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Apple's 27-Inch 'iMac Pro' With Mini-LED Display Expected in Spring 2022
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Software development. Full-stack web development. I've used three 27" 4K monitors for almost seven years now (originally driven by the trashcan Mac Pro, now the 2019 Pro), and I usually have stuff on all three. Terminal windows keeping an eye on backend development web server and services servers (i.e. log windows). Terminal windows for ad-hoc shell commands at the project level, or in a CLI database shell. Source control diffs/logs in a terminal window. Web browser(s) window(s) with developer tools open. Gazillions of editor windows on individual source files.
After the nearly seven years, yes, I'd like my center monitor to be ~32" 5K or better, ideally the Pro Display XDR but a quarter of the price. I'd keep two of the old 27" 4Ks, one on each side, but in portrait orientation instead of landscape.
The only good middle ground are the Huawei Mateview which I got 2 of them. It ain't the same though and the scaling doesn't make it easier on the 3:2 aspect ratio either..
Yeah, I was afraid of that.
Apple will sell a new iPad with 27' screen size with a stand...
- and they will name it "iMac Pro".
Apple will sell a new iPad with 27' screen size with a stand...
- and they will name it "iMac Pro".
I know. I doubt it will come back. But it would make the difference between me buying a Mini and another iMac. I don't have space on my desk for 2 large displays. I'm sure I'm not alone. I do see it as a selling point, but Apple never takes my advice, for some reason
that’s like 8%So much for his previous "Q1 2022" rumor. Disappointing, I was hoping to make a purchase closer to bonus season than tax season.
Nah, definitely $2,696.42 after tax
For most people, sales tax would be around 13~20%…
Looking forward to this one. Hopefully it won’t be priced like the previous ‘Pro’ iMac. Expecting it to start at $1999. Hope it comes in colours similar to 24”
Apple has been able to evaluate the demand for the new 24" iMac, 8 months since it was introduced and likely a full year by the time the new 27" replacement is announced, and I wonder that is enough time for them to adjust their plans for the 27" before announcing it. My point is that if the 24" now becomes the primary iMac model that most people will purchase, then that does support pushing the 27" model further towards a more 'Pro' configuration. Whether or not that is a considerably more expensive, as the last iMac Pro was, it could still be more differentiated from the 24" iMac than we've seen in the past with the two iMacs that differed mostly by monitor size.
I'll welcome the announcement, whatever it turns out to be. I personally might not consider a more expensive Pro iMac to be worth the investment, and instead get a 24" iMac. But I would really prefer not to move from a 27" display to the smaller 24" iMac. I think there are lots of folks who might have a similar viewpoint - the vast number of 27" iMacs that will eventually be replaced - will those people want a 24" iMac? Some might, but many won't.
Conclusion - the new 27" iMac replacement will surely include an affordable model.
I'll welcome the announcement, whatever it turns out to be. I personally might not consider a more expensive Pro iMac to be worth the investment, and instead get a 24" iMac. But I would really prefer not to move from a 27" display to the smaller 24" iMac. I think there are lots of folks who might have a similar viewpoint - the vast number of 27" iMacs that will eventually be replaced - will those people want a 24" iMac? Some might, but many won't.
Conclusion - the new 27" iMac replacement will surely include an affordable model.
I just want a new 27 inch or larger iMac to appear very soon, I am sick and tired waiting for a new machine!
Thanks \s ?
Probably, and hopefully so.
After this news, I caved yesterday and bought the top-spec M1 Mac Mini from B&H, a well-reviewed 4K monitor from Dell, and am now shopping mechanical TKL keyboards. For my Plex server needs, I was aiming for a higher-spec iMac next year, but building a PC sounds like a lot more fun. Waiting is hard. ?
Yes, you, me and another few millions probably ????
Never looked forward, extremely patiently, to buy a new Mac this much.
I assume the wait will be worth it though.
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The Price seems doubtful. The current $1,799 iMac 27" model currently has:
i5, 8GB RAM , 256GB SSD , Radeon Pro 5300 4GB VRAM .
So boosting up 8GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD in costs. ( Apple really hasn't changed their RAM and SSD $/GB pricing. with M1 versus Intel). There is a bit of cost savings in dumping the dGPU and VRAM. Possibly could just swap most of those costs increase/decrease. However, haven't even touched going from mature 5K IPS display to. mini-LED. The MacBook Pro 13" to MacBook Pro 14" jump was about $200 for a one inch larger new tech screen. This 27" screen has a 90+% bigger diagonal. ( it is going to be more expensive to make ). Kind of dubious paying for that with just some relatively low end dGPU ( cheaper than what was in the MBP 16" intel model) and some rather limited amount of VRAM.
