A new report into Apple’s long-awaited M3 iMac upgrade has revealed that the mythical beast could be coming in 2024. However, if you’re serious about all-in-one desktop performance, you might want to consider waiting until 2025 and a rumored 32-inch mini-LED iMac. If you’re patient, of course.
We’ve been waiting on a new iMac ever since the original M1 version came out way back in 2021. The ‘new’ iMac, with its lovely thin, colorful design, was one of the earliest Macs to get Apple silicon but has remained untouched and unloved by Apple ever since.
Last we heard, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman had tipped the iMac to go into mass production in the middle of the year, shipping in the second half of 2023. Now, however, it seems all but confirmed that we’ll be waiting until at least 2024 instead.
M3 iMac when?
Reporting on X Tuesday, Ming-Chi Kuo has provided a new “prediction update” stating that 1) a new 24-inch iMac is coming in 2024, and 2) a “higher-end 32-inch mini LED display iMac” is coming in 2025.
Regarding the former, we’re expecting this iMac to maintain the same design and 4,5K Retina display. All of the changes will be internal, and there are even reports that Apple might retain the same color lineup as the current one. The headline change should be a new M3 Apple silicon processor. This is the first Mac chip made on the new 3mn process, packing more transistors into the same space for increased power and efficiency. Apple’s A17 Pro, which powers the new iPhone 15 Pro, also made with the 3nm process, is a good indication of the performance and configuration we can expect.
Perhaps more excitingly, however, is the second tease, that of a high-end 32-inch iMac. This sounds very much like a reboot of the beloved iMac Pro from back in the day. That had a 27-inch display, so a 32-inch upgrade would be a significant screen real estate increase. It also makes a lot of sense given it’s likely to adopt a similar design as the M1 model with the thinner bezels.
Mini-LED is the technology that powers Apple’s best iPad, the iPad Pro, along with the potent 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models. Not only would that upgrade provide blistering levels of brightness and detail, it might also pave the way for a 120Hz ProMotion display, although you’d have to imagine a 32-inch panel of that magnitude would cost an absolute fortune.
2025 is a long time to wait, and we might well be talking about M4 Apple silicon chips by then. In the meantime, the M3 iMac now expected next year should be a welcome upgrade for Apple desktop lovers.
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