Will the Refreshed iMac Get Blu-Ray?

1:35 pm, September 16th, 2009, Leander Kahney

Apple's popular iMac is rumored to get a refresh soo. Many are hoping Blu-Ray will be added, but that' sunlikely. CC-licensed pic of an iMac by QuattroVageena: http://www.flickr.com/photos/quattrovageena/1709649008/

Apple's popular iMac is rumored to get a refresh soon. Many are hoping Blu-Ray will be added, but that's unlikely. CC-licensed pic of an iMac by QuattroVageena: http://www.flickr.com/photos/quattrovageena/1709649008/

The iMac will get a design refresh in coming weeks, according to a report from Wall Street analysts, and everyone’s hoping Apple will finally add Blu-Ray.

Wedge Partners predicts the introduction of an updated iMac with “thinner, organic design, likely with smoothed or rounded edges,” reports Tech Trader Daily. Sounds like the iPhone 3GS to me. The iMac is already styled after the iPhone, and the 3GS is more rounded and organic than previous models. (The MacBook will also get a refresh, Wedge says, but design and hardware changes are likely to be minimal)

There have been rumors of new iMacs for several weeks. AppleInsider reported that an iMac release was imminent, and that the machine would get two “compelling new features.” The iMac is overdue for a refresh, according to MacRumors Buying Guide, which says the current models are 197 days old and the average period between upgrades is 220 days.

Most intriguing is whether the refresh will bring new capabilities. High on everyone’s wishlist for compelling new features is Blu-Ray — see this thread on MacRumors with 850+ comments. What could be better than adding high-def movies to Apple’s premier home machine?

Unfortunately, it’s not going to happen any time soon. Here’s why.

While there’s a big surge in sales for standalone Blu-Ray players, Blu-Ray is a bust on computers, according to a new report by market research firm iSuppli released on Wednesday.

Blu-Ray equipped computers are not seeing an uptick in sales, and Blu-Ray will be found in only 16.3% of PCs by 2013, iSuppli predicts.

The main reason is cost. As we’ve reported before, Blu-Ray drives are expensive. This is one of the main reasons Steve Jobs says Blu-Ray players haven’t been added to Macs, along with complex licensing issues, which Jobs memorably called “a bag of hurt.”

While the bag of hurt licensing issues have recently been simplified, there’s still not enough content on Blu-Ray to encourage consumers to switch. Yes, there are new movies every week, but consumers aren’t going to switch until Blu-Ray is the preferred format not just for movies, but music, games and software also.

iSuppli notes that the switch from floppies to CDs, and CDs to DVDs, occurred only when the new format became the preferred media for all kinds of things. That hasn’t yet happened for Blu-Ray and won’t for several years, iSupply says.

Finally, Blu-Ray for movies makes sense on a big, powerful home theater system, but not so much on a PC with a 20- or 24-inch screen and relatively weak speakers.

So don’t cross your fingers for Blu-Ray on the iMac.

Posted by Leander Kahney in Apple, News, Rumors | Comment on this article

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About the author

Leander Kahney is the editor 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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10 comments

If you buy the “Blu-Ray for movies makes sense on a big, powerful home theater” argument, which I do, that leave Blu-Ray for a storage device. For obvious reasons (drive prices/cloud storage) Blu-Ray is taking on a Zip-Drive feel.

kbuck, on September 16th, 2009 at 2:01 pm

there is an argument for that storage idea, which is why I think that sooner, rather than later, we will get an OS update that allows for native support of an attached drive for data burning or even watching movies. rather than having to something like Toast. and perhaps we will see internal drives as an option to custom order. see how they sell and then consider making them part of the in store.

a lot of it depends on the forward movement of this flash memory gig. if SD continues to drop and stabilize and you can get a 50GB + flash card for equal or only slightly more, many folks would go that way. I certainly like the idea of a single flash card that holds a whole tv show season with extras rather than 2-3 BR disks or 5-6 DVDs. with the addition of the SD slot on the Mac laptops I can’t help wondering if Jobs is watching this movement with interest and might side with that camp over BR. Might we see an SD slot in the imacs soon (a part of me hopes not, but instead we get an open slot you can use for an SD reader or esata like I can do with my old MacBookPro)

Charli, on September 16th, 2009 at 2:14 pm

Agreed. There’s little to no benefit to watching a Bluray product on a small screen.

Being able to burn Blurays natively, though, is worth it to the high end user.

JAYnLA, on September 16th, 2009 at 2:25 pm

Rumor has it the new iMac will:
1. boast TWO BLU-RAY DRIVES !
2. boast a CAMCORDER with 20x optical lens
3. boast a 12MP CAMERA
4. boast 20GB RAM AND 10 TB HD
SO MUCH FOR THE STUPID, USELESS FANBOY, ALWAYS WRONG RUMORS!

Joey, on September 16th, 2009 at 2:31 pm

But my mac mini is not connected to a small screen. I like mine where it is on it’s 40″ plasma and 500 watt Sony 5.1 surround. I want to see BR on the mini first.
But as for preferred distribution for software, os x 10.6 was the first optical media for any of my mac software since I bought it in 2007. Eyetv came with a cd but I downloaded the latest version to actually install.
When I get a DVD the first thing I do is rip it to my media centre then file the disk.
I’m staying away from BR until I can do the same with it.

John, on September 16th, 2009 at 7:16 pm

@Joey: Grow up, man. Honestly.

Venture82, on September 16th, 2009 at 11:48 pm

Can anybody tell me what an “organic” design means? What makes a design more “organic” or less “organic” ?

“The iMac is already styled after the iPhone, and the 3GS is more rounded and organic than previous models.” Exactly what increased the iMac’s levels of organic-ness?

Does this expression really mean anything?

Alfred, on September 17th, 2009 at 1:31 pm

Bluray, Who cares?

Just get rid of the 21st century floppy disk and optimize the hardware design.

I can’t wait for Apple finally getting rid off of any trace of optical media in their computers. Offering them as an optional peripheral is the way to go.

javier, on September 17th, 2009 at 6:04 pm

I would LOVE to get a Mac… im not proud to use a PC… but if i could afford it i would get a Mac FOR SURE