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Will Apple Bring Back a Larger iMac? Here's What the Latest Rumors Say

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It has been more than two and a half years since Apple discontinued the 27-inch iMac, as part of its move away from Intel processors. Since then, the 24-inch iMac has been Apple's only all-in-one desktop computer, with no larger model available.

iMac-Pro-2022-27-and-24-iMac.jpg

Will a larger iMac ever make a comeback? We recap the latest rumors below.

In November, Apple announced that it had no plans to release a new version of the 27-inch iMac with an Apple silicon chip. Instead, Apple recommended pairing its standalone Studio Display with its Mac Studio or Mac mini desktop computers.

Apple's statement ruled out a new 27-inch iMac, but an even larger model is still possible one day. Nearly a year ago, both Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said Apple was developing a 32-inch iMac for release in late 2024 or in 2025. Kuo said the larger iMac's screen would feature mini-LED backlighting, which would allow for increased brightness, higher contrast ratio, and other benefits compared to LCD technology.

While there haven't been any rumors lately about this alleged 32-inch iMac, Gurman said Apple was still exploring a larger iMac as recently as August.

"A larger iMac remains something Apple is exploring as well, but it's unclear if that will be an M4 product or something that comes the following year or later," he wrote.

That is all that is known about a potential larger iMac at this point.

All in all, it seems that a larger iMac might be on Apple's roadmap, but the wait continues for now.

In the meantime, the 24-inch iMac is expected to be updated with the M4 chip in October, alongside new MacBook Pro and Mac mini models.

Article Link: Will Apple Bring Back a Larger iMac? Here's What the Latest Rumors Say
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2024/09/24/will-apple-bring-back-a-larger-imac/
Just seems unlikely. The fact is Apple can satisfy that market almost completely with a Mac mini or Mac Studio + a Studio Display.

Gone are the days where Apple basically gives away a Mac inside of a case that is holding a 5K display. From 2014-2019 those 27" machines were some of the best deals on the planet, because Apple did not mark them up according to both the value of the display itself and the Mac inside it. You basically paid for the display, and got the Mac for free, unless you upgraded it. You're not going to see a deal like that again. Not from this Apple.
 
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I think Apple kit releasing a large iMac is a good thing.

Once you get to larger monitors, the user expectation for it to last longer and operate independently from the computer, increases.

It’s also more sustainable. Throwing away a 32” monitor when the computer technically is working, or vice-versa, feels…perverse.

The only issue right now is the lack of an affordable Apple monitor, which means that users have to ditch the Apple aesthetics and features.
I would love to see a sub-$1000 monitor that is more in line with today’s competitor specs and radiates the Apple look and feel.
For their more expensive offering I would then demand - as a consumer - 120-144Hz refresh rate, excellent color reproduction and well backlit, and a Thunderbolt 4 dock integrated, plus a decent Web Cam.
 
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Apple has never worried about caniballizing (sp?) they're own products, but this just seems like a form factor that is no longer viable. The type of person that would get an iMac 5 years ago would now more likely get a mini and cheap monitor. The market just doesn't feel like it exists.
 
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I honestly don’t think Apple would’ve said anything if they intended on bringing it back.
They specifically told customers to look at Mac mini/studio and a display though.
They also introduced a studio display, which is basically just the old 27 inch iMac without the computer.

All evidence points to know, and given how often analysts and reporters have to backtrack when they get new information (like Ross Young recently retracting his statement that next year‘s iPhones will have under display Face ID) it’s extremely likely that the 32 inch display that Gurman heard about is just that, a new 32 inch display. To replace the currently five years old 32 inch pro display.

Even if Apple did bring back the bigger iMac, anyone expecting it to start at $1799 like the previous model did and also have a 32 inch 120Hz 6K Mini LED display are sure to be mistaken.
It probably would be placed somewhere between the current $4999 pro display, and the current $7999 Mac Pro.
So… $6000+. And that’s the base model. Probably with an M4Max, 32GB of RAM and 512 GB SSD. Not exactly screaming “value”.
 
