New iMac With Sandy Bridge on Board Coming in the Following Weeks? [Rumors Say Apple Is Getting Ready for an iMac Refresh, Sandy Bridge & Thunderbolt in Tow]

Posted on TFTS by Chris Smith on Wednesday, 23. March 2011 under: Computers & Computing

We’ve seen the new MacBook Pros get refreshed early this year and it now looks like the iMacs are next in line. The word on the street is that Apple will announce the next-gen iMacs in the following weeks (four to six weeks to be more precise) and we expect the new computers to come with Sandy Bridge and Thunderbolt support on board.

The new iMacs are supposed to hit stores by the end of April or in the first week of May so there’s some waiting to be done before we see Apple officially announce them. Besides the otherwise expected new Sandy Bridge Intel processors and that new I/O adoption Apple calls Thunderbolt we don’t have any other specs and features for you. Although, at this point, it’s not like we expect the iMacs to bring us magical new features, do we?

The desktop is slowly dying and while the iMacs are dependable all-in-ones, the obvious worldwide trend is to go mobile, when it comes to computers too, and, of course, if possible. Sure, some people love working on a desktop (remember this guy’s iMac at MWC 2011?) but I can’t see myself going back to the desk. Those of you that have read me for a while know that I’m the more Apple-friendly guy around our virtual office, but I’d think a bunch of times before actually going to buy a new iMac. Or any other desktop, all-in-one or not, that would chain me to an office.

Speaking about prices, we don’t have any details for you in that department, at least not concerning these new iMacs. Current models are priced starting from $1,199 to $1,999 but those numbers can go up depending on what other upgrades you decide to make. But if you were considering buying a new Apple desktop right now, maybe it would be wiser to wait a few more weeks to see what the new iMacs will have to offer. Even if you don’t end up buying an early 2011 iMac, at least you’ll get yourself a cheaper, “old” 2010 iMac model as current prices will certainly go down as soon as Apple introduces the new versions.