The iMac Pro has been dead for two years, but Apple could be planning to revive it. We look at what the future of the iMac Pro might be.
Apple first introduced the iMac Pro five years ago at WWDC 2017. It then went on sale in December 2017. But the iMac Pro wasn’t long for this world: In March 2021 Apple announced that it was discontinuing the iMac Pro. However, the iMac Pro might not be gone for good, there are reports that Apple could soon revive the old brand with a brand new iMac Pro. Read on to find out when it could launch and what features it might offer. You might be thinking these rumours were laid to rest when Apple discontinued the 27in iMac in March 2022 – introducing the Mac Studio and Studio Display in its place. Is there a need for a new iMac Pro now the Mac Studio has arrived? We think there will always be room for a pro desktop with a large screen built in. the future of the iMac in 27in iMac discontinued, but not necessarily dead. For some time there have been rumors that a new iMac model with a mini-LED screen with ProMotion technology is in the pipeline. There have been reports that Apple intends to revive the name iMac Pro for this new iMac. A tweet from the now retired technology leaker Dylandkt back in October 2021 described the new iMac as an iMac (Pro). He wrote:
iMac (Pro)
Promotion and Mini Led
Base model 16gb Ram 512gb Storage
M1 Pro and Max
Dark bezels
HDMI, SD Card, Usb C
Similar design to iMac 24 and Pro Display XDR
Starting price at or over 2000 dollars
Ethernet on brick standard
Face ID was tested (Not confirmed)
1H 2022
Dylan (@dylandkt) October 30, 2021
Dylan wasn’t alone in his predictions about a new iMac Pro. Display analyst Ross Young also made many observations that a new iMac was coming based on sightings of 27-inch displays. Young later admitted that these sightings could have been in relation to the Studio Display, which subsequently launched. But while it’s feasible that the rumors pointing to this new iMac Pro were based on the Studio Display, the abundance of information related to a new iMac can’t be ignored. Even Mark Gurman of Bloomberg has indicated that a new iMac Pro is still coming. In a January 2022 PowerOn Newsletter, Gurman wrote that: “The company [Apple] has a bevy of new pro Macs in the works based on the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips that are already inside the MacBook Pro. That includes a smaller Mac Pro with up to 40 CPU cores and 128 graphics cores, a new Mac mini, and a large-screened iMac Pro.”
Gurman was unfazed by the release of the Mac Studio and the removal of the 27in iMac from the line up following the March Apple event. He wrote in April 2022: “For those asking, I still think an iMac Pro is coming. It just won’t be anytime soon.”
If these insights are correct, and there is indeed an iMac Pro in the works at Apple, when can we expect to see it? It may make an appearance at WWDC on 6 June 2022, although a longer wait seems more likely. In February 2022 Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman stated that “several new Macs” will be revealed at WWDC in June. However a lot has happened since February and now a later release is looking more likely. As per the April 2022 report above, Gurman doesn’t think that the iMac Pro will be here “anytime soon”. In March a Twitter account for analyst Ming-Chi Kuo stated that an iMac Pro won’t ship until 2023.
[Updated]
2023: Mac Pro, iMac Pro and Mac mini https://t.co/NiloxXy0jv
Display analyst Ross Young tends to be in the loop with regards to Apple monitors could be on to something with this tweet from May 2022 in which he noted that the 27in MiniLED monitor has been delayed due to lockdowns in Shanghai. While it is feasible that this monitor isn’t destined for the new iMac, it could explain the delay:
Apple leak! The 27″ MiniLED monitor has been delayed as it was going to be produced at Quanta in Shanghai which has been locked down. Production is in the process of being moved to a different location and has been delayed.
