Will there ever be a new large iMac (Pro)?

[CWallace]

Yes, Apple seems to be embracing market differentiation between "consumers" and "professionals" again in both nomenclature and components.

iPhone - iPhone Pro
iPad - iPad Pro
MacBook Air - MacBook Pro
iMac - iMac Pro


We can extend that a bit with things like the iPad Air, which can appeal to consumers and professionals. Same with the Mac mini.

 

[macsplusmacs]

MacBook Air - MacBook Pro

I think "air" will be gone next year with the m2 version. and they will also drop the 13" then too. leaving 14" and 16" pro models.

 

[CWallace]

I think Apple would like to drop the "Air" and just have a "MacBook" to complement the MacBook Pro, but the "Air" name has so much marketing legacy behind it that they might not be able to.

 

[satchmo]

I wonder if the timeline for the 30” model depends on how well the 24” model is selling.

I mean if they can’t keep up with demand of the smaller iMac, does it make sense to push another product into the pipeline this year?

 

[macsplusmacs]

Luke Miana has his own theory on the Air.

 

[Jorbanead]

get back to the original steve job 4 quadrant marketing they had way back when.

Steve Job's himself moved the company from a 2x4 to a 2x6 matrix. That's because when Steve originally did the 2x4, the company was vastly different. They didn't have the resources or teams the company has now. Thus, the teams they did have were spread too thin.

Now, the product line is divided into 3 categories: Consumer, Prosumer, Professional. And 2 variants: Desktop, Portable.

 

[cookiemonster89]

High-End iMac ‘Pro’ Coming in 2022, NOT at the End of This Year

 

[Freida]

Yeah, if we don't see the larger iMac by fall then that means we will be getting M2 variant (which would make sense actually) but then the question would be where the rest is. If Apple is going for the bigger display this fall then will the experience be good enough for Apple to release it with M1 variant ? Most likely yes but maybe there won't be larger standard iMac as you've suggested. Going straight to "Pro" would be a mistake I think.
I want larger iMac but I don't want to pay for the "Pro" price as they give me stuff I don't need.
They should keep it as before, iMac (24 & 32+-) and iMac Pro.
However, I have a feeling that the bigger will really be called Pro.
Personally, all I need is big screen, 5700XT+ performance and about 32gb or so ram. The rest is fine - which in today's standards is nothing crazy so lets not get a crazy price tag

If we don't see a larger iMac launched alongside the MacBook Pros this Fall, then it pretty clear it will be coming in 2022.

And if it's 2022, then I worry that this larger iMac will be marketed as the new iMac Pro with Jade2C-Die as the base SoC and a Liquid Retina XDR 6K display.

And that is going to bring a high price (I could see a starting price of $3999 with J2C, 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD).

And to be honest, $4000 is too rich for me for what I use my iMac for. I'll either get a 2020 iMac 5K or if Apple launches a new large (27-32") Apple Thunderbolt Display, I will get the 14" MBP with it.

 

[xgman]

2022 Mac Pro said to use Intel Ice Lake Xeon W-3300 CPU | AppleInsider

A future Mac Pro is rumored to use the Xeon W-3300 CPU family, in parallel with Apple's commitment to fully transition to Apple Silicon by 2022.

appleinsider.com

does this begin and end with the MP?

 

[macsplusmacs]

I wonder if the Silicon MP gets delayed till 2023. so all but the MP make the 22' deadline.

 

[xgman]

At least they aren't End of Life'ing the MP, while it takes so long to ramp up the Apple silicon, like they did with the IMP. Not a bad marketing move in order to keep their highest end customers on the line, so to speak.

 

[macsplusmacs]

of course, i expect the mac pro jr. to share some of the silicon MP so I wonder if it would even ship before the new MP.

maybe?

 

[Jorbanead]

2022 Mac Pro said to use Intel Ice Lake Xeon W-3300 CPU | AppleInsider

A future Mac Pro is rumored to use the Xeon W-3300 CPU family, in parallel with Apple's commitment to fully transition to Apple Silicon by 2022.

appleinsider.com

does this begin and end with the MP?

I’d bet this is only limited to the Mac Pro and is really only there to not piss off the pro community again. After the trash can fiasco, Apple is still on semi-thin ice for a lot of professionals and deprecating Intel before all the major pro software is optimized for Apple Silicon could be the nail in the coffin for many.

 

[CWallace]

2022 Mac Pro said to use Intel Ice Lake Xeon W-3300 CPU | AppleInsider

A future Mac Pro is rumored to use the Xeon W-3300 CPU family, in parallel with Apple's commitment to fully transition to Apple Silicon by 2022.

appleinsider.com

does this begin and end with the MP?

It should. Apple needs to continue to update Mac Pro 7,1.

I do expect Mac Pro 8,1 to be powered by Apple Silicon, but Mac Pro 7,1 to continue beside it for years to come.

 

[ekwipt]

I’d bet this is only limited to the Mac Pro and is really only there to not piss off the pro community again. After the trash can fiasco, Apple is still on semi-thin ice for a lot of professionals and deprecating Intel before all the major pro software is optimized for Apple Silicon could be the nail in the coffin for many.

It would be great if they offer some sort of updated logic board (the Mac Pro is actually very modular) which could possibly pave the way to an upgrade Apple Silicon Logic board

 

[Jorbanead]

It would be great if they afford some sort of updated motherboard card (the Mac Pro is actually very modular) which could possibly pave the way to an upgrade Apple Silicon “Motherboard Mac Pro”

I'm not sure I follow what you mean? A card that converts an intel mac pro to an apple silicon mac pro?

