iMac 24 with M1Pro/Max?

[Spankey]

I think we are all too eager to forget that M1 was considered a beast, little over a week ago. The current iMac is a very powerful machine for most uses. I’ve even found myself preferring the 24” screen as it seems to be the perfect size for daily use.

Any new larger iMac may very well be in the Pro line of devices. Much more expensive and overkill for most. Mini-LED, thicker device, more RAM, and larger display all seem likely. I’m sure I’d love to have one even though it would be far more powerful than needed.

Apple seems to be breaking into two camps. Pro-Sumer and Professional. The Pro-Sumer line is powerful enough to meet 90% of most peoples needs, while the Pro line is absolutely geared to companies and industry professionals who make a living off that power.

 

[ZebedeeG]

I think we are all too eager to forget that M1 was considered a beast, little over a week ago. The current iMac is a very powerful machine for most uses. I’ve even found myself preferring the 24” screen as it seems to be the perfect size for daily use.

Any new larger iMac may very well be in the Pro line of devices. Much more expensive and overkill for most. Mini-LED, thicker device, more RAM, and larger display all seem likely. I’m sure I’d love to have one even though it would be far more powerful than needed.

Apple seems to be breaking into two camps. Pro-Sumer and Professional. The Pro-Sumer line is powerful enough to meet 90% of most peoples needs, while the Pro line is absolutely geared to companies and industry professionals who make a living off that power.

Totally agree... My new 24" M1 iMac is already a more powerful machine than I actually need, though it's very nice to have so much performance headroom that it just breezes through what I ask of it. Usually with just the efficiency cores doing the work!

Clearly some people benefit from (or simply need) an even more powerful machine, and I do think that if they can fit the more powerful chips into the 24" iMac it would be a great addition to the range.

Equally, when the larger iMac comes out I'd absolutely love to see an entry level version with a non Pro/Max chip for those of us who don't need that kind of computing firepower, but may still enjoy the larger screen..!

 

[DanTSX]

What do people think (I know we can’t predict Apple plans), on the newest iMac 24” if the M1 Pro and/or M1 max will come to it, and when?

I’m debating on getting a new iMac as fits me better than a MBP/laptop as happy with iPad Pro for what I need/use.

I’m just a little disappointed that Apple didn’t have option of M1 Pro/Max in a desktop computer. It’s a desktop and the M1 is great for mobile applications in my opinion. They could have given the iMac a little more grunt. Or do you think the M1 Pro/Max will be reserved for the more “pro” 27” iMac when it comes?

I know what will happen with my luck, get M1 and then month later the M1 Pro/Max option comes along. And I know you can always just wait and wait.

Don’t hesitate on the 24”. It is plenty powerful on a desktop, and something more powerful is always on the horizon.

 

[Pezimak]

I very much doubt the 24" will get the Pro or Max chip. But with a bit of luck it should get a bump to an M2 chip which I think will be worth the wait.
Personally what I think will happen is, they will launch a new MacBook Air design with the M2 chip in it, and at the same time silently update the Mac Mini and iMac 14" with the same M2 chip.

 

[MrMister111]

Well seen it “in the flesh” today. Have to say some of the colours are not what I thought. The orange seemed red on the back, but rosey pink on the front and stand. Maybe was the lights in store not sure.

So the colour choice would probably be blue, although not really a fan of the front blue, or silver think.

Again not sure if it was because in store but the screen wasn’t as big as I thought. Maybe as was in a large room and the effect of that, might look different in my room. Looked sharp and quality looked good.

Speakers seemed fine, bass was ok, playing from music app, good enough probably for what I would want/need, although wasn’t loud, again in a big room, but the difference in 1 bar to halfway was hardly anything, wasn’t until 3/4 that was acceptable.

Obviously couldn’t test any speed etc, so take all your comments, and the benchmarks look good, still not sure on M1 though as it’s low power, or (maybe) wait for a M2 or whatever will be next in.

There was a 27” beside it, never had a 27” iMac before, but screen looked great and not too much bigger physically than the 24”.

Just with the 16Gb and 512Gb SSD I’d get is £1849, seems a lot of money

Or there is the Mac mini, as have a 24” USB-C monitor (not 4K), but that’s £1100 for mini, £150 for keyboard.

Decisions……

 

[Pezimak]

Well seen it “in the flesh” today. Have to say some of the colours are not what I thought. The orange seemed red on the back, but rosey pink on the front and stand. Maybe was the lights in store not sure.

