Not sure that will happen but I don’t want to spend a lot right now as I have a trip coming up so I hope you are right.
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Apple Not Planning to Launch Larger-Screened iMac
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The studio will not be a long standing or high selling product as long as the Mini is around. Meanwhile waiting for release of 27+" iMac to purchase for several employees. Apple would be silly not to have something to fill the gap and Studio is not it, laptop with external monitor maybe.
Apple has no plans to release a larger-screened iMac, according to a new report from 9to5Mac. Citing unspecified sources with knowledge of Apple's product pipeline, the site says that Apple will not be introducing a bigger iMac "in the near future."
With the launch of the Mac Studio, Apple discontinued the Intel-based 27-inch iMac, creating some confusion about the future of the iMac line. Apple confirmed to Ars Technica that the 27-inch iMac "has reached end of life," indicating the company has no intention of releasing a refreshed 27-inch model to go along with the 24-inch iMac.
Despite the discontinuation of the 27-inch iMac, there have been rumors of a larger-screened iMac Pro that could be in development, but at least some of those rumors may have been mixed up with the Studio Display. Display analyst Ross Young this week said that what his sources thought might be an iMac Pro was actually a "Studio Display Pro" that's coming later in the year, perhaps alongside the Mac Pro.
Young no longer believes that an iMac Pro is coming this summer, and 9to5Mac's information seems to agree with that take. The site says that Apple "currently has no plans to release new high-end versions of its all-in-one desktop for now," though there is a 24-inch M2 version of the iMac that's set to come out in 2023.
Other sources continue to suggest that we might see an iMac Pro at some point. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said last Sunday that an iMac Pro would come out in 2023, and Bloomberg's Mark Gurman claims that Apple is still developing an iMac Pro.
It is not clear how an iMac Pro would fit into the Mac lineup now that the more powerful Mac Studio exists, and it's looking more and more like we might not be seeing a new larger-screened iMac in 2022. For now, Apple suggests that customers who want a powerful desktop machine invest in the Mac Studio, which is priced stating at $1,999, while those who want an all-in-one machine can opt for the 24-inch iMac.
Article Link: Apple Not Planning to Launch Larger-Screened iMac
If they keep the Mini on the base M-series SoC and 16GB maximum RAM, I don't see it as an existential threat to the Mac Studio.
And even if they add the Pro SoC and 32GB as BTO options, the combination of both will put you so close in price to a Max Studio that one would be, IMO, foolish not to spend the $200-300 more for a Studio considering how much more performance you get for that small additional investment.
The mini and the studio combined aren’t high selling products. They’re not meant to be, that’s reserved for the mobile systems like the MacBook Air.
Apple is committed to high PPI Retina displays at this point. If they did do a 30"+ monitor, it would have to be 6K or better to keep that pixel density. Not sure I see that happening anytime soon.
I'm just not sure an iMac Pro / 27" iMac is necessary anymore. Over the weekend Max Tech released a video comparing a Mac Studio Max and Mac Studio Ultra compared to a 2017 iMac Pro with the 8-core Xeon and Vega 56 and a 2020 iMac 5K with the 10-core i9 and a 5700XT and the Studio Max crushed them and the Studio Ultra demolished them across the board on synthetic benchmarks and application testing in video, audio and coding.
I do believe the 24" iMac needs an M1 Pro option so it can handle more powerful workloads and offer 32GB of RAM so that is can handle more, if not most, of the use cases the Intel iMac 5K did.
IMO, the iMac 5K became Apple's mainstream desktop due to comparative neglect of the Mac mini and Mac Pro and not because people adored the AIO form factor. Now that Apple has released a desktop (the Mac Studio) that addresses almost all of the issues of the Mac mini (lack of power and ports) at a price significantly below the Mac Pro, I think it could become "the new normal" for Mac desktops, especially because it can be used with whatever monitor an end user needs: low-priced commodity, gaming, photo/video reference, etc. and in whatever size you want from 24 inches to 77 inches.
I do believe the 24" iMac needs an M1 Pro option so it can handle more powerful workloads and offer 32GB of RAM so that is can handle more, if not most, of the use cases the Intel iMac 5K did.
IMO, the iMac 5K became Apple's mainstream desktop due to comparative neglect of the Mac mini and Mac Pro and not because people adored the AIO form factor. Now that Apple has released a desktop (the Mac Studio) that addresses almost all of the issues of the Mac mini (lack of power and ports) at a price significantly below the Mac Pro, I think it could become "the new normal" for Mac desktops, especially because it can be used with whatever monitor an end user needs: low-priced commodity, gaming, photo/video reference, etc. and in whatever size you want from 24 inches to 77 inches.
It is not all about more, more more, many times it is about less. My users love a great screen and a responsive machine. Before SSDs they didn't use any connections on their machine and with the exception of large external drive most still do not. The reasons for an AIO still stand. Yes every power user loves the Studio (and many of us will sit here and claim how great it is, but not own one) that is not most users. Personally I'm holding out for the next M6 tower that I will not get
.The 2015 (Intel) Macbook Pro had 6 I/O ports plus Magsafe (7).
The 2016 (Intel) Macbook Pro dropped to 4 ports, and lost Magsafe port (4).
