Till March 2022 Apple offered two sizes of its iMac desktop pc. The smaller mannequin was extra suited to residence customers resulting from its much less highly effective processor, whereas the bigger 27-inch mannequin, with extra pace and higher-end options, was meant to be highly effective sufficient for extra demanding customers.
When Apple launched the 24-inch iMac in 2021 with a colourful redesign and M1 chip, it was the start of the top for the high-end model. First Apple discontinued the iMac Professional, and a yr later launched the Mac Studio with the 27-inch Studio Show in March 2022 and discontinued the 27-inch iMac on the similar time.
However the story doesn’t finish there. Ever because it was retired, there have been rumors that Apple has plans to introduce a brand new model of the iMac Professional that might additionally mark the return of the 27-inch iMac–though it might have a much bigger display screen! On this article. We’ll consider the stories that recommend that Apple might revive the previous model with a brand-new iMac Professional. Learn on to search out out when it might launch and what options it would supply.
Is there even a necessity for a brand new iMac Professional now the Mac Studio has arrived? We predict there’ll all the time be room for a professional desktop with a big display screen in-built. See: How the iMac Professional might come out of retirement to dominate the desktop.
Replace June 26: In a Energy On e-newsletter Mark Gurman’s indicated that Apple is “conducting early work on an iMac with a display screen over 30 inches.”
Is a brand new 27-inch iMac Professional popping out?
The rumors that Apple would revive the iMac Professional have been circulating for years. Again in October 2021, in a tweet that’s now not on-line, retired Apple leaker Dylan tweeted the next particulars about an iMac Professional:
iMac (Professional)
Promotion and Mini Led
Base mannequin 16gb Ram 512gb Storage
M1 Professional and Max
Darkish bezels
HDMI, SD Card, Usb C
Comparable design to iMac 24 and Professional Show XDR
Beginning worth at or over 2000 {dollars}
Ethernet on brick customary
Face ID was examined (Not confirmed)
1H 2022
— Dylan (@dylandkt) October 30, 2021
Clearly, Dylan was incorrect about this prediction, however he wasn’t the one one suggesting {that a} new iMac Professional was within the works. In keeping with LeaksApplePro (through Howtoisolve in January 2023) a brand new iMac Professional, with M2 Professional and M2 Max processors, might be launched in 2023. (Nevertheless, LeaksApplePro has since come below criticism by the likes of Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who referred to as him a troll, so maybe we should always take that declare with a pinch of salt.)
However even when we low cost these two sources, there may be nonetheless proof that Apple is engaged on a brand new iMac Professional. In reality, Gurman himself has additionally predicted that an iMac Professional is coming. Unfazed by the discharge of the Mac Studio and the elimination of the 27-inch iMac from the lineup following the March 2022 Apple occasion, Gurman wrote in April 2022: “For these asking, I nonetheless assume an iMac Professional is coming. It simply received’t be anytime quickly.”
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has additionally made predictions a couple of new iMac Professional, though not since March 2022 when he tweeted that an iMac Professional would ship in 2023.
In July 2022 a report on Macrumors, based mostly on info shared by a supply to a discussion board member—so we will’t vouch for its accuracy—urged that “Apple prototyped no less than three bigger iMac fashions with Apple silicon chips” in 2021.
And Show Provide Chain Consultants analyst Ross Younger has additionally made observations {that a} new 27-inch iMac was coming based mostly on his personal sightings of 27-inch shows. For instance, in October 2021 he tweeted that a 27-inch MiniLED display screen could be utilized in an iMac in Q122. Nevertheless, Younger later admitted that these sightings might have been in relation to the Studio Show, which subsequently launched alongside the Mac Studio in March 2022.
However that isn’t the final we’ve heard of the bigger iMac. In June 2023 Gurman talked about it in a weekend e-newsletter. He claimed that Apple “can be conducting early work on an iMac with a display screen over 30 inches.”
27-inch iMac Professional: Launch date
The arrival of the Studio Show hasn’t meant that Younger has stopped believing that there’s a chance that Apple has plans for a brand new 27-inch iMac. In February 2023, Younger instructed MacRumors that Apple’s plans for a 27-inch display screen with ProMotion assist (with refresh charges as much as 120Hz) had been delayed and it will not launch within the first quarter of 2023 as he had anticipated. He did observe, nonetheless, that this show could possibly be destined for a 27-inch iMac, or it could possibly be a brand new Professional Show XDR.
Younger isn’t the one one referring to delays. In December 2022, Mark Gurman indicated that the iMac Professional had been delayed, citing (as with the brand new Mac Professional) excessive growth prices and difficulties engineering chips as the reason for the delay. In his first e-newsletter of 2023, Gurman additionally wrote that the iMac Professional “has been on and off Apple’s street map”, and that “I’d be shocked at this level if it arrives in 2023”.