So the colour choice would probably be blue, although not really a fan of the front blue, or silver think.

Again not sure if it was because in store but the screen wasn’t as big as I thought. Maybe as was in a large room and the effect of that, might look different in my room. Looked sharp and quality looked good.

Speakers seemed fine, bass was ok, playing from music app, good enough probably for what I would want/need, although wasn’t loud, again in a big room, but the difference in 1 bar to halfway was hardly anything, wasn’t until 3/4 that was acceptable.

Obviously couldn’t test any speed etc, so take all your comments, and the benchmarks look good, still not sure on M1 though as it’s low power, or (maybe) wait for a M2 or whatever will be next in.

There was a 27” beside it, never had a 27” iMac before, but screen looked great and not too much bigger physically than the 24”.

Just with the 16Gb and 512Gb SSD I’d get is £1849, seems a lot of money

Or there is the Mac mini, as have a 24” USB-C monitor (not 4K), but that’s £1100 for mini, £150 for keyboard.

Decisions……

Personally I’d wait for the M2, see if it comes out next year.

 

[ZebedeeG]

Personally I’d wait for the M2, see if it comes out next year.

Lets not forget that the M1 is still a phenomenal chip!

There's always going to be something smaller/faster/better/more efficient round the corner... The M1 CPU's a year old and the M1 iMac's barely been out six months it seems a bit soon to be "holding on" for the next model...

 

[Pezimak]

Lets not forget that the M1 is still a phenomenal chip!

There's always going to be something smaller/faster/better/more efficient round the corner... The M1 CPU's a year old and the M1 iMac's barely been out six months it seems a bit soon to be "holding on" for the next model...

Personally I'd rather have a computer with a more powerful chip then an iPad has.

 

[ZebedeeG]

Personally I'd rather have a computer with a more powerful chip then an iPad has.

🤣🤣🤣

Hmm.. You may find that when the iMac gets an update - the iPad does too..!

Still, it sounds like your requirements are better served by a Pro or Max machine... For me though my M1 powered iMac more than meets my requirements for now and the foreseeable future, and blows my previous Intel i5 27" iMac clean out of the water! 😊

 

[DanTSX]

Well seen it “in the flesh” today. Have to say some of the colours are not what I thought. The orange seemed red on the back, but rosey pink on the front and stand. Maybe was the lights in store not sure.

So the colour choice would probably be blue, although not really a fan of the front blue, or silver think.

Again not sure if it was because in store but the screen wasn’t as big as I thought. Maybe as was in a large room and the effect of that, might look different in my room. Looked sharp and quality looked good.

Speakers seemed fine, bass was ok, playing from music app, good enough probably for what I would want/need, although wasn’t loud, again in a big room, but the difference in 1 bar to halfway was hardly anything, wasn’t until 3/4 that was acceptable.

Obviously couldn’t test any speed etc, so take all your comments, and the benchmarks look good, still not sure on M1 though as it’s low power, or (maybe) wait for a M2 or whatever will be next in.

There was a 27” beside it, never had a 27” iMac before, but screen looked great and not too much bigger physically than the 24”.

Just with the 16Gb and 512Gb SSD I’d get is £1849, seems a lot of money

Or there is the Mac mini, as have a 24” USB-C monitor (not 4K), but that’s £1100 for mini, £150 for keyboard.

Decisions……

It’s the lighting.
Orange looks like brand new copper plumbing to my eyes in warm lighting.

That being said the colors certainly are not for everyone. Silver is always a safe bet.

 

[MrMister111]

It’s the lighting.
Orange looks like brand new copper plumbing to my eyes in warm lighting.

That being said the colors certainly are not for everyone. Silver is always a safe bet.

Yeh must have been which is off as it was in an Apple store so don’t they would have made it clear.

Think silver or blue if I order

 

[Pezimak]

🤣🤣🤣

Hmm.. You may find that when the iMac gets an update - the iPad does too..!

Still, it sounds like your requirements are better served by a Pro or Max machine... For me though my M1 powered iMac more than meets my requirements for now and the foreseeable future, and blows my previous Intel i5 27" iMac clean out of the water! 😊

I doubt they'll be putting an M2 in the iPad, the M1 is already wwwaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy overkill for iOS as it is. Until Apple make an OS that takes advantage of the M1 chip in the iPad it's a complete waste of space. And no I'm not better served by any of them particularly but I'd rather have an M2 as it'll iron out any bugs and be better.