The current model iMac 27" has a. "standard glass" and nano-textured glass ( +$300) options. I would not be surprised at all if the entry level iMac was $1,999 ( $1,799 + $200 ) , but with the 5K IPS screen. It would get the same RAM and SSD minimal bumps that the MBP 14" got the screen is left there so they can technically limbo dance just under $2K. The rumors wouldn't be talking about the "boring" display entry model because not "sexy clickbait" content. ( Apple might technically need a new IPS panel because the bezels are thinner but it wouldn't have the manufacturing growing pains that the mini-LED is having. )
Instead of having a "nano-textured glass" option, Apple could just have an mini-LED option. For the large volume entry iMacs that gets them around the volume limits on 27" mini-LED screens. For the "upper half" configuration iMacs, a $300-500 mark up on screen gets Apple higher margins. Apple possibly could have an even higher mark up on nano-textured miniLED models ( which when coupled to 32-64GB of RAM and > 2TB of SSD would be pusing close to the intel iMac Pro prices. ). However, I would expect Apple to wait for 2nd gen mini-LED production before weaving in nano-glass to the process. Something to do in 2023 if M2 Pro/Max are relatively more modest bump upgrade.
Same chassis/product line with two ( or three) variations on the display panel. Apple could trickle the "Pro" suffix down to a 27" model with an M1 Pro in it. Part of the issue is that the current Intel 27" models have a pretty broad range of CPU+GPU combos to choose from in configuration. Limiting to just an M1 Pro + M1 Max is going to be more limited to what they have now. Apple can compensate by adding display options.
If they didn't cripple the chassis thermally possibly could get a "M1 Max Duo" in there and solidly have configurations in the old Intel iMac Pro price range. However, tossing the Ethernet into the power brick is a bad sign on that front.
As for notch / chin ... no notch likely means at least as much a chin so that top/bottom are symmetric. "Stuff the major electronics into the chin so can make iPad thin" , that seems doubtful given the thermals a. M1 Max needs to cover and its package size.
Notch is primarily to incrementally stretch to get some more diagonal space while limiting the height growth. The 27" iMac stands vertically.... there is no pressing limitation to match the height of the iMac to the depth of the keyboard+trackpad. It would be just more expensive to make/produce for no material gain in function. jumping from 16 -> 27 in screen size , they are already past trying to incrementally bigger screen area. They have a bigger screen.
I think Apple is sticking to 27" because it helps control the costs ( don't want the entry iMac price to raise too far because it will drop too many buyers who want something better/bigger than a 24" screen. ) . But also gives them an option of controlling costs even more by not bumping the screen tech.
If Apple does a Mini with the M1 Max, then the folks that "have to have" a 32" screen have a "Mini + XDR" path right there in the product line-up . Apple doesn't have to make the iMac cover that. Especially, if they are capping the iMac SoC usage to the same boundary as the upper-end Mini. Need a bigger screen.... buy one. ( it won't be like you are loosing performance )
Pragmatically, not really tractable for the "iPad on a stick" look. The M1 Max is going to drive the TDP over 80W. Putting 80W inside of an iPad isn't going to fly. Furthermore, the primary reason why Apple gets away with iPad thin on the 24" model is because they pushed all the major electronics into the chin of the 24". If you get rid of the chin that all has to go somewhere. No chin, then it has to be behind the display panel. You can't push more stuff behind the panel and take away volume behind the panel at the same time.
If there is substantive stuff inside the chin then can't take away the chin. ( the chin on an iMac is not purely an ornamental hollow facade. )
The XDR doesn't necessarily match up either. There are two fans in the XDR to cool the relatively minor electronics there (to minimize impact on the display's internals ) . But at least it isn't so thin have to push Ethernet off to the power brick. The XDR box with depth probably is closer though. But the iMac probably is going to have a camera (if not a FaceID camera ). Something above and below the display panel would be balanced and Apple tends to like to do symmetric stuff.
If you drop the number of buyers by an order of magnitude that isn't necessarily going to make Apple more money.
