What is it Apple could possibly put in the upcoming redesigned iMac?

[Zarniwoop]

ProMotion (and similar adaptive synchronization technologies) are useful for many reason.

• the screen can adapt to different video frame rates to get rid of frame dropping, picture tearing, or softness that software does when compensating the two problems. 50hz video for instance does not look perfect in 60hz display. Imagine doing a video editing for 50hz broadcast, but your display is 60hz. The editor needs a tv connected to the workstation to see the real results. With ProMotion, you could do it on the monitor.
• Fluid desktop UI, scrolling web sites or any text
• Power saving modes for portable devices. 43hz/fps and above look fluid in our eyes, so battery can be saved when high rates are not needed and gpu can do it with less work
• Gaming of course is best known to benefit of adaptive sync. It can compensate poor gpu not to cause stuttering when frame rate drops under 60hz. FPS shooters love high frame rates.
• A silent mode is possible by dropping frame rate.
• I am sure this will have a key role for a good AR/VR experience with Apple AR glasses.
• Better responsiveness with Apple pencil

 

[macduke]

• 31.5” 6K Retina display with minimal bezels and rounded corners (unlikely to come to the non-Pro iMacs for some time, if ever)
• 120/144Hz display (unlikely in first gen 6K, but perhaps in 5K if they don’t do that, but maybe only on the iMac Pro first)
• Apple series chips with insane numbers of cores (unlikely for next year but possible)
• 10 Gigabit Ethernet
• UHS-II SD card reader
• WiFi 6 (802.11ax)
• BT 5.0
• A shift back to Nvidia GPUs (unlikely)
• Height adjustable stand
• Face ID
• True Tone
• 4K FaceTime camera
• Better speakers (need deeper bass)
• Improved cooling system to reduce throttling
• Thunderbolt 4 80/100Gbps (Intel has mentioned these speeds down the road but unsure if coming or rolled into USB 4.1, etc)
• USB 4.0 40Gbps (announced supporting TB 3 converging USB-C and TB 3)

The main problem will be if Apple switches to their own chips and that reduces the lifespan of Intel based Macs. If they drop support for Intel as quickly as they did for Power PC then I will really regret it.

Many of these aren’t likely for next year but possible. Not everything will make it into the final machine and many things may stay iMac Pro only for a while to differentiate more. For me a lot of these things aren’t dealbreakers for upgrading to my new 5K iMac last week. For example I expect any 31.5” 6K iMac either pro or standard to be at least $1000 more expensive, so I’m fine with 5K for now. As for many other things, I can upgrade my own RAM, add an eGPU with Nvidia GPU, add external storage, have an SD UHS-II adapter already, use Ethernet so don’t need WiFi 6 (or BT 5) but could plug in an adapter if I ever need to, could buy a 10 Gigabit Ethernet adapter when speeds in my neighborhood exceed the current 1Gbps limit, I can unlock with Apple Watch so don’t need Face ID, don’t really need True Tone because it’s in a room without windows, could buy a 4K webcam if I needed to (don’t really FaceTime on a Mac much), and can always connect better speakers. So many things can be upgraded myself if I decide to, but just reduces the minimalist aesthetic. So I went ahead and purchased because I need it now.