I read the report of rumors about the 27" imac on another thread. Does anyone know why Apple abandoned the 27 inch iMac? We have used it for years as a core tool in our art, printing on large format printers. We are printing banners of local art in our community and of student art at a local school. We couldn't do this as easily without that machine. It was such a wonderful tool. We are still using an intel version, the last one Apple produced. I'm told it was one of their most popular computers. Is there any information available why Apple abandoned that machine and if they will ever bring it back. We are tempted to buy one of Apple's monitor-less devices with the new chip and use our iMac as a monitor, but it just seems silly. The rumors about the super iMac pro make it sound like it is more of a mac pro than the wonderful and affordable iMac we have been using for decades. We artists are not wealthy. Please, Apple, don't abandon us!
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iMac Pro Will there ever be a 27 inch iMac with the Apple silicon chip and more?
- Thread starter kenoli
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Apple says buy Studio Display + mini/Studio/Pro/Macbook.
I hope it's a lie and a 27" will show up within 2-4 months for the 25th year release anniversary of the 1st iMac.
I hope it's a lie and a 27" will show up within 2-4 months for the 25th year release anniversary of the 1st iMac.
I sure hope they bring back an affordable 27-inch NON-pro imac as well. I do alot graphic design and had to do what I call a downgrade to the 24 inch imac to get in on the M1 chip design.
Yes Apple, don't abandon us.
Yes Apple, don't abandon us.
I am hoping for at these 27" price points & configs
- $1799 M2 8GB RAM 256GB SSD
- $2499 M2 Pro 16GB RAM 512GB SSD
- $3199 M2 Max 32GB RAM 512GB SSD
- $5199 M2 Ultra 64GB RAM 1TB SSD
Even though I know that within 6-9 months a M3 chip will be introduced I expect a refresh for the iMac to appear 14 months from now at the earliest.
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Very vocal number of people complaining about e waste. You buy the AIO and when upgrade then monitor wasted.
in terms of Target Display Mode then if buying a new iMac then the old iMac wasted anyway as would not be using it anyway.
would be buying a mini or studio to use with in TDM.
TDM not really energy efficient in that will use more then a pure monitor.
a good screen will last years. I am using a 3008wfp from 2007 as everyday monito.
iMac 5k 2014 to 2020 so 6 years with essentially the same screen so screens not changing rapidly.
if like the asethics then buy an ASD with vesa mount, a vesa mount for mini and then vesa arm allowing to mount the mini behind the screen.
when comes time to upgrade then you still have a good screen and only need to replace the mini. 1 ASD and 2 minis less then two iMacs As only buying screen onCE.
good screen will last several computers.
logistics wise Apple making the mini and studio in various sku based on storage/SoC/ram combo. So can just make the smaller number of SKU for a monitor rather then variations on storage,SoC,ram.
if was going to bring back the 27” iMac would have been by now that the mini has the pro SoC.
in terms of Target Display Mode then if buying a new iMac then the old iMac wasted anyway as would not be using it anyway.
would be buying a mini or studio to use with in TDM.
TDM not really energy efficient in that will use more then a pure monitor.
a good screen will last years. I am using a 3008wfp from 2007 as everyday monito.
iMac 5k 2014 to 2020 so 6 years with essentially the same screen so screens not changing rapidly.
if like the asethics then buy an ASD with vesa mount, a vesa mount for mini and then vesa arm allowing to mount the mini behind the screen.
when comes time to upgrade then you still have a good screen and only need to replace the mini. 1 ASD and 2 minis less then two iMacs As only buying screen onCE.
good screen will last several computers.
logistics wise Apple making the mini and studio in various sku based on storage/SoC/ram combo. So can just make the smaller number of SKU for a monitor rather then variations on storage,SoC,ram.
if was going to bring back the 27” iMac would have been by now that the mini has the pro SoC.
Glad I'm not alone on this issue. Wish Apple would say something. The 27 inch iMac was one of their best sellers. Why kill the golden goose? We do a lot of graphic design as artists and spent nearly $4000 on our intel iMac. We don't have customers who pay us lots of money to afford more. If the next 27 inch iMac ups what we have to pay to get a computer that runs graphic well...@#%^&!**!. I like LongPlay's price table. I love a lot of things about Mac computers. I don't like the concrete wall the company maintains between it and its customers. I hope Apple does well by the good things Jobs left behind and wish they wouldn't carry forward his secretive nature.
My price table's based on the base $1299 2021 iMac 24" M1 that shares the same price point as the base 2019 iMac 21.5" Core i3.
The last Intel base model iMac was the $1799 2020 iMac 27" Core i5.
After a decade's use I want a clean slate with brand new everything. Sell the decade old model for down payment.
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It really wasn't. The MacBooks outsell the desktops by a large margin. The 27" iMac wasn't as niche as the Mac Pro, but it was hardly 'mainstream'.
MBA sold the best among the laptops because it was a laptop that was cheap.
It could be argued that the iMac 27" was popular considering a iMac 27" 5K & iMac Pro were in production at the same time between 2017-2021.
Because of price the iMac 21.5" is the popular AIO.
Mac mini's leagues more popular than any Mac Studio or Mac Pro because of price.
You can tell the popularity of an Apple product based on the number of colors it has, in which Mac receives the latest refreshed M chip and how frequently it gets refreshed.
Right now the most popular Mac is the MBA. The least is the Mac Pro at roughly 75,000 units shipped annually worldwide.
The iMac is the 2nd least popular as it is the last Mac without M2 and the 2020 model is turning 3 in 2 months time.
My primary hypothesis to explain the death of iMac 27" is- as is all things that seem to aggravate consumers- it's about the money... specifically the margin.
iMac 27" was well established with "starting at..." pricing BELOW $2K. I suspect some of the strong attraction is tied to that relative value. To recreate an iMac now with all Apple parts, you have to spend a LOT more than that. And that's why iMac 27" was retired.
I speculate Apple wants more profit than whatever they could make from even "starting at $1999" on the most minimum of Silicon specs and minus the so-called Intel premium. So they temporarily kill it but roll out only the monitor portion at the old "starting at" price range. Apple people enthusiastically "accept" that price for the monitor by itself, establishing that a 27" monitor of that quality is worth about $2K.
Then somewhere in the not-too-distant future, they can ADD the computer + keyboard + mouse back in again and price those additions accordingly. My best guess is "starting at... $3499."
Further, I suspect they'll brand it PRO too so that relative to the established pricing of Intel iMac 27" PRO in the past, $3499 is a "bargain."
The cheerleaders will then argue that it "makes perfect sense" given the price of the SD alone, that Apple is adding a whole computer inside + keyboard + mouse... AND that "we" get much more power vs. the old Intel-based iMac PRO for about $1000 less than the old "starting at..." price range of that product. At the big reveal, Apple Marketing will probably show benchmark specs vs. the old/ancient(?) Intel iMac PRO and those will get reiterated over and over again.
The crowd mostly attracted to this because of the traditional value pricing might whine & complain but Apple will get its fattened margin, the cheerleaders will cheer on that "great price," and those who are price indifferent will be able to buy their iMac "bigger"- be that 27", 29", 30" or 32". If bigger than maybe that 29" size, I'd up my "starting at..." guess at least a few hundred more. Perhaps if Apple really cuts DOWN the spec, MAYBE they can roll out a 27" at $2999... but anyone with tech knowledge will probably want more RAM and more SSD than that bare minimum config. To get that sub-$3K level, I could even see Apple making keyboard + mouse separate purchases.
Just my best guesses... I'm not the one setting the prices. I'll hope right with anyone else that Apple will resurrect iMac "bigger" at traditional iMac 27" pricing. I'm simply not holding my breath.
iMac 27" was well established with "starting at..." pricing BELOW $2K. I suspect some of the strong attraction is tied to that relative value. To recreate an iMac now with all Apple parts, you have to spend a LOT more than that. And that's why iMac 27" was retired.
I speculate Apple wants more profit than whatever they could make from even "starting at $1999" on the most minimum of Silicon specs and minus the so-called Intel premium. So they temporarily kill it but roll out only the monitor portion at the old "starting at" price range. Apple people enthusiastically "accept" that price for the monitor by itself, establishing that a 27" monitor of that quality is worth about $2K.
Then somewhere in the not-too-distant future, they can ADD the computer + keyboard + mouse back in again and price those additions accordingly. My best guess is "starting at... $3499."
Further, I suspect they'll brand it PRO too so that relative to the established pricing of Intel iMac 27" PRO in the past, $3499 is a "bargain."
The cheerleaders will then argue that it "makes perfect sense" given the price of the SD alone, that Apple is adding a whole computer inside + keyboard + mouse... AND that "we" get much more power vs. the old Intel-based iMac PRO for about $1000 less than the old "starting at..." price range of that product. At the big reveal, Apple Marketing will probably show benchmark specs vs. the old/ancient(?) Intel iMac PRO and those will get reiterated over and over again.
