iMac 2018
With the reports suggesting that a new MacBook Air and a 13-inch Retina MacBook are on the way in 2018, both cheaper than their predecessors, it wouldn’t surprise us to see an iMac 2018 follow on their heels.
The iMac is ready for an upgrade, too. After being refreshed with Intel 7th-generation Kaby Lake CPUs in mid 2017, Intel released 8th-generation Kaby Lake and Coffee Lake processors. Now the iMac is one (one and a half?) generation behind when it comes to processing power, not to mention its dated style.
It’s easy to speculate on what the iMac 2018 will look like. There’s plenty of evidence, for one, that three of the Macs that release this year will off-load some functionality to Cupertino-manufactured custom co-processors, rather than trusting every feature to a third party like Intel. This is likely an early step in Apple’s Kalamata initiative. This year will also mark the 20th anniversary of the iMac, so we expect Apple to celebrate this benchmark in a commercially available way.
As usual, Apple is keeping its cards pretty close to its chest, so we don’t have a huge amount of information to go on at the moment, but we’ve collected all the rumors we’ve heard so far to help us speculate on what an iMac 2018 may entail.
We’ll also set out what we want to see from the iMac 2018, based on our expert knowledge and current trends.
What is it? A new version of Apple’s all-in-one iMac
When is it out? Possibly June or August 2018
What will it cost? Likely starts at $1,099 (£1,049, AU$1,599)
iMac 2018 release date
We haven’t heard any concrete rumors about the release date of the iMac 2018, so until we do, we’re going to have to do a bit of guesswork.
The iMac 2017 update was revealed on June 5, 2017 at Apple’s WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference) keynote, so there's a chance that Apple may use WWDC 2018 to announce an update.
If Apple is planning to do something special to mark the 20th anniversary of the iMac, then a release date in August could be possible – as it will be exactly 20 years since the launch of the original.
iMac 2018 price
Again, there’s not much to go on right now concerning what the price of a 2018 iMac might be. Hopefully, the price won’t stray too much from last year’s models, unless there is going to be some seriously large upgrades when it comes to components.
The base price of last year’s iMac is $1,099 , so we’d like to see a similar price with the iMac 2018. Of course, the iMac comes in various configurations (and prices) to suit your needs.
With the high-end iMac Pro starting at $4,999), we can envision an iMac 2018 costing between $1,000 and $2,500).
iMac 2018: what we want to see
While we don’t know too much about what the iMac 2018 will be like, we’ve got plenty of ideas about what we’d like to see in a new version of the all-in-one. Read on for our suggestions that would make the iMac 2018 the best iMac ever.
Celebrate the 20th anniversary in style
For any gadget, 20 years in the business is a big deal, so we’d love to see Apple do something special to mark the anniversary for this year’s iMac.
Apple have released special versions of its hardware to mark milestones before, such as the Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh, which was released in 1997 to mark Apple’s 20th birthday.
With the iMac being so beloved, and its design so iconic, a special version of the iMac 2018 that paid tribute to its past could be a big hit with Apple fans and collectors.
A revamped design
While we love the look of the iMac, it’s sort of had the same design for the past 10 years, so 2018 could be a great year to tweak the look. That could mean a minor revision, such as slimming the body even further, or something more drastic.
Rumors of an iMac redesign have been swirling since a post on Reddit, apparently by a ‘Foxconn Insider’ who worked for the company that builds the devices for Apple, claimed there would be an update to the iMac and its peripherals.
Color-wise, the aluminum design of the iMac has been a staple since 2007, so we wouldn’t mind seeing another color option with the iMac 2018 – perhaps a Space Gray version, like the iMac Pro?
