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Will Apple Release a Larger iMac Again? Here's What Rumors Say
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I still see more seven to ten year old 27 inch iMacs in executive offices and home offices than Mac minis & Mac studios combined. These people are not techies. They want a large screen computer in a compact, clean, elegant design with as few cables as possible. MacOS did not bring them to the Mac. Their iPhones did not bring them to the Mac. It was the clean design of the iMac that brought them to the Mac.I was gobsmacked to find how few desktops Apple actually sells. I thought iPad would impact notebook sales if anything.
With that in mind, we're probably lucky we have *any* desktops.
(This chart is a couple of years old, I think desktop share has increased from 10% to 14%, but still...)
Many have expressed a desire to upgrade but back away when they see the current designs. In fact, many express shock that Apple could walk away from such a good design. A 30 inch iMac with similar power to a 16 inch Macbook Pro with a M max series chip would be perfect.
For pro customers or hobbyists being able to connect to multiple (probably non Apple displays) is an advantage. But for those who just want a powerful, elegant computer with a large screen Apple has nothing to offer.
I know several people and family members who would buy a larger consumer iMac if it was available. Twenty four inches is just too small for a machine that is used for more than a couple hours a day.
Which is why I bought one to try it out and see if I could use it as a basis to replace my 2020 i9 27" iMac which had 128 GB (courtesy of OWC) of RAM, 16GB video memory, 4TB internal drive and an external 15TB raid array. But, it did not meet my main machine requirements (not surprisingly) and so it is used as our music server and for showing photos in our breakfast room.
It is yellow and genuinely a fun machine, which is why it is called Sundance. Ours is an M1 version with 16GB memory and 1 TB of SSD with an external 2TB TB3 drive. It works fine in that role, but could not provide the resources I needed for my main machine and I really did not like working with the smaller screen (3" diagonal is a lot of screen space lost in the 24" iMac). At this point and for the role it is used in, there is not much point in trading up to the M4 version. But it is a nice machine, if used for its apparently intended purpose, and is not a replacement for my 2020 27" iMac, even in M4 guise.
Plenty of reasons. First of all: they last a lifetime. I used my old Thunderbolt display (non-retina) for 10 years. Bought it 2nd hand off a friend who had had it for 2 years. It still works and sits in our attic.
With that in mind I invested in 2 Studio Displays a few years ago, with the added option of the height-adjustable stand. Why? Because a workday from home is 8 hours behind the desk. Because they look very nice. Because they integrate perfectly with the rest of the hardware. Because they sell fast on the 2nd hand market should it ever come to that.
Sure, it’s an investment but considering these things last 10 years, the monthly cost isn’t that much.
Let’s reverse the question: why the hell would you not buy a Studio Display?
Rather than an iMac Pro they just need an external monitor that doesn’t cost an outrageous amount and charged $500 extra to make it adjustable.
I still think Apple is looking at an iMac with a 27" monitor and includes support for the (likely) M5 Pro SoC.
I disagree. As I noted earlier, the Intel iMacs were lightning in a bottle; that era is in the past and isn't likely to be recaptured.
I think what Apple needs to do in order to truly move forward is acknowledge the different market that we live in now, and target it with something new that has just as much polish and appeal as the legacy iMacs had when they were first introduced.
And I know that others have dissed this idea when I've suggested it, but I still believe that a better fit for today's market would be a slick mount for a Mini on the back of a redesigned Studio Display lineup. Sure, a few third parties already have adequate rear mounts... but if it came from Apple and was made to look like the Mini actually belongs there, I think it would easily sell to many of us who still use and love our legacy era iMacs.
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Simple, I like the all in one design of the iMac.
In theory it sounds like a good idea, but in practicality the hardware mechanics of such a design doesn't sound that appealing. I still say a true all-in-one iMac in 24" and 27" with either M5 or M5 Pro SoC still makes more sense in terms of ease of setup.
Later this month a $1,299 32" 6K display is being released.
With display parts price dropping it is my hope that Apple will come out with a $1,799 iMac 32" 6K.
I wouldn't mind it having a M5 chip 16GB memory and 256GB storage so long as Target Display Mode makes a returns so when a M10, M15 or M20 Mac comes out I can eep using that iMac beyond 10 or even 20 years.
With display parts price dropping it is my hope that Apple will come out with a $1,799 iMac 32" 6K.
I wouldn't mind it having a M5 chip 16GB memory and 256GB storage so long as Target Display Mode makes a returns so when a M10, M15 or M20 Mac comes out I can eep using that iMac beyond 10 or even 20 years.
In terms of idealism, I can see why you would prefer the all-in-one form factor; as I've noted, I've likewise favored that form factor for the past two decades, myself. In terms of practicality -- well, that's where we disagree. You have to look at it from Apple's point of view, particularly in terms of the cost/benefit of producing yet another new product.
I'm quite certain that the starting price of a new 27" iMac would need to be significantly more than the $1,699 that sometimes graced Apple's website in years gone by, because that's much too close for comfort to the $1,599 of the current Apple Studio Display. Thus, unless Apple decides to slash prices on their display product line significantly -- which I very much doubt they'll do, third party product pricing notwithstanding -- the 27" iMac would be a decidedly high-end purchase right from the start. Thing is... Apple already has high end options. As such, a 27" iMac would either cannibalize existing Mac Mini and Mac Studio sales, or those existing Mac sales would kneecap iMac sales before they ever leave the warehouse; neither option is a particularly positive result for Apple.
If instead they simply gave buyers an option that presented the illusion of an all-in-one integrated system... they could continue selling their existing product line with minimal changes. That's what I think a proper mounting option on the rear of an Apple Studio Display could offer -- and ironically, it would also eliminate the single most common criticism of the iMac, because the computer portion would be upgradable separately from the display.
And I don't think the hardware mechanics are nearly as objectionable as all that; it's just a matter of positioning and orienting the computer appropriately such that the Mini and the Studio Display feel almost like seamless extensions of each other.