Larger 32-inch iMac Pro rumored to hit store shelves in late 2024

AppleInsider

The long-rumored large-screen iMac is still on the way, with a release now rumored for late 2024.

24-inch iMac

Since the retirement of the iMac Pro, the rumor mill has repeatedly claimed that a large iMac was on the way, with it amping up after the release of the 24-inch iMac.

In his latest "Power On" newsletter for Bloomberg, Mark Gurman discusses the larger iMac. Apple was apparently planning to launch a larger model shortly after the 24-inch arrived, but that didn't happen for reasons only known to itself.

Now, Gurman believes the model is "still poised" to arrive, with a release timeframe of late 2024 or 2025. Gurman also adds that the model will have a 32-inch display, making it the biggest in Apple's history.

Gurman's new claims follow a short time after similar predictions from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who forecasted a "higher-end 32-inch mini LED display iMac" as arriving in 2025.

Specific details on the model aren't clear, obviously. Presumably it will have a variant of the M3 processor, and with a screen that large, be oriented towards to "pro" side of the market, more than the consumer side.

Read on AppleInsider

dennyc69

That’s long in the tooth for sure.

macxpress

I doubt Apple is releasing an iMac Pro. An iMac Pro just isn't necessary with Mac Studio available. There might be a larger screened iMac coming but it won't be a Pro. Just because it's a larger screen iMac doesn't make it an iMac Pro. 

jellybelly

I see something in the tea leaves— or were those really tea leaves?

Is it possible with the Mac Pro and large iMac Pro delays, that Apple offered better differentiation for a new product with the introduction of the Mac Studio with Ultra chip? 

This end of the long delay on 32” iMac— which I believe will be a pro due to its large screen that will need some horsepower to drive it — might as well go whole hog into matching power for CPU, GPU, increased RAM speed and bus speed. Transport speed in connection protocols such as Bluetooth, Ethernet, Display port, WiFi, USB4 v2 and Thunderbolt 5, likely all will be faster.

Thunderbolt 5 is 80Gbps bi-diectional ( 2 lanes up 2 lanes down, 80GBPs up and 80 down )
T’bolt 5 has an optional mode if high performance monitor is attached by Thunderbolt—of 120Gbps with 3 lanes up for hi performance monitor and one lane down of 40 Gbps. 
Thunderbolt 5 at 80 Gbps, being double T’bolt 3 & 4, should come out sometime in 2024.
Along with an improved M3 iteration, that’s differentiation in a new iMac Pro. 

And it will come out after other M3 devices except for the Mac Pro.  So where will the M3 Mac Studio fit in the sequence?

elijahg

Is all that R&D spending going into Vision Pro? Because it's definitely not going into Apple's now singular AIO desktop. The M1 iMac has been out for 2.5 years, whilst the M2 has now been around for 18 months. Apple has had 18 months to put the M2 into the iMac but for some reason hasn't, despite all the previous handwringing that Intel was the reason Mac updates began to slow.

I can only think Apple was hoping to jump straight to the M3 for the iMac in ~October 2022, much like they were rumoured to for the Mac Pro,  but as it was delayed they ended up with nothing for the iMac and a Mac Pro that appears to be a bodge.

Marvin

macxpress said:

I doubt Apple is releasing an iMac Pro. An iMac Pro just isn't necessary with Mac Studio available. There might be a larger screened iMac coming but it won't be a Pro. Just because it's a larger screen iMac doesn't make it an iMac Pro. 

They would probably struggle to fit the Ultra chip into the chassis. The Ultra has a large heatsink that takes up most of the height of the device:



They wouldn't want to have the iMac that thick so this means they'd have to flatten the heatsink out and fit it with the two chips, fans, SSD, RAM into the chin area.

The old iMac Pro did it with the bulge at the back:



This was able to handle 370W, the Mac Studio Ultra is 295W:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208378
https://support.apple.com/en-us/102027

If they want to get a similar profile as the 24" model and not put the parts behind the display, it would be more likely they'd top out at the Max chips (145W). This would mean it couldn't replace the Studio. It would also be really expensive, an Ultra iMac would be nearly $6k.

libertyandfree

Marvin said:

macxpress said:

I doubt Apple is releasing an iMac Pro. An iMac Pro just isn't necessary with Mac Studio available. There might be a larger screened iMac coming but it won't be a Pro. Just because it's a larger screen iMac doesn't make it an iMac Pro. 