The crowd mostly attracted to this because of the traditional value pricing might whine & complain but Apple will get its fattened margin, the cheerleaders will cheer on that "great price," and those who are price indifferent will be able to buy their iMac "bigger"- be that 27", 29", 30" or 32". If bigger than maybe that 29" size, I'd up my "starting at..." guess at least a few hundred more. Perhaps if Apple really cuts DOWN the spec, MAYBE they can roll out a 27" at $2999... but anyone with tech knowledge will probably want more RAM and more SSD than that bare minimum config. To get that sub-$3K level, I could even see Apple making keyboard + mouse separate purchases.
Just my best guesses... I'm not the one setting the prices. I'll hope right with anyone else that Apple will resurrect iMac "bigger" at traditional iMac 27" pricing. I'm simply not holding my breath.
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Approx 75,000 Mac Pros are shipped annually among 28.6 million Macs in 2022.
I arrived at that conservative number by dividing number of 2022 PC workstations with 2022 PCs shipped worldwide. Thus getting at a rounded up 2.62%.
Then I multiplied that % to the number of Macs in 2022.
That conservative estimate assumes it is all Mac Pros and not Mac Studios + Mac Pros.
If I were to include the Mac Studio then it would take 80% (60,000) while the Mac Pro 20% (15,000).
Mac Pros are the least popular Macs due to $6k, now $7k, starting price & PCIe slots.
It is a very niche product because it is "perfect" while "good enough" is what 99% of Mac users want.
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Darth Tulhu
macrumors 68020
Given the latest Mac Pro, I honestly believe that Apple has arrived at a point where their desktop offerings will not change for the foreseeable future (aside from processor upgrades).
The Mac Studio is a Mac Pro replacement (from Apple's point of view, at least), so it sits nicely between the "I want all-in-one simplicity" customers and the pro, "I want to upgrade monitors when I feel like it" customers.
The iMac is a perfect low-end prosumer device.
The Mac Studio is the new trash can.
And the new Mac Pro is the new trash can for higher end pros (that need internal cards). I believe this machine will go away in a few years.
From where I sit, Apple is DONE messing with the desktop space in any meaningful way. After all, the M-Series is primarily concerned not with POWER, but with power PER WATT, which is a mobile computing concern.
The Mac Studio is a Mac Pro replacement (from Apple's point of view, at least), so it sits nicely between the "I want all-in-one simplicity" customers and the pro, "I want to upgrade monitors when I feel like it" customers.
The iMac is a perfect low-end prosumer device.
The Mac Studio is the new trash can.
And the new Mac Pro is the new trash can for higher end pros (that need internal cards). I believe this machine will go away in a few years.
From where I sit, Apple is DONE messing with the desktop space in any meaningful way. After all, the M-Series is primarily concerned not with POWER, but with power PER WATT, which is a mobile computing concern.
I made a rough estimation and it would cost ~$1k to for Apple display + Mac mini M2 + keyboard + trackpad.
All the MacBooks outsell the desktops.
The iMac Pro existed as a stopgap until the 2019 Mac Pro was out and shipping, and then they let it run until supplies ran out and didn't do a second generation.
IDC estimates are worth what you pay for them.
If I'm right in my wild guesses, I doubt M2 would be used: so up that to PRO and maybe MAX options... leaving 24" with base Silicon.
And Apple doesn't price in that way. They price for what they think they can get. Their last crack at iMac Pro started at $4K (or was that $4499- I forget), so they may think it is quite generous down at "only $3499. We think you'll love it!"
Edit: found the old iMac Pro "starting at..." price...
So working from that, chop down some price for less RAM and less SSD but mix in some "inflation" and "supply chain", etc. Now I think MY $3499 guess might be too generous. 😢
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It is a better estimate than anyone on MR could counter with.
If the Mac Pro was that popular then why hasn't it been updated annually for the past decade?
Why doesn't it come in multiple colors like the iPhone & iMac?
Mac Pro's too much Mac for 99% of users. Anyone want swappable CPUs, dGPUs, RAM & SSD are better off with companies that push millions of PC workstations like Dell, HP & Lenovo.
iMac Pro would hopefully be
- $3199 M2 Max 32GB RAM 512GB SSD
- $5199 M2 Ultra 64GB RAM 1TB SSD
They realized that a 27-inch display that was otherwise the same as what you'd get on a 27-inch iMac would be far more versatile and serve far more people when paired to a Mac mini, Mac Studio, 24-inch iMac, Mac Pro, or any model of MacBook than it would be when the only thing you could pair it to were the computing innards that you could fit inside an iMac.