There is a technical limitation to external monitors, possibly with I/O ports also, with M1, but Apple was already cutting ports when there was no technical reason to do so.
Hopefully that was a Jony Ive decision and we will see Apple add ports back once the M2 chips can support it.
We definitely saw them adding ports back for the 2021 MacBook Pros
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There is definitely room for 27" iMac Pro. If only for the price point and form factor.
In Australia the base model of the iMac 24" is A$1299.
The base models of the new combo is A$1999 (Studio) and A$1599 (Display). That's A$3598. Too expensive, and it's way less portable too.
I'll buy any new iMac 27 to replace my 2017 model. Come on Apple.
In Australia the base model of the iMac 24" is A$1299.
The base models of the new combo is A$1999 (Studio) and A$1599 (Display). That's A$3598. Too expensive, and it's way less portable too.
I'll buy any new iMac 27 to replace my 2017 model. Come on Apple.
Sure, if you pair it with the Studio. I expect that many would pair it with the far less expensive M1 Mini. And ANY desktop Mac is WAY less portable than the mobile systems that Apple sells way more of.
The problem is that a M1 Mini is not on par with a good iMac 27... Now if you want a desktop that good with a 27 screen you have to spend an incredible amount of money for something over the top that you don't need (studio). Or go backwards with a M1 mini. There is a hole in the desktop line. I want a replacement for my 27 iMac (not the "Pro" one) and there is nothing for me right now.
I expect the M1 Mac mini beats a base $1800 i5/5300 iMac 27 in most tasks.
And once you added BTO options like an i9 and 5700XT, you're well into Mac Studio Max pricing territory and plenty of benchmarks and workload tests show the Mac Studio Max is better at most tasks than the up-spec iMac.
Considering how much shade is being thrown at the Apple Studio Display for being only a slightly-better iMac 5K screen, it sounds like many people bought the iMac 27" because it was 27 inches and not because it was 5K. So with a Mac mini or Mac Studio, you can buy a much less-expensive 27" third-party 4K or QHD display and likely end up spending less than what an iMac 5K cost.
If there’s a hole, I don’t suspect it’ll be filled with a larger All-in-one than the M1 iMac, it’ll be a slightly more powerful Mini connected to an ASD.
Good point. It was likely never about the internals, just the larger screen. Now, anyone that wants one, can get a 5K screen Mac and the choice of performance levels is much wider than the 27 inch iMac ever had. Want that screen but a MB Air or Mini is all the performance you need? Now it’s possible. Want that screen but the best performance you can currently get from a Mac? Also possible.
The ASD is essentially the most configurable 27” Mac ever!
"You're well into Mac Studio Max" : did you include the cost of the screen, keyboard and mouse that was already included in/within the iMac?
And as a sidenote I don't want to buy a less expensive (cheap, ugly and worse) 27. Moreover I'd rather have not another thing such as a mini or else on my desk.
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No, because if you bought a high-end iMac ($3000+) in part for it's 5K display, you would want to buy an Apple Studio Display because it is an even better 5K display. And if you want the Apple keyboard and mouse, buy them. Or pay less for third-party keyboards and mice, many of which many feel are better than Apple's.
And if you bought a high-end iMac ($3000+) without caring about it's 5K display, then you can buy a number of excellent 27" 4K or QHD monitors that are over $1000 cheaper than the Apple Studio Display and pair them with the Mac Studio Max.
Then buy the Apple Studio Display because it is not cheap-looking, it is not ugly and it's better than the display that was part of the 27" iMac and iMac Pro.
That was my whole point. I would "want" to buy a Studio Dispay but I won't. This new display is way too expensive (and not really different than the old iMac one). The new Mac studio is way too expensive (and too advanced for my usecase) and the mini is not on par. There is nothing replacing a 27 iMac in the new lineup.
There is nothing for you, and that is a perfectly valid concern to have.
I have a 27" iMac and I'd buy a Mac Studio Max and Apple Studio Display so for me, that replaces the 27 iMac in the lineup.
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You may want to wait for the next, M2-series, updates to the line to see if there are any new desktop variants that might be closer to your performance needs.
I think we’ll see a ~32” iMac. They may have decided 24 vs 27 now falls in the sales cannibalizing range since buyers seem to generally be upsizing over the last few years (tv’s phones, etc).
Hmm. A 32" iMac would be MASSIVE. It would take a lot of GPU to make it usable. It would be interesting to see a mockup of such a monstrous machine. Hmm... If it got too big, I'd be getting apprehensive that it would fall forward and end my life...
A 32" Retina display at a minimum will be the same 6K panel as used in the current Pro Display XDR and more likely will be the rumored 7K MiniLED ProMotion panel said to be planned for the XDR's refresh.
And even if Apple decides to sell this new 7K Pro Display XDR at the same $5000 price tag of the old one (and I would not place a big bet on that happening), that panel is going to require Apple to market the machine as an "iMac Pro" in order to justify a price I fully expect to be at least $4999 for the base model with an M2 Max 10C/24G, 32GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD.
And even if Apple decides to sell this new 7K Pro Display XDR at the same $5000 price tag of the old one (and I would not place a big bet on that happening), that panel is going to require Apple to market the machine as an "iMac Pro" in order to justify a price I fully expect to be at least $4999 for the base model with an M2 Max 10C/24G, 32GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD.