Code Leak Suggests the iMac Pro is Finally Making a Comeback
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Apple may have closed the door on a future 27-inch iMac, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t left the door open to a potential successor, and new evidence points to the resurrection of the iMac Pro with an even more powerful chip than its predecessor ever dreamed of.
The same Apple engineering code leaks that revealed a potential A15 MacBook on one end of the spectrum also include references to an iMac that appears to pack in an as-yet-unreleased M5 Max chip, MacRumors reports:
The software contains references to an iMac with the identifier J833c running platform H17C. H17C is associated with the codename “Sotra C,” which relates to the expected marketing name “M5 Max.” This suggests that an iMac with the M5 Max chip is in active testing.
Hartley Charlton, MacRumors
While the code doesn’t provide any insight into what this iMac might look like or actually be called, the presence of not just an M5 Pro but an M5 Max chip suggests it’s not merely the next-generation 24-inch iMac. These have always used Apple’s standard M-series chips, so a more powerful version strongly points toward this being a new generation of the iMac Pro that’s been rumored and hoped for in various forms since Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman hinted about Apple’s work on it three years ago.
Once the cornerstone of Apple’s desktop computing platform, the iMac has had an odd history that’s only gotten more unusual since the advent of Apple silicon five years ago. After years of 21.5-inch and 27-inch iMacs, Apple unveiled an iMac Pro in 2017 in what many believed was its follow-up to the “Trash Can” Mac Pro, which hadn’t seen any meaningful updates since its release in 2013. In reality, that turned out to be little more than an interim solution to tide folks over until its new Mac Pro appeared two years later.
While Apple continued to release standard iMacs in the interim, the iMac Pro ended up as a one-off product. Apple kept selling it into the Apple silicon era, quietly discontinuing it in early 2021, a few months after the first M1 Macs went on sale, with no direct replacement in sight.
The iMac Pro was never especially popular due to its high price and lack of expandability, but it seems that Apple’s standard 27-inch iMac didn’t fare much better. The last 27-inch iMac was released in 2020 as an Intel model, only three months before the M1 chip made its debut. An Apple silicon variant never arrived, with Apple choosing offer a redesigned 24-inch M1 iMac instead, effectively splitting the difference between the 21.5- and 27-inch Intel models.
While many hoped the larger iMac would make a return, possibly with a more powerful M-series chip, Apple officially declared it dead in 2023. However, it’s worth noting that Apple’s PR rep, Starlayne Meza, specifically referred to the 27-inch iMac; she didn’t say Apple would never make another iMac with a larger display. That actually wasn’t too surprising,as we said at the time:
When you think about this, it’s somewhat obvious. When the last 27-inch iMac was released in 2020, the smaller iMac came in at 21.5 inches. The new M1-powered iMac released in early 2021 increased to a 24-inch design that’s now become the norm. While such a slight screen size increase might make sense on Apple’s 14-inch and 16-inch MacBooks, it’s not worth Apple’s time and effort to produce a larger iMac that will only be three inches larger than its smaller counterpart.
What was less clear was what form such a new iMac would take. The death of the 27-inch iMac became official just after the release of its first Mac Studio and 27-inch Studio Display — a duo that seemed like Apple’s answer to the 27-inch iMac, so the statement seemingly confirmed what many were already thinking.
Going forward, Apple could return to the days when the iMac was available in two models that differed only in size, pushing the larger model up to 30 or 32 inches to match the M-series iMac’s increase to 24. However, many have long believed that if Apple released a larger iMac in the Apple silicon era, it would also include at least an M-series Pro chip as an option.
Still, an M5 Max is in an entirely different league from Apple’s consumer hardware. Only two Apple products pack in this more powerful chip: the highest end MacBook Pro and the Mac Studio. Placing it in an iMac without a “Pro” designation would be highly unusual.
A new iMac Pro would be less so. Apple silicon has fundamentally altered what’s considered a Mac powerhouse, with the much smaller Mac Studio delivering the same capabilities once reserved for the towering Mac Pro. Apple has now released three Mac Studio models encompassing the first three generations of extremely powerful M-series Ultra chips, during which only one Mac Pro showed up in the middle.
Sources suggest the Mac Pro is now dead in a world where the Mac Studio delivers all the power needed by even the most demanding creative professionals:
The sentiment internally is that the Mac Studio now represents both the present and future of Apple’s professional desktop strategy.
Mark Gurman, Bloomberg
However, the Mac Studio has always lacked the “studio-in-a-box” appeal of the iMac, and that’s where there’s plenty of room for a new iMac Pro to enter the ring without feeling like an inferior cousin to Apple’s venerable “professional” Mac. The arrival of Thunderbolt 5 in the current crop of Apple silicon chips has rendered the classic argument about “expandability” largely moot. An M5 Max iMac Pro with Thunderbolt 5 ports would offer external expansion speeds rivalling internal slots, effectively driving the final nail into the Mac Pro’s coffin by rendering it obsolete for everyone but the most niche users — a group that isn’t likely large enough for Apple to justify the towering Mac’s continued existence
[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]
