Gurman: Larger Apple Silicon iMac 'En Route,' May Feature More Powerful 'M2X' Chip

[fontman]

A larger redesigned, Apple silicon-powered iMac to replace the current 27-inch Intel model is still "en route," according to Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman.

Writing in the latest instalment of his Power On newsletter, Gurman says the fact that Apple recently increased the screen size for the smaller iMac from 21.5 to 24 inches suggests to him that the 27-inch model could see an equivalent size increase.
Apple has been working on a larger iMac with in-house processors for some time, but development of that version was reportedly paused to let Apple focus on releasing the redesigned 24-inch model, which was announced in April.

The 27-inch Intel models that remain in Apple's lineup launched in August 2020, suggesting they are reaching the end of their production cycle.

A new larger iMac would likely ape several changes that debuted in the latest 24-inch model, such as a thinner overall design, studio-quality microphones, and of course more powerful Apple silicon processors replacing Intel.

In a separate newsletter tidbit, Gurman also played down the idea that Apple could bring Touch ID to the Apple Watch one day. Gurman conceded that he could see the utility of Touch ID in the Apple Watch to approve app and media download payments, but said he didn't see that happening "any time soon, if ever."

Article Link: Gurman: Larger Apple Silicon iMac 'En Route,' May Feature More Powerful 'M2X' Chip

 

[fontman]

Waiting Ready to purchase. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[smetvid]

Apple has stated numerous times it will replace all Intel Macs with Apple Silicon. Somebody writes an article predicting Apple will do just that. Amazing!

No duh its coming and will use a higher end chip. No pro used to the performance of the 27" would accept the M1 performance right now. It would be a downgrade for most users. The M1 has only replaced the entry level Macs which includes the Intel 21" iMac. Its an absolute obvious given the 16" MBP and 27" iMac will have a higher performing chip design. This is not only the most basic common sense but Apple themselves have indicated all machines will be replaced by Apple Silicon.

Apple Silicon is a tougher sell for pros so without a doubt it has to perform better than the M1.

The only unknown right now I what that new screen size will be, what resolution it will have, if it will have a chin which as of right now its safe to assume it will and what the next chip will actually be called and how it will perform.

It is largely assumed Apple will double cores. Thats pretty darn assume on the CPU side. On the GPU side it may not be enough. I hope they have a 2x option and a 4x option for those that need extra GPU performance.

The final major unknown is cost. Will Apple try to target the cost of a typical large base iMac? How much will a potential higher end GPU cost and how much ram will it allow.

 

[cinder]

I don't really need any more "Apple may ship a bigger iMac" stories, I want stories about actual imminent ship dates.
☹️

 

[name99]

Oh god!
Can anyone play this game?
I predict there will be an M3Z chip and it will be so cool you won't be able to feel your fingers when you use it.

At this point this is not rumor, it's idiotic pointing out the obvious: Apple will make future versions of the same products it has today, and they will have better chips in them -- possibly with these marketing names (though who knows, maybe the marketing names will be different).

This is just embarrassing. M1X, no M2, no M2X. My vaporware can beat up your vaporware.

 

[kenaustus]

Plus, I don't see Apple and Nvidia burying the hatchet any day soon - all the noises from Apple seem to have been that Apple Silicon GPUs are the future and even AMD might be for the chop, so it's hardly the time for them to bring back official Nvidia support. If Nvidia's takeover of ARM goes through then the Apple/Nvidia relationship could get quite fractious.

If that's a problem why doesn't Apple just add a billion to Nvida's bid, buy ARM in full for their own protection and then license the parts they don't need to others, from Intel to Nvida to anyone else? All Apple really wants is the use of ARM for their processors, plus any advancements. And Apple sure hs the cash.

For the "new" larger iMac, I feel sure that Apple co-developed both sizes together at some level, making this larger version easier to get out. They will have a solid database of customer color preferences so will be able to made decisions on want they will deliver. I'm betting on the same as the 24" IF they do includes colors - specially if it includes silver.

Me? At 76 I'll need to start saving part of my SS pension to get the big one - hopefully I'll live long enough to enjoy it!

 

[sunny5]

high end iMac needs better AS chip, not from 14/16 inch MBP's chip.

 

[PsykX]

I almost hope it's M1X, because if it's M2X, I feel like it won't be there until many more months.
My iMac was due 2 years ago, even though I still use it 40hr/week, I'm holding onto it until the next large Apple Silicon iMac.

