Rumor: Next-Gen iMac to Get New Chips, SD-Card Slot, Touch-Enabled Mouse

Leander Kahney ()

An arty iMac shot, courstesy of  Lordgoroth on Flickr. CC-licnesed original at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lordgoroth/3753720029/

An arty iMac shot, courstesy of  Lordgoroth on Flickr. CC-licnesed original at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lordgoroth/3753720029/

Here’s a rumor we can get behind — the next-gen iMac will get quad-core processors and a SD-Card slot, according the French website Mac4Ever.

New iMacs are just around the corner, according to reports, and may be released in a matter of weeks. While some recent rumors suggest the machine may get a Blu-Ray drive, a SD Card reader seems much likelier, especially as card readers are now included in the 13” and 15” MacBook Pros.

The iMac is also rumored to get new processors, but reports are all over the place. Mac4Ever says the iMac will get quad-core chips, and possibly Xeon processors, while MacRumors says the iMac will stay with dual-core chips.

Mac4Ever also predicts a mouse with a surface that is 100% touch-enabled, allowing for advanced configuration options. There’s alos an aluminum remote in Apple’s pipeline, which sounds nice and classy.

Meanwhile, AppleInsider is saying the entry-level MacBook may also get a revamp shortly. The MacBook may split into a couple of sub-$1,000 models, AI says, thanks to the crummy economy, and may also be available in weeks.

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Via MacRumors.

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About the author

Leander Kahney

is the editor and publisher of Cult of Mac, and author of three books about technology culture: Inside Steve’s Brain, the New York Times bestseller about Steve Jobs; Cult of Mac; and Cult of iPod. Leander has written for Wired, MacWeek, Scientific American, and The Guardian in London. Follow Leander on Twitter @lkahney and Facebook.

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Posted in Apple, Hardware, Macintosh, News, Rumors |

  • OlsonBW

    BlueRay and card reader. I give both about a 2% chance and Hell doesn’t seem to be getting colder right now.

    Quad – I wish. I really, really wish. If that were to happen I would stop planning on buying a Mac mini (to go alone with my Nov ’06 24″ iMac) and buy another iMac.

    “mouse with a surface that is 100% touch-enabled” I wish but again, this is another 2% chance. I would definitely buy this if it came out. At least how my imagination would have it be.

    The new iMac may be smaller on the edges or maybe even rounded. I expect an upgraded CPU and hope, but am not counting on, the ability to put up to 8 gb of RAM in it (when prices come down). I’m also expecting it to be less toxic than the current model. There are things that can be approved that way. I’m hoping for the “chin” to be smaller or almost gone but I don’t know if that is possible either.

    As for the entry level laptop, it _really_ doesn’t fit with anything anymore and I expect to see that in aluminum too but definitely looking different in an entry level way. It will not look almost like the others but definitely different.

  • OlsonBW

    My other wish is that they would make the hard drive accessible so it can be replaced/upgraded a lot easier.

  • http://bderw.wordpress.com bderw

    I don’t but the more-than-one-plastic MacBook rumor. Apple has seen stronger sales than any other computer company through the recession. Plus, they just started selling aluminum MacBooks. It’d look bad to backpedal and put back up the wall between MacBooks and MacBook Pros.

    The s.d. card reader makes sense for iMacs. And if a Multitouch Mighty Mouse comes out, I’d buy it—I have a Core Duo MacBook Pro and cannot use three- and four-finger gestures on the trackpad.

  • firesign3000

    sd card i might believe. quad core? no. why? heat issues, especially if they make it thinner like some rumors say. mutitouch mouse? maybe. i suspect that the imac will be made via the same milling process as the macbook pros. blu-ray? no way. not anytime soon.

  • Erin’s Dad

    Wouldn’t QuadCore kill off some of the higher-end line? Also, all the Pros I work around sound like Cessna 174s readying for take-off, so I assume we’d get some fan noise to prevent our own personal desk top China-syndromes (?)

  • OlsonBW

    “quad core? no. why? heat issues”

    I disagree with that. If anything it would run cooler because each core would have to work less hard as it shares the load. Especially with Snow Leopard balancing the load much better than Leopard and and before.

  • Poppa

    I think Blueray would push the price up, I don’t think a card reader, maybe a full touch screen and USB3 sockets…what ever Apple decide I will usually want it..

  • Fin Devious

    I wish Apple would hurry up, the cash for a new Imac Is burning a hole in my pocket.

  • Mike Flieder

    I wish they’d hurry up too… I canceled an order I already had because they kept pushing back my delivery date (due to this new release??)… Now I wait for the new one…