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Stock shortages suggest possible new iMac and Airport Express on the way

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MacRumors is citing low stocks of Airport Express base stations as suggesting that a faster 802.11ac model is expected soon to match the capabilities of the latest Macs. This would offer wifi speeds almost three times faster than current 802.11n models, a capability that has already been incorporated into the current Airport Extreme and Time Capsule models.

We’re also hearing similar whispers about constrained supplies of iMacs, alongside price-cuts by resellers … 

We’ll pause here to issue our standard caution that stock levels are a notoriously poor indicator of product refreshes. Parts availability and yield rates can result in temporary shortages as we’ve already seen with the Thunderbolt Display several times throughout this year, each of them prompting rumors of a new model that has yet to appear.

That said, an 802.11ac Airport Express and a Haswell-powered iMac is  a no-brainer, the question being when rather than if. The new iMac is unlikely to see much of a design change, so neither would be big announcements, suggesting they could be passing mentions in the iPhone-focused event on 10th September. If not, then we’d expect to see them announced alongside the iPad 5, rumored to be around October, perhaps with that long-awaited Thunderbolt Display update.

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Comments

  1. Paul Threatt - 11 years ago

    Ooh a new iMac! I can’t wait for them to make it so thin that you can’t stick a USB plug in the back without it protruding through the front. Then maybe we’ll get another breakthrough data bus like the lightning port!

    • Mr. Grey (@mister_grey) - 11 years ago

      Fuck off troll.

      • Paul Threatt - 11 years ago

        Yea, that was pretty trollish. I’m just annoyed that Apple is taking things “thin” at the cost of everything else. Pretty soon, we’ll be using 27″ tablets and the keyboard, mouse and stand will be optional accessories. Ive will say it was the groundbreaking logical next step.

      • Brian (@BrainGameMayhem) - 11 years ago

        Pretty soon, Apple’s *desktop computers* will come without a stand, keyboard, and mouse. You heard it here first, folks.

    • NQZ (@surgesoda) - 11 years ago

      I kind of agree with what you’re saying. But the new iMacs are very cool…I like the design anyway. But yeah, thunderbolt sucks. Overpriced and useless compared to PCIe.

      • ikir - 11 years ago

        Thunderbolt is an amazing tech for Pro and advanced users. iMacnever had pcie, so thunderbolt are a impressive addition anyway. iMac are very cool and also powerfull, especially 27″ gfx card. Apple did a really good job on this last generation.

      • NQZ (@surgesoda) - 11 years ago

        Of course iMac never had PCIe — the HP all in one has PCIe though; which makes it a million times more useful and powerful than the iMacs. It may not “look as cool” but; power users usually go for function over form.

  2. Jerry Pon (@jerryponmac) - 11 years ago

    Finally! The AirPort I have been waiting for! Although I would love to have an ac Express. It’s just perfect for my apartment. All I need now is an ac MacBook!

  3. islandgirl45 - 11 years ago

    The Thunderbolt Display desperately needs an update to the same panel tech as the iMac and USB 3.0. Not sure why it’s taken so long.

  4. :/ bought my new iMac a couple of months ago… I first canceled my order to wait for the update, but i re-ordered the same day haha, I’m not very patient… So I really hope they don’t do anything drastic changes…

    • Stew McCall - 11 years ago

      Yep, did the same thing. Do I care that much, not really. What I have will happily do what I need to do for a few years and then when they no longer support this model I’ll buy the model that is currently available.

      I just couldn’t hang on any longer, I was using a PC that had been on its last legs since purchase and worse still I had paid for than the price of Mac for a PC that was lower specification because I hadn’t done my homework and had convinced that I couldn’t do the same on a Mac that I was doing on the PC.

      Learned my lesson though.

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Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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