They would probably struggle to fit the Ultra chip into the chassis. The Ultra has a large heatsink that takes up most of the height of the device:



They wouldn't want to have the iMac that thick so this means they'd have to flatten the heatsink out and fit it with the two chips, fans, SSD, RAM into the chin area.

The old iMac Pro did it with the bulge at the back:



This was able to handle 370W, the Mac Studio Ultra is 295W:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208378
https://support.apple.com/en-us/102027

If they want to get a similar profile as the 24" model and not put the parts behind the display, it would be more likely they'd top out at the Max chips (145W). This would mean it couldn't replace the Studio. It would also be really expensive, an Ultra iMac would be nearly $6k.

 I don’t see a 32” iMac being an iMac Pro since there is no need for it since the Mac Studio exists.  Therefore the 32” iMac will not be offered with an Ultra CPU due to its thermal constraints but it will have a M3 Pro and M3 Max as the CPU options.   Can’t wait for this beast of a machine. 

9secondkox2

macxpress said:

I doubt Apple is releasing an iMac Pro. An iMac Pro just isn't necessary with Mac Studio available. There might be a larger screened iMac coming but it won't be a Pro. Just because it's a larger screen iMac doesn't make it an iMac Pro. 

Or… the Mac Studio won’t be necessary when the iMac Pro comes out. 

Really no need for a separate screen amd computer when apple silicon system are all integrated and non-upgradeable. 

If and when the iMac Pro is available - or a 32” iMac 6k with the ultra chip, I’m all in. Just waiting to buy it. Can hold off another year. The Mac Studio is fine, but it is definitely no iMac Pro. 

9secondkox2

Marvin said:

macxpress said:

I doubt Apple is releasing an iMac Pro. An iMac Pro just isn't necessary with Mac Studio available. There might be a larger screened iMac coming but it won't be a Pro. Just because it's a larger screen iMac doesn't make it an iMac Pro. 

They would probably struggle to fit the Ultra chip into the chassis. The Ultra has a large heatsink that takes up most of the height of the device:



They wouldn't want to have the iMac that thick so this means they'd have to flatten the heatsink out and fit it with the two chips, fans, SSD, RAM into the chin area.

The old iMac Pro did it with the bulge at the back:



This was able to handle 370W, the Mac Studio Ultra is 295W:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208378
https://support.apple.com/en-us/102027

If they want to get a similar profile as the 24" model and not put the parts behind the display, it would be more likely they'd top out at the Max chips (145W). This would mean it couldn't replace the Studio. It would also be really expensive, an Ultra iMac would be nearly $6k.

Doesn’t require a chin. The chin is kind of done and outdated looking. 

The Pro Display XDR enclosure by itself is s perfect chassis to house a high performance max and screen in one. Put a non XDR 6k screen with the tech advancements over the last half decade and a 3nm max or ultra. The thermal flow has a ton of room to diffuse and fan out. The iMac isn’t supposed to be an iPad on a stick. It’s ok for the baby iMac to emulate that I guess, but the big iMac we want to be performant. So it’s ok for it to be thick on the order of a studio display or even Pro Display XDR. The Mac Studio is chonk, the MacBook pros went from thin looking to a bit Chonky to leave thermal overhead.  You’d think they’d apply such rationale to the desktops especially. The old 27” iMac did fine with a bit of a bubble in the back with hot Intel and amd parts. The new one can be flat and have room to dissipate and remove heat with no problem now that the CPU, GPU, and RAM are all on one SOC. 

If and when this system comes out, I predict a consumer/professional boom. Especially if there is a model with an ultra-wide screen as a possible pro model. That would likely take over the YouTube content creator workstation role from current setups. Dream machine. 

cubeover

Whatever they do, it better be without PWM and with 120Hz ProMotion.
32 or 27 inch? I am ready for either. Just not the 24” eMac M2.

dutchlord

Its about time. Just release a M3 27+ inch iMac. No Pro innovation needed. Why this takes so long??? 

maury markowitz

macxpress said:

I doubt Apple is releasing an iMac Pro. An iMac Pro just isn't necessary with Mac Studio available. There might be a larger screened iMac coming but it won't be a Pro. Just because it's a larger screen iMac doesn't make it an iMac Pro. 

Or they could just do a 32" version of the Studio Display, which I would buy in a heartbeat.

