Did they just discontinue iMac 27"?

[Billiejoe87]

Who would buy an Mac Studio with M1 Max if you can get for the half price a Mac mini with M1 Pro? I know, I wouldn't.

The M1 chip in the Macbook Air is already one of the fastest chips ever placed in a laptop and faster than the top of the line 2019 i9 16" Macbook Pro, yet many people still buy M1 Pro and M1 Max Macbook Pro's.

Many people will still buy the upper models just so they can rest easy knowing they have the best.

The M1 GPU is weak sauce compared to even the base model Radeon Pro 5300, in benchmarks and most workloads.
M1 chip is only faster in single core CPU benchmarks, which again is barely felt in real world performance. I've tested both machines personally (M1 iMac and a i5 2020 iMac) and decided to keep the iMac 2020 in the end.

Rubbish.

 

[Alwis]

The m1 chip in base Mac mini comes with only 8GB soldered RAM. The base iMac can be upgraded to 128GB RAM for peanuts.
The M1 GPU is weak sauce compared to even the base model Radeon Pro 5300, in benchmarks and most workloads.
M1 chip is only faster in single core CPU benchmarks, which again is barely felt in real world performance. I've tested both machines personally (M1 iMac and a i5 2020 iMac) and decided to keep the iMac 2020 in the end.

Interesting comparison!

What would be the Studio equivalent of my 2020 iMac with 10 core i9, 64GB and Radeon Pro 5700XT?

Sure, it depends on the use case (photo editing for me), but after what you have written, I assume, that I would have to at least go for the 20 core CPU / 46 core GPU model to replace it (not that I want to, at least not in the next 2-4 years).

 

[AAPLGeek]

Interesting comparison!

What would be the Studio equivalent of my 2020 iMac with 10 core i9, 64GB and Radeon Pro 5700XT?

Sure, it depends on the use case (photo editing for me), but after what you have written, I assume, that I would have to at least go for the 20 core CPU / 46 core GPU model to replace it (not that I want to, at least not in the next 2-4 years).

It all depends on where that top specced 2020 iMac is bottlenecked in your workloads. The M1 ultra could very well end up being a money pit if you're not constantly pushing that i9 and 5700XT to its limits.

Another thing is software optimizations. Raw hardware power is pointless if the apps in your workload are poorly optimized for it. A lot of apps and plugins on M1 still use the Rosetta layer which translates to pretty unimpressive real world use.

 

[senttoschool]

Really tired of seeing this misconception posted over and over on this forum. It's faster only in Geekbench numbers which represents burst performance.

Burst speed would favor Intel because Intel bursts without any regard for TDP.

 

[Alwis]

It all depends on where that top specced 2020 iMac is bottlenecked in your workloads. The M1 ultra could very well end up being a money pit if you're not constantly pushing that i9 and 5700XT to its limits.

Hard to say...

I have twi use cases where I need some performance, raw photo editing with Capture One. This will probably profit from fast GPU and disk i/o.

The second is software development. Long compiler runs while max out the CPU, depending on the build system only one or several cores. Virtual machines profit from RAM and disk i/o.

Probably I do not even need the current iMac configuration, but better save than sorry and I do use my Macs for a long time(still habe my old 2014 iMac as secondary computer). I went with the 64 GB RAM and 10 core CPU mainly because of the VMs, with the 5700XT to future proof the iMac for photo editing.

 

[Argon_]

Yup. The Studio Display is a computerless 27" iMac.

Frankly IMHO they should've done that a long time ago. Given the choice I find many people tend to change out computers far sooner than they need change out the display.

Display tech is now good enough. A ten year old rMBP still looks good. The same could not be said for a 2002 PowerBook in 2012.

 

[Absrnd]

Apple confirmed it, the 27" is dead, dead....dead.

"Update: Apple confirmed to Ars that the 27-inch iMac has reached end of life."

Apple’s 27-inch iMac disappears from its store with no fanfare or replacement

Rumors suggest a big Apple Silicon iMac is coming, but it’s not here yet.

arstechnica.com

 

[johngordon]

They said there's one more product that'll switch to Mac Silicon, and that's Mac Pro.

That means iMac 27" has been replaced with Mac Studio + Display.

It’s ambiguous… it could be interpreted as the iMac has switched, without specifying both models. I guess the 27” disappearing from the website isn’t a great sign though.

 

[johngordon]

Apple confirmed it, the 27" is dead, dead....dead.

"Update: Apple confirmed to Ars that the 27-inch iMac has reached end of life."

Apple’s 27-inch iMac disappears from its store with no fanfare or replacement

Rumors suggest a big Apple Silicon iMac is coming, but it’s not here yet.

arstechnica.com

I feel a bit nostalgic for that. I’ve had two 27” iMacs that lasted me over 12 years.

 

[bushman4]

Studio is double the price of the 27” iMac and for the casual user is overkill Hopefully Apple hasn’t forgot about the casual users
By only selling a 24” iMac

Hopefully we’ll see a 27” iMac at the WWDC

 

[Argon_]

Studio is double the price of the 27” iMac and for the casual user is overkill Hopefully Apple hasn’t forgot about the casual users
By only selling a 24” iMac

Hopefully we’ll see a 27” iMac at the WWDC

Perhaps they'll make a black bezel version of the 24 with the Pro.

 

[opeter]

Studio is double the price of the 27” iMac and for the casual user is overkill Hopefully Apple hasn’t forgot about the casual users
By only selling a 24” iMac

Hopefully we’ll see a 27” iMac at the WWDC

Not really. The casual user doesn't need a 27" screen. Anyway, you can always buy a 3rd party 27" or bigger screen and use it with you Mac.

