Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

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

dawnrazor said:
this is a valid point, some of these iMac’s need to be more powerful then the current MBPs. i’m talking top of the line fully maxed models. I guess the iMacs won’t be power limited the way the laptops are, but it needs to be more than that and a fancy screen doesn’t cut it especially if they bring back the iMac Pro… that model needs to be a beast that will put a MBP M1 Max to shame….
Click to expand...

I like the sentiment but would have very little hope/expectation of this less than or equal to 6 months from now. You may be imagining M2 MAX or M3 MAX.

Conceptually, an assumption of an always-powered/no battery management Mac could run in this MAX "high power" mode more of the time when that is needed.

Best hope for this would be that with the expected M2, there is also a rollout of M2 PRO and M2 MAX at the same time. Personally, I would strongly doubt that 6 months from now but anything is possible. My guess is that M2 PRO & MAX are "next Fall" and wonder if another tier of bigger iMac waits for that point in time too.

The interesting thing about the transition is that what is traditionally considered the most powerful Macs are still to come. MBpro just got an incredible set of chips. iMac and then Mac Pro seems like they should roll out with even more power. But the timing seems messy if iMac is launching only 6 or so months from now.

If they do- for example, if there is M2 and M2 PRO & M2 MAX in 6 months (something I personally doubt)- it would imply a "big advancement" pattern every 6 months. With no expectations of Mac Pro in 6 months but either WWDC or next Fall, it seems it MUST be another leap. if M2 PRO & MAX are already 3-6 months old when it is revealed, is that M3? And if so, it even more strongly implies major leaps every 6 months.

If Apple could do that, great! But wow, I'm not seeing it. Instead I would guess for bigger iMac (and hopefully Mac Mini Pro) with the same PRO & MAX options in the Spring and then M2 PRO & MAX next Fall (Mac Pro, maybe Mac Pro Jr, maybe the bigger iMac that is expected but doesn't roll out in the Spring). All just wild guesses.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: veena3 and Argoduck
iBluetooth said:
I was hoping for a 32" version with the 6K monitor. I hope they give it as an option, then I will upgrade the current development machine: iMac27 Intel Core i9 9900 which is always turning on the fans.
Click to expand...
To drive a ProMotion-enabled 6K display, you'll need more bandwidth than a single Thunderbolt 4 lane can provide, and since the M1 Max, Apple's currently most powerful chip which is also rumored to be in these new iMacs, has 3 Thunderbolt 4 lanes, I don't see any user using two of these lanes to drive a single monitor.

We'll most likely have more Thunderbolt 4 lanes in the chips coming to the Mac Pro late next year, but until then it's unlikely Apple would be releasing an updated monitor that even in their current top of the line Mac Pros, would need to use two of the four lines they have to drive it.
 
  • Like
  • Disagree
Reactions: iBluetooth, Argoduck and Tagbert
F7158E6A-D964-4070-95F3-4237542A1D06.jpeg
I need it
 
"Regular" 27" iMac will have the Pro/Max chips from the new MBPs.

iMac Pro will have the 2x option where they stitch 2 Max's together.

Mac Pro will have the 2x and 4x options.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tbirdparis
Again with the 27" I mean, I can't say I'm unhappy with my 27" iMac, but I sure was looking forward to a 29.5" 5.5K display.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Tagbert
Bug-Creator said:
Yeah, like 4 years later *doh*

To make a bit clearer:

G5 Quad compares to:
a) MacPro
b) MacMini (base config)
Click to expand...
An actual comparison: the base Mac Mini of 2018 compares to the 8-core Mac Pro of 2009 (not high end model). 9 years. Now a $2200 *laptop* compares to a 4-years old, $10000 *desktop*
 
I got a Huawei Display Mate 28.2" monitor today and I think I could have gone bigger lol! So not sure about them sticking to a 27" iMac? I got my monitor as I will be hybrid working so have a works laptop, and my current monitor will have to go back to the office soon.
I think I'll get one of the new MacBook Pro's for my own machine to hook up to it.
 
Ooooh, looks nice! As for calling it the "iMac Pro," it doesn't surprise me too much, as even before a "Pro" model was offered the 27" Retina iMac was VERY popular with professional users, what with the very fast quad-core (and sometimes 8-core) processing, high-res 5K display, easily-replaceable RAM, good dedicated graphics cards and massive storage space, and a nice array of I/O ports to cover many pros' needs (even without adapters!) This popularity with pros was what led Apple to come up with an "iMac Pro" in 2017 in the first place.
 
  • Like
Reactions: singhs.apps and Argoduck
I’d be instantly sold if I could switch between Mac and desktop PC video input. Best affordable HDR 120Hz monitor with built-in Mac. I think the feature was there before but newest iMacs can’t do it.
 