I still have the original aluminum 30" Cinema Display from 2008-ish. But having seen 5k displays I covet the text clarity. As great as it is, I won't give up the size, even that little bit of real estate seems obvious to lose. A 32" Studio Display.... is perfect, and matches perfectly with the Studio.

danox

When Apple offers, upgraded 24” iMac, and newer, larger screen iMacs, along with upgraded iPads, magically the sales of Mac’s and iPads will increase.

macxpress

Marvin said:

macxpress said:

I doubt Apple is releasing an iMac Pro. An iMac Pro just isn't necessary with Mac Studio available. There might be a larger screened iMac coming but it won't be a Pro. Just because it's a larger screen iMac doesn't make it an iMac Pro. 

They would probably struggle to fit the Ultra chip into the chassis. The Ultra has a large heatsink that takes up most of the height of the device:



They wouldn't want to have the iMac that thick so this means they'd have to flatten the heatsink out and fit it with the two chips, fans, SSD, RAM into the chin area.

The old iMac Pro did it with the bulge at the back:



This was able to handle 370W, the Mac Studio Ultra is 295W:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208378
https://support.apple.com/en-us/102027

If they want to get a similar profile as the 24" model and not put the parts behind the display, it would be more likely they'd top out at the Max chips (145W). This would mean it couldn't replace the Studio. It would also be really expensive, an Ultra iMac would be nearly $6k.

I would agree with this. If Apple would price the iMac Pro similar to what it was before it was discontinued it would actually be more expensive to buy an iMac Pro versus a Mac Studio with M2 Ultra and a 27" Apple Studio Display. This would also make it so you could more easily swap out the Mac without buying a new display all the time. It makes no sense to keep buying a 27 or 30+" display every single time you wanna upgrade the Mac portion. It's the same display year after year just like it was in the iMac Pro. 

macxpress

maury markowitz said:

macxpress said:

I doubt Apple is releasing an iMac Pro. An iMac Pro just isn't necessary with Mac Studio available. There might be a larger screened iMac coming but it won't be a Pro. Just because it's a larger screen iMac doesn't make it an iMac Pro. 

Or they could just do a 32" version of the Studio Display, which I would buy in a heartbeat.

I still have the original aluminum 30" Cinema Display from 2008-ish. But having seen 5k displays I covet the text clarity. As great as it is, I won't give up the size, even that little bit of real estate seems obvious to lose. A 32" Studio Display.... is perfect, and matches perfectly with the Studio.

I think this would be a good idea as well and perhaps they'll do it once the Apple Pro XDR Display goes to something like 36" with 7 or 8K resolution. They could keep the 27", possibly price it $100-200 cheaper and release a 32" Apple Studio 5K display and a 36" Apple Pro XDR 7 or 8K display. 

macxpress

9secondkox2 said:

macxpress said:

I doubt Apple is releasing an iMac Pro. An iMac Pro just isn't necessary with Mac Studio available. There might be a larger screened iMac coming but it won't be a Pro. Just because it's a larger screen iMac doesn't make it an iMac Pro. 

Or… the Mac Studio won’t be necessary when the iMac Pro comes out. 

Really no need for a separate screen amd computer when apple silicon system are all integrated and non-upgradeable. 

If and when the iMac Pro is available - or a 32” iMac 6k with the ultra chip, I’m all in. Just waiting to buy it. Can hold off another year. The Mac Studio is fine, but it is definitely no iMac Pro. 

Apple cannot achieve the same amount of performance in an iMac Pro versus a Mac Studio because of the design. It would have to be a very thick looking iMac to achieve this. It's not only the thermals but also power supply. The Mac Studio is a HUGE seller for Apple. They aren't going to just abandon it and it doesn't make sense to have both along with a Mac Pro. The market just isn't there. I know you love the iMac Pro but it's just not something Apple is going to release in the future whether or you wanna believe it or not. I don't know what makes it so special for you. I just don't see the appeal for it. 

The fact that these Macs aren't upgradable makes it more valuable for it not to be an AIO. Then you can just buy the Mac portion again and not have to buy a display. I tell you this over and over again every time the iMac Pro comes up but apparently you're too dense to figure this out. And don't give us this BS response that you're getting an upgraded display because you're not. The outgoing iMac Pro had the same 27" 5K panel for its entire lifespan with very minimal updates internally to the CPU/GPU. Apple will put itself into a box with iMac Pro and it will not be very "Pro" even if it happens to release one.