The 24-inch M1 iMac redesign brought a slim, flat, iPad Pro-like silhouette. Will its bigger sibling also do away with the convex back?
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Along with the Mac Pro, it’s almost certain a replacement for the 27-inch iMac will arrive in 2022: They’re both the last Intel-based Apples standing before Apple hits its self-imposed two-year deadline to complete the switch from third-party processors to its own silicon.
While we don’t know many specifics, my guess is a new model will be announced at the annual Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, which usually happens in early June. If there are any new or unique capabilities that Apple’s planning to add with the annual operating system update, software developers need to be the first to know.
When will the new iMac be announced?
Though we expect the first Apple event to take place in early March, the usually spot-on display expert Ross Young thinks it will be bumped from his initial estimate of early this year to debut sometime between June and August, since he doesn’t see panels for it shipping before June.
As we reported in today’s DSCC Weekly, we no longer expect the Apple iMac Pro to launch in the spring. Looks more like summer. Still with a MiniLED backlight, but fewer MiniLEDs/zones than in iPad/MacBook Pro’s.
— Ross Young (@DSCCRoss) January 31, 2022
I think later timing, whatever the reason, makes more sense since a significant revamp for a higher-end system like this doesn’t mesh with the lower-end focus of Apple’s usual early-in-the-year announcements. There are always new features in the operating system that Apple likes to highlight at WWDC, and they’ll likely want a flagship system like this to show them off.
What type of screen will it have and how big will it be?
So far, it looks like the initial rumors of a mini-LED-backlit display — the same type Apple’s adopted for many of its other products like the MacBook Pro, iPad Pro and iPhone 13 — remain current per Young, and like those will have a ProMotion display with a maximum 120Hz refresh rate.
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I’ve seen some scattered moaning about “fewer zones” for the backlight, since that means less granular control over local dimming in HDR and therefore a potentially worse experience. But really bright LED backlights of 1,000 nits or more generate a lot of heat. A lot. So to be able to cool the display as well as all the other heat-generating components which Apple crams into it, and keep it thin would probably require some technological feats that would jack up the price. Look at the Pro Display XDR: The entire back is a heatsink, it’s a lot thicker than most monitors and it costs upwards of $4,999.
As for how big it will be, though initial rumors pegged it at 32 inches (like the Pro Display XDR), for the moment it looks like it will remain 27 inches.
Will it be an iMac Pro?
This is an interesting question, since there seems to be a lot of vagueness in discussions about a large, revamped iMac. MacRumors thinks that a new 27-inch iMac will simply be branded “iMac Pro” to differentiate it from its 24-inch entry-level sibling. That might make sense; for instance, there’s no longer a MacBook, just a MacBook Air and MacBook Pros. (I suppose it’s also possible that Apple could brand its rumored MacBook Pro 13 update as just “MacBook” and make the iMac naming supposition moot.)
Given MacRumors’ expectation that whatever it’s called will incorporate the M1 Pro and M1 Pro Max chips which launched with the 14- and 16-inch M1 MacBook Pros in late 2021, however, the door remains ajar for an even higher-end Pro model with the earlier rumored 32-inch screen and possibly whatever CPU and GPU combos of Apple silicon end up in an all-Apple Mac Pro. The original iMac Pro was discontinued in 2021.
What else will we see?
There has been no mention of other design aspects, potential features or reliable rumors about it coming in colors like the iMac 24. It’s a good bet that it will incorporate an upgraded webcam; after all, Apple managed to get one in the 24-inch iMac.
I don’t hold out a lot of hope that it will have a smarter design with, for example, at least a couple of the Thunderbolt ports and SD card reader on the side, a way to raise and lower the screen (maybe even swivel or rotate!), an HDMI connection, user-upgradeable memory and storage and support for Face ID.
When and how much?
If the announcement happens around June, it could potentially ship close to when the new operating system becomes available. Young tentatively pegs it for August at the earliest. As for pricing, until we know more about the components and features, I can’t even hazard a guess. And I haven’t seen anyone else hazarding yet either.
