Is a 32" iMac on the way?

[iTurbo]

I will predicate this by saying that I am not a professional like many of you out there. But I am excited that the rumors are about a possible 32" iMac. Would you buy one?

I certainly would to replace my 2012 27" iMac which has performed flawlessly ever since buying it. I used to think that getting 6-7 years out of a Mac was good....and it is still rocking. Fusion drive and all.

 

[jerwin]

https://www.macrumors.com/2019/02/17/apple-31-inch-6k-display-mini-led-kuo/

probably to accompany the mac pro

It won't be cheap.

 

[iTurbo]

I know...But for me...it is time. The bigger screen is more desirable than going Retina for me. It would be a huge draw to have a Big Mac so to speak.

 

[macduke]

Yeah. I made a space gray mockup on the forum for the iMac Pro before it was even announced and long before these 6K rumors. I believe I said a 31-32” 6K display. This will likely happen at some point, but not on the regular iMac for a long time. I think the iMac Pro will get a 6K option sometime after the Mac Pro and new Thunderbolt 6K display is released. It will likely cost $1000-2000 more than the base iMac Pro, so $5999-6999 and that’s just to start. So you’ll have 4K/5K iMac, and 5K/6K iMac Pro. Balance. They may put higher end CPU and GPU options available only in the 6K model. Such a large device will likely have slimmer bezels and could possibly fit two GPUs. I think Intel is working on some massive core count CPUs that could maybe go into such a machine. Or maybe they’ll just save those really high-end parts for the Mac Pro redesign.

 

[theluggage]

I know...But for me...it is time. The bigger screen is more desirable than going Retina for me. It would be a huge draw to have a Big Mac so to speak.

With the iMacs recently updated, it seems unlikely that there will be another update to them until 2020.

The "promised" new display will be a standalone display for the Mythical Modular Mac Pro, not an iMac. Its vaguely possible that it might only work with the Mac Pro if it uses some exotic format, high refresh rate etc.

According to one rumor it will be a 31" "6k3k" display - which sounds like a "wider" version of the current 27" display: same height, about 4" wider.

Personally, I think 27" is about the biggest that makes sense for an all-in-one - much larger, and things like having the ports around the back get awkward. I think lots of people would still want 27", so they'd have to make 3 sizes... Maybe they could go to 28-29" if they shrank the bezels, or keep it 27" and make it physically smaller. To be fair, I'm not really an all-in-one fan and am only using an iMac because of the lack of a decent Mac desktop - might consider a Mini if I bought today (but probably needing an eGPU puts me off). I'd actually prefer 2x27" screens to one huge one.

Have you considered a Mini, (probably +eGPU) and a non-Apple 32" 4k display? 4k quality is still going to be a step up from your current non-retina screen.

 

[mikey8811]

Have you considered a Mini, (probably +eGPU) and a non-Apple 32" 4k display? 4k quality is still going to be a step up from your current non-retina screen.

What 4k non Apple screen would you recommend that works well with a Mac Mini?

 

[Fishrrman]

Those who know ain't talking.
Those who talk (with very few exceptions) don't know.

A guess:
If Apple releases a 6k 32" iMac, the "entry-level" price will probably be at least $3,000, possibly higher. And go up from there. WAY up...

 

[nambuccaheadsau]

Possibly for a future release of an iMac Pro.

 

[CWallace]

As theluggage noted, Apple just updated the iMac and they would not release a new design so soon after.

The iMac Pro should be due for a refresh in 2H 2019 once the new W-Series Xeons arrive, however I expect it to retain the same form factor as the current model.

 

[fathergll]

Personally, I think 27" is about the biggest that makes sense for an all-in-one - much larger, and things like having the ports around the back get awkward. I think lots of people would still want 27", so they'd have to make 3 sizes... Maybe they could go to 28-29" if they shrank the bezels, or keep it 27" and make it physically smaller. To be fair, I'm not really an all-in-one fan and am only using an iMac because of the lack of a decent Mac desktop - might consider a Mini if I bought today (but probably needing an eGPU puts me off). I'd actually prefer 2x27" screens to one huge one.

I got to play with the Surface Studio 2 last weekend for a bit. I was bashing Gen 1 before for their price with the horrible specs and the price of the new ones is still too high because it has one major achilles heel and thats an outdated 4 core i7. With that said the 3:2 ratio on a touch 28" display really is awesome. MacOS would be quite awesome on this thing. I'm really curious to see what Apple will cook up given that this thing has been out for a while so hopefully they have plenty of ideas to use. But I'm seriously to the point of thinking of getting a Studio Surface after using the newer one but I can't pull the trigger because of the price and besides I want to see what Apple has cooked up. But I'd imagine MicroSoft will have a version 3 out around the same time as Apple so should be interesting.

 

[xgman]

This is a misstated rumor with regard to imac.

