Latest Rumors for Every Mac: When to Expect New Models, What to Expect, and More

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Where is the 27” iMac?

Getting Apple innovated to roll out with a "starting at" price probably north of $3500 with a PRO (for PROfit) branded on it.

Why would I think this? Apple just proved that Apple people will readily pay the former iMac 27" price for the same screen alone. Take the computing guts out of a MBpro and insert them into a Studio monitor to roll out a Mx PRO-based iMac 27" probably "starting at $3499" and prob well north of $4K when nicely equipped... just like the former iMac Pro.

I foresee no 27" iMac relaunch "starting at" less than $2K or even less than $3K... but I'm neither Gruber nor Kuo... just prognosticating based on Apple's ever-increasing focus on maximizing profit above all else. I suspect the relatively great value of the former iMac 27" all in one simply did not offer Apple enough of the margin they want on each unit sold.

So it gets killed for a while, Apple establishes a 27" inch screen alone at the old "stating at..." price, which then sets up the easy justification for the new 27" iMac being priced much higher because they added a whole Mac to the Studio screen.

 

[erikkfi]

New Mac Mini, part 52839

 

[tubular]

If the Mac Mini gets an M2 in the spring, it would seem logical that the Mac Studio would need an update to exceed the M2 performance of the Mac Mini M2.

Not concerned about M2 versus M1 on the mini -- my real question is, is the Mx Pro mini coming or not? We've been three months away from an Mx Pro mini for about a year and a half now.

 

[nwcs]

I wouldn’t expect an update for the Mac Studio until late 2023 or at he 2 year mark in ‘24. The Max chips will almost certainly go to laptops first before a desktop, and a specialized desktop as the Studio is.

 

[RalfTheDog]

Mmmmmhh...
Not sure it would be wise to invest in an M2 Generation Mac Studio.
I think it'd make more sense to upgrade it to the M3 Generation.

I am not sure it would be wise to invest in an M3... I am not sure it would be wise to invest in an M4... There is always something far better, just around the corner.

Lol. The answer is: whenever Apple feels like it. There is no timetable. None whatsoever.

The worldwide supply chain is broken. It's even odds as to it being fixed anytime this decade.

Not really. In the past when Intel was more on schedule we would get updates even 2x a year especially for laptops. Now, that changed but I can see Apple doing yearly updates with certain products as the chips will be ready as they are based on the iPhone chip to start with. Otherwise we would end up with either gaps or iPhone getting the latest tech whilst the M chips lagging.

See my above answer to PauloSera.

I understand the meaning, but when we're talking about deadlines that is saying almost nothing. 6 months is a far too long period of time to mention as a potential release date. You might as well just say '2023'.

See my above answer to PauloSera.

So I come here expecting solid timeframes and I get “sometime in 2023” for just about every Mac model. Thanks MR!

See my above answer to PauloSera.


*******

It would be very nice to see a larger Studio Display with a place to bolt on a Mac Studio. Call it a Studio/Studio. It would be even cooler if it had supplemental fans to blow in air. (The Mac Studio is designed to have some of the cooling be by convection. If you bolt it on it's side, the airflow will not go the way it was intended.)

 

[deputy_doofy]

WTF is "early half of 2023"?! Is that really a term?

It's the equivalent of Comcast telling customers to expect a technician between 10a - 7pm. 😂

 

[Jack Burton]

Mac studio - just waiting for that update. What a beauty.

 

[opuscroakus]

I foresee no 27" iMac relaunch "starting at" less than $2K or even less than $3K... but I'm neither Gruber nor Kuo... just prognosticating based on Apple's ever-increasing focus on maximizing profit above all else. I suspect the relatively great value of the former iMac 27" all in one simply did not offer Apple enough of the margin they want on each unit sold.

To echo your point-

The last intel 24” iMac (2009), with a discrete gfx card, started at $1,499. The M1 24” starts at $1,299. The last intel 27” retina iMac (2020), with a discrete gfx card, started at $1,799.

That Apple can’t (won’t) release a 27” AS non-pro iMac starting at even $1,999 is ridiculous.

 

[theluggage]

If the Mac Mini gets an M2 in the spring, it would seem logical that the Mac Studio would need an update to exceed the M2 performance of the Mac Mini M2.

The M1 Max still has a clear advantage over the M2 on multi-core performance and GPU, plus all the extra ports and display support. M1 Pro (esp. the lower-end binned versions) vs. M2 might be a closer-run thing.

...but, still, that may be why they're holding off on the M2 Mini (which could have been released by now). I suspect the new-gen Pro/Max chips (whatever they are called) will be exclusive to the new MacBook Pros for a few months.

 

[skiguy45]

I'm still holding out hope that the Mac Pro will adopt some sort of daughter card interface allowing you to customize and change the number of SOCs (CPU / GPU / Memory).

Not as flexible as the current Mac Pro, but infinitely better than being stuck with what you get a time of purchase.

 

[alexandr]

It's the equivalent of Comcast telling customers to expect a technician between 10a - 7pm. 😂

Yes, I suppose it is!

 

[alexandr]

See my above answer to PauloSera.

Ok, but what is the point of a "rumor" like that?

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

To echo your point-

The last intel 24” iMac (2009), with a discrete gfx card, started at $1,499. The M1 24” starts at $1,299. The last intel 27” retina iMac (2020), with a discrete gfx card, started at $1,799.

That Apple can’t (won’t) release a 27” AS non-pro iMac starting at even $1,999 is ridiculous.

I didn't say that Apple can't, but I fully believe they won't. Now that they don't have to pay the so-called Intel premium, Macs could conceptually be priced substantially lower than their Intel predecessors. Many of us around here even spun that very concept as part of rationalizing the switch to Silicon: cheaper Macs courtesy of not having to pay Intel's high prices. And how did that play out?

