The iMac Pro will not rise phoenix-like from the ashes after all. Maybe.
Dan Seifert, writing for The Verge:
Apple will not be making an Apple Silicon version of the 27-inch iMac to replace the Intel-equipped model that it discontinued in 2022. The company is instead focusing the iMac line around the 24-inch model that was first released in early 2021 and just updated with the new M3 processor this fall.
Apple PR representative Starlayne Meza confirmed the company’s plans to The Verge. The company encourages those who have been holding out hope for a larger iMac to consider the Studio Display and Mac Studio or Mac mini, which pair a 27-inch 5K screen with a separate computer, compared to the all-in-one design of the iMac.
After John Ternus’ comment about the 24-inch iMac being the “perfect size and resolution to replace both the 4K and 5K Intel-based models” at the ‘Scary Fast’ event, this prediction felt tenuous. The Studio Display + Mac Studio is probably a better combination than an all-in-one for most people wanting the power of an iMac Pro anyway.
That said, never say “never”. Don’t forget that Apple said it was out of the display business back in 2016 when they discontinued the Thunderbolt Display. A scant three years later, they announced the Pro Display XDR, followed by the Studio Display in 2022.
Oh, and remember how Steve Jobs declared that “the 10-inch screen size is the minimum size required to create great tablet apps” before they introduced the 7.9-inch iPad mini, calling it “every inch an iPad”? And when he threw cold water on the idea of large phones before the iPhone 6 Plus helped shoot iPhone sales into the stratosphere?
And, as both Dan and eagle-eyed Benjamin Mayo at 9to5Mac note, their statement specifically references the 27-inch iMac. Does that preclude an even larger all-in-one at some point?
Apple says it won’t do something right up until the point that they decide to do it. But this is as clear an indication that they’ll ever give that there’s nothing currently waiting in the wings.