Will there ever be a new 27-inch iMac?

[Mimiron]

I've been waiting for a few years now, but there’s still no sign of Apple releasing a new iMac with a 27-inch screen. A while back, I bought an older 2017 iMac, maxed out the RAM to 64GB, and added an NVMe SSD. It’s fast, but the CPU is showing its age. I need to switch to Apple Silicon, but I don’t want to buy a Mac Studio and a separate screen. The 24-inch iMac is too small for me, and I prefer not to use two screens for work. Do you think the rumors about a new 32-inch iMac are true, or am I the only one waiting for Apple to release an iMac with an M-chip and a bigger screen? How long do you think we'll have to wait?

I feel like a new model would cannibalize the sales of the Mac Mini and Studio...

 

[decafjava]

I've been waiting for a few years now, but there’s still no sign of Apple releasing a new iMac with a 27-inch screen. A while back, I bought an older 2017 iMac, maxed out the RAM to 64GB, and added an NVMe SSD. It’s fast, but the CPU is showing its age. I need to switch to Apple Silicon, but I don’t want to buy a Mac Studio and a separate screen. The 24-inch iMac is too small for me, and I prefer not to use two screens for work. Do you think the rumors about a new 32-inch iMac are true, or am I the only one waiting for Apple to release an iMac with an M-chip and a bigger screen? How long do you think we'll have to wait?

I feel like a new model would cannibalize the sales of the Mac Mini and Studio...

There's your answer I'm afraid. I would be keen to replace my vintage 2015 27" iMac with an equivalent Apple Silicon model but I don't see it happening.

 

[Onimusha370]

I was in the same boat, upgrading from a maxed out 2014 5K iMac. I gave up on waiting and got an M1 Pro MBP in 2021 and enjoyed it, then went all in on an M3 Max MBP late last year. I do miss the all in one nature of the iMac, but in return I do love the portability of the MBP. it’s unbelievably fast and is a great desktop when paired with the studio display or XDR. Don’t think I’ll ever go back to a large AIO as my main computer after enjoying the portability of this setup - worth a try!

 

[SalisburySam]

I’ve consulted my Magic 8 Ball twice regarding an Apple Silcon-based 27” iMac. The responses were: “Outlook not so good” and “Don’t count on it.” Given that there are 20 possible answers (10 yes, 5 non-committal, and 5 no), getting two “no’s” pretty much seals the deal, at least for me. You may have other resources, but I’d wager none more accurate than the tried and true, and now 78-year-old Magic 8 Ball.

 

[curnalpanic]

No.

 

[TwoH]

30+ inch will come

 

[decafjava]

30+ inch will come

I hope so, but think it will be more cost effective to get a Mac Mini for my needs.

 

[Fishrrman]

We probably won't see another 27" iMac for a long time -- if ever.

The 30"+ iMac remains a rumor in the wind, for now.

Wait until the new Mini is introduced in a couple of months.
Then KEEP WAITING until the new Studio is introduced early next year.

Choose one or the other. And a new display to go with it.
THAT'S your "pathway forward" ...

 

[MisterSavage]

I gave up waiting. The Apple Studio Display made me feel like I was still using my iMac.

 

[JerryDon]

It's just damned irritating, that's all . . .

 

[jb333]

I've been waiting for a few years now, but there’s still no sign of Apple releasing a new iMac with a 27-inch screen. A while back, I bought an older 2017 iMac, maxed out the RAM to 64GB, and added an NVMe SSD. It’s fast, but the CPU is showing its age. I need to switch to Apple Silicon, but I don’t want to buy a Mac Studio and a separate screen. The 24-inch iMac is too small for me, and I prefer not to use two screens for work. Do you think the rumors about a new 32-inch iMac are true, or am I the only one waiting for Apple to release an iMac with an M-chip and a bigger screen? How long do you think we'll have to wait?

I feel like a new model would cannibalize the sales of the Mac Mini and Studio...

Apple said there will not be a new 27 inch imac.Apple is working on a larger than 27" imac.

 

[TechRunner]

Others have mentioned on different forums, and I agree, that this would be the perfect time for Apple to tweak the existing Studio Display and add some sort of mounting space on the back for the upcoming smaller Mini. That solves the 27" iMac issue without cannibalizing sales of existing products.

 

[Starfia]

John Ternus strongly implied during last year's October 30 Apple event that the 24-inch iMac is a "replacement" for both the 21-inch and the 27-inch Intel iMacs. (Watch at about 26 minutes in for the exact wording.)

Evidently the strategy was always to simplify by offering one middle-ground iMac for the more entry-level folks and neatness freaks, while offering the Mini and the Studio for the nerdier.

