What do we know about iMac 2018?
Apple may have launched a new iMac Pro less than a year ago in June 2017, but most people don't actually need the capabilities that the device brings to the table and probably can't afford its huge price that starts at around $5,000. This is why the IT giant will very likely launch a new version of the regular iMac sometime this year. In case you're interested in the device, here's everything we know so far about the iMac 2018 both from official and unofficial sources.
The first two questions that people generally ask about an upcoming device are when is it launching and how much is it going to cost. While Apple didn't say anything about a possible release, I would assume that we're going to see the iMac 2018 for the first time in September or October. Firstly, the IT giant usually waits a bit more than a year to launch a new machine and secondly, the device may use Coffee Lake chips, which are said to be in short supply for the first part of this year. As far as the prices go, we can only guess at this point, but the most basic 21.5-inch version will probably cost approximately $1,500, while the top of the line 27-inch edition should be a little over $3,000.
If you want to find out what will be under the hood, the iMac 2018 will most likely feature either the very new Coffee Lake processors or Kaby Lake R (which are the eighth generation of Intel CPUs); bet is on the second option as Apple may not want to make this line too good and possibly dampen the market for the iMac Pro. The chips will range from i3 (8100 or 8350K) with 3 cores and 3 threads to i7 editions (8700 or 8700K) with 6 cores and 12 threads. As far RAM goes, it is said that the IT giant will lift the current upgrade limitations so that all the models from this line will be upgradable to 64 GB of memory or more. In the storage department, it is possible for the high-end models to be SSD only while the entry version will have both SSD as well as regular hard-disks. Lastly, the graphics will be centered around the AMD Vega line and we will probably see a gaming-focused model sporting a Vega RX GPU.
From what I heard, Apple is likely to keep the same screen sizes as the current ones for the iMac line and the chances of them being OLED displays is very slim, so we'll probably get more of the same. Furthermore, as far as capabilities go, I think that it's very unlikely for the iMac 2018 to integrate the Touch ID feature since the company chose not to embed it in the iMac Pro 2017 even though the technology was available. On the plus side, there are strong rumors that the upcoming device will come with FaceID capabilities as FaceTime will make use of this technology.
Before we end things, I should also mention that 2018 is 20th year of existence for the iMac line and Apple could choose to come up with a crazy redesign for the device to mark the event or at the very least, make the iMac 2018 also available in Space Grey, a color traditionally reserved for iMac Pro. Lastly, you may also want to keep in mind that if you don't need a big screen and all that, you have the option to wait for the MacBook Air 2018 to arrive and also enjoy the advantages of a mobile machine at a lower cost.
