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Want a bigger iMac? Too bad.
Apple’s Peek Performance event just unveiled the impressive new M1 Ultra, Mac Studio, and Studio Display. All three are exceptional feats of computing power that will blow away all competition if everything Apple says pans out. But, these machines, with their professional audience (and price points), leave a massive hole in the Mac ecosystem.
Where is the 27” iMac?
I’ve been waiting for a new 27” iMac since Apple announced the transition to Apple Silicon in June 2020. When the updated 24” iMac launched last year, I figured Apple was waiting to put higher-end chips in the eventual 27” model. That didn’t happen.
When the M1 Pro and M1 Max launched, I figured either these or an eventual desktop-class chip was designated to the 27” iMac. I was wrong again.
Today, Apple launched its new stand-alone monitor with a Center Stage camera and additional USB-C ports. The Studio Display is the 27” iMac I’ve been waiting for; Apple just forgot to include the computer. To add insult to injury, Apple discontinued the 27” iMac altogether. I guess I’m not getting the computer I wanted.
What options do big-screen fans have?
As a freelance writer who also edits graphics for the web, my computing needs are not exceptional. I currently use a base-model M1 Mac mini that serves my needs quite well. The computer is paired with an adequate 27” Dell 4K display and Logitech video camera.
Based on Apple’s product offering, I should use a 24” iMac and be happy. With a base price of $1,299, that option meets most of my needs. Except I like the additional real estate a 27” monitor provides.
With today’s discontinuation of the 27” iMac, the lowest cost Mac and display combination begins at $2,298 — the base model Mac mini paired with a Studio Display. Before being scrubbed from the internet, the now-discontinued 27” iMac started at $1,799. Sure, the Studio Display is far superior to the previous offering, but there’s no longer a middle ground. Why?
Apple’s move is bizarre from a marketing standpoint. Apple now sells
- A 24” screen with an entire computer built-in for $1,299
- A 27” screen with a camera and USB ports for $1,599
- A 32” screen for $4,999 (plus the stand for $999)
For $300 more, you get a bigger screen but lose an entire computer? These price points don’t make a lot of sense.
Why did Apple make this move?
Why Apple chose to discontinue the 27” iMac, leaving users who want that size display is anyone’s guess. However, I think it comes down to profitability.
Aside from the 5K display, the Studio Display has an A13 chip, speakers, a camera, and some ports. Like the Apple TV, Apple can update the Studio Display every few years instead of once or twice a year like its computers. Fewer options lead to more profitability. Less upgrading required leads to more profitability.
Plus, the four-year-old 27” iMac Pro used the same 5K screen, just with 100-fewer nits of brightness. It’s not like Apple is manufacturing anything groundbreaking with the Studio Display, which keeps the costs down and the profitability up.
Will there ever be a larger iMac again?
At the end of today’s Peek Performance, the presenter said one computer remained in the transition to Apple Silicon: the Mac Pro. My guess is Apple will unveil the brand new Mac Pro at WWDC in June and an even more powerful desktop-class chip to go with it.
An iMac Pro might again come down the line with the same chip-set as the Mac Pro, though at this point, I’m not holding my breath. And, if it did, it’d likely be price way outside the Apple Studio ballpark. Apple has made it very clear that if you want something bigger than the 24” iMac, a separate Mac and display are your only options.
Are you lamenting the loss of the 27” iMac, too? Will you purchase a Studio Display? Let me know in the comments.
Main image courtesy of Patrick Ward on Unsplash; Edited by Justin Cox
8 Comments
In late 2019 I was prevaricating about getting a (then) high-end Mac Mini. I wanted a monitor too, and of course the cost of the mini plus a half-decent monitor (only half-decent monitors exist unless you go to astronomical prices) was more than the price of the equivalently-specced iMac 27″ with that lovely monitor.
So I got the iMac, which arrived in early 2020.
It’s early 2022, my main machine is now a base 14″ MacBook Pro, which is twice as fast as the iMac at anything I ask it to do, and that iMac is essentially a server now. I sit in front of that lovely screen maybe five minutes a week. I’d love to use it on my MacBook Pro when at home, but I can’t. (I have tried Luna Display. Good: *nearly* good enough…)
I’ve long believed, and this has confirmed it, that the iMac’s true form has always been the affordable, colourful, general-purpose machine that can go anywhere in the home and not look out of place; and that large, overpowered iMacs are an aberration, because most of the people who want a machine with that much oomph will eventually wish that the screen wasn’t welded onto it, to forever share its fate. Because that type of user is going to find that screen and computer get obsolete – or worse fail – on different schedules, and you’re going to want to split them up – eg: turn the computer into a server and use the monitor on the newest shiny silver or space grey box.
So I’m really happy with what they’ve done here. The Studio is what I’ve *always* wanted and couldn’t get: a headless Mac at that position between the Mini and the Pro, and a great display that can be assigned to different machines over its lifetime. And though now the Mac Studio has come it’s too soon after I’ve got my MBP which will do me for a while, I have already ordered the display.
The Mac Studio is an amazing machine that provides insane power for those who need it. The computer is the long-missing middle- to high-end Mac sitting under the Mac Pro. Plus, with M1 Max power at a $1,999 price point, it’s a great option.
The issue I see is, other than the MacBooks Pro, there is no M1 Pro option. Where is the device for those looking for a slight step up from the base but don’t want a portable? That seems like the biggest miss.
I think the Studio Display, taken in a vacuum, is fine. It’s expensive, but it provides some nice features unavailable anywhere else, especially if paired with a MBP as the long-missing Mac docking station. However, taken in the existing Apple ecosystem, it’s baffling.
I agree with that, I was expecting the M1Pro to turn up in a Mac Mini at least. (and M1Max too tbh; if the MBP thermals can handle that, the Mini’s should too.) But we were also expecting that new design that didn’t show. Maybe that’s yet to turn up, possibly in a press-release, and they just didn’t want to distract from the Studio yesterday.
With or without that I was kind of expecting the Intel Mac Mini to have vanished from the site along with the 27″ iMac yesterday and was surprised it hasn’t. I suspect they’re a bit too beloved of server farms to easily get rid of right now; especially while you still can’t put linux or windows on apple silicon to run natively.
(On a more technical point, look at all the cooling the M1 Ultra seems to need. An iMac with that in it would not be svelte. They’d have to keep that bulging rear end like the Intel ones, and they clearly don’t want to. Or, it would be compromised in performance.)
I think you’re spot on here. Though, it again highlights the fact that they opted not to put the M1 Pro into the iMac as an upgrade option, or a larger screen iMac with the base M1. But, given the enormity of the cooling in the Studio, that power is clearly not practical for the iMac.
These are still early days in the “new” Apple ecosystem. And while I would love to see Apple bring out new products and faster chips and a quicker pace, they have never done that. Everything they do seems to be done at a slow and measured rate.
I believe that a larger iMac will come, hopefully in a 32″ variety instead of a 27″. It will just take some time.
Also judging from the most recent Apple event, I’m guessing that there won’t be a M2 series chip until at least next year.
While I don’t share your optimism for a larger iMac, I think you’re likely correct about the M2. I have thoughts on the new Apple product cycle that I’m working on for a future article. Stay tuned.
I’m just an average every simple user. I don’t need the fastest or the best. I am still running my 27” iMac. It is getting slower which even I am noticing, but I don’t want to downgrade to a smaller screen. I am disappointed to hear that Apple still is not offering the 27”, but hear rumors of a 32”. I don’t care if it needs to be thicker for cooling purposes. I prefer the all in one computer for ease of set up. I’m just a simple person🤪