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2022 Mini-LED iMac Pro Could Launch in June
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My guess it to keep costs below the $4999 of the Intel iMac Pro.
The 32" 6K panel (w/o backlighting) cannot be cheap - I would be surprised if it was "only" $1000 more than the current 27" 5K panel. Using such a panel could price the machine out of reach of most current 27" Intel iMac users who would not be pleased being forced to a 24" iMac - especially one that only offers an M1 SoC that might not be appropriate for their workflows.
We have only ourselves to blame as we did not all rush out and buy millions of Pro Display XDRs.
And yes, I am fully aware we didn't do it because it is a fracking expensive display. But since we have shown Apple we have limits to how much we will pay, Apple is not going to put in an expensive 6K 32" panel that will add $1000 (or more) to the base price compared to continue to using the far less-expensive existing 5K panel and (relatively) holding the line on base price increases.
I completely agree and I’ve done exactly this. I purchased an AMD Rizen 7 370H Powered mini PC 16/512 that was half the size and half the price of my Mac Mini M1 16/512. It came with Windows 11 Pro which is perfect for my use case of running Microsoft Power BI Desktop and I can also run this in a window on my Mac with an RDP connection to remotely operate the mini PC via the Microsoft Remote Desktop app.
If true, I would be disappointed at around 1,000 dimming zones. Yes, the 32” pro display has 576, but my iPad Pro 12.9” has almost 2,600, as does my 16” Macbook Pro. It would be a step back from them, particularly in a larger screen, where each zone would be bigger even if there were the same number.
I suppose it would be too expensive, or too difficult, though the latter doesn’t seem right to me.
I suppose it would be too expensive, or too difficult, though the latter doesn’t seem right to me.
From my point of view, I don’t see an increasing need for greater display connecting with the passage of time. I replaced my late 2009 27” iMac with a Mini M1 for which I chose a 27” display, because that remains the ideal screen size for me.
The only way the M series CPUs will get long in the tooth is if Apple decides to intentionally gimp them through software or (more likely) cut off support and security updates.
So you’re telling me there’s not a metric ton of non-gaming-oriented Windows laptops and even desktops with 1080p 60Hz displays out there in the wild?
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
How do A-Series get "long in tooth" after only about 2 or 3 years?
I get what you are saying, but let's face it: M is A repurposed. Apple has a long history of motivating A-Series device upgrades as soon as only 2-3 years (some every year of course). How? "My <iDevice> seems to be slowing down"... "getting a bit long in tooth"... etc. I have zero expectations that M-series devices from the very same people is not going to mysteriously follow the same pattern.
In other words, "faster than light", "far beyond anything else", etc. will quickly shift into "seems to be slowing" by- my guess- M3 at most. But we'll see. Maybe Apple is going to optimize macOS differently, so that not-very-old hardware still roars even a few years after purchase.
Seems obvious that one is a Macbook of some sort, one is an iMac, probably higher end. The third is an updated Mini.
The way iOS and Mac OS work is very different and this plays into how they perform over time.
Iphones have very limited RAM and rather slow storage as the devices are primarily single-tasking and do not swap RAM to storage. As a result, when the OS and apps get larger, it puts more performance pressure on older chips. There is no deliberate effort to slow down older phones.
Macs have more resources and are designed to perform well even when needing to swap to storage. One of the things that justifies the higher price of a Mac is that it can and does perform well for many years.
If anything, the performance jump from the Intel to the AS chips should let these early chips stay performant for even longer than their predecessors would have.
The people who talk about certain Macs or phones being long in the tooth are usually those who upgrade frequently and don’t have any patience for anything less than the top performing hardware of the day. That doesn’t mean that those machines are not still doing exactly what their owners need them to do.
The mere fact that Apple has never provided a 32" display except with the Pro Display XDR. The assumption is that current 27" would some how see a redesign featuring a 30" or even 32" display incorporated. I often thought the 27" form factor that fits on most desks a lot easier had so much wasted space around its display design that it grow to a 29.5" display and Apple would call it the 30". Kinda like how the 24" is actually 23.5".
So we can remember the black area around the 27" iMac.
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HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
I'll hope it goes as you describe here. I guess I'm more cynical. I suspect a dark part of Apple Silicon is to speed up that need to "upgrade" because "my computer is getting too slow..." especially right after OS updates. But I'll hope you are right and that my next Mac will perform very well for many years before it is time to be replaced.
Fortunately, you are not the only customer Apple has.
I also wonder how many people calling for a 40-inch iMac would actually buy one, at the price Apple would have to charge.
...Apple added "Liquid Retina XDR" Mini-LED to the 16" MBP. The price went up by 4%
...Apple added "Liquid Retina XDR" Mini-LED to the 14" MBP - the price went up by 11% (including a massive relative processor bump).
There's no particular reason to expect the iMac to double, or more, in price just because it gets Mini LED "Liquid Retina XDR" - which doesn't have to be 32" and doesn't have to be 6k and doesn't have to have the same specs as the current XDR Pro display (which is now a couple of years old and a serious price drop after a new tech has been around for a couple of years would be par for the course).
As for the "Pro" name: its never meant anything consistent before, but Apple have now named a processor "M1 Pro", so if (as this rumour says) the iMac is going to use that, anything other than "M1 Pro" processor or better => "Mac(Something) Pro" would be nonsensical (Of course, it's marketing, so nonsensical is always a possibility).
