As it stands right now, Apple’s only iMac option comes in with a 24-inch display. The company quietly removed the 27-inch option some time ago. And while there have been rumors that a replacement is on the way, we’re still waiting for that to actually happen. And it sounds like Apple is at least toying with the idea, anyway.
Or at least they were last year, according to a forum poster that goes by “Amethyst” on the MacRumors Forums (via MacRumors). The forum poster, who has had correct prerelease information in the past regarding other Apple products, says that Apple prototyped at least three different iMac models with larger displays.
The first model prototyped happened before August 2021. This model apparently used the same design as the discontinued Intel-based 27-inch iMac, and it was equipped with the M1 processor. The next one happened sometime around the same month of last year, and featured a design that’s similar to the 24-inch iMac, but with a larger 27-inch screen. This model also prototyped with an M1 chip.
The third and final 27-inch iMac model tested by Apple last year happened as late as November, and it was in the same design as the 24-inch iMac, just with a larger screen. This model also tested with an XDR display, a black finish, and with an M1 Max processor.
The original post from “Amethyst” was published in March. And, according to the poster’s unnamed source, Apple has not prototyped any other 27-inch iMac variants since those three last year.
But wait, there’s more
According to the same source speaking with “Amethyst”, Apple is also making some changes to the Mac Pro:
Earlier this month, citing the same source, Amethyst also shared details about an alleged pre-production Mac Pro logic board that includes an Apple silicon chip with a 40-core CPU (32 performance cores, eight efficiency cores) and a 128-core GPU. This prototype Mac Pro board is also said to include at least one PCIe x16 slot.
So, a lot of changes could be in the works. Especially with the 27-inch iMac variant. Or, we may not see Apple refresh this particular lineup anytime soon. We’ll just have to wait and see how it all turns out.
Are you hoping to get a new 27-inch iMac in the future?