, maybe earlier, it happened before).

When a redesign happens, I expect:

• Smaller bezels (as all new Apple's products have)
• Improved display (but not expecting XDR display level)
• SSD by default, starting with 256GB, no more fusion drive
• T2 chip, or possibly T3
• FaceID or TouchID
• 10th generation intel
• AMD Navi GPU
• 16GB RAM by default (possibly not upgradeable anymore)

Some people are predicting Apple to switch to ARM processors in 2020. If this would be the case, gaming on Windows would be impossible right as far as I know.

Update
A redesigned iMac is not coming in 2020, although a new iMac has been released in August, we're still waiting for a redesign. So I've updated the title to 2021.

Update 20-14-2021
So, the answer is YES, the redesigned iMac is here. https://www.apple.com/imac-24/ But only the small version, not the big one most people here are waiting for, so I'm changing the title again.

I could see Apple removing the chin and making the bezels thinner. Hoping for 2020 but I think it may be 2021 as they took their time and resources to redesign the Mac Pro.

I thought a re-designed iMac was right around the corner due to the cooling issues the 2017 iMacs seemed to had with the latest processors. However the 2019 spec bump looks to have tamed this issue, so I don't see a pressing need for them to make changes soon.

krazzix said:

It is kind of time for me to update my 2011 iMac, but I don't need a new one right now.

I use my iMac mainly for webdevelopment, but I occasionally like to play games (but mostly AAA-titles on Windows, not the casual stuff).

I thought hard about upgrading my iMac to the 2019 one, but it feels to me this was a minor update and also that a redesign is around the corner (expecting 2020, maybe earlier, it happened before).

When a redesign happens, I expect:

• Smaller bezels (as all new Apple's products have)
• Improved display (but not expecting XDR display level)
• SSD by default, starting with 256GB, no more fusion drive
• T2 chip, or possibly T3
• FaceID or TouchID
• 10th generation intel
• AMD Navi GPU
• 16GB RAM by default (possibly not upgradeable anymore)

Some people are predicting Apple to switch to ARM processors in 2020. If this would be the case, gaming on Windows would be impossible right as far as I know.

Click to expand...

Not really a minor update; the top-spec'd iMac now bumps—hard—against the bottom of the iMac Pro line. If you don't need T2 (or don't want it), or the ethernet, or dual Thunderbolt then it's a better value for sure. And as someone noted they seemed to have fixed the heat issues, which also means noise issues.

And because of the iMP I think the basic design is with us for a while yet. I can see more of the iMP features trickling down into the iMac line. Certainly T2, and probably an end to Fusion drives.

If they went away from the 5k display, and form factor, then I'd consider that a newly designed iMac. ARM would be more like a redesign, but I'd expect that might come elsewhere in the lineup. The iMac is still the best value in the Mac pantheon, IMHO, and a very tried and true design. None of the drama of the MBP issues, or miscues like in the Mac Pros, or benign neglect like has occurred with Minis.

My wish list would be swappable storage and memory, but I don't see being able to open it ever again.

But I confess I'm a bit paranoid about it. I prefer to buy Macs just before big changes occur. I lucked out with that with my MBP before the keyboard redesign, and I'm thinking I'd like to get on board with an old dependable iMac before they mess it up.

Yea, I definitely think a redesign is in store for 2020 and I’m personally hoping for similar XDR-like bezels.

Woodcrest64 said:

I could see Apple removing the chin and making the bezels thinner. Hoping for 2020 but I think it may be 2021 as they took their time and resources to redesign the Mac Pro.

I hope they don't take as much time as they did with the Mac Pro, and I don't think they will as the iMac is a more mainstream product.

for some reason, i think they're going to go away from skeumorphic hardware design of the current iMac, to a more hard edged one. Driven by hard lines, minimalism and less curves.

Kind of like iOS walked away from skeumorphism, they will do so also with hardware...if you can mentally visualise what i mean.

IMHO T2 (or newer) is a given, so is default SSD storage for medium/highline configs. The base model could well still be offered with a spinner storage, to keep price down.

I don't see nVidia coming back to Mac for a while, so it will be AMD all over again.

Improved facetime FHD capabilities, driven also by T2

The screen will make all the difference and this is where they'll invest most attention into. This is what still sets the iMac apart from all other AIO machines, even today, 5 years after launch. Tell me other technology that kept its nose so high above the competition for so long....

