April 2021. Apple’s Spring Loaded event. Just months after introducing the first Apple Silicon Macs with M1 inside the same shells as the Intel MacBook Air, 13” MacBook Pro and Mac mini, Apple stunned us all with the new iMac. It was bright, colourful and fun. It had a retro future vibe, calling back to the original iMac, released back in 1998 with its bright colours and friendly, approachable looks. And it had one other thing in common with that iMac too. For the first time since that first iMac, it came in just one size, right between the 21 and 27” sizes we were used to, at 24”, and with a weird sounding “4.5k” display. But are we finally set to get that enormous iMac of our dreams?

It’s been 3 years. I said from the start, while everyone else was predicting big iMacs being imminent that I wasn’t sure that it would be back, but now, I think, even though the rumours aren’t saying it that Apple’s actions MAY be pointing at it being on the cards, but first, why it didn’t make sense before.

For a lot of people, it made no sense that Apple would drop the bigger iMac, because that was where the iMac Pro lived in the lineup. The 2017 Pro version of the iMac was pretty iconic, I agree. That space grey was hot in a world where Macs were almost exclusively raw aluminium, and it was certainly the first time the Aluminium iMac got a new look. When the Apple Silicon iMac only came in one size, and with the M1 chip, no Pro or Max options, everyone thought it must be because an iMac Pro was coming in the bigger size. Maybe with that MiniLED display that the iPad Pro had been blessed with at the same event.

But no. It was clear to me, that as much as we wanted it, iMac was going back to its roots. Steve Jobs, when he came back to Apple had realised how overly complex and broad Apple’s product offering was, with massive overlaps between prices and function between different confusing lines, and stripped everything back to just four product categories. A Consumer desktop, a consumer notebook, and a pro desktop and portable. iMac, iBook, PowerMac and PowerBook.

But we got more and more rumours about bigger display panels in the supply chain. 27”, 30”, even 32”. MiniLED, OLED, maybe even the MicroLED that we were hearing about Apple working on, which made sense. Why would Apple release a 24 & 27 inch pair? Never made sense to me. 30-32” though? I’d be all about that. Of course, I’m now used to 40”. Size matters.
But what has changed? Why does it suddenly feel like a larger iMac is on the horizon? To answer that, let’s head back to the product grid.

Obviously the names have changed - and there’s a couple more devices in here now. iBook has been succeeded by the MacBook Air. PowerBook is our MacBook Pro, iMac is now… well it’s still iMac, and PowerMac, That’s the Mac Pro. All makes sense.

Except look what else has happened. More sizes. And even our consumer laptop, the MacBook Air finally has a larger size. Even the Mac mini has a Tallboy version too!

I am not saying that this IS happening. There are no rumours about this right now, but, there are pointers, beyond my grid theory.
For example, we’ve seen that Apple is moving away from MiniLED in the iPad Pro, given the blooming that has been seen, even if the MacBook Pros seem to have solved much of it. They’re moving to OLED for those higher end displays. Just like the iPhones already do across the board. Currently, the iMac in its 24” size uses an LG display, while larger OLED displays have been easier to use at really large scale, or with a different technology on the smaller scale displays. Last September, LG revealed that in 2024, they’d be introducing 32, 34 and 39” OLED panels. Interesting eh?

While iMacs have always had great looking displays, the idea of getting those inky blacks and more space to work sounds like a pretty great improvement. So would these be the iMac Pro we’ve always wanted? I’m going to say yes and no.

On the desktop, look at the Mac Pro, Mac Studio and Mac mini. Mac mini covers the lower end of those models, with the studio and Pro doing the higher end. Mac mini gets M2 and M2 Pro, Mac Studio and Mac Pro get Max and Ultra chips - so assuming the 24” iMac already has enough heat dissipation capacity, iMac in both sizes would likely get both the M4 and M4 Pro chip options. Especially considering that in the M3 Pro, it’s been separated from the Max chip with this generation getting a higher proportion of efficiency cores, meaning it will put out less heat and be way more effective in less cooling focused chassis, like for example a thin and sleek iMac which also has display cooling to take into account.


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