So a brand new iMac Professional in 2023 is trying unlikely, although the iMac might be 25 years previous on Tuesday, August 15, 2023. Wouldn’t that be a becoming date to launch a brand new iMac? Sadly, even a brand new 24-inch iMac isn’t anticipated till the top of 2023 on the earliest.
27-inch iMac Professional: Design and colours
In a July 31, 2021 e-newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman urged that the brand new iMac Professional could have “an identical design to the present M1 iMac.”
It is sensible that the iMac Professional will borrow a few of its design inspiration from the 24-inch iMac. Apple affords the 24-inch iMac in a number of coloration decisions, however there haven’t been stories on what coloration decisions Apple will use for the iMac Professional. To create a differentiation between the patron and professional ranges, Apple could resolve on completely different coloration decisions as with the iPhone Professional, or stick to the normal silver like that on the 27-inch iMac or House Grey as on the discontinued iMac Professional.
One other distinction we might see on the bigger iMac is darkish bezels reasonably than a white border across the display screen. There may be a notch as there may be with the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Professional. This might enable Apple to increase the peak of the display screen because it has with these fashions. We’d additionally wish to see the iMac Professional lose a few of its “chin.” Based mostly on teardowns of the iMac and the Studio Show, and the low energy and warmth necessities of Apple silicon, a chinless iMac Professional could possibly be potential.

The following massive iMac Professional will in all probability look nothing like the present 27-inch mannequin (proper) and extra just like the 24-inch iMac (left).
Apple
27-inch iMac Professional: Show dimension
Show analyst Ross Younger and others have acknowledged that the iMac Professional could have a 27-inch show, which we’ve got to confess to being disenchanted by. Nevertheless, in June 2023 Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman indicated that he had info suggesting that Apple is creating an iMac with a display screen bigger than 30-inches. At the moment the 32-inch Professional Show XDR us Apple’s largest show, so this might even be bigger than that.
A bigger show will surely make the iMac Professional extra engaging to potential consumers. Subsequent to the 24-inch iMac, with its 4.5K show (4,480 x 2,520 pixels), the 27-inch iMac solely seems to be barely extra spectacular with its 5K show (5,120 x 2,880 pixels). However it’s not solely the 24-inch iMac that the iMac Professional might be in comparison with. The 27-inch display screen additionally doesn’t examine significantly favorably with many trendy shows which are bigger than 30-inch (together with the 32-inch, 6K Apple Professional Show XDR). We want to see a 32-inch show on the brand new iMac Professional.
Gurman has beforehand predicted that the 27-inch iMac might see its show dimension improve by an identical quantity to the 24-inch iMac: “I completely nonetheless consider {that a} bigger, redesigned iMac to exchange the Intel 27-inch fashions is en route. Apple growing the display screen dimension of the smaller mannequin from 21.5 inches to 24 inches appears to point that the 27-inch mannequin might see a dimension improve as properly,” he wrote in July 2021.
A bigger show could possibly be potential with out growing the dimensions of the iMac considerably. The 27-inch iMac measured 25.6-inches extensive, 20.3-inches tall, and 8-inches deep, and Apple’s new design helps make the 24-inch iMac smaller than even the 21.5-inch iMac it changed (21.5-inches x 18.1-inches x 5.8-inches vs. 20.8-inches x 17.7-inches x 6.9-inches).
The brand new iMac Professional wouldn’t truly should be as huge because the Professional Show XDR to supply a 6K show. A 30-inch show with smaller bezels might nonetheless accommodate the 6,016 x 3,384 pixels for Retina 6K decision and a 6K iMac.
It’s potential that the display screen of the iMac could also be extra akin to the standard of the present 27-inch Studio Show, which lacks ProMotion and HDR, however these are each options that might be useful to an iMac Professional consumer. Apple has added these options to its different Professional units–iPhone, iPad, MacBook, we’d wish to see them right here too.
To get an thought of what we might anticipate with the show within the bigger iMac if Apple takes it past the Studio Show we will take a look at the way it compares to Apple’s Professional Show XDR.
- Professional Show XDR: 6K Retina show (6,016-by-3,384 decision), 1,000 nits (XDR) or 500 nits (SDR) brightness, extensive coloration (P3), True Tone
- Studio Show: 5K Retina show (5,120-by-2,880 decision), 600 nits, extensive coloration (P3), True Tone
The upcoming bigger iMac is prone to have smaller bezels than the 27-inch iMac and iMac Professional, which might assist the show attain a better pixel density with out having to make the show a lot larger. A rumor by Ross Younger in October 2021 and a follow-up report in December 2021 claimed that Apple will deliver a Liquid Retina XDR show with “round 1,000 zones and over 4,000 mini-LEDs” to the iMac. That may be fewer than the ten,000 mini-LEDs within the iPad and the 8,000 mini-LEDs within the MacBook Professional, although it will probably be visually indistinguishable as a result of dimension and viewing distance.

The 27-inch iMac has a nano-texture glass possibility (proper) that does a greater job of resisting glare and reflections.