 

[Acorn]

Normally im not on edge about when new products are released but the possible redesign of the 27/32 iMac has me on edge. as well as a possible redesigned Mac mini. I just want them to be released so I can finally breath again.

 

[Santiago]

If Apple put any of the main features of iPads or iPhones onto Macs then they would cannibalise their own sales.

If your product has an avenue for obvious improvement and efficiencies that obsolete part of your product line, you can either cannibalize your own sales, or let a competitor eat them. Jobs himself said "If you don't cannibalize yourself, someone else will."

The problem with the Mac Mini option, at least in my case, is that there are no affordable external monitors that match the quality of the 27" 5K retina display. The Pro Display XDR is ridiculously overpriced (not to mention the $1K stand) so that's not an option.

Everything else on the market is inferior to the built-in display on the 27" iMac. I think Apple likes keeping that panel to themselves since it gives them an advantage.

The LG 27" 5K Ultrafine uses the exact same panel as the 27" iMac. (I'm looking at mine hooked up to my M1 Mini right now, which replaced my first-gen iMac 5K.) It's $1300 MSRP, but can sometimes be found for $1000.

 

[dazzer21-2]

If it doesn’t have a chin, I’m not interested!! 🤨

 

[blacktape242]

3k starting point im sure?

 

[deconstruct60]

That’s not what Mark said at all. I mean the actual text is even in the article. Your headline is completely wrong.

He says that they’ve started working on it again after having stopped. Which means who the hell knows when it’s actually coming.

He also says it will most likely ship with an M1X and then mentions M2X as an afterthought. And the only reason he mentions the M2X because of the possibility that this thing will take another year to ship.

Yeah, but would the truth generate as many page clicks and ad views ? The alternative version probably makes macrumors more money.

If they didn't try to completely thin out the iMac Pro chassis it wouldn't necessarily take "who knows how long". For example, Mac Mini , first stab at MBP 13" . Or start with a simplification to the XDR chassis if picking same panel size (e.g., add chin for electronics and get rid of $900 stand. ).

But yeah, if they are in full OCD mode and making it so thin that it looses Ethernet and Headphone jacks on the back ... who knows how long they will wander off in the "ever thinner" swamp.

 

[ColdShadow]

I hope they redesign them and change this horrendous design too.

 

[Warped9]

I hope they redesign them and change this horrendous design too.

If you are referring to the current iMac design then you will likely be bitterly disappointed.


No one knows for certain where technological advancement will go and/or what form it will take. Today we are surrounded by technology that only the most prescient might have envisioned 30-50 years ago. We can be certain the current state will not remain static. And past precedent is not always a reliable guide for what is to come.

Could anyone in the 1960s but a science fiction writer have envisioned a device like an iPhone or iPad? And it took 30-40 years to make them a reality particularly for the mass market. A flat screen display was pure Star Trek way back in the day when displays and televisions were bulky, clunky, poor resolution CRTs in a box.

The real barrier to evolving these is materials to allow for the desired forms. Many devices are evolving away being having to physically connect to other devices. In many instances today’s smartphone has no need to physical port with any other device—everything is wireless. The only time it needs to physically touch another device is for wireless charging. I, for one, really welcome that ability. Given that materials are the only barrier to how thin a smartphone or tablet can get.

In extent, and given advancing wireless connectivity, materials may be the only real barrier to how thin a desktop display or AIO computer can get.

 

[McScooby]

Just hurry up and announce the MacMini Max Pro already!

 

[Realityck]

A larger redesigned, Apple silicon-powered iMac to replace the current 27-inch Intel model is still "en route," according to Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman.

Writing in the latest instalment of his Power On newsletter, Gurman says the fact that Apple recently increased the screen size for the smaller iMac from 21.5 to 24 inches suggests to him that the 27-inch model could see an equivalent size increase.

Still nothing new for iMac rumors. I guess instead of using the term coming soon, it's fashionable to say it is still "en route" now.

 

[thingstoponder]

It's an obvious made up fake mock-up to not give a false impression about some knowledge on how it will really look.

Yet when the 24” iMac was announced people were furious that it didn’t look exactly like the mock-ups. People were acting like it was surprising the iMac had a chin even though every previous one had a chin and there was never a credible rumor that it wouldn’t.

If you’re gonna make a fake mock-up then make it look like the existing 24”. But they don’t because fake mock-ups get clicks.

 

[Warped9]

And after the 24 was released lots of folks (including me) made mockups of what a new 30in. iMac could look like using the same design language as the 24.

