Just a few weeks ago, it seemed like Apple could launch a whole slate of new Macs in October. Now, the pool of expected Macs is getting smaller and smaller. That’s because a prominent analyst has put the final nail in the coffin of the idea that new iMacs are just around the corner.
According to industry expert Ming-Chi Kuo, the 24-inch iMac is due for an update in 2024. That might sound encouraging given they could only be a few months out, but it actually represents a delay compared to what we thought we knew previously.
Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman claimed in July that the 13-inch MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and 24-inch iMac would all get an M3 chip at an October event. Since then, the two MacBooks have apparently been ruled out, but little else has been said about the iMac — until now.
Kuo didn’t explain why the iMac has apparently been delayed, but pushing the device to a later date makes sense. Apple first launched the 24-inch iMac in the spring of 2021, so using this date again would be logical.
Apple could launch the M3 in a 13-inch MacBook Pro and a Mac mini later this year, but there’s been no word on an event at that time. Since the M3 is expected to be a major step up over the M2, you’d think Apple would want to debut the chip in a much larger range of Macs at a showy event, thereby giving the M3 plenty of airtime. That means we wouldn’t be surprised if there are no more new Macs this year, iMac included.
Reviving the iMac Pro?
Kuo also shed light on another long-rumored device: a larger, high-end iMac. Kuo believes this will come with a 32-inch mini-LED display and will launch in 2025, so there’s still a fairly long wait until that hits the shelves.
Almost ever since the iMac Pro was discontinued in 2021, speculation has been rife that Apple is working on a follow-up, either branded as an iMac Pro or simply as a larger iMac. While Kuo doesn’t definitively settle that conundrum, his suggestion that the product will use expensive, high-end mini-LED tech suggests it could launch as an iMac Pro.
Kuo is not the only expert who believes a larger iMac is coming. Gurman also shed some light on the topic in summer 2023, with the reporter claiming the device would launch in the second half of 2024 at the earliest. It now seems like even that date was a little optimistic.
Still, the fact that Apple is working on a 32-inch iMac at all will be good news to anyone for whom the 24-inch iMac is a little too compact. With a larger display and mini-LED tech, it could be one of the best Macs to launch in recent years.
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