Apple is expected to release a smaller “Mac Pro mini” and a redesigned 24-inch iMac with Apple Silicon processors in 2021, and prolific leaker Jon Prosser has shared renders based on information he’s received.
The first image is of a new Apple Silicon-powered “Mac Pro mini” that is much smaller, and likely lighter, than the full-sized Mac Pro. Last month, Bloomberg News reported that the new machine would be less than half the size of the current Mac Pro:
The next images are of the new Apple Silicon-powered iMac with the expected iPad Pro-like edge-to-edge display:
Prosser says the new iMac comes in colors:
Here’s the render of the back of the next-gen iMac:
If that’s the next iMac, it’s a winner.
That would be an epic fail of a Mac Pro mini. First off, the name. Just call it the Mac. You know, the computer for the rest of us? Who already have a monitor, and can’t fit our lives in a Mac mini and can’t afford and don’t need the Pro. Second, front ports: my old monitor doesn’t have enough newer ports, so I need access to the box for SSD slot, USB C and USB A on the front (2 each would be more than enough). As an alternative, Apple could produce their own branded, finish-matched thunderbolt expansion unit that has the same footprint, sits under or over the unit, and has the requisite expansion ports (and ideally or optionally a bay for an external, swappable drive). Kind of like the Satechi or WGBUS units, shape-wise. Next, make it compatible with external GPU/PCI boxes, and capable of multi monitor support. And finally, give the Mac room for at least one optical drive bay and one replaceable internal drive. I have too much optical media to be done with that, and with Blu-ray M discs, it’s a nice alternative for permanent storage that will outlast all of your spinning drives (and your lifetime) and can be more easily stored off-site (or even sent off-site in the mail, periodically). Apple doesn’t even have to provide or license the Blu-ray, if it’s such a bag of hurt – just make it so I can add my own.
That’s all I want. I’ll pay 2-3K for the Mac nicely optioned (should be doable with no display involved), and $200-300 for the expander (I’ll bring my own drive, if it will hold one).
Oh, and one more thing – If the internals of the Mac could be upgradeable, like the Mac Pro, even to the processor/motherboard level, then I’d feel like we finally got the machine we’ve always wanted.
Your reply is sounding like a blast from the past. Hating the name was the thing with the iPad and nobody worries about it any more.
Then removable media has been the cry since the first iMac and again when optical drives were left out of new iMacs. I too still use optical drives, but am happy to keep using the external one I bought for my current Mac.
Whenever Apple launches a new product, old and much loved features get retired and we work around it. I eagerly look forward to seeing what they do ship.
The name issue is a simple one. It fits the spot between the mini and the pro, and doesn’t have the all-in-one character of the iMac. Why would they designate it the Mac mini Pro or the Mac Pro mini? And why make up a new name if they could just call it the Mac?
Not everyone has already bought an external optical disc drive, and some people looking to replace their disc-wielding old computer are staying Windows because they feel Apple has shut them out. I just tried to downsize from an 11-year-old Mac Pro to a mini, and I still have to keep the Pro online because the mini is too tight a fit for me. Not to mention that the mini is dongled to hell and I’m now awaiting my second expansion dock so all my legacy hardware which is perfectly suitable doesn’t have to go to the landfill. Especially since thunderbolt and usb-C devices are still pretty scarce. But I already have a perfectly good (11-year-old) monitor, so didn’t need an iMac. There’s a hole in the Mac lineup – and it’s the Mac.
If Apple is killing features just to push us all into subscription cloud services, I feel like my lifestyle isn’t quite ready to go along. Not to mention that I don’t have fast internet availability where I live. But I’m glad it works for you.
I had the same experience. I had to buy dongles for my printer, my removable disks, my backup drives, my scanner, my network connection, and everything else. My familiar keyboard and mouse were simply incompatible. The transition was expensive, and left my work area looking like spaghetti junction. However, I thought that it was worth it to have a Bondi Blue iMac in 1998.
You have an 11-yr-old Mac and 11-yr-old monitor and you’re bitching about being “pushed”????? How many decades did it take you to get out of your crib?