 

[thingstoponder]

Nobody knows that at this stage. It's possible - but Apple could also decide to have different design languages for "consumer" and "pro" ranges (especially if that becomes a much clearer distinction with all the "consumer" machines having "M1" or it's successors and "pro" machines having what people are currently calling "M1X/M2X").

There is zero evidence that the big iMac is going to be a “pro” machine. The current 27” smokes the MBP in performance and they don’t market it as a pro machine. I don’t see why the new one would be any different or why it would get a new design even though the iMac has never had a distinction in design between the big and small one.

They could adopt the Mac Pro/XDR display "steampunk" style, or use black/space-grey as a distinguishing factor (as they did with the iMac Pro).

No reputable or even un-reputable rumors/reporting indicates this. Don”t get your hopes up.

There's also the practicality - these iMacs are going to sell in lower volumes and may have a wider range of BTO options for RAM, GPU cores etc (which they'll need if they're going to cover the same range as base 27" iMac through to tricked-out iMac Pro) so having all that plus half-a-dozen colour options creates a logistics nightmare.

I don’t see it being that complex. Maybe 2 SoC options. Maybe 3 RAM options. A few storage options. Existing Intel Macs have more options and M1 Macs have generally had less options.

Maybe the color selection is less or different but expecting an entirely different design is fantasy at this point.

I don’t see why this machine has to replace the iMac Pro. That machine was canceled. There is no replacement for it. Even when the trash can Mac Pro and Mac Mini languished without an update for years they never got rid of it until it was replaced. That should tell you everything you need to know about the future of the iMac Pro. It has none.

But, currently, anybody's guess is as good as anybody else's...

Sure but odds are it will resemble the current one and not an iPad on a stick like the mockup. Might as well stick to the more likely option. The exact same thing happened with the 24” with those same mockups yet macrumors feels fine misleading people again with bogus fantasy mock-ups.

 

[Scoob Redux]

Could we have some actual usable ports on our desktop computer? USB-A, SD card slot, ethernet? And, idk, maybe put the power supply INSIDE a desktop computer? After all, it's not a laptop. idc how thin it is. Function first. oh, wait, this is Apple....

 

[Scoob Redux]

If you are referring to the current iMac design then you will likely be bitterly disappointed.


No one knows for certain where technological advancement will go and/or what form it will take. Today we are surrounded by technology that only the most prescient might have envisioned 30-50 years ago. We can be certain the current state will not remain static. And past precedent is not always a reliable guide for what is to come.

Could anyone in the 1960s but a science fiction writer have envisioned a device like an iPhone or iPad? And it took 30-40 years to make them a reality particularly for the mass market. A flat screen display was pure Star Trek way back in the day when displays and televisions were bulky, clunky, poor resolution CRTs in a box.

The real barrier to evolving these is materials to allow for the desired forms. Many devices are evolving away being having to physically connect to other devices. In many instances today’s smartphone has no need to physical port with any other device—everything is wireless. The only time it needs to physically touch another device is for wireless charging. I, for one, really welcome that ability. Given that materials are the only barrier to how thin a smartphone or tablet can get.

In extent, and given advancing wireless connectivity, materials may be the only real barrier to how thin a desktop display or AIO computer can get.

That was alot of philosophy, but, ultimately, the issue is that Apple's new 24" iMac is a huge miss from a usability standpoint. They did make it thin, I'll give them that. Problem is, no one ASKED for a thin desktop. I mean, it's fine for a museum, but there's no point. Especially, when you need dongles and an external power brick to make it usable.

To your point about technological advancement, there is no guarantee that the latest and greatest is necessarily better. It's just the latest. Some missteps, like butterfly keyboards, eventually get replaced or improved. Others (like side-mounted iPhone power buttons opposed to volume buttons) persist. Yes, the new large iMac may be just as bad a design as the 24", but we can hope that's not the case!

 

[Warped9]

The iMac 24 is not a miss from a usability standpoint. It’s only a miss in terms of those who expected more than what it was designed for.

The thin design is also not a surprise given how the iMac has been evolving since it was first introduced. One has to accept that their idea of what they think the iMac should be is different than what Apple thinks it should be. And their track record makes a better case for what Apple thinks it should be.

 

[poked]

Give me a white bezel and a rose gold option, and I’ll gently admire it from YouTube videos. Otherwise it’ll be pretty meh. Black bezel just does not go with my room aesthetic or design choice.

 

[Mr.Brossard]

Does it at least have built-in Ethernet?