Apple Rumored to Launch 27-Inch Mini-LED iMac With ProMotion in Early 2022 [Updated]

[jimbobb24]

Picture is fake ... no notch.

I do think the notch was supposed to have FaceID tech but ... supply chain issues.

 

[cult hero]

Bummer update.

 

[cb3]

We need a notch on that beautiful screen. The notch is the greatest thing since magsafe.

I'll raise you two notches. 💰

 

[ignatius345]

I've thought about just buying a preowned 5k iMac and popping in an aftermarket display board. If the iMacs were a little less of a b*** to open and work with, I probably would have by now.

You can be done with it in a few hours. The worst part for me was removing all the old adhesive and aligning the new adhesive strips. Aside from that, I actually found it kind of fun. I don't know about you, but I'd feel a small sense of triumph every time I used the monitor, knowing I'd wrangled it into submission

 

[pshufd]

You can be done with it in a few hours. The worst part for me was removing all the old adhesive and aligning the new adhesive strips. Aside from that, I actually found it kind of fun. I don't know about you, but I'd feel a small sense of triumph every time I used the monitor, knowing I'd wrangled it into submission

Most of these are overpriced in my area. In that they are 10-30% over the used Mac sites. Every once in a while, one will be fairly priced or underpriced and it will go quickly. I still like the idea of an Intel iMac but x86 is fading fast and even moreso when my MacBook Pro arrives.

 

[ignatius345]

We need a notch on that beautiful screen. The notch is the greatest thing since magsafe.

You joke (maybe) but the fact is a notch would actually be less of a drag on a big screen because the likelihood of it colliding with a menu item would be pretty slim.

It has a much greater impact on a laptop. I just popped open Numbers and realized the menus extend right up to the center of my Air's screen. Haven't really inventoried a lot of other stuff, but I have a feeling there will be all kinds of issues with third-party apps that suddenly don't work right with this dumb hack.

 

[turbineseaplane]

You can be done with it in a few hours. The worst part for me was removing all the old adhesive and aligning the new adhesive strips. Aside from that, I actually found it kind of fun. I don't know about you, but I'd feel a small sense of triumph every time I used the monitor, knowing I'd wrangled it into submission

You're right - I would probably enjoy it ultimately.
Maybe one day if I see a good local deal on a 5k iMac

 

[ignatius345]

Most of these are overpriced in my area. In that they are 10-30% over the used Mac sites. Every once in a while, one will be fairly priced or underpriced and it will go quickly. I still like the idea of an Intel iMac but x86 is fading fast and even moreso when my MacBook Pro arrives.

I hear you. I adored my 2014 iMac 5K even as it was dying, and in a moment of weakness almost replaced it with a 2020 Intel version. The M1 iMac I replaced it with is wonderfully smooth and the screen is just big enough -- but I miss the super immersive size of the 27" 5K.

 

[CWallace]

Ming Chi Kuo back in early 2020 stated he believed Apple was preparing to source a 27" 5K MiniLED panel for what he presumed would be an updated Intel iMac Pro. Of course, Apple subsequently End-of-Lifed the iMac Pro and all the rumors about the Apple Silicon iMac presumed it would be 32" so this rumor fell by the wayside.

Once the 24" iMac M1 launched, one new rumor stated that the larger iMac would have a 28-29" display and I, at the time, joked that maybe the iMac 5K 27" would live on, just with "M1X" and MiniLED even though it seemed weird that Apple would make two screens so close in size (having not done so for a decade with the 20" and 24" aluminum models).

Now with this new rumor of a 27" MiniLED iMac (5K) and a new 27" MiniLED Apple Thunderbolt Display (5K), looks like MCK was on to something two years ago...

It’ll probably be $2K. I wish someone would make a 27” 5K display for $500. I don’t understand why it can’t be done. 8 or so years ago there were cheap 27” 1440p displays. By now you’d think 5K versions would cost the same as them.

I think the biggest issue to lack of a price drop is that LG is the only manufacturer of 5K panels and the only volume buyer is Apple (and then only for the iMac 5K) so they probably only sell a million or two a year which has not allowed any economies of scale to kick in.

