News on March 14 that apple stopped selling the 27-inch iMac after the release of Apple's new Mac Studio and Studio Display. Previously, the 27-inch iMac was still equipped with an Intel processor. While Apple says the 27-inch iMac has been completely discontinued, there are still rumors that Apple is working on a new iMac Pro.
In fact, sources told foreign media outlets 9to5Mac that Apple currently has no plans to release a larger screen size iMac in the near future. This information comes from the same source that revealed plans for Mac Studio and Studio Display in advance.
As previously reported, Apple has been working on the next wave of new Macs with new M2 chips, including the new MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac mini. However, when it comes to the iMac, the company currently has no plans to release a new high-end version of its all-in-one desktop.
Ming-Chi Kuo, a well-known analyst, revealed on Twitter last week that Apple may not wait until 2023 to launch a high-end Mac mini model based on the M2 Pro chip. Second, Kuo predicts that Apple will launch Mac Pro workstations and iMac Pro all-in-ones based on Apple Silicon's custom chips in 2023.
On Friday, though, he updated some of the information that the Mac Pro, iMac Pro, and Mac mini product lines would not be updated until 2023.
Although Kuo did not provide further details about the Mac mini, nor did he provide the reason why he believes it was changed. A major update to the Mac mini has been rumored for some time, and the mid-2021 narrative includes a complete redesign of the smallest Mac apple currently sells.
While retaining the same general rounded square column shape, the Mac mini's new design is thought to include metal edges and polycarbonate tops as well as a replacement rubber foot instead of the previous round base.
The rear ports are thought to be much more numerous than the first-generation Mac minis powered by the M1 chip, with four Thunderbolt ports and two USB-A ports, Ethernet, and HDMI. Borrowing the design of the 24-inch iMac, it has also been speculated that the Mac mini may also inherit the magnetic charging cable.
Apple is expected to launch two redesigned Mac minis with M2 or M2 Pro chips in 2023, and a new MacBook Air and MacBook Pro laptop with M2 in the second half of 2022.
It is speculated that the number of CPU cores of the M2 series chips is unchanged, but the frequency and performance have been enhanced, supplemented by additional GPU cores. As for the truth, it remains to be tested.
In addition, analysts recently predicted that due to current cost issues, Apple may not release any new hardware using mini-LED technology in 2022. This used to mean there was no "Studio Display Pro".
From the current known situation, it seems that Apple will not upgrade all the single products of the Mac to a series of chips in a two-year cycle of a chip.
That is, although the M1 heart chip includes four different models including M1, M1 Pro, M1 Max and M1 Ultra, in addition to the different positioning of the Mac using different positioning of the chip, different product lines may not use the same series of chips.
Although it is still unknown, if Apple releases the iMac Pro and Mac Pro next year, even if Apple may have launched the successor of M1 Pro and M1 Max at that time, it still does not rule out the choice of using the standard M1 Ultra for these two professional devices.