Oh, and "one more thing": all this served at a hefty price premium, which of course will make the current 2019 iMac batch very price attractive

Does the iMac Pro count? The first two Navi cards appear to be Vega 56/64 replacements, so If the iMac Pro counts then I'm expecting a Navi GPU Face-ID iMac (Pro) to arrive 4th quarter 2019.

For the normal iMac I'm thinking closer to 4th quarter 2020.

I voted 2021 but I'm hoping for maybe 2027, I want my new iMac to be the current model for as long as possible!

iMac Pro in 2020, iMac in 2027 like @Spudlicious pointed out.

Although I’d love to see smaller bezels and the elimination of the “chin” I’m not sure if we can realistically expect it in 2020 on the iMac. My reasoning deals with the heat/cooling issue. While the newer chips in the 2019 iMac has helped some with the heat, I think that reducing the bezels and eliminating the chin WITHOUT increasing the display size will cause new heat issues because of the reduced space. Two possible solutions are: (1) increase the screen size to larger than 27”; or (2) use the cooling system that is in the iMac Pro. I don’t see either of those things being done for the iMac because I doubt we’d see an iMac with a larger display than the iMacPro, and adding the iMac Pro’s cooling system to the iMac would make it too competitive with the iMac Pro. I’m not an expert on these things but this is just my opinion and reasoning.

krazzix said:

It is kind of time for me to update my 2011 iMac, but I don't need a new one right now.

I use my iMac mainly for webdevelopment, but I occasionally like to play games (but mostly AAA-titles on Windows, not the casual stuff).

I thought hard about upgrading my iMac to the 2019 one, but it feels to me this was a minor update and also that a redesign is around the corner (expecting 2020, maybe earlier, it happened before).

When a redesign happens, I expect:

• Smaller bezels (as all new Apple's products have)
• Improved display (but not expecting XDR display level)
• SSD by default, starting with 256GB, no more fusion drive
• T2 chip, or possibly T3
• FaceID or TouchID
• 10th generation intel
• AMD Navi GPU
• 16GB RAM by default (possibly not upgradeable anymore)

Some people are predicting Apple to switch to ARM processors in 2020. If this would be the case, gaming on Windows would be impossible right as far as I know.

Click to expand...

A 2011 to 2019 iMac is a massive upgrade. The design, display, internals, processor are all completely different. Going from 2560 resolution to 5K will be a world of difference. Your computer doesn’t even have USB3! Face ID will not come to the desktops before the notebooks. If you were upgrading from a 2017, this would be a much more difficult question. But a 2011 to a 2019 is a no brainer of an upgrade. If it’s not something you need now just wait for the redesign in a year or two.

I see an upgrade to the iMac Pro coming first, which is what I'm personally waiting for.

I would love a higher spec 27" iMac, but I really wanted the 10GBe as well as two TB3 bus lanes (4 ports) for my TB3 devices.
With the current iMac one TB3 port would be taken by my editing drive (SSD RAID array), and the other by a TB3 to 10GBe adapter, leaving none spare for my other TB3/USB-C devices - and as these devices are fast external SSD arrays I don't want to limit their speed by using any hubs or sharing data flow on the same channel etc.....

I predict the new iMac will come this fall and at least in the back it will look like Apple’s new 6K monitor. All that ventilation in the rear would address thermal constraints with today’s highest spec iMacs.

Slimmer bezels would be nice.

I returned my base 27 in iMac shortly before the launch and got a Dell all in one.

The IPS touch screen which extends almost to the edge seems more immersive to look at than the 27 in iMac, albeit it isn't 5k nor Retina. It still has a chin albeit slimmer - I guess there is always a give in all in ones. The iMac screen was nice in its own way just the thick bezels are looking really dated in comparison.

I am not technically well versed but if other manufacturers have been doing close to edge screens for so long now, I do not see why Apple cannot.

mikey8811 said:

Slimmer bezels would be nice.

I returned my base 27 in iMac shortly before the launch and got a Dell all in one.

The IPS touch screen which extends almost to the edge seems more immersive to look at than the 27 in iMac, albeit it isn't 5k nor Retina. It still has a chin albeit slimmer - I guess there is always a give in all in ones. The iMac screen was nice in its own way just the thick bezels are looking really dated in comparison.