 

[CWallace]

Personally I'd rather have a computer with a more powerful chip then an iPad has.

The iPad Pro has generally been on a two-year update cycle so it is possible that Apple might skip M2/Staten for the iPad Pro, but Wayne Ma's sources state that the M3/Ibiza will launch first in an iPad Pro and then move into the Macs.

 

[Pezimak]

The iPad Pro has generally been on a two-year update cycle so it is possible that Apple might skip M2/Staten for the iPad Pro, but Wayne Ma's sources state that the M3/Ibiza will launch first in an iPad Pro and then move into the Macs.

Why? It's pointless if they stick to iOS, it doesn't use half the power of that chip. Perhaps Apple will ditch its MacBook Air and turn the iPad Pro into its replacement if it can make iOS be on the same leve?

 

[CWallace]

Why? It's pointless if they stick to iOS, it doesn't use half the power of that chip. Perhaps Apple will ditch its MacBook Air and turn the iPad Pro into its replacement if it can make iOS be on the same level?

Apple needs a reason to get people to upgrade every generation and maybe if Apple can get their act together on iPadOS it will be able to take advantage of all that performance.

 

[Pezimak]

Apple needs a reason to get people to upgrade every generation and maybe if Apple can get their act together on iPadOS it will be able to take advantage of all that performance.

I'd like to see it for sure, but it just seems like a dream for the foreseeable future.

 

[Tagbert]

I doubt they'll be putting an M2 in the iPad, the M1 is already wwwaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy overkill for iOS as it is. Until Apple make an OS that takes advantage of the M1 chip in the iPad it's a complete waste of space. And no I'm not better served by any of them particularly but I'd rather have an M2 as it'll iron out any bugs and be better.

The M2 is just the next version of the M1, so it would not be a surprise if they put the M2 into an iPad Pro since there is already an M1 in there. An M2 core will probably only be around 15% faster than an M1 core (based on A14<A15). Of course either M1 or M2 is overkill for anything that iPad OS can do now. Let's hope that they have some big plans to justify all that silicon.

 

[UltimateSyn]

The iPad Pro has generally been on a two-year update cycle so it is possible that Apple might skip M2/Staten for the iPad Pro, but Wayne Ma's sources state that the M3/Ibiza will launch first in an iPad Pro and then move into the Macs.

Generally? There were 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021 models of the iPad Pro. That line has never once gone two years without being touched - even the gap between the 2018 and 2020 updates was only 18 months.

Technically due to the phased introduction of the lineup the 12.9” iPad Pro went two years between the first and second generations, but never since then has it gone two years without an update.

 

[MrMister111]

What are the chances of getting the new M1 Pro (or even the Max) in a 24” iMac? I’d be happy with 24” screen a bit more power.

The 24” iMac has a 143 W power supply, more than the 96 W and 140 W power supplies in the new MacBook Pros. I appreciate that there’s a larger screen to power in the iMac, but give the XDR specs of the MacBook Pros I wouldn’t be surprised if they had similar power demand.

Considering cooling, I can’t believe that they’d design a new iMac that couldn’t deal with something more powerful than the M1.

My main concern is timing. A higher power iMac 24 risks taking sales from the upcoming iMac 27 so I don’t imagine it would be released until after it’s big brother: mid to late 2022.

What did you decide to do?

I’m sort of in same scenario, obviously always waiting you’ll never get something, but I’m unsure if M1 will be upgraded soon. Was disappointed a little that they didn’t put the pro/max option in already.

 

[Tagbert]

What are the chances of getting the new M1 Pro (or even the Max) in a 24” iMac? I’d be happy with 24” screen a bit more power.

The 24” iMac has a 143 W power supply, more than the 96 W and 140 W power supplies in the new MacBook Pros. I appreciate that there’s a larger screen to power in the iMac, but give the XDR specs of the MacBook Pros I wouldn’t be surprised if they had similar power demand.

Considering cooling, I can’t believe that they’d design a new iMac that couldn’t deal with something more powerful than the M1.

My main concern is timing. A higher power iMac 24 risks taking sales from the upcoming iMac 27 so I don’t imagine it would be released until after it’s big brother: mid to late 2022.

I suspect that Apple considers the 24" iMac to be a consumer model and does not intend to put their Pro/Max chips into consumer models. They will certainly updated them to M2 and later versions as those come out and you will get more power as the base chips gain power but probably not the massive multi-core, multi-GPU pro chips.