➤27-inch iMac (2022): everything you need to know 🕹

Now that the new 24-inch iMac with M1 chip has been launched, it's only a matter of time before its 27-inch variant gets an update.

Mark Gurman, Bloomberg journalist, has also confirmed this assumption by reporting that Apple would be developing a new desktop computer. This could feature a larger screen, new colors, and the inclusion of an M1, Pro, or Max chip, recently introduced by the 2021 MacBook Pros.

We hear the new model could come in more colors, have a better mini-LED display, better chips than the M1 Max, and be known as the iMac Pro.

But will the screen size change? We hope that Apple will move to 30 inches, or even 32 inches. Unfortunately, the latest rumors seem to suggest that the screen size will remain unchanged.

To find out more about it, we examine all the rumors and speculations that we find on the Web, about its release date, its price and its technical characteristics.

When will the 27-inch iMac be released?

Since the presentation of its new M1 chip in 2020, Apple has every intention of switching its entire range of Intel Macs to its own Silicon processor. While it had, at the time, declared that the transition would take two years, the brand finally found a good rhythm:

M1 chip: iMac, Mac mini, MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro.
M1 Pro and M1 Max chips: 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro.

So that's just the 27-inch iMac, the Mac Pro, and a still Intel-powered Mac mini left, and that's unlikely to last long.

Based on Apple's self-imposed deadline, it's assumed that a new, larger iMac will see the light of day in the fall of 2022. It's also not impossible to find out in the summer of 2022. , almost two years after the update of its 27 inch.

Whistleblower @dylandkt tweeted on Jan. 23, 2022 that a new iMac Pro is on track to make a spring appearance, possibly at his event, though he says there are "concerns about the production".

For the Apple Spring event, We will be receiving the Mac Mini with M1 Pro and M1 Max, a new 5G iPhone SE, and a new iPad Air. iMac Pro is still on track currently for a release in the spring. Yet, I have heard there are still concerns with regards to production.

— Dylan (@dylandkt) January 23, 2022

However, on January 31, 2022, Mr. Young hinted that vendors would not be able to supply the necessary mini LED panels in sufficient quantity for this iMac Pro until June:

As we reported in today's DSCC Weekly, we no longer expect the Apple iMac Pro to launch in the spring. Looks more like summer. Still with a MiniLED backlight, but fewer MiniLEDs/zones than in iPad/MacBook Pro's.

— Ross Young (@DSCCRoss) January 31, 2022

In a follow-up tweet from February 14, 2022, he even added that the new iMac Pro could arrive in June.

MiniLED iMac Pro could launch in June. Some observers said no MiniLEDs, but we hear around 1000 zones and over 4000 miniLEDs.

— Ross Young (@DSCCRoss) February 14, 2022

According to DigiTimes, as of December 22, 2021, vendors have already started shipments of the 27-inch iMac in "small volume."

At what price will it be sold?

Also in the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, Mark Gurman reports that Apple is only planning to release a "Pro" model of the 27-inch iMac with no "low-end" options available for purchase. .

This therefore means that it will probably have a higher starting price than the model currently on the market.

The current range starts at €1 for a 999GHz 5th Gen 6-core Intel Core i10 processor and goes all the way up to €3,1 for a 2GHz 599th Gen 9-core Intel Core i10 processor.

What name for this new iMac Pro?

Apple may give this larger iMac the Pro designation, last used for the professional version of the iMac launched in 2017 and discontinued in March 2021.

Alternatively, we could also see two versions released, 27-inch and Pro, although that seems unlikely to us.

This theory is based on the tweet from Dylandkt, who described the new iMac as Pro, as he calls it:

iMac(Pro)
Promotion and Mini Led
Base model 16gb Ram 512gb Storage
M1 Pro and Max
Dark bezels
HDMI, SD Card, Usb C
Similar designs 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

In January 2022, Dylandkt tweeted that the internal naming contender is iMac Pro for a reason. It is intended for professionals.

Even Bloomberg's Mark Gurman thinks it will be known as the iMac Pro. In a PowerOn newsletter dated January 2, 2022, Mark Gruman wrote that the company [Apple] has planned a series of new business Macs based on the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips that are already in the MacBook Pro. This includes a smaller Mac Pro with up to 40 CPU cores and 128 graphics cores, a Mac mini, and a large-screen iMac Pro."

Design

27-inch iMac (2022): everything you need to know

Like the successor to the 21,5 iMac and its larger 24-inch Retina 4,5K display in seven different colors, the 27-inch iMac is likely to get a similar fix.

This time, we hope that Apple will choose a slightly different color palette than the current ones, namely blue, green, red, silver, orange, yellow and purple.

Apple could also opt for a darker finish for its computer intended for professionals, in order to distinguish it from the consumer model.

The other change we might see is a darker edge around the screen. Indeed, in his tweet of October 30, 2021 (copied above), Dylan suggests this detail.

Other physical changes

How about the presence of a notch, like on the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro? This feature would allow Apple to extend the height of the screen.

Color and design changes are likely to be the same as the 24-inch iMac. Therefore, a further reduction in the size of his chin is unlikely to happen.

