Apple introduced the new 24” iMac this week and the bewildered complaints immediately started. Everyone is wondering why Apple kept the “chin”, or the lower bezel beneath the screen. They are questioning why Apple felt the need to make the computer thinner at the expense of a big chin.
But I think everyone is off base here. “Thinness” was not the objective. Although, it may have been a nice smoke screen for Apple’s true intentions. The real purpose of the chin is to make repairability easier and manufacturing less costly.
As a manufacturing analyst, I tend to see everything against a backdrop of gross margin opportunity or warranty expense. And when I saw the unveiling of the new 24” iMac my first thought was “Ah, they’ve fixed their big problem. Brilliant solution!”.
The old iMac had all of it’s components behind the screen. That’s kind of like putting the spark plugs for your car beneath the engine. Terrible design. Who wants to unmount the engine to do basic maintenance?
Any kind of problem on the old iMac necessitated removing the display. That is a time intensive and risky move. If that display is damaged during disassembly, Apple was on the hook to replace one of the most expensive parts of the computer.
But it looks like this new iMac may be repairable without having to remove the display. If that lower bezel is a removable panel, than Apple may have just drastically reduced their future repair and service costs. You could open up the iMac and replace a bad fan, processor, or circuit board easy breezy. All without accidentally cracking a display. Even if the lower panel isn’t removable. Apple may be able to remove the whole front fascia without removing the underlying LCD.
There may also be a manufacturing cost decrease too. The display would no longer have to be the final item assembled. This would have ramifications for setting up the manufacturing steps to increase efficiency.
Everyone was thinking that the iMac would look similar to the Pro XDR Display with it’s svelte no bezel design. But the XDR display is just a dumb display. Without all the components that an iMac would have, there is much less chance that Apple would ever have to open up the display for repair.
Like I always say. If you’re puzzled why Apple makes some of the decisions that they do. Follow the money. Start estimating the gross margin opportunity for their various choices. More often than not, you’re going to understand exactly why they did what they did.
As a manufacturing analyst, I tend to see everything against a backdrop of gross margin opportunity or warranty expense. And when I saw the unveiling of the new 24” iMac my first thought was “Ah, they’ve fixed their big problem. Brilliant solution!”.
The old iMac had all of it’s components behind the screen. That’s kind of like putting the spark plugs for your car beneath the engine. Terrible design. Who wants to unmount the engine to do basic maintenance?
Any kind of problem on the old iMac necessitated removing the display. That is a time intensive and risky move. If that display is damaged during disassembly, Apple was on the hook to replace one of the most expensive parts of the computer.
But it looks like this new iMac may be repairable without having to remove the display. If that lower bezel is a removable panel, than Apple may have just drastically reduced their future repair and service costs. You could open up the iMac and replace a bad fan, processor, or circuit board easy breezy. All without accidentally cracking a display. Even if the lower panel isn’t removable. Apple may be able to remove the whole front fascia without removing the underlying LCD.
There may also be a manufacturing cost decrease too. The display would no longer have to be the final item assembled. This would have ramifications for setting up the manufacturing steps to increase efficiency.
Everyone was thinking that the iMac would look similar to the Pro XDR Display with it’s svelte no bezel design. But the XDR display is just a dumb display. Without all the components that an iMac would have, there is much less chance that Apple would ever have to open up the display for repair.
Like I always say. If you’re puzzled why Apple makes some of the decisions that they do. Follow the money. Start estimating the gross margin opportunity for their various choices. More often than not, you’re going to understand exactly why they did what they did.
RSS Feed