Asking for things like replaceable CPUs and even replaceable motherboards in a Mac is a fool’s errand, by far. That will NEVER happen. Apple is not going to make a machine wherein you can replace the CPU, flash the PROM and then have a fully functional, Apple sanctioned, Mac.
Asking for a dedicated space within some Mac between the Mac mini and Mac Pro is also a fools errand. Apple has moved on from physical media. I don’t 100% agree with that move, but it is fact.
Your statements are like the people who have been asking for a small tower Mac for the past 15+ years. And even when Apple came out with Apple’s version the vast majority of users hated it (especially the “build your own PC crowd” that wanted to build their own Mac, but not a Hackintosh.
Ummm….
Pardon me, but just when did Apple come out with this mythical xMac?
Are you referring to the Trash Can? Or the iMac Pro?
Or was there something I missed, because neither one of those met any of the xMac wish list items…especially that of price.
Ok Boomer
Back in the day, Apple’s “beast” was the Mac IIfx. It had the fastest CPU and lots of room for expansion. Then they released the Mac IIc line (e.g., IIci, IIcx). They were basically just smaller versions of the IIfx. The “c” line had the less powerful 68030 vs. the 68040 in the IIfx. It had expansion slots, just fewer of them. So why not follow that lead, and give us a smaller, cheaper, somewhat less powerful, somewhat less expandable Mac Pro?
Didn’t the ‘040 first come with the Quadras? (Pretty sure the IIfx was ‘030 with something special (coprocessor, or larger max. RAM?)
The IIfx had the 68030 and 68882. It was basically the folow on to the IIx. The CPU ran at 40 MHz so that’s where some people get it confused with the 68040. It came out after the IIcx and the IIci.
A Mac Pro with Apple Silicon is obviously important. For me, a better fit is Mac mini with more internal storage options. There’s plenty of leftover space in current Mac mini casing, now with wasteful Intel stuff gone. I’d like user installable data storage (in addition to “integrated” storage on motherboard). Maybe standard blade SSD, up to four, accessible through round bottom hatch. Call it Mac mini Pro with M2 in space gray. This speculated “Mac Pro mini” is for the REAL power users, not me.
For speculated iMac, rendition’s port locations don’t make sense IF new iMac will have consistent thickness like an iPad. As shown, they’re in the direction of thickness, making entire iMac look too thick at edges. It works for current iMac because it tapers from thick center to narrow edges. I think ports will be handled differently and this render is unimaginative. I’d like the computing part of new iMac (including ports and power supply) to be all in a flat base; the power cord connects there too. The screen is JUST the screen, ultra thin, light, and moveable. No cables hanging off. In concept, more like the old iMac G4, but much sleeker.
He asks, “still monetized?” How perfectly indicative of the ridiculous AND concerning control of the tech left they’ve self-righteously and inconsistently claimed.
Speaking anecdotally, I’m bothered by the association and the Amazon image also looks like something else to me that is erotically associative, so I expect and hope someone will protect me from the contamination.
The new iMac design does absolutely nothing new for the user. It’s just a different shape, that’s it. And the “Mini pro” is ugly and unimaginative. The blank faceless design reflects all the negative aspects of Apple. The lack of openness and access to the user just makes more work for the user to accommodate Apple’s false “simplicity” visual aesthetic.
These renders are probable. But I can hope for better.
I like the current Mac mini form factor. Apple should simply stuff it with more Apple Silicon goodies. There is plenty of room and airflow now that those pesky hot Intel processors are gone.
I like this new, flat iMac design. As long as it has plenty of ventilation for possibly higher wattage Apple Silicon, I’m down with it.
To borrow the apropos phrase of TxUser above, I’m getting tired of “spaghetti junction” myself.
My wife is still using an 11-year-old, 24” Apple LED Cinema Display with zero issues (other than ancient ports of call) and my 27” Apple Thunderbolt is also without issue. In the biz, I’ve seen them fail, of course, but these two have always been plugged into UPS power conditioning units which may have extended their lives beyond average. Without Apple ever publishing data to let us know how long their hardware lasts, it’s anybody’s anecdotal guess as to longevity.
