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New iMac Not Expected to Launch Until Late 2023 at Earliest
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iMac with M2 Pro would be nice. And 27' screen 
I have been using the 24" iMac since fall 2021. My needs are fairly simple, email, internet, MS office, some financial apps like Quicken and Turbotax. I have 16GB, 1TB configuration. Screen size is perfect for me and I like the all-in-one design. My previous iMac was 2011 27" and the 24" iMac fit my replacement needs perfectly. I don't need the additional screen space and only use one monitor. I do follow a lot of threads on this site regarding the Mac mini and Studio and will find it interesting to see what the next 12-24 months holds for the iMac and Mac Studio.
I've been saying since the release of the M1 iMac that I think the larger, more pro, iMac is dead – as is/was the "pro" Mac Mini. The AS Macs are powerful as heck, so the logical way to differentiate the models between "Pro" and "Consumer" is size. The iMac was always meant to be a consumer machine, as was the Mini.
I think Apple is simply returning to that idea. And the fact is that for the vast majority of consumers, the 24" screen is perfectly fine.
The Studio is the new "pro" version of the Mini/iMac, and also fits the bill for the many, many people who always wanted a smaller Mac Pro.
I don't expect we're ever going to see another 27" iMac, nor a Mini with more ports or powerful chip configurations than the current Minis (other than upgraded chips, of course).
I'm telling you there is going to be a 40th Anniversary iMac. Both large and small. It might be the last ones but I doubt it. I'll milk my 2019 Intel iMac until then! 🤞
I’ve had an iMac as my main computer over a span of 3 decades now. I always thought of it as a powerful desktop, a high end monitor and a desk space saver. Always offered exceptional value w/ few alternatives when you consider those 3 things.
Times have changed for the better. Apple finally released a fantastic display, the space saving mini w/ m2 pro has all the power most need. I can truly say that bundling everything in one package just isn’t that important anymore.
Times have changed for the better. Apple finally released a fantastic display, the space saving mini w/ m2 pro has all the power most need. I can truly say that bundling everything in one package just isn’t that important anymore.
Apple is aggressively pushing its customers to buy the Studio display. Apple is slow to noticing the middle finger customers are showing it let alone understand it. No worry: hookup the M2 Mac Mini to the Samsung M8 Display and you are finished, even cheaper than the obsolete 27” iMac.
No. I'm in the market for a new iMac and makes no sense to spend so much on hardware from 2 years ago. The spec I need will cost me around £2500 and it's just too much for a CPU that's getting on a bit. The M2 with the slightly increased CPU performance but greatly increased GPU performance would have been a no brainer purchase for me. As it stands, I will have to wait maybe up to year or more until the M3 version.
Who knows, by this time Apple may release a 27" iMac which would possibly be of interest unless Apple market the 27" iMac as a Pro machine with the Pro tax.
True. I have a 24" m1 iMac in both of my offices and I honestly couldn't be happier for what it is that I do.
I don’t know why I thought once they controlled the processor chips upgrades would be smoother and more timely like iPhones.
They may not have planned for a worldwide pandemic that massively disrupted the semiconductor industry.
It can go either way. On one hand, Apple controls the update cycle for their own processors, so the buck stops with them. On the other hand, because Macs sell in lower volumes than iPhones and since people replace their iPads and Macs way less frequently, there is less incentive to update them every year (processor design is costly stuff after all), and I suspect we are seeing a 1.5-2 year cycle play out.
If you like the Mac Studio, two Mac Minis will give you the same experience.
So it means that apple didn’t know what it did for ages, by selling an imac 27”. But better late than never 🙂
No, there aren’t. The only alternative to studio display is LG but it costs almost the same. I don’t know why no one makes 27-30” 5k displays. Even samsung, that copies everything apple does, doesnt make one. Fact is with imac 27” u get more for less.
I've been on both sides of the all-in-one divide. My first Mac was the second Mac -- the 512K "Fat Mac" -- and my first iMac was the first iMac, revision A, the one you sometimes had hard reboot with a paper clip because the power key on the keyboard locked up when the rest of the system did.
So there's something really nice about the convenience. But I also get a new Mac every three or four years, to keep up with the tech improvements (I'm a developer), and it was never the screen that needed replacing, just the stuff the screen was welded to, so the iMac stopped being the right answer for me.
For a long time I used an iMac 27" at work, and it was a nice machine, just not one that I would have bought with my own cash.
Right now I've got a M2 Pro mini on order, to replace my 2018 Intel mini. I won't need to buy any new monitors, and I won't need to sell any old monitors.
So there's something really nice about the convenience. But I also get a new Mac every three or four years, to keep up with the tech improvements (I'm a developer), and it was never the screen that needed replacing, just the stuff the screen was welded to, so the iMac stopped being the right answer for me.