HobeSoundDarryl said:
If they do- for example, if there is M2 and M2 PRO & M2 MAX in 6 months (something I personally doubt)- it would imply a "big advancement" pattern every 6 months. With no expectations of Mac Pro in 6 months but either WWDC or next Fall, it seems it MUST be another leap. if M2 PRO & MAX are already 3-6 months old when it is revealed, is that M3? And if so, it even more strongly implies major leaps every 6 months.

If Apple could do that, great! But wow, I'm not seeing it. Instead I would guess for bigger iMac (and hopefully Mac Mini Pro) with the same PRO & MAX options in the Spring and then M2 PRO & MAX next Fall (Mac Pro, maybe Mac Pro Jr, maybe the bigger iMac that is expected but doesn't roll out in the Spring). All just wild guesses.
Click to expand...
If I had to speculate you could see some much larger variation of the M Max SoC that has like 12 to 16 performance processing cores and 64/128 GPU cores maybe for the Mac Pro. But what if Apple just doesn't go that route and goes the direction of Mac Pros with multiple M Max?
ARM processors are designed so that they can be used in cases of multiprocessing systems where more than one processors are used to process information. First AMP processor introduced by name of ARMv6K had ability to support 4 CPUs along with its hardware.
Click to expand...
 
Not getting it. No reason to. Maybe with a 32" monitor but why do even that? I will be able to get a Mini with an M1 Max and attach 2 27" or 2 32" monitors to it and, when the next Mini comes out, I can upgrade and still have perfectly functional monitors. Minis can be the size of an actively cooled, oversized Apple TV, complete with an 8 TB SSD. Unless you need a transportable computer, ie a laptop, there is no longer a compelling reason for an integrated all in one computer and monitor
 
P-DogNC said:
The M1 Max can process 155 simultaneous instruments in Logic X. Isn’t that powerful enough?
Click to expand...
Hahaha no. Considering most of important software instruments and plugins are still not native to apple silicon, it actually performs worse than a 10 core imac pro with 32 gigs of ram. Definitely not good enough for a pro audio workstation.
 
  • Disagree
Reactions: P-DogNC, HansHeino and tbirdparis
ajfahey said:
Not getting it. No reason to. Maybe with a 32" monitor but why do even that? I will be able to get a Mini with an M1 Max and attach 2 27" or 2 32" monitors to it and, when the next Mini comes out, I can upgrade and still have perfectly functional monitors. Minis can be the size of an actively cooled, oversized Apple TV, complete with an 8 TB SSD. Unless you need a transportable computer, ie a laptop, there is no longer a compelling reason for an integrated all in one computer and monitor
Click to expand...

You (and I) HOPE they'll put MAX in a Mac Mini. We don't know that. Yes, there's rumors but rumors don't always pan out. What if Mac Mini only gets plain M2, rumored to be better than M1 but less than PRO & MAX?

Historically, if one got equivalent specs in both Mac Mini and Monitor, iMac could be more economical. However, now that we are in a theoretical of a Mac Mini getting the exact same chip (and thus having the exact same power), that may no longer apply (we better see that Mac Mini's pricing though).

Facing the replacement of my own iMac with a perfectly good screen but no practical way to use it going forward, I'm thinking the same way... that my next Mac and next monitor are separate pieces.

One thing A-series stuff has shown is that there is a strong pull to "upgrade" every 2 years and rarely much longer then 3 or 4. When you shift that thinking to Macs, turning over an iMac every 2, 3 or even 4 years seems much less desirable. While the guts could make gigantic leaps as often as every year, the monitor itself is probably not going to have equivalent technological leaps. So obsoleting great monitors because they are rigidly married to "old" hardware at that kind of pace seems highly undesirable to practical me.

I've been thrilled with iMac as my main Mac for a long time. But I think the next one is Max Mini MAX (if that shows). If not, the next move is much less clear.
 
Last edited:
If it has basically the same hardware as the MacBook Pro, they’re going to have a hard time justifying a significant price difference. I guess we’ll see…
 
  • Like
Reactions: Tagbert
Without Target Display Mode to allow for it to be used as an external monitor from at least other Macs (if not also PCs), I don't think I can buy another iMac. I like my 27" 5k iMac, but when I'm using other computers (work MacBook Pro or my PC), it is taking up space on my desk and I don't get to use that great 5k display.

But I suspect this is going to be a compelling package for the money. I hope an affordable mini LED display is released alongside it.
 
Compared to your mobile device, FaceId on the iMac would prove to be a wasteful expense, much like the Touch Bar.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back