That being said, I’m finally at the stage were I’m ready for a minimum of cords and less loss of real estate on my desk. I’m sure Apple has mountains of data about how the majority of their customers position and use their desktop Macs, but the vast majority of the home and office situations I’ve seen usually have people sitting facing (partially or otherwise) a door. The first thing you see entering my office is the back of my monitor and a Mac mini with linguini pouring out of it. All around that, tons of ugly, necessary, practical “detritus.”
Never been a huge fan of bluetooth reliability over cords, but it’s hard not to argue that nothing can often be better looking than something.
So I’ve been studying the movement from Intel to M1. An MBP person my whole life, I’ve been converted. I LOVE my zippy M1 MBAir that runs cold––and forever––on one charge. I will likely replace my desktop setup with a screamingly snappy Apple silicon based iMac of some flavor. Fewer cords, cleaner backside, cleaner desktop. If the color rumors turn out to be true, that’s cool, but unnecessary for my needs.
But my real wishlist? You know, dreamy stuff that may never happen given the corporate culture of whom we speak?
I’d like see Apple move towards a true all-in-one. It does not need to be a Jonny Ive wafer thin mint that causes paper cuts every time you adjust the viewing angle. But I’d like to see Apple’s trillions work toward the true elimination of clutter without sacrificing reliability.
For example, what about a slot or two, where we could pop in (similar to an SD card), an SSD card?
Apple can keep soldering RAM to the logic board, and with the M series SOC, we may have to stop mourning that one. But what if the freedom to easily expand our storage space was returned to us? A 2TB pop-in SSD can be incredibly small these days. Maybe it becomes the new floppy? Unlike USB fobs that stick out, can be easily damaged and such, what it these just locked in flush? Transferable to other systems, other computers? They could be Time Machine backups, or store Photos libraries, music collections and what not. Let your brains storm.
I know Apple well enough over the decades that I don’t expect this but it’s still fun to consider. I’ve watched the trajectory of the inside of “their” devices become more and more glued and locked down. So this would be a bit of a reversal of that. But they could also make them proprietary, at least for a time, and mark them up fantastically until OWC was able to produce them.
Just doin’ some dreamin’ and well aware I may just need to dream on…
But then there’s Steven Tyler. 🎤
~
Its interesting how we prioritize different things that are “still the same”.
For example, the aesthetics of a cleaner desktop.
I don’t mind having cords for things like a keyboard because it represents one fewer battery to have to manage its health / charge. OTOH, I loathe having the tangle from a pile of plugged-in external drives merely because Apple has effectively killed off internal storage…but I put up with those anyway, because iCloud is both a poor value and technically inadequate for my data needs.
Guess the question I have for myself is how many more Cheesegraters would I have purchased by now, if Apple both offered upgrades between 2012-19, and did so at a non-outrageous price (ie, starting at $3K instead of at $6K)?
In the mid-term, my thoughts are trending towards 10GB Ethernet as part of the desktop clean-up, along with a Thunderbolt SSD RAID0 that’s going to need a bracket to hang it off the back of an iMac, to avoid having to secure it there with duct tape.
I don’t disagree. For (literally) decades I’ve preached the reliability of corded solutions over cordless. Never been a huge fan of the 12-bar Bluetooth.
And you’re right about batteries, but if they can last as long as most of my remotes, it wouldn’t be horribly onerous to replace them 2-3x a year?
I will still probably keep a wired mouse and haven’t decided about the keyboard yet. But those are actually the easiest to disappear because they sit in front of the screen (and I have a keyboard tray). It’s all the junk behind the monitor that gets seen when you come into the room.
I’m done with cheese-graters and anything other than a large, sharp monitor taking up deskspace. It doesn’t seem likely that Apple will ever back away from massive margins. It doesn’t hurt to keep dreaming, I guess. As long as we don’t mistake it for the current reality.
Hey Apple, could you please put the ports where a user can actually see them? Add all the ports users need, instead of pretending bluetooth is an acceptable answer. Bluetooth sucks.
Thanks in advance.
I agree. I don’t like untangling wired headphones all the time, but I went through several bluetooth headsets before giving up on them and going back to wired.