Apple's Next iMac Pro: Everything We Know

[SFjohn]

When Steve Jobs returned to Apple, after being kicked out, Apple was the underdog. Windows nearly had a monopoly.

Steve rebuilt Apple into the world’s most valuable company.

20+ years later, now Apple nearly has a monopoly…

That said, if you’ve been following along, there has been Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000, XP, 7, 8, 10, and now 11.

So, it’s not like Microsoft ever left… Still running NTFS in 2021

Or to be very clear, Apple is not going away.

What in the world does Apple have a monopoly on? Android is most used worldwide for phones, tablets, TVs, etc.

 

[repoman27]

Yes, because having an industry standard display connector, as used on virtually all modern TVs and most low/mid-range computer monitors, that lets you connect a second up-to-4k TV or monitor is obviously nuts, whereas the current iMac situation - the only two data ports supporting Thunderbolt and USB 3.1g2 "wasted" driving external displays because some bright spark thought it would be a cool idea to create an unnecessary bottleneck by making two unrelated resources share the same port - is perfectly sane.

I see the USB-C Kool Aid still hasn't lost it's potency.

...if the new iMac is only going to have 3 TB ports (likely, given that the M1 Pro/Max only have 3 TB controllers) then some dedicated display ports to keep the TB ports clear for high-speed data would be welcome. Personally, I'd prefer DisplayPort (HDMI is a thing on laptops because of data projectors) but HDMI would be fine for all my existing monitors...

On the one hand, I'm skeptical since the iMac doesn't have a history of HDMI ports and this "rumour" sounds like a re-hash of what the new MacBook Pro turned out to be... but then, on the other hand, most of the specs are going to be based on what the M1 Pro/Max system-on-a-chip can do, so it probably will be essentially a MacBook Pro onna stick...

Turning a perfectly good DisplayPort 1.4 port into a less capable HDMI 2.0 port is always a questionable choice. And I count up to five Thunderbolt 4 ports on the M1 Pro and Max:

Looks like three PCI Express Gen4 x4 ports, four similar Thunderbolt 4 ports, and one oddball in the middle with what looks like an additional DisplayPort PHY. I'm guessing that's a video side port, which is used to connect dedicated display output ports like the HDMI port on the MacBook Pros using a Kinetic / MegaChips MCDP2920 DisplayPort 1.4 to HDMI 2.0b protocol converter. The USB4 PHY could also be connected to a USB 3.2 Gen 2x1 hub to avoid the need for a discrete USB3 xHCI like the ASMedia ASM3142 used in the 24-inch iMac. Regardless, it seems like there's plenty of I/O to go around on the M1 Pro/Max.

edit: The PCIe lanes are most likely capable of at least Gen4 (16 Gbit/s) signaling.

 

[MacLawyer]

Take my money!!!!!

 

[kingtj1971]

The thing I know is I should have waited for this instead of buying a MacBook Pro. I never move my MacBook Pro. Alas, I am weak and Apple's marketing got me once again.

I have one of the original base configuration iMac Pros that I still use as my primary Mac at home. (Using it now to write this message!) I started thinking about this and I think you may be right. I ordered a new M1 Max 16" MBP and am trading in a 2019 Intel model for some credit .... but it's really this iMac that I should have been trying to resell or trade in. My 3 year AppleCare on it has expired and it's making a lot of fan noise, even when it's pretty much idle. I assume it could just be due to dust and lint that got sucked into it, reducing its cooling efficiency? Except I've tried using canned air through its vents and that hasn't helped a bit.

 

[vegetassj4]

Waiting on the iPad Pro Max Pro

 

[PBG4 Dude]

Save your pennies folks. I'm thinking that an adequately equipped iMac Pro is going cost way more than $2K. Nowadays, 512GB storage doesn't cut it. And since it's very likely that memory is not going to be user upgradeable as it is now on the 27" iMacs, that too is going to be expensive if you want more than 16GB.

Every machine they sell with soldered RAM costs $100/8GB to upgrade.

 

[HiVolt]

I'll tell you what you (or anyone else) knows. Nothing.

 

[Warped9]

Two things you can pretty much bank on:
- the new design will have a chin although it will look proportionately smaller with the bigger display.
- it will be at least 27 inches, but no more than 30.

This will essentially be a MacBook Pro on a pedestal. If it starts at the same price as the 14in. MacBook Pro then the base 512 SSD makes sense—similar performance yet giving you choice of type of computer.

 

[macsba]

When Apple rolls out Apple VR, will any of you even consider buying an Oculus? Sorry, I mean a Meta Quest:

Meta Quest 2 Is Already Replacing Oculus Quest 2 Branding

A week on from its Connect conference, Meta is moving ahead with rebranding the Oculus Quest 2 as the Meta Quest 2. In last week’s keynote, CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed that Meta is the new corporate company name for Facebook. Almost all individual services under the company’s umbrella,

uploadvr.com

I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple wraps the Apple VR 4k in neon Apple Watch silicone bands.

Apple's first AR/VR headset will need to be connected to an iPhone | AppleInsider

Apple's first augmented and virtual reality headset will need to be tethered to an iPhone for its most advanced features, much like non-cellular Apple Watch models, new chip details suggest.

appleinsider.com

“Apple VR, now in Lime Green. Only $1,299 for the 64GB variant.”

NO! Never. Why would I buy something that steals my personal data. Also it seems like meta is stealing the logo design from Infinity Systems (the sound/speaker company).