And they weren't wrong.
And honestly, from a functional standpoint, what is the difference between a 27-inch iMac with Apple Silicon and a Mac mini/Studio paired to the Studio Display? "Oh no! An extra box that you can tuck away where all of your ports live! What a terrible thing!"
It's more inexplicable to me that anyone needing the power of a middle to high end spec 27-inch iMac would need an all-in-one form factor than it is to me that Apple finally realized that there were people craving that kind of flexibility with their computers and their displays.
Again, I do not get what about this workflow wouldn't work on either an Apple Studio Display paired with either an M2 Pro model Mac mini or an M2 Max model Mac Studio. If it's truly a tool, then the all-in-one form factor really ought to not be an issue, especially considering the small footprint of either Mac.
Apple executives do talk about it in this video:
But again, odds are decent that they won't. And it was, again, because tons of people wanted the flexibility of pairing the desktop of their choice to any display they want, rather than having the two be interdependent on each other. People have been asking for that for the Mac in the 27-inch iMac's slot for pretty much the entirety of the 27-inch iMac's existence.
And no, the rumor mill will occasionally talk about the return of the iMac Pro, but never the 27-inch iMac. And even an iMac Pro is sort of silly considering you now have two different options for connecting an M2 Ultra Mac to the Studio Display. You'd be compromising on the performance to, at best, accommodate a Max SoC in that chassis. Better to just buy the performant desktop and pay for the display separately.
The Mac Studio configurations when paired with a display were always similar in cost to mid-higher end iMacs with similar specs.
That IS silly! Just buy an M2 Pro Mac mini or an M2 Max Mac Studio (or a refurbished M1 Max Mac Studio, for that matter), buy the Apple Studio Display. Boom, there's your 27-inch iMac replacement. And the nice thing is that you can keep your Apple Studio Display after you're otherwise inclined to replace/repair/repurpose/resell your Mac Studio!
That "wonderful and affordable" iMac that you're talking about still exists. It's the 24-inch iMac. Want M2 or M2 Pro performance and a larger screen? Mac mini with Studio Display. Want 32-96GB of RAM and 30-38 GPU cores? M2 Max Mac Studio with Studio Display. Want an iMac Pro replacement? Get something with an M2 Ultra, whether 2023 Mac Pro or 2023 Mac Studio or something refurbished with the M1 Ultra and pair that to the Studio Display.
Apple hasn't abandoned you. They just stopped selling the form factor you are insistent upon getting. They just decided to stop selling a 27-inch monitor that only pairs with the rest of the innards of the all-in-one that it's a part of and to start selling a 27-inch monitor that will pair with literally any other Mac. Speaking objectively, that's upgrade.
When Apple gave their rundown of unit sales during the Mea Culpa, they gave specific information about the pro vs non-pro breakdown of their laptops, then the iMac/iMac Pro and then the Mac Pro. They said nothing about the mini until asked and offered this:
“On that I’ll say the Mac Mini is an important product in our lineup and we weren’t bringing it up because it’s more of a mix of consumer with some pro use. … The Mac Mini remains a product in our lineup, but nothing more to say about it today.”
Just based on that, my assumption was that it likely wasn’t even seeing sales anything like the other desktop Macs.
“What’s the breakdown for the Mac Mini?”
“It’s a product in our lineup”
ok
Link?When Apple gave their rundown of unit sales during the Mea Culpa, they gave specific information about the pro vs non-pro breakdown of their laptops, then the iMac/iMac Pro and then the Mac Pro. They said nothing about the mini until asked and offered this:
“On that I’ll say the Mac Mini is an important product in our lineup and we weren’t bringing it up because it’s more of a mix of consumer with some pro use. … The Mac Mini remains a product in our lineup, but nothing more to say about it today.”
Just based on that, my assumption was that it likely wasn’t even seeing sales anything like the other desktop Macs.
“What’s the breakdown for the Mac Mini?”
“It’s a product in our lineup”
ok
We can all hope right with you but my best guess will be:
- $3499 M2 PRO minimum specs
- $4499 M2 MAX minimum specs
I have about 1% imagination there might be an ULTRA in iMac PRO, and that's only because I'm a "never say never" guy.
If you want "nicely specced" like the Mx MAX you listed, I'd guess more towards about $4500-$5K or so.
I'd also assume we're done with M2 and this hypothetical iMac comes with either M3 or M4 out in 2024 or 2025.
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