Holding out for a 27-inch iMac? Forget about it. Apple has told The Verge that it has no plans to make a 27-inch iMac with Apple Silicon; i.e., if you want an iMac for Christmas, the 24-inch M3 iMac is available to order!
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.
MacDailyNews Take: Don’t hold your breath for a 32-inch iMac, either. It may come someday, but not any time soon.
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I guess the attempt to gaslight Apple has failed.
If people want it, they should make it. Apple is being ridiculous just focusing only on the high end market, which is wrong as the mac sales has proved they are losing ground because of charging high prices and ignoring the “normal people”. the Market is changing and Apple should change with it. of the new chips are Focusing on Gaming, they should make a imac with a large screen for gaming.
Do most people actually want a 27″ iMac? Apple did their homework and found otherwise.
Today thankfully Apple offers 3 desktop machines to cover a much wider range of users than any sealed box iMac ever could. You have the choice of Apple or other brand displays to mate with them. The iMac design is a “thermal corner”; it offers no internal expansion and no way to pair a matching second display, and significantly worse repairability than any other desktop. If you want a gaming machine, a sealed thin unibody design is the absolute last choice an engineer would suggest. Real gamers want powerful graphics and need serious cooling that iMacs never could offer without throttling. Check the Metal tab on the Geekbench page to see what serious graphics cards accomplish today: https://browser.geekbench.com/mac-benchmarks Note that the MacBook Pro performs worse than the nearly identical chipset in the Mac Studio. That’s the proper cooling design making the difference.
The iMac made the most sense for schools, kiosks, and low-end users who didn’t have the technical ability to deal with gasp scary wires. The 27″ iMacs were stopgaps because Apple was so hyper-focused on building its iOS moat and too lazy to make real Mac Pros or any competitive midrange conventional Mac desktops from 2013-2019. The situation thankfully is now corrected. You have better Mac desktop choices than before at either higher and lower prices than the iMac era depending on your display choice.
Jony Ive has left the building. Embrace the return of real engineers who know that thinner is not always better, especially in desktop computing.
Plenty of people want an iMac with a screen larger than 21″ and would like to have an all-in-one package. Apple may make slightly more money on those who buy Studios and Apple-branded displays, but it’s hard to imagine they’ll make as much on those who buy Mini and third party displays (which I assume are the majority of buyers). Perhaps they are factory-constrained and prefer to make more models of iPhone instead of different kinds of Macs.
Macs as professional tools for pro users
iPads for normal people
Apple will double down on this strategy going forward. I’m betting on it.
Apple screwed over every Graphic Designer (yeah many of those same people that were loyal to Apple from the very beginning and through the worst of times) when they stopped producing the 27″ iMac.
They can purchase th 27″ Studio Display + Mac mini or Mac Studio combo
If I wanted a Mini and a Studio Display I’d have bought one years ago. I prefer an iMac. Now I’m hearing rumors of maybe a 30″ or 32″ iMac in a couple years? I’ll hold on to the 27″ a while longer, and see if it comes true.
Just because you were 1 of 5 Graphic Designers (self-important much? 😄) who used a 27″ iMac doesn’t mean they “screwed over” anyone worth a second of their time. You can do graphic design on every single Apple computing device, even an iPhone. Get over yourself and buy a Mac Mini and the display of your infinite choice.
InDesign on an iPhone? I think not. And I just prefer the all in one. Then after a few years, when I hand it down, or donate it, the next person has everything needed also. I’m generous like that.
I kind of agree with Apple on this. This is the way I’ve been thinking for a while. I have an Intel 27” iMac. The display is still good so if I could update the computer to an M series chip that would be great. Next year when I need a new machine I think I’ll go the route of Mac Studio and an Apple Pro XDR display.
Apple’s attitude reminds me a furniture company I worked for in high school. The general manager used to tell the sales force that their job was to sell whatever the production manger decided to produce. Excuse what about customer preferences?
Clearly there is a demand for a larger screen more powerful iMac. The press release proves this. Apple needs to refocus on the customer, not their spreadsheets.
The all in one design is what brought me to Apple and kept me with Apple since 2008. I like the lack of cables, the extra desk space and the clean look. Apple can try to force the issue, but I am not buying what they are selling. I have rejected the Mac Studio twice. It simply is not as clean a design.
To add insult to injury Apple offers a $1,500 monitor with a poor quality camera. I tried out a new one two weeks ago. The cameras in Dell’s newest precision laptops put the camera in the Studio display to shame! There simply is no comparison.
So we are left with an overpriced, less elegant design, with a poor quality camera for a much higher price. No Thanks!
If they had new 27″ iMacs with the M-series available tomorrow, I’d be putting in an order for 25 or so of those today for my office locations. They are/were the perfect graphic designer’s Mac; good ROI, decent all around performance, screen quality & color, compact foot print, just enough ports. Simplicity.
Now I have to go buy third party screens (not that insane $$$ Apple monitor) and find room on the desks for that fat Aluminum brick of a studio Mac and then there are all the cables that need to be dealt with…Ugh!
It’s a mess, plain and simple.
Apple, clean up in aisle 3, please.
Plus it’s $$thousands more.
If you want to squeeze more life out of those older iMacs…checkout the Legacy Open Core Patcher. It’s amazingly good at extending the life of newer, older Macs that can’t go beyond certain OS versions.
https://dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher/
I would always buy a 27 inch iMac if I could reuse the monitor with my next system. The screens are beautiful! But, it makes me a little sick when I get a new system and can’t reuse that beautiful monitor.
There was no need to be sick. Just sell (or gift) that old 27″ and replace it with an even nicer and faster new 27″ – there are plenty of people who would still find use out of those ‘old’ machines.
Of course, that used to be an option until they stopped selling new 27″ models.
Sadly, I believe the era of the Steve Jobs iMac creation will soon be over. Apple’s investment in “all in one” desktop computers is slowly going away. The Studio and Mini are simpler designs and probably cheaper to make. Also in terms of computers, the MacBook Pro is their flagship machine. Lastly Apple is directing the bulk of their research and product development to supporting the iPhone, VR/AR devices, NOT large screen iMac computers. I recently gave away my 2015 27 in. iMac to a distant family member. It still works albeit not able to be upgraded but the display is still stunning.
The iMac was the answer in an era when Apple didn’t have the ability to design and manufacture tons of different Mac models. It needed a high-margin product aimed squarely at the low/mid market. Short on cash, Apple had to retreat to its core strength. The iMac was the 1998 iteration of the Apple II. It was not a powerful computer, it was a cute machine that compelled new users to try the Mac platform.
In 2023, the all-in-one desktop represents a highly compromised form factor. The all-in-one that people actually want is a laptop. If people need a desktop, then they should not have to compromise on multiple display capability or on power. As for the cuteness factor … the boring gray 27″ iMac never had it.
If a graphics designer needs a huge color-accurate display with a low processing power CPU and you also want it to be mounted on a desk, there are a gazillion racks & stands that will hold a Mac Mini behind your choice of display, or a MacBook next to your proper display.
It’s super ignorant to claim that one’s work can only be accomplished using an all-in-one desktop Mac.
Tim Cook needs to retire.
Once you taste a 27 inches screen on a iMac, you don’t want to go back to something smaller.