I have to say, if it helps, that I initially waited for the iMac with similar feelings to yours, but I've wound up so glad to have gone for the Studio Display and the Mac mini. The Display, even though it's comparable with the iMac's 27-inch display, seems like it could last me for two or three Macs. And my M1 Mini with 16 gigs of memory is so darn powerful and efficient that it's never struggled with any of the audio or video rendering tasks I've thrown at past Macs, and it's never suffered noticeable memory pressure – it's almost always floating around 12 gigs of memory in use. Initially I thought I was waiting for something like the Mac mini with the M2 Pro, but it turns out even that would be unnecessarily powerful for me. (My ears will be alert for this rumoured smaller form of the Mac mini this fall, in any case.)

If you're really waiting for the all-in-one, I suspect it may come, but not soon. Maybe you need more than an entry-level Mac mini, but I'd suggest anyone attempt to somehow run some real-world tests to ascertain whether they really need the Studio.

 

[Expidia]

Wow, I'm in the same boat. I maxed out the memory in 2016 when I bought my 27 inch iMac. I love the 27 inch 5k retina screen and it's 1 TB of storage. It works fine for me now as is, but of course Apple no longer supports or updates it. They are forcing you to buy a 27 inch monitor and a Mac mini now.

Seems they only offer 256GB on their $700 Mac mini now.
Add the 27 inch Studio monitor for another $1600 and I'm looking at shelling out $2400 with minimum specs.

Just today I made a post here about this 2015 iMac looks like it does not support BT4 or BLE tah I need for a slot racing app I'm tryng to use on this iMac.

 

[Andres Cantu]

Too bad Apple won't create iMacs with target display mode anymore. I'd pay a premium for that.

 

[jtgil]

While I understand your standing, (I also liked the iMac 27 a lot), I don't understand the reservation in going the Mini+SDisplay route. In the future you will be able to switch out the mini for a newer one, keeping the display, a great advantage in my opinion!

Also, while I don't partake in the wild speculation/rumours ongoing, I don't believe Apple is working towards a bigger iMac, at least anytime soon.

 

[JamesMay82]

I. think you would get use to 24 inch iMac after a day or so. I have a 27 inch and love my parents m1 iMac over my 2014 27 inch iMac.

I went down studio display with Mac Studio which I love but do wish I went with 24 iMac specced up

 

[dawnrazor]

I could see Apple deleting the 24” iMac from the lone up and replacing it with a 27” iMac similar design and M chip only... no M Pro or Max. That would make sense… You could pair it with the 27” studio display nicely if you wanted. It wouldn’t detract from Mac Studio sales and with the 24” being no more it shouldn’t detract from Mac Mini sales…

On the other hand the cost would have to take a big jump up and those folks for whom the 24” iMac was within their budget might find that not being the case anymore…

 

[Onimusha370]

I'm pretty torn on whether Apple should make an iMac Pro, the further away we get from the initial apple silicon Macs.

On the one hand I would love a 27/30 inch miniLED 120hz 5/6K desktop, with Pro/Max chips (maybe even Ultra?) - it feels like we're far enough out from the 2021 MBP launch that a larger mini-LED panel should in theory be affordable now, even if in iMac Pro with an M3 Pro starts at say £2,999.

On the other hand, Apple already have 4 desktop lines and just 2 notebook lines, and given the sales are 90% laptops, I'd much rather they developed a smaller, 12 inch MacBook successor, or focused on some sort of MacBook Ultra/Studio which could fit the Ultra chip in. Both pipe dreams, but surely it makes sense for Apple to make a 3rd notebook rather than a 5th desktop?

I think they need to rejig their line of displays for sure, I'd much rather they had 3 displays (good, better, best) with something like:

1. Low end 24" 4.5k display (same screen as the iMac) - remove all the complexity of the current Studio Display and sell it for £799-£999
2. Mid tier 27" 5k mini-LED display with ProMotion - i.e. a logical upgrade from the current Studio Display and a larger version of the current MBP screens, sell for £1,599-£1,999
3. High end 32" 7k tandem OLED display with ProMotion - i.e. a logical upgrade from the current XDR, and a larger version of the M4 iPP screens. I think this would require TB5 (should be available later in 2024) but would be absolutely killer, and would justify the £4,999 price tag

The beauty of this is that with TB5, any Mac laptop/desktop would be able to work with any display. Sorry for going a bit off topic, just projecting what I want to see!

 

[HDFan]

I could see Apple deleting the 24” iMac from the lone up and replacing it with a 27” iMac

Apple has stated there wil be no 27" iMac.,

 

[JamesMay82]

will there come a point where modern tv's become capable of doubling up as computer monitors? I feel like that would be cost effective as tv's are way cheaper than a studio display

 

[ApplesAreSweet&Sour]

I've been waiting for a few years now, but there’s still no sign of Apple releasing a new iMac with a 27-inch screen. A while back, I bought an older 2017 iMac, maxed out the RAM to 64GB, and added an NVMe SSD. It’s fast, but the CPU is showing its age. I need to switch to Apple Silicon, but I don’t want to buy a Mac Studio and a separate screen. The 24-inch iMac is too small for me, and I prefer not to use two screens for work. Do you think the rumors about a new 32-inch iMac are true, or am I the only one waiting for Apple to release an iMac with an M-chip and a bigger screen? How long do you think we'll have to wait?