This is a different Apple than 200X Apple. I suspect, 27" iMac simply was not profitable enough to 2022 Apple. But I bet the next iMac "Bigger" will be plenty profitable. Want a sub-2K iMac? Buy the 24". Want a 27"-32" iMac "pro"? Open those wallets much wider and/or sign up for long-term payments on Apple Pay.

We'll all see if this wild speculation is right or wrong when it arrives. I'll hope with all Apple consumers wanting one that it is wrong.

 

[joecomo]

This 15 inch MacBookAir looks tempting:
meaning I would go from a 1 size fits all MBookPro - to a MacBookAir and a MacStudio.
Would gain convenience, lighter travel package and a cleaner and faster desktop experience …

 

[jdb8167]

The M1 Max still has a clear advantage over the M2 on multi-core performance and GPU, plus all the extra ports and display support. M1 Pro (esp. the lower-end binned versions) vs. M2 might be a closer-run thing.

...but, still, that may be why they're holding off on the M2 Mini (which could have been released by now). I suspect the new-gen Pro/Max chips (whatever they are called) will be exclusive to the new MacBook Pros for a few months.

My M2 MacBook Air gets about 9,000 on GB5 multicore (as usual, GB charts give a significantly lower number of 8734.) According to the Mac Benchmark listing on GB Browser, the M1 Pro 10-core CPU on the 14" MacBook Pro gets a little over 12,000 but the 8-core is much lower at about 9500. So very close to the M2 multicore for the binned M1 Pro. Not very close for the 10-core M1 Pro.

Edit: The M1 Pro and M1 Max have the same number of CPU cores and very similar CPU performance. The difference is the number of GPU cores. So the M1 Max only has a clear advantage over the M2 because they don't ship M1 Max SoCs with binned CPU cores (just GPU).

 

[Mity]

Will the upcoming MBPs be based on TSMC's 3nm process or 4nm?

 

[maverick100]

Still can't get over elimination of 27" iMac. Gonna keep mine running as long as I can.

me to, 2017 27" Imac; will it keep it until it dies. So disappointed in Apple; I wish they loved Macs as much as they love iPhones. Been a Mac user for 1992. Would purchase a new 27" every other year. Give me 5 minutes Cook. He would not like that.

 

[PauloSera]

The worldwide supply chain is broken. It's even odds as to it being fixed anytime this decade.

Please. This impacted Apple's ability to produce and sell new products for about 2 months, 1 year ago. Enough with using this as an excuse for everything. EVERYONE EVERYWHERE uses this as an excuse for poor business and lazy work.

 

[coffeemilktea]

I'm really looking forward to a new iMac the most; I've currently got the 2017 iMac and I'm pretty sure it's not getting updated to the next version of macOS. 😅

 

[Realityck]

It's odd that the Mini hasn't got the M2 yet, either. It's possible that the M2 was a stop-gap, necessitated by the late appearance of 3nm, aimed purely at the MacBook Air - which is (a) probably the biggest selling mac and (b) was way overdue a re-design - since it sells into a somewhat fashion-driven school/college market. (OK, there's also the 13" MBP, but nobody knows why they still make that - probably sells by the shedload to some large customers who haven't "approved" the MBA yet).

Perhaps Apple judged it by software gains/native applications over the lockdowns preventing more Mac products. The current MacOS 13.1 OS running on M1 is a lot more optimized. It loads and shuts down way faster than the original Mac 11.6 than the first M1 MBA/MBP and M1 Mac mini used. I had expected more M1 Pro Macs versus less capable M2. Then there's the question of how would Apple's sales of a M1 Pro mini would have fared with a M1 Max Mac Studio. In some ways Apple shackled themselves with AS product launches.

 

[_Spinn_]

Still waiting to see what the Mac Pro will look like.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

Mmmmmhh...
Not sure it would be wise to invest in an M2 Generation Mac Studio.
I think it'd make more sense to upgrade it to the M3 Generation.

Why would you say that? Do you think the many tens of thousands of hours Apple invested in engineering the second generation M2 were useless? I would argue that once M2 Max and M2 Ultra are available in decently priced yields it makes total sense to use them in the Studio; easy-peasy. Anything else would be flat dumb.

As always, it is usually cost-inefficient for any M1 Studio owner to upgrade to M2 in just a year. But for those of us upgrading old boxes the more modern M2 tech makes most sense unless the savings for M1 justify living with forever-a-year-behind M1 tech. For me that would need to be more than just a few hundred dollars; YMMV.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

The first 6 months as opposed to the latter 6.

If believe the point is that "H1" or "first half" or "by July" would be more common and much less obtuse ways to say the same thing. Perhaps the author needed word count, hence "early half of 2023" instead of H1/23.

 

[iamgalt]

So I come here expecting solid timeframes and I get “sometime in 2023” for just about every Mac model. Thanks MR!

If you're looking for "solid timeframes" I suggest you don't go to a site that has the word "rumors" in it.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

Not concerned about M2 versus M1 on the mini -- my real question is, is the Mx Pro mini coming or not?

Yes a Mini Pro is coming. Just do not expect it to be a Studio at Mini pricing. Apple broadened and improved their Mac desktop line by adding the (IMO superb) Studio with ports and improved heat removal, so expect the Mini to (IMO appropriately) be solidly aimed at the lower end now that Mini no longer services all the way up to the lowest end Mac Pro.

Just my personal $0.02. Also I would not personally be surprised if Apple kept an Intel Mini in the lineup for purposes of servicing some important legacy markets like K-12 edu and/or servers.