 

[HowardEv]

Hoping that we are a 27" screen with no Mac in it as well.

Yes! And to go with it, a new Mac Mini Pro. With batteries in both the screen and Mini. And a wireless connection.

 

[repoman27]

100% agree. The M1 Pro and Max blow away the competition in Intel's U and H series laptop chips, but as the Alder Lake benchmarks show it will struggle to compete with a top end i9 or Ryzen 5900x. I've heard the argument "Alder Lake is a desktop chip and the M1 Max is a laptop chip" but the M1 is both a laptop and desktop chip in Apple's eyes so it seems clear the M1 Pro and Max are destined for desktops too. Unless Apple sticks two M1 Maxes in the iMac Pro as an option...

Just so we're on the same page, Intel's just released Alder Lake performance cores are 10-14% faster than the performance cores in Apple's M1, which has been shipping for a full year now. That's also with a maximum clock speed of 5.2 GHz vs. 3.2 GHz.

The flagship 16-core / 24-thread Intel Core i9-12900K with a 241W power limit and DDR5 memory is only 1% faster at floating point multithreaded workloads than the 10-core / 10-thread M1 Max in a 3.5 pound, 14-inch laptop. The M1 Max also beats the 16-core / 32-thread AMD Ryzen 9 5950X by 26% at those same workloads.

The M1 Max does lag behind those processors by 51% and 56% respectively when it comes to integer multithreaded workloads, but that's also hardly surprising seeing as they support 2.4x and 3.2x the number of threads.

Of course most of the M1 Max die area is devoted to the integrated GPU, which absolutely obliterates the GT1 Xe-LP IGP found (and sometimes even enabled) in the Alder Lake-S chips, or the non-existent IGP in the Ryzen 5000X series.

Bottom line, the M1 Pro and Max are a very solid starting point for a high-end all-in-one (iMac) or USFF (Mac mini). They are not HEDT / workstation class CPUs, nor can they compete with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 on the discrete GPU front. However, the proposed Jade 2C-Die absolutely could, and would still probably fit in a 27-inch iMac just fine.

 

[Maclomania]

Hardware and software companies are going to keep removing features from macOS and iOS to get you to switch to Android or Windows.

Here’s one reason why: Android has no trash can.

If you delete a file on Android, it’s gone forever. If you accidentally delete it, oops, oh well. Sorry you lost the only photo of your Grandmother!

And no one notices because everyone in tech has their shiny new Mac.

Given that Android doesn’t have a trash bin in 2021, and probably won’t in 2022, why would you leave macOS?

I don’t mean to be rude, and I’m not trying to sound hostile, but it should be obvious. iPad looking iMac or not, macOS is going to be King for another decade.

It was never about the OS, it was the form.

 

[duanepatrick]

Apple's 2022 iMac Pro: Everything @TheYayAreaLiving ? Know!​

View attachment 1909350

What an effort! This made my day! lol

 

[fwmireault]

This is the device I wanted since the transition to Apple Silicon. Can’t wait!

 

[johncalvinyoung]

Whatever form factor the new high-spec iMac will take, I hope it supports Target Display Mode once again, or else Apple has a midrange first-party display to offer, for something less than $5k. I'd love to have an XDR display on my desk, but it doesn't offer enough over my 4K IPS monitor to be worth literally more than ten times the price. I'd happily spend 1200-2500 though on the right display.

 

[Solomani]

As an addedd bonus, it MIGHT even have physical ports. Yesssss.... ports! You know, those socket things you use to connect other physical devices? Like every single PC and all the legacy Macs used to have?

 

[bobob]

Why would Apple get rid of the two sizes of consumer all-in-one desktops? They have had the 21" and 27" iMac for years, in addition to the short-lived iMac Pro. Why would the larger screen size be tied to expensive high-powered chips?

I'm hoping for a 32" regular iMac with an M1 to go with the new 24" iMac.

If they want to also add an iMac Pro to their lineup, that's fine - - but it's another thing altogether.

 

[mrdoodle]

I would personally love it if they just did this:

• iPad (+mini), iPad Pro
• iPhone (+mini), iPhone Pro
• iMac, iMac Pro
• MacBook, MacBook Pro
• Mac, Mac Pro

 

[canadianreader]

Macrumors still using that clickbait fake mockup that will never happen. It will have a chin.

The chin will be on top no need for a notch

 

[Wanted797]

512GB HD? Are you smoking crack? You gonna put "pro" on a machine and put half a terabyte HD in it? COME ON

All MacBooks pros start at 512 or less….

 

[bushman4]

decrease the size of the chin or eliminate the chin and i'm in

 

[Blue Nova]

Now this is just a rumor.

 

[symphony]

27" iMac Pro with M1 Pro & M1 Max, and 32" iMac Pro Max with M1 Pro & M1 Max.

Seriously though, a matte glass texture for the chin would be nice.

 

[sos47]

HDMI, SD Card etc makes no sense on the rear of an iMac anymore. Perhaps an audio jack for us, the creative musicians, but the codec should be premium (lossless 96khz). 4Thunderbolt plus 2 USB A for midi host and keyboard/ mouse. Hoping for a bigger display than 27

 

[svish]

Would be really good if it starts at $1999 and not any higher. Hoping it comes in colours. But if it is launched as a 'Pro' iMac it would be unlikely.