I feel like a new model would cannibalize the sales of the Mac Mini and Studio...

There’s some odd insistence by analysts and leakers that one is in the works.

But whenever the rumor pops up, it’s always the same stuff about Apple testing out a 27” and 32” one. Stories that anyone could come up with.

But the bulk of the rumors have consistently been about the same and nothing new or more substantial leaks: No hardware specs, talk about SoC generation, design changes, I/O, etc. Nothing substantial.

By contrast, the redesigned Mac mini rumors have slowly been building momentum for the last 2-3(?) years, getting more and more detailed. And now the redesigned Mac mini is actually getting announced very soon it seems.

Back to the iMac: Based on the low amount of 27”+ iMac stories/rumors/leaks and the very vague details, I say we won't seen one any earlier than 1-2 years from now. But that's also assuming that Apple is not just prototyping one but actually moving towards a release which there's no tangible indication of.

Considering what Apple has done with the M4 iPads and with the 24" iMac, I also struggle to see what would be holding them back from combining that into a new, redesigned 27"+ iMac. I have to assume they would have done so 1-2 years ago if they wanted to.

It seems like they are content with the variety of Macs in the current line-up and will just focus on spec bumping and redesigning mini, Mac Pro, Studio and 24" iMac.

TLDR: Regardless of the true reason for the 27" iMac's absence, a new version is getting announced no earlier than 1-2 years from now and is just as likely to never get announced.

 

[Expidia]

Update to post #14. Yesterday I threw in the towel and instead of buying a Studio set up I bought a 15 inch MacBook Air. I paired it to a 32 inch Samsung monitor which I had bought for my office desk before I retired 4 years ago. Buying an Apple 27 inch monitor for $1600 is a joke. Now this "state of the art" Mac air can sit closed under the monitor, but now I retain the portability of using the Mac Air for hotels, vacations, sitting on the front porch etc.

I'll use the 2015 iMac on my kitchen island to read the news in the AM's until it dies.

32 inch monitor over a 24 inch Studio setup . . . . bigger is better! And so was saving like $1,000 by just pairing an old monitor with a new MacBook Air. The 15 inch Air starts at $1300 and the higher spec models are $1,700.

Unlike the iMac 0f 9 years ago which I had a TB of storage and I upgraded the memory off Amazon . . . these new MacBook Air's are not user upgradable anymore for memory or storage. Now I'll use a 2 TB WD external HD that I had bought a few months back.

 

[bradman83]

As others have said Apple has flat out stated they have no desire to make another 27" iMac.

The 27" iMac filled a weird niche in Apple's desktop offerings in the 2010's when the Mac Pro became too expensive and too out of reach of average consumers (because Apple used exclusively expensive Xeon chips and the requisite hardware) and the Mac Mini was too underpowered with its clock-limited B-series chips and integrated graphics. The iMac was literally the only game in town if you wanted a regular desktop chip and discrete graphics.

The Mac Mini is now a much more viable consumer desktop that you can pair with whatever monitor you want, with the Studio filling in the prosumer and professional segment. There are tons of display options on the market ranging from affordable third party displays that are styled similar to Apple's hardware, to Apple's own display offerings.

If Apple creates a 32" iMac it will likely be branded the iMac Pro and have a very high starting price, likely $4-5000 USD. A 32" display at retina resolution would have to be 6K and 6K panels are still quite niche and therefore expensive to produce and procure. Rumors indicate that Apple has been building prototypes for such a machine but that doesn't mean they think there's enough of a market for one to actually release it.

 

[Onimusha370]

Update to post #14. Yesterday I threw in the towel and instead of buying a Studio set up I bought a 15 inch MacBook Air. I paired it to a 32 inch Samsung monitor which I had bought for my office desk before I retired 4 years ago. Now the "state of the art" Mac air can sit closed under the monitor, but now I retain the portability of using the Mac Air for hotels, vacations, sitting on the front porch etc.

I'll use the 2015 iMac on my kitchen island to read the news in the AM's until it dies.

32 inch monitor over a 24 inch Studio setup . . . . bigger is better! And so was saving like $1,000 by just pairing an old monitor with a new MacBook Air. The 15 inch Air starts at $1300 and the higher spec models are $1,700.

Unlike the iMac 0f 9 years ago which I had a TB of storage and I upgraded the memory off Amazon . . . these new MacBook Air's are not user upgradable anymore for memory or storage. Now I'll use a 2 TB WD external HD that I had bought a few months back.

Nice, the 15" Air is an amazing machine