 

[Morgenland]

That's pretty darn great. And above all: Without notch.

 

[RCPhotos]

27 inch is way too small. 32 inch is the new 27.

I'm ok with a 27" even as a photog

 

[ader42]

If you buy an M1 iMac or an M1 Mac Mini, add an external SSD and host your iCloud Photos on it (not on the internal SSD). Then just let it run in sleep mode of sorts.

1. It saves all of your photos and videos to an external disk by default
2. The cloud automatically updates it
3. It frees up the internal SSD
4. You can then use iCloud Photo Storage Saving on a MacBook Pro or MacBook Air, freeing up the laptop’s internal SSD
5. You never move the iMac or Mac Mini, so the inconvenience is negligible

This also works for iTunes media purchases, music, movies, apps and Apple games. Or whatever you want to archive.

I don’t know why these aren’t flying off the shelf.

Yeah, I intend on using my base M1 Mini in a similar fashion - as a movie/media server - when I upgrade to an M1 Max replacement.

 

[bushman4]

30 or 32 inch screen very possible as they need that extra cosmetic draw to the product
As for the heat sink on the bottom of the current iMac it really has to go and can be put in the base of the stand HP and others have done this

 

[turbineseaplane]

Larger than 27 puts it into niche territory honestly. I think they’ll push folks looking for that up to the XDR.

Loads and loads of folks have neither the need nor space (or even desire) to have such an enormous screen.

 

[ader42]

Keeping it at 27” should help keep costs down.

I think pricing of a new 27” iMac is likely to match the 16” MBP pricing - and have the same config options too.

 

[Arnold Ziffel]

I don't care what size larger iMac they produce - just want it out the door sooner than 6 months from now. Sheesh.

 

[Arnold Ziffel]

You can be done with it in a few hours. The worst part for me was removing all the old adhesive and aligning the new adhesive strips. Aside from that, I actually found it kind of fun. I don't know about you, but I'd feel a small sense of triumph every time I used the monitor, knowing I'd wrangled it into submission

Anyone who considers taking an iMac apart has clearly never worked on any kind of vehicle. Yeah, one has to be careful and precise with some of the operation, but with the right tools - "pizza cutter" for cutting through adhesive, large area in which to work, and time, it is a rewarding experience.

And one gets to remain clean, free of grease and gunk, too.

 

[sunny5]

So the possibility is ...

There will be a march event for M1 Pro/Max Mac mini and iMac, and M2 MBA. Since a high-end iMac will get 16 cores CPU and 64 cores GPU, there has to be a middle range specs for iMac. Otherwise, it doesn't make sense.

 

[CWallace]

There will be a march event for M1 Pro/Max Mac mini and iMac, and M2 MBA. Since a high-end iMac will get 16 cores CPU and 64 cores GPU, there has to be a middle range specs for iMac. Otherwise, it doesn't make sense.

I expect the new "iMac 5K" will offer M1 Pro and M1 MAX.

I do not expect the more powerful SoCs rumored for the Mac Pro (Jade2C-Die and Jade4C-Die) to be offered, though I suppose we could see the "iMac 5K" in Q1 2022 and then they announce a new "iMac Pro" alongside the Apple Silicon Mac Pro at WWDC and both would have the more powerful SoCs.

 

[Pro Apple Silicon]

I expect the new "iMac 5K" will offer M1 Pro and M1 MAX.

I do not expect the more powerful SoCs rumored for the Mac Pro (Jade2C-Die and Jade4C-Die) to be offered, though I suppose we could see the "iMac 5K" in Q1 2022 and then they announce a new "iMac Pro" alongside the Apple Silicon Mac Pro at WWDC and both would have the more powerful SoCs.

I'm pretty sure this will indeed be the iMac Pro, with M1 Pro and M1 Max offered. I mean, why not? It is good enough for the MacBook Pro.

Whatever they come up with for the Mac Pro itself will be something different and unique to that product.

 

[satchmo]

Larger than 27 puts it into niche territory honestly. I think they’ll push folks looking for that up to the XDR.