For a long time I used an iMac 27" at work, and it was a nice machine, just not one that I would have bought with my own cash.
Right now I've got a M2 Pro mini on order, to replace my 2018 Intel mini. I won't need to buy any new monitors, and I won't need to sell any old monitors.
I agree it's likely that sales of the current iMac are poor.
I've no data to back it up but I've yet to see one in the wild in the UK, whereas the previous iMacs are ubiquitous.
The solution then is to make a better value iMac.
8GB has been the standard Ram in iMacs since 2012, so it should be more a decade later.
And 256GB of storage in 2023...well even my 2018 phone has more storage than that!
If the iMac is selling poorly, it'd be better to address the cause rather than simply try and sell them something else.
It's just indicative of everything wrong with Apple at the moment.
In the past there was a small premium for buying Apple compared to windows computers, but Macs still represented good value for money based on what they offered - that's just not the case anymore.
Apple bleed their customers dry with petty practices such as removing an ethernet port and user expandability and shipping Macs with pitiful amounts of storage and then charging extortionate amounts to upgrade (which now HAS to be done at the point of purchase).
If you want an iMac with 16GB RAM and 1TB storage (which IMO is a standard configuration) it increases the cost of the iMac by almost 50%!!!!
I think even the 2019 Mac Pro shipped with only 256GB of storage and that started at $5999!
A 1TB NVME can be purchased from Amazon for $50 for crying out loud, so Apple charging $400 for it in an iMac is taking the piss.
AND remember this MUST be done at the point of purchase too. No option to buy the base model and add more internal storage or RAM at a later date...not even via Apple.
The thing is it's ultimately counter productive. You alienate a loyal customer base and sell fewer computers too.
You may make better margins on the Macs you sell, but you'll be less likely to get repeat purchasers the next time.
People can only fleeced for so long before disappointment turns into distain.
Respect is a two way thing. If Apple don't respect their customers, their customers will no longer respect Apple.
And if a customer feels wronged...well there's a strong likelihood you'll lose that customer forever and Apple has been treading this line precariously for the last decade or so and is probably the wrong side of it now.
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Its all made up. We were told M2 Pro/Max wasn't happening until 2H 2023 then a week later we have an announced product. Whomever was the reliable leaker must have quit when WFH was ended.
I really hope Apple releases something this year, because I've got the nagging suspicion that my 2017 iMac isn't going to get any more software updates once the new version of macOS comes out. 😅
Apple was really anti consumer with their Intel line up. Selling out of date processors for way too long.
I was hoping with their own chips they would stop this practice.
With the size and resources of Apple, and lack of fresh designs (reusing same designs for years), they should not really have a problem releasing all the machines at the same time.
I was hoping with their own chips they would stop this practice.
With the size and resources of Apple, and lack of fresh designs (reusing same designs for years), they should not really have a problem releasing all the machines at the same time.
I 100% agree with this statement, and this is someone that owns an Intel based 27" iMac.
I’m sure Apple could if they wanted to. I think this comes down to Apple choosing not too because they don’t think it is worth their time.
I think that’s what most people do. Most “regular” users go years between upgrades/purchases, so anyone coming from an Intel anything will be blown away by an M1 or M2.
Those who dropped $1,500+ on M1 Macs in the past two-plus years, and then doing the same with an M2 and finding it a bit “meh” or whatever…well, yeah.
Most people don’t upgrade their Macs every new release. That’s a geek/enthusiast kinda thing, not the general population.
I’ve always preferred a 4-6 year cycle (and 3-4 on iPhones) to a) wring every bit of use out and b) to be able to notice/appreciate an actual difference/improvement with a new purchase, which is easy/automatic when you’re making a 2-4 generation leap!
I’ve got friends who get a new iPhone every fall, for years now, like clockwork. And then squawk about “I can’t really tell much difference”.
No kidding. You’re probably not supposed to.
iPhone 8, Xr, etc. > iPhone 14 = “wow!”
iPhone 13 > iPhone 14 = *shrug*
Buying on a “want to” basis vs. “have to” makes a lot of difference. I’ve always preferred the latter, for both economic and psychological reasons. My one real “guidepost” is that I like to be able to run the current OS on both.
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Exactly the same here!! A 2009 model.
It's a wonderful machine with a great screen.
And that's why instead of it I'd absolutely love to have (A) A Mac Mini with the same specs (even the fragile GPU...) I could connect to a TV for media consumption and (B) A display like that to use with my new Mac Mini.
But Mac Minis just weren't as good back then. Today I'd have no doubt.
I am all for a 1.5-2 year cycle. It is just the way they are adding chips into some devices and not others seems a bit disjointed at the moment.
They probably should also move macOS to a 1.5-2 year cycle as well. Match the software updates to new M chip updates.
It all just feels very disorganized.