Apple Developing iMac Pro With M5 Max Chip

[DavidMalcolm]

Can they PLEASE allow for a monitor in mode. Like lock it behind a certain start up disk option, or a keyboard command on start up or anything. But please for the love of God if Apple starts putting out huge high quality displays in iMacs again. Can you please allow the user to upgrade the CPU years down the line when the display is still perfectly fine? For all this talk about Apple wanting to be green there are so many gorgeous 5K displays that cost a ton that are utterly useless unless they’re redone with retrofit kits because the chip inside them aged out of usefulness.

 

[DavidSchaub]

Apple's now rumoured to fill in two of my wishcasts

 

[warriors2017]

The iMac 27" is arguably the best Mac ever made

 

[Non-Euclidean]

I don't know if this was posted and didn't wade through 5 pages

Software leaks point to the first Apple Silicon “iMac Pro,” among other devices

Resurrected high-end all-in-one could be a worthy successor to 2017’s iMac Pro.

arstechnica.com

 

[iBungie]

you'll have a really nice retina display which you can't use

The 2017 iMac Pro will continue to work.

 

[iBungie]

An iMac Pro with an M5 Max chip, but still with a 24-inch display or will Apple offer it with a larger display again? 32-inches?

And for the love of God, bring back Target Display Mode

The 2017 iMac Pro which I use daily has a very nice 27" screen. I recently bought a matching 2nd hand LG screen to run extended desktop. A comparable release in future would have at least 27" and more likely larger

 

[iBungie]

It would be a bloodbath while also running substantially cooler.

An M5 iMac Pro instead of my current 2017 iMac Pro would have an unexpected side effect - I'd have to start turning on the heating in my office more....

 

[stephe22]

Would love an iMac Pro with an M5 Max and a large (27"+) display!

 

[sleeptodream]

This makes no sense.

iMac is for entry level folk who like colourful computers and are happy to keep great tech long past its best buy date.

Pros need some thing stronger, a Studio Display and a box they can update every two years.

I’m not convinced!

To keep an iMac “long past it’s best buy date” requires specs that are overkill on purchase. Selling a nice display with the bare minimum chip in it is a crime, as it will struggle to keep up sooner

This is what I historically did with my iMacs when they had Intel chips, for instance I got a 2007 with the core 2 extreme processor and maxed out the RAM, and it lasted me for 7-8 years, by which point the display had started to dim and I was ready for an upgrade all around

All-in-one’s should be OP, in my opinion

 

[Jack Burton]

Loved my 27 inch iMac when I had it - the Intel 7700k, IIRC.

The machine was the fastest processor for Adobe After Effects at the time. It served me well. But occasionally when standing to talk to a coworker in the next cubicle, I would accidentally rest my arm on top of the iMac. The tiny vent on the top rear of the display put out some serious heat from that 7700k.

I loved that machine. It was GREAT. I would pine for a new mac, but wouldn't get one as I have a PC tower under the desk and a mac on top of the desk. Gotta switch between the two at will.

 

[molander]

An M5 iMac Pro instead of my current 2017 iMac Pro would have an unexpected side effect - I'd have to start turning on the heating in my office more....

😄 Dude, you probably just need to clean the dust out of your iMac and replace the thermal paste.
I also have a 2017 iMac Pro, and the chassis temperature stays around 29–33°C, even under load.

The iMac Pro is actually my favorite computer I’ve ever owned for work. Its compact design and minimalism, combined with a really great display, are exactly what I love about it.

Sure, my M4 Pro MacBook Pro is a completely different experience and on another level performance-wise, but in terms of comfort, I still find it more pleasant to get my work done on the iMac Pro.

 

[Lioness~]

Just give us an updated monitor already....

View attachment 2588469

Is that Cook's highly improbable and unknown daughter that have resurfaced in the future, and traveled back in time? 😉

 

[ignatius345]

They need to get rid of the chin. All screen and just that.

No they don't. That's where the hot bits that do the actual computing work are. You don't want that pressed up against the display panel.

 

[zarmanto]

No they don't. That's where the hot bits that do the actual computing work are. You don't want that pressed up against the display panel.

I feel like maybe this is a dated take. Apple has been doing quite a bit of thermal redesign work lately, with some pretty interesting results. Not only do the M-series CPUs produce significantly less heat than their older Intel cousins, but the design of their new desktop Mac products demonstrates that a great deal of thought has been invested into both their active and their passive cooling systems.

And I don't think we have to search too hard to get a hint as to what Apple might have in mind. If we were to take a look at Apple's Pro Display XDR, I think we may find that we're gazing at a precursor to whatever Apple does to fulfill the pent up demand for iMac class systems; it won't be the tapered-thin-to-bulging-center design of the 2012 to 2020 era, but rather, I expect it'll be slightly more reminiscent of the iMacs that came just before that, with somewhat thick edges -- but instead of a bulge, it'll likely have a generally flat rear surface with some variant of the XDR's passive heat dispersion grill, possibly augmented with some type of vapor chamber, as in the iPhone 17 Pro series.

Of course, all of this once again assumes that the iMac in question makes it out of the experimental phase in the first place. I still contend that this is by no means a certainty, even with the info from these recent leaks.