The iMac is the highest volume desktop that Apple sells. The buyers that purchase these systems are not necessarily spending "other people money". Too high of a price and people will just move on to alternatives. Even Apple alternatives. ( e.g., M1 Mini vs. iMac 24". Apple can't crank the 24" too ridiculously high because more folks will substitute a Mini for an iMac (i.e., higher fratricide ) . If Apple pushes the 27" price too high and there is a M1 Max Mini option ... same thing. And if there is no Mini option then push more folks to just exit (or shim a laptop in there).
Highly doubtful. Apple's previous iMac Pro had no "upgrade door" in the chassis. Same thing just as likely here. ( iMac Pro wasn't a total flop. Apple got substantial number of folks to buy it. Priced thousands cheaper that volume most likely will go up over the aggregate ( will loose some but also gain more ) . ) An oxymoron to advocate for an iPad like case and then turn around and expect upgrades. iPad's don't provision internal upgrades.
Most likely Apple is going to point at the USB4/TB4 sockets and say "have a nice day" to the "need a couple more M.2 SSDs" problem.
Ugh, I hate how this is likely the most accurate.All three comments above are likely true. Chin, Notch, $2500.
Next jump will probably be 32" if it increases. Match the XDR size.
The M1 Pro doesn't go that low on RAM. The GPU is coupled to the RAM. Need some base level of RAM spread over over more memory controllers just to be able to feed the bandwidth that the GPU needs. Unified memory + bigger GPU ---> higher base line RAM configuration.
It isn't hurting Apple to set the floor RAM buy to a higher amount either. Standard config RAM modules across upper MBP and upper iMac makes better economies of scale for them also.
[ I'm skeptical going to get a M1 powered option in the 27" if Apple is moving to slap "Pro" suffix on all of the 27" models. They'll probably point to the "Pro" in the M1 Pro matching the new "Pro" in the iMac name.
Yes, there is low end M1 MBP 13" for the moment. But that is the lower end of the line up. The iMac 24" is the lower end of the iMac line up. I expect Apple will "clean up" the. MBA , MBP 13" on next refresh iteration when tweak both chassis. One Macbook and maybe push MBA onto what current MBP 13" role. Several years ago Apple flip-flopped the roles but didn't change the names. Just take the "Pro" off the one-step-up-from-entry laptop model that share M1/M2/M3/etc. with no suffix attached. ]
probably will be 30 ~ 32 inches wide, no chin, doubt it will have SD Card slot, but at least 4 Thunderbolt/USB-C 4 ports, look like a mix of the Pro XDR Display and the 24-inch M1 iMac
The notch probably isn't highly accurate. The 'notch' is primarily a mechanism to save height. The iMac has about zero pressing height constraint issues. It is standing on a desktop. If there is a "height problem" it is far more Apple's non-adjustable stand for the iMacs (i.e., ergonomic height problem for a substantive amount of the population). A notch would do diddy-squat for the ergonomic problem; nothing.
Phones have a problem because pockets are only so big. Hands are only so big.
Laptops that close like a clamshell have to match the screen "height" to the "depth" of the keyboard+ trackpad.
A vertically mounted iMac on a desk has none of those constraints at all. The volume area over the vast majority desk is clean. It is empty. There is not huge driver there to save height at all. The keyboard size is entirely independent. There is no holding of an iMac in normal usage.
A notch would make the screen even more expensive to make with vastly minimal benefit. That doesn't sound like a path Apple would throw money at. More money , but buys nothing of value. It is already going to be hard enough for Apple to contract out to produce high volume, controlled cost 27" mini-LED panels. Notches would likely just make that worse and increase costs.
A notch might make the anti-chin fanatics happy. If Apple industrial design has fallen into that rabbit hole, then the inmates are running the asylum.
P.S. even for the narrow corner case desks with limited space over the desktop at 24" iMac or a Mini with an ultrawide screen ( going horizontal to compensate for vertical) would be far, far, far, better solutions that the miniscule gains a notch would have on a 27" screen height.
Fair enough, but I'd be willing to take a little thicker iMac if it meant moving the electronics from the chin to behind the screen. I'm tired of Apple's obsession with thin, especially on a desktop computer like an iMac. Thin is understandable on a mobile device, not so much with a desktop. That or maybe put it in the base like the G4 iMac or Microsoft's Surface Studio.
Fair enough. I could see maybe an iMac Pro with the XDR display, but still a fair bit too pricey.
Yeah, I doubt it, too. However, I still like the idea of having internal drive options as it means less clutter on my desk, plus a faster, more direct connection.
