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

 

[ignatius345]

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

Who knows, the way SSD prices are headed maybe we'll see someone revisiting the whole Fusion Drive concept.
The mistake Apple made with those is whittling down the size of the SSD part until it was tiny and vulnerable to wearing out. (Some of the blade SSDs were as small as 32 GB IIRC.) The way they work incurs a whole ton of read/write cycles as active data gets shuttled back and forth.

Before that iMac, I actually made a DIY Fusion Drive in my old 2011 Mini by cramming a 256 GB SATA SSD inside, along with the existing HDD. Bought a little bracket kit from OWC or something, and then followed instructions I found to do some voodoo in Terminal to group them into one logical volume. Worked great. It was doing what it was supposed to and shuttling data I was using over onto the SSD. Got a few more years of use out of it.

The "all SSD" Fusion Drive you mention could be a pretty cool experiment. I wonder if the latest versions of macOS even still have the code to use Core Storage the way it did back when they were still shipping Fusion Drives.

 

[ThomasJL]

Tim Cook is such a moron—not when it comes to bean counting, in which he’s extremely talented, but when it comes to everything else. “i” devices are supposed to be consumer devices and “Pro” devices are supposed to be “professional” devices. Steve Jobs clearly explained that using a chart in a keynote. Therefore, for an Apple CEO to allow both “i” and “Pro” to be simultaneously used in a device name shows cluelessness.

 

[iSayuSay]

Laptops are all-in-ones, and all of us have one.

But laptops are portable, so it needs to be an all-in-one, a single solid block ready to be used on the road, cafes, or anywhere. iMac is a desktop, stays on your table forever it wouldn't matter if it's separated units, connected with cables so you can replace whichever parts you want. Why it needs to be an AIO? 🤷🏼‍♂️

 

[JoeG4]

Finally! Another 5000 dollar device we must absolutely buy!

Because in Apple language Pro means give me your credit card baby!

Now you're speaking like an Apple product manager!

I assume they just discontinue the Mac Studio and replace it with a $5000 iMac again lol.

 

[iBungie]

Tim Cook is such a moron—not when it comes to bean counting, in which he’s extremely talented, but when it comes to everything else. “i” devices are supposed to be consumer devices and “Pro” devices are supposed to be “professional” devices. Steve Jobs clearly explained that using a chart in a keynote. Therefore, for an Apple CEO to allow both “i” and “Pro” to be simultaneously used in a device name shows cluelessness.

Being critical of the name & marketing strategy is fine - but my 2017 iMac Pro, which remains in operation daily, is still a delight to use and has been excellent for work (pro) and personal use (i) over the years - so both parts of the name fit for me. I would be (if I could afford it) up for replacement with an updated version as long as it is space grey (or orange...)

 

[Abazigal]

Tim Cook is such a moron—not when it comes to bean counting, in which he’s extremely talented, but when it comes to everything else. “i” devices are supposed to be consumer devices and “Pro” devices are supposed to be “professional” devices. Steve Jobs clearly explained that using a chart in a keynote. Therefore, for an Apple CEO to allow both “i” and “Pro” to be simultaneously used in a device name shows cluelessness.

Perhaps that was once true (and I am really putting a lot of faith in the "perhaps", considering who I am replying to), but it's also worth remembering the context under which Apple operated then. It was on the brink of bankruptcy, the company didn't exactly have a ton of resources left, and so Steve Jobs had to be very selective about what products to prioritise. I wouldn't exactly treat it as gospel.

Also, my understanding of the "I" is that it just means "internet". Today, "pro" simply refers to an improved version of an existing Apple product with either more specs, and / or more features.

This also raises the question - what even is a "professional" these days? In the past, it probably referred to creatives who needed more powerful computers for running photoshop or premiere because entry level PCs were really very weak, performance-wise. But today, even Apple's most basic computers have gotten powerful enough even for pretty demanding workflows (you can edit 4k video with an entry level Mac mini or MBA, for instance).

So I really have no idea what you are trying to accomplish here with this seemingly random outburst.

 

[throAU]

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

Because the imac has one cable and anyone can plug in one cable into the right place. its also much easier to cable manage.

 

[mossback]

Very late to the party here but I would love a new iMac Pro w/ M5 Max architecture. Still using my maxed out 2017 iMac Pro and it's been wonderful but for sure time to upgrade. I really like the simplicity of an all in one. Excited that a next gen machine could have a large, high end display. I hope this happens and would buy a system for sure!

 

[bigglow]

Very late to the party here but I would love a new iMac Pro w/ M5 Max architecture. Still using my maxed out 2017 iMac Pro and it's been wonderful but for sure time to upgrade. I really like the simplicity of an all in one. Excited that a next gen machine could have a large, high end display. I hope this happens and would buy a system for sure!

Jumping from a 2017 iMac Pro to a 2026 iMac Pro will feel.... exhilarating!

From a 14nm chip to a 3nm chip!

 

[mossback]

Jumping from a 2017 iMac Pro to a 2026 iMac Pro will feel.... exhilarating!

From a 14nm chip to a 3nm chip!

Totally! 🥰

 

[TheLastJedi]

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

I hope that it's going to have 24 inch display.