Apple Developing iMac Pro With M5 Max Chip

[VulchR]

I like the design of the new iMac. And if it breaks outside of warranty, I will replace it with a current model or with something else. Your argument would also negate laptops.

It would also negate iPhones and iPads, but have exchangeable computing innards so they could be upgraded would be an interesting idea. At some point displays become fast enough, bright enough, and have sufficiently high resolution that any improvements will outpace the physiology of our visual system and therefore be superfluous. Like the absurd increase in pixel count for cameras, 'improvements' might not be worth it. I'll take the display of my iPhone XR over my 16 Pro Max any day - it is not that the Pro Max is bad, but that the XR screen is brighter and with better contrast. I know, I know, according to the specifications the 16 Pro Max has a better display - I can only assume the 16 Pro Max tones things down to protect the OLED's.

 

[tenthousandthings]

Wow! For me a larger screen is enough. Hopefully Apple is not planning a 24" iMac Pro. That will be a huge disappointment. Don't need the power of the Pro/Max chip. Think there should be a Mx Pro chip version also. Expecting a minimum of $1999 with a non Pro chip. With a Pro or a Max chip it will start at $2499 easily. Highly unlikely that this Pro iMac will come in colors. Think there should be a 24" M5 iMac too if there is going to be a Pro version.

My guess would be two iMac sizes, 24" and 30" — the standalone displays will be 27" and 32" — your guess is as good as mine, but I’ll guess the following:

Studio Display 27" 5K 120Hz
Pro Display XDR 27" 5K 120Hz
Pro Display XDR 32" 8K 60Hz 4K 120Hz

 

[ignatius345]

I was hoping for TDM with my 2012 iMac 27" + 2019 MBP 16" on macOS Tahoe but that isn't possible.

My iMac's over a dozen years 12hrs daily use. Time to retire it already.

That's some very impressive uptime!

 

[bigglow]

That's some very impressive uptime!

Would've replaced it as soon as 2019 or 2021 when the new 32" 6K display or iMac 24" 4.5K were 1st made available.

 

[Runaway Train]

Does your iMac still work?

If so, you can do a screen mirror or extend to it and still benefit from it. I recently replaced my 2018 15" Intel MBP with an M4 MacBook Air 15". My old MBP still works so every now and then I turn it on and use it as a screen extender. Works fine for what I do, reading/writing code.

It's a bit of a workaround but still better than nothing I suppose.

yes this is possible, a bit of a hack. I tried this yesterday and it only offered me some weird resolutions - ethier massive screen real estate (well beyond 5K) of something very Lo-fi. All were milky and foggy, not sharp. Also I could never find where the mouse pointer it become impossibly small. OTOH mirroring to the iPad is excellent. Maybe I was doing something wrong? In any case, it just keeps me yearning to use the screen, it’s still simply gorgeous.

There is a hack on You Tube that show you how to rewire the circuits and turn the iMac into a 5K monitor, but it is not for the squeamish - looks very complicated. Not sure I want to try that.

I have a Studio Display tied to a Mac Mini M4 Pro. Expectation is I will be able to recycle 2-3 more CPU’s before I retire that. I get that the iMac is perfect for some, just not for my use cases.

 

[bigglow]

That's some very impressive uptime!

Use case has not changed since 2015.

Since Valentines Day 2013 this has been the configuration

- Intel Core i7-3770 22nm
- 32GB DDR3 1600Mhz
- 1TB Fusion Drive
- 27" 2.5K display 109ppi

When the 2025 ASUS 32" 6K display was released 2 months ago I replaced it with that and a 2019 MBP 16" Core i7 16GB 512GB.

Before I found out about the RAM & SSD price hikes I was planning on waiting up to 6 months for a $1399 2026 Mac mini M5 Pro 24GB 512GB.

But given how scary the price hikes was I was considering $1699 2025 Mac Studio M4 Max 36GB 512GB that was released 9 months ago instead.

 

[tenthousandthings]

There is a hack on You Tube that show you how to rewire the circuits and turn the iMac into a 5K monitor, but it is not for the squeamish - looks very complicated. Not sure I want to try that.

There is a mega thread here on the topic, so if you change your mind, start there, there are people active on there with a lot of experience doing it:

DIY 5k Monitor - success :-)

My "latest Macs" are a heavily upgraded 2009 Mac Pro (6c CPU, M.2 SSD, USB 3, RX580...) and more recently a 12c 2013 Mac Pro with an eGPU (Vega 56) - both machines with more than enough CPU power, GPU power and RAM for my needs, but I long aspired to upgrade to a nice 5k monitor to replace my...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[aperture01]

With my 2017 iMac Pro not compatible with the latest OS this is needed for me. In my setup I don't really have room for the studio chassis and cable setup. So the all in one works great. The screen isin't going to fail... my current one still looks great. Just pair it with another monitor and you're good to go.

This thing has been the best computer I've ever owned and its still works great for my workflow but the cracks are definitly showing with the intel processor. I have an M1 form work that smokes it in day to day tasks but doesn't have the mem or video horsepower to handle the video outputs I need. I dread having to redo my entire desk setup (cabing etc) to hadnle a studio pro or something compact.

I hope this year!

 

[ignatius345]

Use case has not changed since 2015.

Since Valentines Day 2013 this has been the configuration

- Intel Core i7-3770 22nm
- 32GB DDR3 1600Mhz
- 1TB Fusion Drive
- 27" 2.5K display 109ppi

When the 2025 ASUS 32" 6K display was released 2 months ago I replaced it with that and a 2019 MBP 16" Core i7 16GB 512GB.

Before I found out about the RAM & SSD price hikes I was planning on waiting up to 6 months for a $1399 2026 Mac mini M5 Pro 24GB 512GB.

But given how scary the price hikes was I was considering $1699 2025 Mac Studio M4 Max 36GB 512GB that was released 9 months ago instead.

Kind of blown away your Fusion Drive is still running, to be honest. The one in my 2014 iMac 5K went belly-up because the SSD just wore out from all the read/write cycles.

 

[bigglow]

Kind of blown away your Fusion Drive is still running, to be honest. The one in my 2014 iMac 5K went belly-up because the SSD just wore out from all the read/write cycles.

The Fusion Drive died a bit before COVID. I had bought a SSD replacement kit and used it.

It gave it new life with a 2TB Crucial MX500.

When the 8TB Samsung 870 QVO SATA SSD dropped to $300 in 2023 I was thinking of upgrading to that.

Today I think it's >$800?

Before PC parts started going up in price I was hoping a return of a Fusion Drive-like setup where in there's fast SSDs and slow SSDs that are combined together.

Like 256GB NVMe SSD + 2TB SATA SSD = 2.2TB Fusion Drive