Apple iMac Retina 2017: will it be every bit the iMac YOU are hoping for?
What happened at last year’s Apple event in November, left those who were expecting brand new iMac Retina desktops, a little surprised, yet not quite disappointed, considering that Apple released three brand new MacBook Pro laptops, radically redesigned, with a brand new touch strip feature, adding functionality to Mac user’s productivity pipelines.
Still, if you were among those who really, really wanted to see a new iMac announcement, rumor has it that it might not take long before Tim Cook walks the stage again with some very interesting unveilings, scheduled as early as the first quarter of 2017.
In case nobody noticed, there has been a few shifts in what users expect their new Macs to be able to accomplish, especially in regard to pushing past current constraints in terms of 3D/VR graphic capability, being that VR is quickly gaining ground as a mainstream technology, which has already generated $5.1 Billion in 2016 alone.
Not to mention the fact that Microsoft has already started pushing VR as a core component of Windows 10.
With no seeming hope for a Mac Pro reboot, Apple iMac is the desktop many hope will fill the void of high-performance power users and specialized enterprises looking for machines that can handle tasks typically requiring a customized Windows PC to perform.
Among some of the expectations shattered last year, concerning the unveiling of a new iMac, rumors of an Intel Kaby Lake powered iMac has been floating around, as well as other rumors in regard to GPU, and memory upgrades.
In light of the fact that Apple is rumored to be working on a version of the new MacBook Pro featuring 32GB RAM support, it’s not entirely out of the question that an iMac powered by a 7th generation Intel Core processor, with support for 64GB of RAM, is at the very least plausible, even if such offering is expected to come in limited supply, considering that the majority of users wouldn’t realistically know what to do with 64GB of RAM, except for bragging about owning a Mac with 64GB or RAM.
The price tag for such hefty specs, won’t be cheap by any stretch of the imagination, as a machine like this would definitely have the sole purpose of competing with Microsoft Surface Studio, the latest, most powerful Microsoft Surface device, to date, and aimed at creative professionals, first and foremost.
2017 will be an interesting year, as it se4ems that the creative field is booming, with hardware manufacturers battling it out with all kinds of offerings, from the practical to the downright extravagant, and unmistakably pricey, as it should be for machines providing such level of performance.
The question is on how soon Apple plans to unveil these new iMacs. According to PC Advisor, a MArch event is not entirely out of the question, while MacWorld’s prediction point to this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference.
Optimistically, a Q1 timeframe is something many are expecting, however it’s important to note how Apple’s schedule has been changing frequently from one year to the next, and with so many announcements over the course of 2016, all rumors should be taken with a cautionary stance.
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