Apple brags about the space freed up by placing all of its Mac's components inside its M1 chip, so we're pinning our hopes on reducing the size of the lower part of its screen, also called the chin.

We had also hoped that Apple would adjust the iMac in order to make it more ergonomic. It's possible that the 24-inch iMac's articulating arm will address the screen positioning issue we encountered with the older iMac design.

The related screen

We expect some major changes for the iMac screen.

Display technology, for example, has evolved in such a way that it allows the edges to be reduced in order to obtain a magnified display.

Mini LED & ProMotion

We'd be surprised if we couldn't enjoy the same screen technology that Apple added to the 2021 MacBook Pro. nits of peak brightness.

These features provide a contrast ratio of 1:000, thanks to which you can enjoy details in shadows, deep blacks and more vivid colors.

The 14- and 16-inch MacBooks also rely on ProMotion technology, which is found on the iPad Pro, iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max. As on these devices, it allows to have an adaptive refresh rate up to 120 Hz. The leaker Dylandkt also refers to a mini-light and the same function.

In December 2021, DigiTimes claimed that according to its sources the 27-inch iMac will not be equipped with a Mini LED screen.

However, a day after this DigiTimes report was published, Young tweeted that he still believed the new iMac would feature mini LEDs.

What? @DSCCRoss pic.twitter.com/HociquSVzg

— Joe Rossignol (@rsgnl) December 22, 2021

Big screen

Young also said it would be a 27 inch screen, which we have to admit disappointed us... He tweeted on October 20, 2021 that a 27 inch mini LED screen would be used in an iMac in the first quarter of 2022. He again predicted in December 2021 that the screen will be 27 inches.

OK, tweeted too early. The 27" MiniLED screen is going in an iMac in Q1'22, not an external monitor. May see a monitor later. Still 24Hz - 120Hz variable refresh...Sorry for the confusion!

— Ross Young (@DSCCRoss) October 20, 2021

We expected Apple, as it has with other products, to reduce the bezels to allow for a larger screen. Display technology has evolved in such a way that it allows for reduced bezels.

However, all rumors seem to point to a 27-inch screen, which is no better than the current size.

Since the 24-inch iMac has a 4,5K display (4 x 480 pixels), the 2-inch iMac's 520K display looks less impressive despite its 5 x 27 pixels.

The new screen technology may allow Apple to integrate more pixels, we will have to wait to find out.

XDR Display Technology

Apple already manufactures a 32-inch screen: the Pro Display XDR. It boasts a 6K resolution. We would like Apple to equip the new iMac with a similar display.

The iMac wouldn't need to be as large as the Pro Display XDR, a 30-inch screen with smaller bezels could still accommodate the 6 x 016 pixels of Retina 3K resolution and a 384K iMac.

A quick look at the Pro Display XDR can give us a glimpse of some of the other features we could get with the on the new iMac, although we won't see them all.

The Pro Display XDR offers, among other things:

a maximum brightness of 1 nits
XDR
a contrast ratio of 1:000
an extended P3 color gamut
super wide viewing angle and landscape and portrait orientation

We'd also like to see an ultra-widescreen with a 21:9 aspect ratio, up from the 16:9 we're seeing now.

Technical specifications

The iMac is generally designed for creative professionals. For good reason, it has a more powerful processor and graphics card than the smaller versions, not to mention its customizable RAM.

But then, what can we expect from the next generation of 27-inch iMacs?

Processor

The M1 chip has proven to be very powerful, earning outstanding benchmark scores and rave reviews. But Apple didn't stop there, as it launched the M1 Pro and M1 Max a year later.

It is highly likely that this 10-core processor will be included in the new iMac.

Indeed, in his tweet of October 30, the leaker Dylan claims that the iMac (Pro) will offer the M1 Pro or M1 Max chip like the MacBook Pro 2021.

It might even offer a 16-core CPU, a suggestion confirmed by a Bloomberg report from December 2020.

Graphics capabilities

The M1 offered eight graphics cores, or seven in the case of the entry-level 24-inch MacBook Air and iMac.

The GPU capabilities of the M1 Macs proved to be impressive, beating out existing Intel Macs hands down. However, they struggle to compete against Macs with high-end external GPUs.

The good news is that the M1 Pro chips and the M1 Max, likely to find their way into the iMac, seem poised to meet that requirement.

In detail, the M1 Pro has 14 or 16 cores, for up to twice the performance of the M1. The M1 Max GPU is even better with its 32 cores. In this case, Apple claims that the graphics performance is up to 4 times faster than that of the M1.

RAM

Leaker Dylan suggests the new iMac will come with 16GB of RAM as standard. If the M1 Pro and M1 Max processors are included, that means it will then be able to support 64GB of RAM, which is still less than the currently supported 128GB.

Apple will no doubt explain that its M1 RAM is different from standard RAM because of its efficiency. But there's simply no way 64GB of RAM can compete with 128GB.

However, using a dual M1 Max chip, the iMac could theoretically support 128GB of RAM, with a minimum of 64GB of unified memory available.

27-inch iMac (2022): everything you need to know