I've been hearing rumors all week long that new iMacs will be revealed soon. The problem is, no one is sure what "soon" means. The latest rumors come from Clayton Morris at Fox News, who says he has heard from multiple sources that new iMacs are imminent.
Courtesy of Apple
Most of these rumors seem to revolve around two key components. First, iMacs are overdue for an update. The last major upgrade was in May 2011, nearly 500 days ago.
That means it's been almost 500 days since the current model of the iMac has had an update. It doesn't take insider knowledge or a crystal ball to figure out that an iMac update is overdue.
The second event that is driving the rumors is the availability of stock for the 27-inch model. I reported here that the iMacs were seeing stock shortages at major retailers.
And of course the third, did I say there were three components, well there are. The third is Apple's PR department that corrected a statement from Tim Cook about Mac Pro's not being updated till 2013, that the update timeline only applied to the Mac Pro, and that other Macs (iMac and Mac mini) would see quicker updates.
So if new iMacs are coming, when will they be announced? Well that's the $1,000 question isn't it? Some rumor sources are suggesting as soon as next week. Apple is having a press event on the 12th, but that is for the iPhone 5. I would not expect Apple to dilute press coverage by also releasing any Mac products at the same time.
My own personal guess is late September, or October, with October being more likely.
I guess the real question is, what caused such a long delay in refreshing the iMac? If we knew that, we could make a better guess at when the new offerings will appear.
When do you think new iMacs will show up? Let us know by leaving a comment below.