At my age it’s getting a little too close to “not in my lifetime” for comfort. 
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Polishing Cloth retail price decreased today… 
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In classical economic theories RAM fabrication factories would be being built at the same rate as datacentres, though maybe with a few months delay while the market responded to the new demand. The price bubble for RAM should be temporary.
In reality, I suspect it’s a lot harder to build and run RAM factories than it is to rack up existing technologies into data centres, it demands higher investment to make any return and there’s no alternate use if the demand for RAM suddenly falls in the future (there might be a limited alternative use for data centre capacity).
The sooner the insane bubble around AI bursts (hopefully by slow leak so there is not massive carnage) the better, for lots of reasons.
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I expect demand for memory and Storage Class Memory (SCM) to increase for many years - and faster than manufacturing capacity will be built out; I’m not holding out any hope that memory or SCM will get cheaper.
AI is why we can’t have nice things. 
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I think that’s a first for Tim Cook. 
What do people think about the iMac? Apple did not announce an update with this recent press release. Do you expect an iMac update to be announced at the iPhone event in September?
My home iMac died after its Fusion Drive went kaput (lasted ~7 years; seems like it should’ve lasted longer). I think I’d like to replace it with a new iMac, which is a simple all-in-one computer for the home office.
Otherwise, I’d consider the new Mac Mini, but I’d have to buy a monitor, which would raise the price a lot.
I wouldn’t expect any Mac hardware at the September event. If they are unveiling the folding iPhone, that’s going to take up a big chunk of the presentation. Whatever new capabilities the next Apple Watch gets will also get time in the spotlight. There might be a new Apple TV as well, so that’ll get 37 seconds of screen time.
Not to mention covering all the new AI features that are being released in the 27 OS releases.
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I’d have expected an iMac announcement at the same time as the Mini and Studio as all desktops. I’m
Surprised it didn’t get an M6
However the iMac is a far more visually compelling computer and would play on a video far better than the Mini and Studio so maybe it does get a couple of minutes in October with new Laptops.
True, the laptops are still pending their incremental updates. So maybe the iMac will get mentioned when the laptops are mentioned.
I do think there is still value in the all-in-one iMac (vs componentized Mini or Studio).
Maybe for the consumer, but there are pros and cons to both sides.
It’s whether Apple feels that it’s a big enough benefit to maintain a separate set of SKUs in different colours when desktops are already supposedly less than 15% of Apple’s Mac sales and I’d guess that the Mac Mini + The Mac Studio must be massively outselling the iMac, especially as they canned the 27” iMac.
If I remember correctly the iMac got the M1 and then the M4, nothing in between.
With the M4 in the current iMac, the M6 chip just released, and more emphasis rumoured to be on the M7, it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s a 2027 or 2028 refresh for the iMac.
"After a two year hiatus, Apple is working on a new iMac with the M6 chipset and updated color options, per Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. It should release “before the end of the year.” "
https://9to5mac.com/2026/08/23/apple-refreshed-imac-m6-chip-new-colors/
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I’m getting close to pulling the trigger on an M6 Mini with 32GB RAM and a 2TB SSD. This will be updating a 2020 27" Intel iMac with 16GB RAM and a 1TB SSD. I will probably need to continue keeping a permanently-attached external SSD with our family photo libraries on it (mine, my wife, my son’s -which is negligible- and my college sophomore daughter’s, which is getting close to the size of my library that dates back 20 years). I could fit them onto the 2TB internal storage, but I don’t know for how long. But the processor and the RAM should let me keep the machine for a good long time.
I am vacillating on the monitor. I think I will try the 27" ASUS 5k ProArt. If it’s as good as the good Amazon reviews say, I will be delighted. If it’s as good as the negative Amazon reviews say, I’ll return it and probably end up spending $1,000 more on the Studio Display.
I’ve been wanting to replace this iMac for a few years, but the time was never quite right. With chip prices, it still isn’t right, but I think it will be the best for my needs that I will see in a while.
-Eric
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I got M1 iMac shortly flyer it was announced. I liked the cleaner setup with fewer wires and the 24” display is a better fit for me. I find a 27” to be too big. It still has more power than I need. No need for me to upgrade anytime soon.
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This is exactly the model and configurtion that I ordered to replace my aging last-Intel-model mini as my home server. (It backs everything up locally and to a cloud backup service, including anything that I do while not at home, as that gets synced to the server via iCloud Drive)
I truly wish that having home directories (with their asscoiated cloud drive storage) on an external drive would be an officially supported configuration though. I’d have purchased the base Studio for the same amount in that case, and augmented the included 512GB SSD with an external one.
I finally got around to ordering - M6 32GB 2TB. Delivery has slipped to mid-October for that configuration.
That will give me time to play with the Asus 5K ProArt connected to my M1 MBP.
I’m getting a whopping $160 trade in for my 2020 i5 27" iMac!
I’m looking forward to having a modern Mac for our home computer.
-Eric
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That’s the monitor that I have for 2 out of my 3 locations. I love it.
Glad to hear it! It’s saving me $1,000 that I don’t really have, compared to a Studio Display.
I have the glossy Studio Display too (bought it when it was the only real 5K monitor available). I find the (glossy, not matte) SD has a very slightly sharper image than the ProArt, but I would go with the ProArt every time now, and not just because of cost. The built in KVM switch is so, so, so handy when you have two computers that need to share a workspace.
The lower-priced one has a different texture
If it sounds too good to be true… 