Loads and loads of folks have neither the need nor space (or even desire) to have such an enormous screen.

To keep the larger iMac at 27" would be too close to the 24" model.

I think a 29.5" rounded up to 30" display at 5.5K wouldn't really encroach too much on the XDR.

 

[sunny5]

I expect the new "iMac 5K" will offer M1 Pro and M1 MAX.

I do not expect the more powerful SoCs rumored for the Mac Pro (Jade2C-Die and Jade4C-Die) to be offered, though I suppose we could see the "iMac 5K" in Q1 2022 and then they announce a new "iMac Pro" alongside the Apple Silicon Mac Pro at WWDC and both would have the more powerful SoCs.

I dont think there will be iMac Pro. What about Mac Pro Cube then? All in one workstation proves to be failure so far.

 

[FriendlyMackle]

I think a lot of people are missing the point here. 27” is a sweet spot. 32” displays you have to sit back too far or you get a neck ache which means you need a huge desk. 24” gives you eye strain because you have to sit closer.

Also not all Mac users are creatives as such. Some of us are technical and engineering and for us, excellent text presentation is what we’re after.

This is why I use a Mac mini with a single 27” 4K Iiyama IPS screen. It’s good enough and the combo cost less together than the equivalent 24” iMac did! The monitor also has dual inputs so I can use it with my junk box PC that runs Linux if I need to actually do anything more than SSH.

The killer though is the iMac has really crappy display positioning capability. I’ve got a Sapper monitor arm which means I can move the display all over the place. Putting a whole damn Mac on that is just horrible.

So give me a nice 27” 5k display that doesn’t weight much to replace the old Cinema Display and a Mac mini pro please. The expensive XDR display and the iMac are crappy compromises at both ends of the scale.

Also with the iMacs you can’t get a matching display if you want to run dual head which is a pain.

I put my old 2009 24” iMac on a metal arm instead of the base. I was great—I could swing it out of the way to the side of my desk when I wanted more space, or angle I so that I could have someone else watch something on my screen with me.
I did really like that setup. My 2013 iMac 27” is too large to swing above my desk (home office), so I just have it positioned on the iMac base. Which is horrible and really not quite the right height. Oh, and my year (2013) was when some utter moron at Apple decided that it would make sense to replace the tiny gear/rotor that is the crux upon which rests the entire display with a PLASTIC piece (where previously it was metal). So, about 1.5 years into ownership, I heard a ‘CRACK’ sound and found that my iMac screen would only face my feet! There was no way to get it to stay upright. This happened to me and many others (I investigated, and learned this was a known defect). But Apple may have saved $.003. Who knows.

i want a new iMac, but I may go with a MacBook Pro and a monitor. If Apple really does release a large (but not too large) monitor in 2022.

 

[FriendlyMackle]

Serious questions, why is Mini-LED so hard, apparently? I understand it in case of super thin laptop panels, but 100x100 LEDs (I think that's the count in the iPad Pros/MacBook Pros) in a desktop sized panel, what makes it so rare/expensive?

I believe that there are tens of thousands more LEDs in mini-LED panels than there are in standard LCDs. Even the previously newer LCD screens with ‘dynamic’ multi area backlighting are not even one tenth the number of LEDs in a mini-LED screen. That’s what I remember from reading about the tech, and why it is so exciting—it is affordable, and won’t suffer burn-in like OLED, but has a nearly comparable contrast and true blacks, unlike all standard LCDs.
Obviously, it is a stepping stone until Micro-LED technology is ready for economical mass manufacture. Micro-LED will have ALL of the benefits of Mini-LED, and none of the shortcomings. It will have individual pixels lit, just like an OLED. But, made from different materials and unique processes, the pixels will not degrade in the way that OLEDs do.
TLDR: yes, Mini-LED is a truly cool tech and I’m very pleased to think that Apple plans to use this tech in all of their (at least) higher end devices.

 

[pshufd]

I don't think that an iMac could handle the heat of a 2xM1 Max if they maintain the thinness of the iMac 24.