 

[CWallace]

I'm not sure I follow what you mean? A card that converts an intel mac pro to an apple silicon mac pro?

I'm guessing maybe an M-series SoC with memory on an expansion card that would plug into an Intel Mac Pro so you could run both x86 and ASi code natively.

 

[ekwipt]

I'm guessing maybe an M-series SoC with memory on an expansion card that would plug into an Intel Mac Pro so you could run both x86 and ASi code natively.

Either that or the actual Logic board could get replaced. Not very Apple I guess

 

[Airch]

14/16 in MBP is expected to be announced in Sept or October so it's very unlikely to see a high end iMac in 2021. Since we dont have any specific rumors about a high end iMac, maybe it will come out on next WWDC? A rumor suggested that a high end iMac is gonna share its chip with a cube Mac Pro. Kinda disappointing that they won't be able to migrate within 2 years but we'll see.

If you pay attention many configs of mbp16 are on sale right now for about 500 off. Something new is coming soon

 

[Traverse]

I do believe we will see a smaller Mac Pro-class machine using Jade2C-Die and Jade4C-Die.

I also think we could see another Intel Mac Pro (Apple spent way too much money on 7,1 to just abandon it after one generation and if they did, that would just put their already chilly relations with serious professionals into a deep freeze).

So maybe Mac Pro 8,1 for the Intel machine and Mac Pro 8,2 for the Apple Silicon model.

What I'm most curious to see is the GPU story. I know that teraflops aren't a perfect measure of GPU capability but I believe the 2017 iMac 580 Pro was around 4-5 flops. The M1 is around 2.5 I believe. This lines up with the M1 Metal score of 21,700 vs 41,500 for my system.

Assuming the GPU really does scale linearly, I would need the 16-core model just to break even with my current system (which I believe will be the standard configuration unless they market it as "Pro"). So I'll have to spring for either the 32-core or 64-core system to see a meaningful upgrade. Since I like to keep my computers for 5+ years I like to buy the higher-mid tier.

 

[Freida]

Yes, exactly. Its the GPU and max ram right now that is the main issue with M chips. The performance of M1 is very good for most but the GPU is really bad. So that needs to be fixed in the next chip Apple shows us. Ideally, I would love M2 and M2X (basically skip M1X entirely) but we may not be this lucky.

On the other hand, M2 is just about ready (just like A15) so we can expect products with it this fall. M2X (as a variant of M2) should theoretically be about ready also as its just the same architecture with more cores etc. so Don't see a reason why we could not see it in fall or spring event.
M1X is at this point a little pointless unless they anticipate delay for everything so in that case it could make sense.
Still strange to see that M2 will most likely show up before or around the same time as M1X if we do get it.
Why have next gen next to an old gen with more cores/gpus? Why not just apply it to the next and have M2 and M2X together.

M2 for Macbook, Mac Mini
M2X for Macbook Pro and iMac

What I'm most curious to see is the GPU story. I know that teraflops aren't a perfect measure of GPU capability but I believe the 2017 iMac 580 Pro was around 4-5 flops. The M1 is around 2.5 I believe. This lines up with the M1 Metal score of 21,700 vs 41,500 for my system.

Assuming the GPU really does scale linearly, I would need the 16-core model just to break even with my current system (which I believe will be the standard configuration unless they market it as "Pro"). So I'll have to spring for either the 32-core or 64-core system to see a meaningful upgrade. Since I like to keep my computers for 5+ years I like to buy the higher-mid tier.

 

[Homy]

I didn't think I would say this but for the first time I don't think I can wait another year to replace my iMac 2011. The next bigger iMac won't come until Nov 2022.

Gurman: Apple Silicon roadmap includes new Mac Pro, Mac mini, and more by November 2022 - 9to5Mac

When Apple first announced its plans to transition from Intel to Apple Silicon at WWDC 2020, the company said it...

9to5mac.com

 

[4sallypat]

I didn't think I would say this but for the first time I don't think I can wait another year to replace my iMac 2011. The next bigger iMac won't come until Nov 2022.

Gurman: Apple Silicon roadmap includes new Mac Pro, Mac mini, and more by November 2022 - 9to5Mac

When Apple first announced its plans to transition from Intel to Apple Silicon at WWDC 2020, the company said it...

9to5mac.com

Get a 24" M1 iMac - it will blow you away compared to any previous Intel iMac.
I have used: 2007-2020 Intel iMacs nothing compares to the new M1.

BTW according to 9to5:
"....Apple is still planning one more update to the current Intel Mac Pro, which recent rumors have suggested could be powered by the Intel Ice Lake Xeon W-3300 workstation CPUs.

REALLY ????

 

[Moonjumper]

Get a 24" M1 iMac - it will blow you away compared to any previous Intel iMac.
I have used: 2007-2020 Intel iMacs nothing compares to the new M1.

BTW according to 9to5:
"....Apple is still planning one more update to the current Intel Mac Pro, which recent rumors have suggested could be powered by the Intel Ice Lake Xeon W-3300 workstation CPUs.

REALLY ????

The Mac Pro will probably be the last to move to Apple Silicon, and it has been a long time since it was updated, plus there are newer chips available for it. It makes sense to give it an Intel update. But I don't expect any more Intel updates for any other Mac.

 

[CWallace]

Looking more and more like a 2020 iMac 5K is in my near-term future.

Now just ship the MiniLED MacBook Air, please, so I can try Apple Silicon.