IDG
The 27-inch iMac used to ship with customary glass on the entrance of the show, however (for $300) Apple supplied a nano-texture glass that offered a matte-like end and did a great job of chopping down glare. Apple will in all probability proceed to supply this with the brand new iMac Professional. As you’ll be able to see above, it dramatically cuts down on the gloss and glare.
27-inch iMac Professional: Processor
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported again in January 2022 that the iMac Professional would have “related chips to the M1 Professional and M1 Max processors inside the MacBook Professional.” That rumor got here earlier than the launch of the Mac Studio, which did ship with M1 Professional and M1 Max chips, so it appears probably that Gurman’s supply was referring to that machine.
Now that there are M2 Professional and M2 Max chips obtainable within the MacBook Professional (and the Mac mini has gained an M2 Professional) will the iMac Professional ship with M2 Professional and M2 Max? There are rumors suggesting that this received’t be the case: stories recommend that the following iMac will ship with M3 chips. Gurman has repeatedly claimed that Apple will bypass the M2 and transfer straight to the M3 chip for the following era of the 24-inch iMac and it’s potential that the iMac Professional may also make the identical leap, though there are not any latest rumors about what chip might be used.
It’s additionally not clear what chips might be used within the new Mac Studio, which remains to be transport with M1 Max and M1 Extremely chips. There may be some confusion about how Apple will differentiate the Mac Studio and Mac Professional if the new Mac Professional additionally ships with Max and Extremely chips, similar to the Mac Studio. Maybe the iMac Professional will solely supply the Professional chips, leaving the Max for the Mac Studio and the Extremely for the Mac Professional.
27-inch iMac Professional: Graphics
Assuming that the iMac Professional shipped with an M2 Professional chip, we might anticipate as much as 19-core GPUs. If Apple does use the M2 Max in a brand new iMac Professional we might see as much as 38‑core GPUs. We’ve got reviewed the MacBook Professional with M2 Professional and located that “the M2 Professional MacBook Professional has some critical GPU energy.”
27-inch iMac Professional: RAM
The M2 Professional can assist as much as 32GB RAM whereas the M2 Max can assist as much as 96GB Unified Reminiscence. That is lower than the 128GB RAM that was supported by the 27-inch iMac. This could possibly be a disappointment to customers.
One limitation of Apple’s RAM is that it’ll not be consumer upgradable. The 27-inch iMac had RAM slots that had been user-accessible. With Apple silicon RAM – correctly referred to as Unified Reminiscence – is constructed into the SoC, so it’s not consumer upgradable.
Nevertheless, Apple affords as much as 128GB with the M1 Extremely within the Mac Studio, so it’s potential that there might be an sufficient RAM allocation within the iMac Professional.
27-inch iMac Professional: Storage
Dylan’s October 2021 tweet additionally urged that there might be 512GB storage as customary with the brand new iMac (Professional).
That may be an enchancment on the 256GB supplied by the entry-level 27in iMac previous to it being retired. However it will observe the sample of the 16-inch MacBook Professional which has 512GB and 1TB choices for the usual machines (and 8TB as a build-to-order possibility).
27-inch iMac Professional: Ports and enlargement
The 24-inch iMac comes with two USB 3 ports, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, and a headphone jack. After Apple launched the MacBook Professional with HDMI and an SDXC card slot, rumors urged the iMac would observe swimsuit. The skinny enclosure could possibly be a difficulty, however Apple solved that difficulty on the 24-inch mannequin by placing the headphone jack on the aspect. Apple might place the SD slot equally to keep away from making the iMac thicker. W
For all however the entry-level 24-inch iMac, Apple positioned the ethernet port within the energy adapter brick. The identical energy adapter is probably going for use for the bigger iMac as properly.

The ethernet-equipped energy adapter will in all probability be customary with the bigger iMac Professional.
Apple
27-inch iMac Professional: Different options
The 24-inch iMac has an improved FaceTime digicam that makes use of the M1’s ISP to supply higher picture high quality. That very same FaceTime digicam implementation is predicted for the bigger iMac Professional as properly.
We’d wish to see the digicam additionally assist Face ID. True Depth references had been noticed in macOS Huge Sur indicating that this was one thing Apple had checked out. Nevertheless, no Mac has but arrived with assist for Face ID. If it doesn’t have Face ID, the brand new iMac could have Contact ID constructed into the keyboard, that being supplied with the 24-inch iMac and the Contact ID keyboards.
27-inch iMac Professional: Worth
As for the value, it would probably fall according to the pricing of the 27-inch iMac, which began at $1,799 since Apple saved related pricing to the 21.5-inch iMac when it launched the 24-inch mannequin. It’s additionally potential that the value might be a bit larger, maybe beginning at over $2,000, which might be extra according to Apple’s worth improve for the higher-end MacBook Professional.
A better worth is probably going outdoors the U.S. the place Apple has been growing costs according to the trade charges.