At this point Apple will only create this product if it can draw further blood from the stone. They’ll market it to death, like the ridiculous ‘Dynamic Island’. And they won’t make a 27” version that isn’t marketed as Pro, because it will cost less. Instead the entry level Pro will require an upgrade from the already ridiculously expensive base model to actually be a pro machine. Meanwhile the 24” will go years without updates and never see a 27” version. Thanks Tim!
After the introduction of the Mac Studio and Studio Display in Apple's product lineup, and with mixed signs of a larger Apple silicon iMac on its product roadmap, will there ever be another iMac Pro?
Five years ago this week Apple launched the iMac Pro – presented at the time as "the most powerful Mac ever made". In March 2021, Apple announced that it was discontinuing the iMac Pro. By that time, the machine had been surpassed by the 2019 Mac Pro, a significant final update for the 27-inch iMac, and the first Apple Silicon Macs. In April 2021, Apple introduced the 24-inch iMac as its first all-in-one desktop Mac with an Apple silicon chip. Apple discontinued the Intel-based 27-inch iMac in March 2022, leaving the junior iMac with an entry-level chip as the only all-in-one in Apple's lineup.
Display Supply Chain Consultants analyst Ross Young has said since 2021 that Apple is working on an iMac with a 27-inch mini-LED display with ProMotion, but rumors about this device have faded since the launch of the Mac Studio and Studio Display in March this year. When Apple introduced these two new machines, it lauded their "modularity" and collective positioning between the iMac and the Mac Pro. As such, the location of the Mac Studio in Apple's product lineup aroused suspicion that there was simply no place for a "Pro" iMac anymore. Other reports suggested that Apple had no plans to release an new iMac Pro or an iMac with a larger display anytime soon.
Nevertheless, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes that a new iMac Pro model will launch in 2023 alongside a new Mac Pro – a rumor seemingly supported by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Earlier this year, Gurman said that Apple was continuing work on a high-end iMac model:Beyond a rumor from Young explaining that the iMac Pro will have fewer mini-LED zones than the iPad Pro or MacBook Pro, little else is known about what it could feature. It seems likely that a larger, ~27-inch mini-LED display with ProMotion, M3 Pro and M3 Max chip options, and a slew of ports brought over from the MacBook Pro are on the cards for the iMac Pro based on what we are aware of at the current time.
With Young, Kuo, and Gurman all coalescing around the idea of a new high-end iMac, likely set to launch next year, it seems that the chances of Apple releasing a new iMac Pro are still relatively high, regardless of the presence of the Mac Studio and Studio Display.
Article Link: Will There Really Be Another iMac Pro?
From a previous post I authored:
Exactly my man. Exactly...
Yeah, and you needed the extra space for cooling, but with Apple Silicon not using discrete GPU or really needing the cooling room (especially with 3nm coming by the time this is out), it's just an all-in-one for its own sake.
They require it in a laptop sff desktop, but a 27" should be fine with just a big heatpipe layout, especially as they would move to smaller lithography by the time they release this.
The 24" heat dissipation does use the back of the iMac metal frame to bleed heat in addition to the two heat exhaust ports under the chin. It's part of the reason why it's such a superior thermal design compared to the intel 27" iMac design that exhausted air from a small opening in the rear that suffered from the stand being in the way.
The chin isn't there for esthetic reasons, it's there so the hottest parts of the computer don't roast the LCD like they would if they were right behind the screen.
I get it, but that's a new constraint. no one cares how thin it is, old imac thickness (or impressive bowl shape) thickness was perfect.
My bad. I got distracted and didn’t realize I had actually posted the first time—I wasn’t trying to emphasize that much. Those are good points. I’m a bit removed from the price-performance ratio since all my Macs have been secondhand but I can see how if you’re buying new and sure you won’t need the mobility it’d make more sense to allocate the funds that’d be designated to the built-in display and/or battery towards other specs.
Macs have been significantly cheaper than the competition for a decade. What you are pointing out (without knowing it) is there is no crap in the lineup
I suppose it depends on if they sold enough of them to make it worthwhile. Apple at this point should know if there is a market.
Unless you work for Apple, sorry, I have no reason to believe you’re right — or wrong. I an wait until ~ April to find our.
How do you define “overpay?” Raw specs and measurements alone, or the fact that enough people are willing to pay Apple’s price for a product that the company makes a sizable profit?
Bloomberg predicts spring event to be Tuesday March 7th or 14th for 2023.
Not picking on you @subjonas but this post is emblematic of both what probably a majority of both sides of the iMac Pro argument can agree with and what, I believe, a lot of people are possibly missing. Based upon numerous reliable sources, Apple is working on a larger AS iMac. Seems reasonable to guess that it'll sport an M2/M3 with Pro and Max configurations. I'd argue that it's more likely than not that it will be branded an iMac Pro. It doesn't really matter if it fits in the same category as the Intel iMac Pro in the old lineup, because it'll blow away both of the old 27" models. Whether such a computer would actually be a "Pro" machine, is a silly question. Is a AS MacBook Pro not a "Pro" machine? Seems like they're a favorite of many a "Pro"fessional software developer, and, after all the larger iMac has always been pretty much a reconfigured MacBook Pro in an all-in-one package. Not everyone digs that form factor, but a lot of people have, in fact Apple is kind of famously synonymous with all-in-ones. Seems pretty laughable that some 🧙♂️missed that. Anyway, it's good to have choices, and I think it'd be a huge shame if Apple permanently shelves their most popular and iconic iMac configuration.
The 27" iMac from which the iMac Pro was based was an incredible value even today. $2.5K for, at the time, a mid-powered Mac with a screen that was unmatched at such a price. If Apple makes another 27" iMac, it'll be called a Pro, because it will be in the all-in-one class. Probably be a bit more than $2.5k though.
