'iMac Pro' Coming in 2022 With M1 Pro/Max Chips, 27-Inch Mini-LED Display, MacBook Pro Ports and More

[dave070]

The base Pro model doesn’t have to be for actual pros. More for people who want a 27” iMac. Just like the iPhone Pro isn’t dedicated to pros (however you define that). It’s their naming scheme for more expensive line.

I’m sure the fully loaded model will still be over $5,000.

 

[nerdo]

I want a 43inch screen and I want it to be called iMac Pro Screen Pro so I can order the iMac Pro Screen Pro M1 Pro and use Pro tools and Finalcut Pro in Pro ductions.

 

[yoak]

No, they weren't. Pros were using 33-50mp Medium Format cameras back then. I used 33 megapixel Leaf AFi on my 16GB laptops.

In fact, they were bigger files back then, due to being 16-bit raw, instead of the 12-14 bit compressed raw files you have now.

Ok. I stand corrected. I do think the medium format photographers are minority though. Not saying you can’t work with 16gb. I could edit 8K from my Red camera on my base MacBook Air M1 with 8gb of Ram. 16 would have been better though

 

[giggles]

So now we know this new iMac will be thick enough to house an HDMI port. (not true for the 23.5” M1 iMac)

As for it being roughly 27” instead of 29.5”-31.5”, it could have something to do with it being a miniLED (with less blooming and lateral color shift than the XDR 32”) and what panels are available with that technology.

Also, if they shoot for 254ppi like on the new MBPs, can you imagine what resolution it would have at 31”? (the current XDR 32” is 218ppi) Is the eDP 1.4 internal connection even capable of 6.5K 120Hz?

If it’s ~250ppi and 120Hz, it can’t be too big..

 

[iBug2]

I think Apple price drops the 32” by $1-2k in the next few months.

no way, that panel is probably expensive since it isn't common.

 

[chucker23n1]

Also, if they shoot for 254ppi like on the new MBPs, can you imagine what resolution it would have at 31”? (the current XDR 32” is 218ppi) Is the eDP 1.4 internal connection even capable of 6.5K 120Hz?

If it’s ~250ppi and 120Hz, it can’t be too big..

The 24-inch iMac is 219 ppi. There’s no reason the even larger 27-inch iMac Pro wouldn’t be.

 

[incoherent_1]

It’ll be a bit surprising if they use the same M1 Pro/Max chips as the MBP rather than release a new chip that doesn’t need to be as power-conscious as a laptop chip.

 

[Aggedor]

This looks awesome. I’m just concerned about the starting price.

Yeah, this is the issue. If they are pitching it as a pro machine (vs the 24" consumer iMac), the price could be quite alarming!

 

[giggles]

The 24-inch iMac is 219 ppi. There’s no reason the even larger 27-inch iMac Pro wouldn’t be.

Actually there could be plenty of reasons
- it being a “Pro” machine like the just releases MBPs
- new display tech compared to the M1 iMac
- etc.

Unless we assume this kind of consistency:

- all laptops from now on are ~250ppi, since on laptops you’re limited in diagonal so you need more pixels to have decent non-scaled resolutions

- all desktop screens from now on stay ~220ppi like they’ve been since 2012 on the 5K iMac, because you can just make them bigger to have more screen real estate and because you look at them from a longer distance compared to laptops

 

[Rodney Dangerfield]

Ugh, I bet this means it won’t be offered any fun colors. I would love a purple iMac, but I don’t want to step down from my 5K 27-inch screen.

Hopefully, Apple will offer the new 27" iMac Pro in SPACE GREY!

 

[giggles]

It’ll be a bit surprising if they use the same M1 Pro/Max chips as the MBP rather than release a new chip that doesn’t need to be as power-conscious as a laptop chip.

Put a beefy desktop cooling solution on it and tune it to be always in “high power mode”.

 

[IllinoisCorn]

Interesting news, but why can't they work on more than one iMac at a time ?

I mean, they're manufacturing new phones, watches and MacBooks....There's not enough land to build enough factories to spit everything out at once, at least not without compromises in quality/quality control.

That's my speculation.

 

[ruka.snow]

Ok. I stand corrected. I do think the medium format photographers are minority though. Not saying you can’t work with 16gb. I could edit 8K from my Red camera on my base MacBook Air M1 with 8gb of Ram. 16 would have been better though

The extra RAM is for batch processing and importing. Working on individual photos is fine even on 8GB. We can work with 100 MP images with dozens of layers on the current M1 in both Capture One and Lightroom. The extra cores and RAM is now so we can start working sooner when importing 500 GB of files.

 

[IllinoisCorn]

Hopefully, Apple will offer the new 27" iMac Pro in SPACE GREY!

Why not dream? Maybe they'll release it in BLACK

 

[Tyler O'Bannon]

I was hoping for that 32” 6K Display size. 27” 5K is still killer.

Crazy that we now have sycronous chips across laptop and desktop. M1 on lower power devices (which is funny to say) and M1 Pro and Max in higher power devices. Doesn’t matter if it’s laptop or desktop.

