This is not a rumor, it is pure speculation. It’s likely that Apple will do more than just freshen the current iMac at MacWorld, NY. The big question is whether or not it will sport an LCD screen. I’m betting that it will.
The cost of LCD screens has dropped as supply currently exceeds demand in a weak market, but the cost for 15″ LCD’s is still significantly higher than a 15″ CRT. Apple needs to hold the line on price for their volume consumer product. One possible trade off would be to use a 14″ LCD. Rumors of a new intermediate PowerBook with 14″ screen could be a smoke screen to disguise the fact that Apple will be procuring a ton of 14″ LCDs for an iMac replacement.
I think a 14″ LCD would still be superior to the 15″ CRT of current iMacs. If they replace the power hungry CRT, also look for a power supply in the form of an external brick. This is starting to smell like a Cube with a screen, but Apple must not repeat the pricing error they made with the cube. The new iMac must be engineered to provide tremendous bang for the buck.
They proved they can do this with the new iBook. At the iBook intro, Steve Jobs put heavy emphasis on the shift in sales to laptops. If Apple is selling nearly 50 percent laptops a few years from now, then it makes a lot of sense to turn the iMac into a near laptop. I am writing this on a 20th Anniversary Mac, by the way!