 

[1037]

Is the price gonna start with a 5 or a 6?
32" or bust.

 

[BillyJoeJimBob]

Maybe going to eliminate the Mac Pro and replace it with an iMac Pro?

Because this is a terrible alternative, I defintely see it happening. More disposable toys. 🙄

 

[ignatius345]

I feel like maybe this is a dated take. Apple has been doing quite a bit of thermal redesign work lately, with some pretty interesting results.

OK. But I can tell you first hand, the part under the display on an M4 iMac gets hot under load. I have one sitting right in front of me. The case is literally 10mm thick. The computer, speakers and active cooling system all have to go somewhere.

Also, not remotely convinced that having an bezel around the bottom is at all a problem for anyone. On a laptop, I get it, you want to maximize display space on a portable device. But this is sitting on a desk. Not important if you're looking at the screen instead of getting hung up on the space below it.

 

[BillyJoeJimBob]

Beter to buy a mini, Studio with that or better specs, and a ASD or other display.
Big iMac’s are dead, the smaller might fill a need for some.

But I liked the ones I had earlier, at that time - but it's outdated and waste of money with big iMac’s today.

The only reason not to go with the latest tiny Mini is if you are running software that make the fans spin up to max and eventually throttle the CPU.

 

[Donkey Man]

Too little, too late - especially if that iMac has any screen smaller than 32” - happy to keep my Mac Pro 2019 with full BootCamp access and whatever large monitor of my preference.

 

[Sippincider]

Is the price gonna start with a 5 or a 6?
32" or bust.

32"? Starting at an easy 7, with decked-out BTO pushing it past 15.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love love a 27" or 32" M5. But if the pricing gets too far into the stratosphere I'd have decide whether I needed one that badly.

 

[JamesMay82]

I like them too, but what I don't like is accumulating a bunch of beautiful displays. Our 2014 imac (spouse office) runs fine under OCLP, but I just got rid of my 2009 imac 24 inch and it is just odd to have a perfect screen with outdated internals. I hope the recycling flow treats it well. Or I could be mistaken (coming from the era of boxy tube televisions) and a flat lcd display is so cheap to make I shouldn't feel bad about it going away.

Ha yes that’s true. I’ve got a 2008 iMac (my 1st) a 2010 iMac and 2014 before I upgraded to the studio.

They aren’t worth much so I just keep them and plug them in every now and then for nostalgia! I have the 2008 on snow leopard.

I’m hoping me in the year 2050 will be selling them for millions at Sotheby’s 😂

 

[bigglow]

Man I really hope this is true. I've been waiting for an iMac like this!!

I gave up 2 months ago and got myself a <$1200 2025 ASUS 32" 6K and hooked it up to a Mac.

 

[BrightDarkSky]

But WHY? Surely a Mac Studio with a nice display is more "pro" than an iMac?

You dont see that? My 2013 imac still has production work being done on it, and also remote work for municipal.

10 years ago, over at Comcast, we had already been using imacs in production and design for years.

Apple made suckers out of thier customers wit thier less is more nonsense. Now you need 3+ purchases from them instead of Yall have been Hoodwinked by marketing.

So why do you think that a computer as expensive as those old imacs, with no keyboard or mouse, AND need to buy a separate potentially expensive screen, would be a better setup than taking an iMac out of the box and plugging it in?

Thats a weird take imho.

And actual, real life pros (not apples marketing version) can get work done on a baseline mac mini m4. Your computer doesn't make you a pro... Thats like saying a pro camera makes one a photographer.

Nope nope nope. Apple got yall real good.

 

[ipedro]

Never understood why someone would buy an all-in-one. Why would you toss the entire thing if the display died. I don't imagine they're cheap to replace.

That being said, I'm still waiting for the Mac Studio M5 Ultra.

My 2012 iMac 27" lasted 13 years. THIRTEEN YEARS. I say lasted because I finally gave up using it after 5 years of lack of macOS upgrades. But the thing still works, the screen still works! Best computer I ever had (have). I'd buy an M5 iMac Pro in a hurry!

 

[Abazigal]

Never understood why someone would buy an all-in-one. Why would you toss the entire thing if the display died. I don't imagine they're cheap to replace.

That being said, I'm still waiting for the Mac Studio M5 Ultra.

Prior to Apple Silicon, an iMac was pretty much the only viable Mac desktop for getting work done (Mac Mini lacked a discrete GPU, while the Mac Pro was way too expensive). It also boasted an excellent display (way better than what you could reasonably find on the market), and I liked that it was a complete experience out of the box (ie: came with speakers, webcam, keyboard + trackpad, no need for cable management).

My 5k iMac saw me through the entire pandemic period (2020 to 2022). Today, it no longer receives software updates, but chrome still runs fine on it, and my dad continues to use it happily as a browsing / YouTube machine. I still haven't gotten around to replacing it, because the screen still works fine.

Now that you have the Mac mini and Mac Studio with very capable processors, I feel Apple really just needs to update the studio display and keep the cost affordable. The whole point of Apple Silicon is that you get great performance and low power consumption and don't need a lot of room for cooling, and the Mac mini tucks underneath the monitor just fine, and that's really 90% of what people are asking for in an iMac.