It's possible that Apple considers the notch a recognizable enough branding element that they're willing to get rid of the chin. But I think they'd want to have some sort of designed element (chin or notch or both) on their most famous desktop line. The iPad-on-a-stand type of design featured in this story's hero image is a bit unremarkable, I think. And I mean that in the most literal sense (as opposed to a knock against the designer). The XDR Pro display is as close to a featureless desktop as we've seen and the back of that has a very strong design element with those scoop vents polka dotted everywhere.
My hope is that there will still be a chin or the design leans heavily on some other notable design element... so it doesn't just look like my BenQ 32" monitor with the attached computer hidden.
My hope is that there will still be a chin or the design leans heavily on some other notable design element... so it doesn't just look like my BenQ 32" monitor with the attached computer hidden.
Except the notch is said to be going away on the Pro models of the iPhone 14 and might be gone on all models with the iPhone 15. So it's time as a "branding element" is rapidly ending when you consider the iPads don't have notches and the next MacBook Air will quite possibly not have a notch (just thicker bezels).
If the MBA does not have a notch, I could see the notch leaving the MacBook Pro by the next chassis generation (not through thicker bezels, but a smaller camera assembly).
And the iMac (24") does not have a notch, so why would the iMac Pro (27")?
One leaker did say that Apple was trying to keep the price of the new 27" model "around $2000" which is why I think we might see something closer to $2199 rather than $2499.
The iMac being at $1899 with 16GB and 512GB does support the iMac Pro being over $1999 at the same configuration, but $2199 is probably not unreasonable since the mid-level 10th Gen i5 / AMD 5300 iMac with 16/512 is also $2199.
I expect the iMac Pro will use the same 27" 5K panel in the Intel models, just with a MiniLED backlight instead of the current full LED backlight. Yes, that will raise the price a bit for Apple, but it should not be that excessive.
The iMac being at $1899 with 16GB and 512GB does support the iMac Pro being over $1999 at the same configuration, but $2199 is probably not unreasonable since the mid-level 10th Gen i5 / AMD 5300 iMac with 16/512 is also $2199.
I expect the iMac Pro will use the same 27" 5K panel in the Intel models, just with a MiniLED backlight instead of the current full LED backlight. Yes, that will raise the price a bit for Apple, but it should not be that excessive.
A 27" iMac M1 isn't all that much better in the GPU department if are suppose to be covering the GPU BTO options available previously.
The Radeon Pro 5300/5500 4GB range perhaps but the other options not so much. Moving to M-series is suppose to be some quantum leap forward and that is more like a backslide.
Definitely backsliding on max RAM.
If trying to control costs by using an M1, then leaving it at a current 5K IPS screen coupled to a M1 Pro would be far better trade off on bill of material (BOM) costs. ( or an incrementally modified panel if need tweaks to chop down the bezels. ). The current 5K IPS screen isn't 'bad' and the M1 Pro/Max cover all of the old GPU performance ranges.
Doubtful Apple is going to do a relatively high volume. 32" screen before they refresh the XDR. I doubt the XDR panel works coupled to iMac volumes.
I think there is a popular notion of "Just glue an iMac logic board to the back of an XDR panel and ship it".... but that doesn't make much sense technically. Don't want high thermals behind that panel.
Also if there was bigger volume behind a 32" panel something like a "M1 Max Duo" would akin to really replacing the slot the old Intel iMac Pro had. ( 18 Cores + big Vega GPU ). Wouldn't possible not even any M1 Pros in that. So if the SoCs had some sort of common Max suffix that might be more so a iMac Max than a "Pro" with Apple current nomenclature. Maybe over the long term, but doubtful that would happen in "gen 1".
Also a bit dubious that Apple would do 3-4 substantively different chassis for the iMac product line. The Intel iMac Pro was pushed to mainly conform to the 'regular' 27" model's dimensions with some few tweaks and a paint job. Apple sell 70+ % laptops so there is more variability tolerated there. Desktops are kind of a side biz for Apple. ( pushing the 24" iMac into iPad-on-a-stick constraints is illustrative of that).
Two mini. ( 1. shrunk/thinned one for. M1/M2/M3/etc. progression. 2. derivation on current popular racked/enclosured chassic with a. M1 Pro/Max. )
Two iMac. ( 1. 24" iPad on a stick for M1/M2/M3/etc . 2. 27". not so thinned out M1 Pro/Max )
Half sized Mac Pro.
is probably all the budget Apple will allocate to desktops industrial design. 4-5 different iMacs on the unit volumes that iMac does? ..... Probably not.