 

[Peter_M]

Get a 34' ultrawide like Acer X34P. I'll take that any day, over a regular widescreen retina monitor. It's that good.
I don't miss retina at all, in fact for some reason a "normal" matte PC monitor is more comfortable for my eyes.

 

[mikehalloran]

What 4k non Apple screen would you recommend that works well with a Mac Mini?

Any 4K from LG will work.
https://www.lg.com/us/4k-monitors

The Mini has an HDMI port and all the 4K will work with that. The 5K require TB3. I think that all have headphone jacks and some might have speakers.

Many are hight adjustable—I like that.

The 27UL850-W is the 27UL650-W with a TB3 port in. 400 Nits is a number on a paper but can blind you if turned all the way up. I had no idea.

I had a couple of 27UL650-W flanking my iMac Pro but that wide, curved stand didn't fit my desk so I returned them in favor of a pair of 27UD58P-B. 250 Nits is plenty bright for me and the squared pedestal fits my desk better. Plus I saved $200 in the exchange.

LG has a 43" for $699
https://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-43UD79-B-4k-uhd-led-monitor

Here's a 34" 5K for $1,499. Saw one at Fry's — jaw dropping impressive! If I had a Mini... way too big for the side of my iMP.
https://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-34WK95U-W-ultrawide-monitor

The Ultrafine is the one sold through Apple and is the same retina display found on the 2017–2019 iMac.
https://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-27MD5KA-B-5k-uhd-led-monitor

Perhaps it's my old eyes but the difference between 5K and 4K are barely noticeable. Having them side by side, I can hardly see the difference.

 

[cynics]

I got to play with the Surface Studio 2 last weekend for a bit. I was bashing Gen 1 before for their price with the horrible specs and the price of the new ones is still too high because it has one major achilles heel and thats an outdated 4 core i7. With that said the 3:2 ratio on a touch 28" display really is awesome. MacOS would be quite awesome on this thing. I'm really curious to see what Apple will cook up given that this thing has been out for a while so hopefully they have plenty of ideas to use. But I'm seriously to the point of thinking of getting a Studio Surface after using the newer one but I can't pull the trigger because of the price and besides I want to see what Apple has cooked up. But I'd imagine MicroSoft will have a version 3 out around the same time as Apple so should be interesting.

I do feel the display looked great but thats about it. Playing with one at a Microsoft store at Christiana Mall in DE (I had to erased a huge pot leaf drawn on it with the captain "Hey hey hey smoke weed everyday" so no one thought I did it, admittedly I was cracking up) I wasn't impressed at all.

Now its a windows machine, demo model in the store thats probably had a thousand hands on it so it might have been having issues but there was a very clear lag of input drawing on it. Drawing a straight line really fast the line was literally an inch behind the tip of the stylus. It was usable but I just felt "meh". Again though I don't know if that is normal for the device or just a bad test sample.

Comparing to the iPad Pro at the same mall that had a lot more hands on it (store was packed 30 employees and god knows how much customers, Microsoft store had 10 people in it or so including employees and a stoner) was night and day. The IPP was just impressive I never seen a stylus feel so much like a real writing implement. I don't have a use for it but its cool.

The price of the Studio is what really floored me which further makes me think that there was something wrong with the one I tested. I haven't researched what went into that screen but nearly everything was lack luster, unimpressive 7th gen quad core, nvidia 1070 (2xxx have been out a while but the 1070 is still good), dated i/o with USB-C thats not TB3 so peripherals are very limited compared to what we are used too.

Two things I really liked about it though 1) 1TB/2TB PCIe SSD is STANDARD 2) Stylus/Pen/Whatever is INCLUDED, something Apple would sell separately.

It was $4200 though, and it was the middle of the road model! $4200 gets you a 5k iMac with 9th gen 8 core CPU, 32gb RAM, TB3 with bandwidth for external GPU's, multiple 4k displays, etc, Vega 48 (not great but its new and expensive still), 1tb PCIe SSD.

My only take away from that thing is its directed for artist with laser beam focus. You NEED to have a use for that screen. I guess I could say the same thing about the iMac being directed toward video editors with its 5k display though. But I still feel the iMac is a bit better rounded with aspect ratio for media consumption and multiple windows.

 

[fathergll]

I didn't get into the drawing aspect of the machine but I love the idea of being able to have this in a living room and be able walk up to it and use the touch screen for some simple things while standing. My biggest issue with lag which I assume was because of the terrible wifi in the MicroSoft store at the King of Prussia mall.

I did notice some lags for some other gui functions but I wasn't sure if that was because it was a demo unit that has been put through the ringer.(i have seen some Apple computer act funky as demo units as well.

With that said I just love the combination of 28" and 3:2 ratio. It opens up the display so much more and looks much bigger than the 27" 5k display.

I'm pretty sure that $4200 model was on sale for around $3600 a month ago online and even then thats too much but at least it gets it in the ball park of what I would pay for one.