We'll see - Apple could get greedy or over-design the iMac (they doubled the price of the Mac Pro in 2019) and I really hope that it won't turn out to be cheaper to hire Beyonce to personally hold your iMac than to buy a stand...
However, an M1 Pro or M1 Max probably doesn't have enough grunt to replace the higher specced versions of the old iMac Pro, so that would be looking at the rumoured 2x or 4x processors, and since Apple have painted themselves into a corner and "pulled an OS X Lion" with the "M1 Pro" they're gonna need a new name for that.
I have a 2018 old iPad Pro which still runs fine. Same with my 2017 iMac 5K and MacBook Pro 15.4. I used an iPhone 6 Plus for three years and it was fast enough when I swapped it out for an 8 Plus. Heck, my father's iPhone 6 and iPad Mini 2(!) are still snappy enough.
And Apple still releases new version of iOS, iPad OS and macOS for all of them. If they really wanted to force people to upgrade, pull "an Android" and only support the OS version it launched with and offer no updates.
If anything is slowing down these devices, it is software bloat with each app update cycle - not Apple subtly inserting additional wait states with every OS patch.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
I stretch the life of my Apple stuff too- still leaning on a 2012 MBpro for example.
But I was talking generally... as in generally this crowd is "long in tooth"ing Apple stuff within a few years of buying it. And I do "first hand" notice mysterious slow downs of what seemed perfectly-fine hardware right around OS updates. And then of course, Apple is relatively quick in deprecating OS support so, for example, if a client has a newer Mac and does something with a Pages/Numbers/Keynote file, I have to have as up-to-date Mac to collaborate with them. So while Apple doesn't do the Android trick you mentioned, they do make much of the support software ONLY work with the current or nearly current OS, somewhat forcing upgrades if anyone needs to work with the same files. Let some perfectly-capable Mac hardware get a little bit too old for macOS upgrades and it loses the ability to work with much of the suite of Apple software pretty quickly.
I know I'm not the only one that notices OS upgrade slowdowns. It's hard not to imagine some conspiracy theory given the drive to sell more hardware as soon as possible.
But I was talking generally... as in generally this crowd is "long in tooth"ing Apple stuff within a few years of buying it. And I do "first hand" notice mysterious slow downs of what seemed perfectly-fine hardware right around OS updates. And then of course, Apple is relatively quick in deprecating OS support so, for example, if a client has a newer Mac and does something with a Pages/Numbers/Keynote file, I have to have as up-to-date Mac to collaborate with them. So while Apple doesn't do the Android trick you mentioned, they do make much of the support software ONLY work with the current or nearly current OS, somewhat forcing upgrades if anyone needs to work with the same files. Let some perfectly-capable Mac hardware get a little bit too old for macOS upgrades and it loses the ability to work with much of the suite of Apple software pretty quickly.
I know I'm not the only one that notices OS upgrade slowdowns. It's hard not to imagine some conspiracy theory given the drive to sell more hardware as soon as possible.
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Sh*t. I really don’t want to purchase a pro model. I really hope apple will release a 27/30-inch iMac to replace the original 27-inch.
I think you just believe that the coming iMac Pro will be as expensive as the Mac Pro are now.
As far as I am concern, there will be many choices of what chips you put into the coming iMac Pro.
Depending on that the beginning price tag to the higher end chips will vary quite a lot.
Think it will be both a comsumer and a pro iMac depending what preferences you make.
What resolution does your 33" display have? If you say anything lower than 6K it won't be a downgrade.
My employer gave me a 27" 4K display last year. When I first plugged it in I thought it was broken. But no, it's just 4K @ 27". 4K is fine for up to ~21". Everything bigger need more pixels. There are not many displays with a decent ppi count that are larger than 27". And those existing are freaking expensive.
I can't see why an 27" iMac with the same panel but Mini LED backlighting has to be thousands of Dollars more expensive?
There will only be only real iMac Pro and that's the iMac Pro. There will be no iMac in 27". Also it would be very confusing to release an 27" iMac now when everyone is expecting the top of the line iMac just to release another iMac several months later which is even more Pro. That would create a huge outrage for Apple.
I think it makes perfect sense to announce the iMac Pro at the same date as the new Mac Pro. So Apple can announce the 2 x M1 Max SoC/Package at one event and just put the binned version of that in the maxed out version of the iMac Pro and use the full fledged chip for the Mac Pro.
There will only be one iMac Pro and it will start at around $2500.
They just have to get their hardware out. 2022 will be a packed year for Apple. To be able to get every product its time in the spotlight they need to spread out their announcements. If they don't announce the iMac and Mac Pro at WWDC they have to announce a new watch design, a iPhone facelift, a new MacBook design a new iMac design with a new chip, a new Mac Pro design with multiple new chips, completely new AirPods Pros and updated iPads at only two or max three events. That doesn't make sense.
I’m a consumer. I have the 2020 27-inch. I use it for basic things. I don’t program or code. But I enjoy the 27-inch screen and won’t downgrade in size…. so I’d love a a bigger version of the 24-inch iMac.
The white looks gorgeous!! for the love of god, apple please release an 27-inch version of this! I currently have the 27-inch 2020 edition and I’d love to have the design of the 2021The mere fact that Apple has never provided a 32" display except with the Pro Display XDR. The assumption is that current 27" would some how see a redesign featuring a 30" or even 32" display incorporated. I often thought the 27" form factor that fits on most desks a lot easier had so much wasted space around its display design that it grow to a 29.5" display and Apple would call it the 30". Kinda like how the 24" is actually 23.5".
So we can remember the black area around the 27" iMac.
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