 

[deeddawg]

Not really. The casual user doesn't need a 27" screen. Anyway, you can always buy a 3rd party 27" or bigger screen and use it with you Mac.

Please point out the 5K 27" displays presently on the market? Not 4K, 5K. There's a difference.

 

[johngordon]

Please point out the 5K 27" displays presently on the market? Not 4K, 5K. There's a difference.

Do casual users need a 5K 27" display? I mean, I get that some may want one, but again I'd suspect that demographic is pretty niche.

 

[Argon_]

There's definitely a gap in the product stack in its current state. An M1 Pro Mini would fill it, at minimum.

 

[the8thark]

Apple confirmed it, the 27" is dead, dead....dead.

"Update: Apple confirmed to Ars that the 27-inch iMac has reached end of life."

Apple’s 27-inch iMac disappears from its store with no fanfare or replacement

Rumors suggest a big Apple Silicon iMac is coming, but it’s not here yet.

arstechnica.com

Ars is not exactly a trusted source of information. When we have an actually credible news source say this then we can believe it.

 

[GiantKiwi]

The problem is that there's a huge gap between the 24" iMac and the Mac Studio, in both price and specs. I can't afford a Mac Studio, but the 24" iMac is under powered. The current high-end iMac in 2022 has the same RAM and less storage than my iMac from 2011.

I'm sorry - General users claiming they need more than 8GB of RAM are typically talking out of their backsides from professional practice. I manage an IT estate of a few hundred desktop and laptop machines and we rarely see any machine utilisation spike over 4-5GB RAM utilisation in a Higher Education situation, where more taxing software is common place.

The earlier comment is correct - if you cannot afford nor justify the price of a product, that product is not for you.

Also comparing an iMac from 2011 to an iMac from last year is like trying to compare the technical equivalencies between an air cooled VW Bug engine to a hybrid F1 engine in the amount of physical performance similarities.

 

[lepidotós]

@GiantKiwi I can get by web browsing and multitasking with 1GB just fine on my iBook G4, sure. But having 16+GB options is just future-proofing; now that 16 is pretty standard for gaming PC setups, it gives (especially web) developers more room to be lazy and inefficient, and the higher ups to shove in more tracking for more revenue. Eventually, 16GB is gonna be considered the floor of "doable for most people".
Yes, for current day use you can rough it out with 1GB, let alone 8. Who knows how long that will last for, given how cheap RAM is getting -- even with pandemic pricing, we're now paying for 4GB sticks a fraction of what a single gigabyte would have cost in, say, 1995.​

 

[deeddawg]

Do casual users need a 5K 27" display? I mean, I get that some may want one, but again I'd suspect that demographic is pretty niche.

So you think that 27” iMac buyers were predominantly “casual” users?

(and out of curiosity, what specifically constitutes a “casual” user in your eyes?)

 

[opeter]

Please point out the 5K 27" displays presently on the market? Not 4K, 5K. There's a difference.

I don't use bigger screens, but here you have a site:

Best 5K and 8K monitors of 2024

Ultra sharp displays with the best 5K and 8K monitors

www.techradar.com

 

[opeter]

@GiantKiwi I can get by web browsing and multitasking with 1GB just fine on my iBook G4, sure. But having 16+GB options is just future-proofing; now that 16 is pretty standard for gaming PC setups, it gives (especially web) developers more room to be lazy and inefficient, and the higher ups to shove in more tracking for more revenue. Eventually, 16GB is gonna be considered the floor of "doable for most people".
Yes, for current day use you can rough it out with 1GB, let alone 8. Who knows how long that will last for, given how cheap RAM is getting -- even with pandemic pricing, we're now paying for 4GB sticks a fraction of what a single gigabyte would have cost in, say, 1995.​

Well, Apple could have standard 16 GB RAM in all the M1 Mac mini or iMac 24" mdoels, but they won't. At least not for the foreseable future.

 

[deeddawg]

I don't use bigger screens, but here you have a site:

Best 5K and 8K monitors of 2024

Ultra sharp displays with the best 5K and 8K monitors

www.techradar.com

The two 5K displays listed are the discontinued $1300 LG and the unavailable in the US and the reportedly-discontinued in UK/EU Iiyama. Others are wide 1440 displays or the 8K Dell display ... and it's $4000.

Thus - if you want 5K, for reasons already stated in other posts, you can't "always buy a 3rd party 27" or bigger screen"

 

[uller6]

The two 5K displays listed are the discontinued $1300 LG and the unavailable in the US and the reportedly-discontinued in UK/EU Iiyama. Others are wide 1440 displays or the 8K Dell display ... and it's $4000.

Thus - if you want 5K, for reasons already stated in other posts, you can't "always buy a 3rd party 27" or bigger screen"

I agree. I’ve been looking for something comparable to the new Studio display for years, and there’s just nothing competitive on the market.

 

[opeter]

The two 5K displays listed are the discontinued $1300 LG and the unavailable in the US and the reportedly-discontinued in UK/EU Iiyama. Others are wide 1440 displays or the 8K Dell display ... and it's $4000.

Thus - if you want 5K, for reasons already stated in other posts, you can't "always buy a 3rd party 27" or bigger screen"

Whatever. I just mentioned the 27" size, not the resolution when I replied to bushman4's post:

Did they just discontinue iMac 27"?

Studio is double the price of the 27” iMac and for the casual user is overkill Hopefully Apple hasn’t forgot about the casual users By only selling a 24” iMac Hopefully we’ll see a 27” iMac at the WWDC

forums.macrumors.com

 

[nicho]

Has Apple ever discontinued something and released the new model months later (ie a decent time period where you can't buy it at all)?

Thunderbolt Display to Studio Display was what, nearly 6 years?