I am not technically well versed but if other manufacturers have been doing close to edge screens for so long now, I do not see why Apple cannot.

Click to expand...

Need for the FaceTime camera will mean having a certain bezel. Dell’s pop up solution isn’t one that could see apple going for.

Don’ think a notch like on iPhone would work on a desktop screen either.

Chin could be made smaller but does provide additional volume.

mikey8811 said:

Slimmer bezels would be nice.

I returned my base 27 in iMac shortly before the launch and got a Dell all in one.

The IPS touch screen which extends almost to the edge seems more immersive to look at than the 27 in iMac, albeit it isn't 5k nor Retina. It still has a chin albeit slimmer - I guess there is always a give in all in ones. The iMac screen was nice in its own way just the thick bezels are looking really dated in comparison.

I am not technically well versed but if other manufacturers have been doing close to edge screens for so long now, I do not see why Apple cannot.

Click to expand...

You like what you like and that's fair, but I for one loathe the notion of touchscreen on a desktop. It has to mean fingermarks whereas I want to be looking through spotless glass, and it seems unergonomic and clumsy to be reaching up from keyboard/mouse to perform operations.

I just want a space gray iMac. I have no actual need for something like the iMP.

mcnallym said:

Need for the FaceTime camera will mean having a certain bezel. Dell’s pop up solution isn’t one that could see apple going for.

Don’ think a notch like on iPhone would work on a desktop screen either.

Chin could be made smaller but does provide additional volume.

A bezel similar to the size of an MBP should work. Way slimmer than the current iMac and can still fit the camera and all in. I held off buying a 2019 iMac in hopes of a redesign in 2020.

mcnallym said:

Need for the FaceTime camera will mean having a certain bezel. Dell’s pop up solution isn’t one that could see apple going for.

Don’ think a notch like on iPhone would work on a desktop screen either.

Chin could be made smaller but does provide additional volume.

I wonder, do we know if the XDR display includes a FaceTime camera?

After frustration with 2016+ MBPs, I chose a 5K 27” iMac, late 2017, and find it to be a terrific machine for my uses (lots of photo manipulation, videos, and the usual email/Numbers/Pages/Keynote stuff). I don’t see an upgrade need today or in the near future, but probably in the 4-5-years-out time frame. So a 2021 or 2022 looks like my next upgrade. If the nasty MBP keyboard is greatly improved and the TouchBar goes away, I might reconsider the MBP. Assuming that’s not in the cards, the 2021/22 iMac could be an awesome replacement for mine. Keyboard isn’t an issue for the iMac for me. THe Apple keyboard is still very lacking for my use so I just use a 3rd-party that I like. Can use a 3rd-party keyboard on a MBP but seems silly to have to do so.

So for travel, I use my iPadPro 12.9” with Logitech Case/Keyboard. Even that keyboard is so much better for me than the MBP embedded one or the separate one that came with the iMac. I just don’t see how Apple relegates keyboard usability to a priority lower than everything else, especially fashion and thinness. Not buying a dress for a supermodel here.

Icaras said:

I wonder, do we know if the XDR display includes a FaceTime camera?

$2999 FaceTime Pro XDR Camera addon of course!

Obviously no one outside of the relevant Apple people know.

That said, I'd expect any iMac redesign to come in 2020 or later, as Apple just updated the iMac, announced the new MP/display, refreshed the MBP line, etc. There are also persistent rumors of a 16" MBP, which would (necessarily) represent a brand new design.

Based on that, I think the design team will start working on a new iMac now/shortly, resulting in the introduction of a new case next year.

Zen_Arcade said:

Obviously no one outside of the relevant Apple people know.

That said, I'd expect any iMac redesign to come in 2020 or later, as Apple just updated the iMac, announced the new MP/display, refreshed the MBP line, etc. There are also persistent rumors of a 16" MBP, which would (necessarily) represent a brand new design.

Based on that, I think the design team will start working on a new iMac now/shortly, resulting in the introduction of a new case next year.

Click to expand...

Apple has historically had two releases of the same products in the same year. For example, there was an early and a late 2013 iMac. Nothing new.

Coconutcreampie said:

Apple has historically had two releases of the same products in the same year. For example, there was an early and a late 2013 iMac. Nothing new.

Yeah, yeah, yeah . . . we know.

It IS unusual and far from Apple's regular practice. And even in the example you give the design remained the same; only the internals changed.