KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has released a brief research note today highlighting the status of the iMac, which he says will see shipments fall to roughly 650,000 units this quarter from 1.75 million units in the first calendar quarter. The drop is due in part to seasonality and in part to a natural decline from the pent-up launch demand during the first quarter. Most importantly for potential iMac customers, Kuo believes an iMac update that will bring Intel's new Haswell processors to the line is coming in June or July.
We attribute the shipments decline to the fact that new product shipments have peaked and due to the arrival of the consumer slow season. But we believe iMac shipments troughed in 2Q13. Apple is expected to upgrade iMac processor to Intel’s (US) latest Haswell processor in June or July. Meanwhile, the consumer peak season has arrived. Thus we expect shipments to reach 1.1mn units in 3Q13, up 69% QoQ. Full-year shipments are forecast to be 4.7mn units, up 31% YoY.
Kuo has been relatively accurate with his predictions over the past several years, and thus his information is closely watched. Today's prediction does, however, mark a shift from a roadmap published by Kuo in January in which he estimated that updated iMacs would arrive around the beginning of the fourth quarter.
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Despite the arrival of Kuo's note coming just before the keynote of Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, there has been no evidence that the company is planning to launch the updated iMacs at the event. Given that Apple just redesigned the iMac late last year, it will very likely maintain that same design for the next generation, making it a relatively standard update that Apple could simply launch without holding a keynote or dedicated media event to announce it.
Just last month, a Wi-Fi card essentially identical in shape and connectivity to the card currently used in the iMac surfaced, with the new card supporting the faster 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard. Apple has been rumored to be bringing the standard to its Mac lineup this year, perhaps as soon as today with any hardware announcements it may make.
Top Rated Comments
Who needs an optical drive? Well.... I do for sure. An all-in-one isn't complete without opitcal drive. As long as there isn't any alternative for files larger than 2 GB this machine is limp.
Try the internet? Or thumbdrive?IMO
I wish my mbp didnt have one.
- Apps are downloaded from the web and the App Store.
- I get my music from iTunes, Spotify or Beatport.
- Movies are streamed through Netflix and other VOD services.
- OSX is downloaded from the App Store.
I don't see anything that justifies an optical drive in a 2013 computer. Maybe it's just me being modern. But I really don't think many uses the optical drive anymore.
IMO
Did you ever uploaded a file bigger than 2GB? Takes ages... And I can't ask my clients to download these kind of files.
For professional usage an optical drive is very much appreciated. For old back-ups, input from outside the "apple cloud", fast and cheap sharing of data and no external hardware and/or cables needed.
I understand the choise to leave teh floppy drive because of the alternatives those days. Right now, nothing beats a DVD for me.
Then you have to buy an external drive. What you don't realize is you are in the minority.
Who needs an optical drive? Well.... I do for sure. An all-in-one isn't complete without opitcal drive. As long as there isn't any alternative for files larger than 2 GB this machine is limp.
IMO
Thumb Drive
HDD
External DVD
I wanted to rip a DVD the other day, all I did was share the DVD in a PC on the same network, 15 minutes later the 90 min movie was a 600Mb mp4 on my iMac.
If you really need a DVD all of the time just get an external one, you don't even have to buy it from Apple.
Smell the coffee Apple is NOT going to put DVD back in the 2013 iMac.
Playing old games that require a CD inserted to run. And there's no way to rip the contents of the CD into an ISO, because the game still would refuse to run. And even for the ripping process I need a secondary computer or external optical drive… And finally, just for playing old games, buying a detachable peripheral would be too much.I don't see anything that justifies an optical drive in a 2013 computer. Maybe it's just me being modern. But I really don't think many uses the optical drive anymore.