 

[Skyscraperfan]

Shouldn't the iMac Pro have more power than a MacBook Pro? An iMac is plugged in and you should be able to take advantage of that. It should have at least two M1 Max or M1 Pro or a version with even more cores. Otherwise it would make more sense for the customer to just buy a monitor for the MacBook Pro. That could even have 32 inch or more.

 

[Rodney Dangerfield]

Why not dream? Maybe they'll release it in BLACK

Agree...Even though Black would be a dream come true, one must maintain "Pro" status!

 

[Realityck]

It’ll be a bit surprising if they use the same M1 Pro/Max chips as the MBP rather than release a new chip that doesn’t need to be as power-conscious as a laptop chip.

One of the reasons Apple went to their own ARM based SOC processors is greater power efficiency. They are not categorized as mobile processors versus desktop processors anymore, they can be used in many products. What you’ll likely see is that the thermal design in the upcoming larger iMac will be more efficient in bleeding heat away allowing lower temps when doing heavy computing tasks. Some of the testing of the MBPs was showing them running near 100 C. When I think about the Intel based 27” iMacs they were just big screen laptop adaptions using mobile processors and GPUs. Now with the M Pro and M Max being utilized you will be doings things as well or better then the best Intel iMac Pro line that was discontinued with far better thermals. Can’t wait to see the new iMacs arrive.

 

[quarkysg]

One of the reasons Apple went to their own ARM based SOC processors is greater power efficiency. They are not categorized as mobile processors versus desktop processors anymore, they can be used in many products. What you’ll likely see is that the thermal design in the upcoming larger iMac will be more efficient in bleeding heat away allowing lower temps when doing heavy computing tasks. Some of the testing of the MBPs was showing them running up to 106 C peak. When I think about the Intel based 27” iMacs they were just big screen laptop adaptions using mobile processors and GPUs. Now with the M Pro and M Max being utilized you will be doings things as well or better then the best Intel iMac Pro line that was discontinued with far better thermals. Can’t wait to this products arrives.

My take is similar to yours.

I think Apple will have 3 categories of Macs when they are done with the AS transition. Each category will have a mobile or desktop option, with the same processing power.

The M1 powers the base category Macs.

The M1 Pro/Max powers the mid category Macs, and we’re just seeing the mobile options. The desktop versions are coming.

The transition will end with the workstation category. For this category, probably only desktops. But Apple may surprise here as well.

 

[Realityck]

Shouldn't the iMac Pro have more power than a MacBook Pro? An iMac is plugged in and you should be able to take advantage of that. It should have at least two M1 Max or M1 Pro or a version with even more cores. Otherwise it would make more sense for the customer to just buy a monitor for the MacBook Pro. That could even have 32 inch or more.

One of the most interesting observations was when running M MAX based laptops with video editing multiple 8k streams was when you went to just battery the same level of processing continues, instead of reduced performance because it’s not plugged in.

 

[bushman4]

A guess would be that this iMac starts out at $4000 and if maxed out it would be over $5000. Remember this is intended as a high end graphics, gaming and guru machine. And yes there are many people that have Use for a machine of this type both in the commercial and private sectors

 

[bluecoast]

The "white bezel" / "black bezel" divide between the MacBook and MacBook Pro was right out of Steve Job's playbook, best seen in the 2010 MB/MBP releases.

I knew many people who went with the entry level MBP over the white MB just for the looks. In the mean time, the substantially cheaper white MB was derided. 10 years later and it's clear that the white bezeled MB was nearly as capable as the MBP.

Yes, I remember!

I think it's clear that they'll be a replacement for the current entry level MPB for those that are infuriated by white bezels.

i.e. an exec style 'ultrabook' laptop that looks pro (black bezels!) but which has an Mx only and long battery life.

I'd imagine that a Mini LED with Promotion will be the feature that clearly distinguishes it from a MBA/MB.

And perhaps an HDMI port too. I.e. this machine will be for Keynote 'pros'.

The naming will be interesting.

Is this sort of machine would be 'Pro' as in 'luxury'?

It wouldn't be 'Pro' as in

'more power than you'll ever need unless you are actually an app dev or audio/visual professional'.

 

[blairh]

Pretty sure this machine will start at $2,500. Shame that a new 27" iMac will set you back that much money.

 

[Aboo]

what's the point of HDMI? how many really use a second monitor with an iMac 27? sure there are some but certainly not the majority ...
and 27 would be a disappointment, would have expected 30 ...

Unless it’s an HDMI input device? Plug in your computer/iPad/etc into the display…a return to target display mode?

 

[Homy]

Some of the testing of the MBPs was showing them running up to 106 C peak.

That is most likely a misinformation that Max Tech is spreading due to a bug in the new TG Pro they used. I their latest video they use iStat Menus. Many have reacted to that and noted the bug in TG Pro. Other such apps don't show such high temperatures, like Luke Miani showed. CPUs are designed to throttle at near 100 degress C for safety reasons but in Max Tech's review it didn't throttle even at 106. TG Pro is off by 10 degrees.