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Please, just let the iMac (and all AIOs) die. The monitor will almost always outlive the computer. The only way I would ever buy or support an AIO is if there were a way to use it as a monitor once the computer part is useless or if the computer part could be swapped. Imagine you bought a M1 iMac and could swap the computer card for an M4, that would be bliss.

Edit: Conversely, should the monitor die, you could swap out your computer part into another monitor.
 
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Folks just need to get used to the idea of buying your own monitor for a a mini or studio. You can get much better monitors for less money than what Apple sells with the Studio Display.

And for crying outloud bring macOS out of the stone age and fix the scaling issue. Windows has been able to do this for over 10 years.
 
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HiVolt said:
Folks just need to get used to the idea of buying your own monitor for a a mini or studio. You can get much better monitors for less money than what Apple sells with the Studio Display.

And for crying outloud bring macOS out of the stone age and fix the scaling issue. Windows has been able to do this for over 10 years.
Click to expand...
I would love a real Apple display to connect to a Mac mini or studio priced more in line with competing displays. Or you think Apple wants to market a Samsung on your desk?
 
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gk_brown said:
What scaling issue? Macs have been running Retina (scaled) displays for years - longer than Windows has.
Click to expand...
It's fixed scaling, either doubling of 1440p for (5K) or on the laptops it was doubling of 1280x800 for the 13" i dont remember the others.

On windows you can set the UI scaling to any percentage you want without a performance penalty.

Most displays are 4K and there are issues on Mac.
 
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I think the problem with this whole argument is that few pundits understood what customers used a 27” iMac for - and what they actually wanted.

For many, the 27” was simply a larger iMac to perform productivity work. This was beneficial for more office-based businesses who didn’t want or need a Mac mini and display setup, because they liked the simplicity of iMac but didn’t need the power of it.

Then you have the creative crowd who didn’t need the internal expansion of the Mac Pro, but wanted a powerful Mac and a large display.

The former complained the price, the latter complained about having to buy ‘a whole iMac’ just to upgrade the specs.

I think Apple has a great range of solutions at the moment and has seemingly addressed those issues. The Mac mini is already extremely powerful and will be amazing with M4/M4 Pro, the Studio fills a lot of needs of the old Mac Pro crowd and more, and the 24” iMac is a suitable screen size for many businesses without demanding creative needs.

Yes, a larger iMac would always be welcome, but I genuinely think the audience would be small now that we have a greater range of options and flexibility. It’s also easy to forget for just how many years users were clamouring for ‘a small but powerful Mac, bigger than the Mini but smaller than the Pro’. We got it.
 
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Apple has always been in the crosshairs of critics who second guess every move they make. Just because tech blog forums want a large screen iMac doesn’t mean the market does. The 24” iMac is perfectly fine for everyday use by the average consumer. Apple left the display market years ago and the printer market decades ago. Oh, and they also made cameras too. The two displays they now have are for users who have need for them. A Mac Mini with a decent third party display (whatever the size) is all that is needed. A large screen all-in-one will just cause more enmity when the internal hardware falls behind and can’t be upgraded. Then that 32” all-in-one will become an albatross around the user’s neck. And Target Display Mode is history, not coming back.
 
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Here I sit in front of a 2017 iMac 27" that is badly needing replaced.
I like the screen, which hasn't really changed that much from what Apple sells today as the studio display.
It's just the cpu that's out of date.
Therefore I find myself reluctant to invest in another all-in-one machine and instead buy a separate display and a Mac mini or studio when then October event dust settles.
The rate of change in Apple's CPU offerings, compared to what we had with Intel, makes more regular refresh more likely for me.

Why pay for a screen each time I refresh?

I'm going to re-cycle my iMac into just a display with some mods. I don't want to have to do that again.
 
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