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Apple planning to launch new 4K 21.5-inch iMac next week, iPad Pro in early November

With September’s iPhone release in the rearview and the iPad Pro set for an early November launch, Apple is ready to add some new Mac hardware into its fall product line. Apple is currently planning to announce new 21.5-inch iMacs with 4K screens next week, according to multiple reliable sources. While the new computers are likely ready to begin showing up in stores as soon as Tuesday, October 13th, Apple will ramp up larger quantities for November, according to the sources, so finding one early on may be a slight challenge.

The new 4K iMacs will physically look like the current non-4K version, so the highlights of the upgrade will be the new 4096 x 2304 screen and much faster graphics cards. The machines will also likely come pre-loaded with El Capitan. As with the 5K iMac’s launch last year, the new 4K versions will come in at slightly higher price points than the non-4K variants. Apple has also been working on a new Magic Mouse 2 with Force Touch integration and a new Bluetooth Keyboard with improved battery life, but it is currently unclear if those accessories are ready to launch alongside the new Mac.

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Comments

  1. M Smith (@MSmith7) - 8 years ago

    Rose gold?

  2. Scott (@ScooterComputer) - 8 years ago

    The return of a 24″ iMac would be greatly appreciated by the business-user crowd. (A the very least, a 24″ Apple LCD.) 21″ is a bit small…27″ is too damn big for an office desk. And PC-vendor monitors suck.

    • Frank (@FrankoCDN) - 8 years ago

      The 24″ was such a sweet spot. Gave one to my niece back in ’07 and still find it a perfect size: not too big and def not too small.

  3. Inaba-kun (@Inaba_kun) - 8 years ago

    No update to the 27″? It’s still waiting for Skylake, and more modern GPU…

  4. PhilBoogie - 8 years ago

    I’d rather see some 4K monitors. The current offerings are a bit…stale.

  5. golfersal - 8 years ago

    Still we wait for an updated monitor, since it’s been five years since they updated the Apple monitors. The least they could do is add usb 3 to the ports on the old monitors.

  6. Jeffrey McLaurin - 8 years ago

    What about the 5K iMac. I have one on order but REALLY want to know if I should cancel to wait on the new one. I NEED a new computer, but I can wait a month if the 5K will be out by then.

  7. Ali Hamodi - 8 years ago

    I was waiting to buy one but then I bought a MB late 2015 and a dell 4k monitor. I think I make a better chiose :)

    • triankar - 8 years ago

      Two questions…
      1. How’s the MB holding up to tasks? I have a 2013 rMBP and wanted to replace it with something lighter (physically). I’m doing lots of web development, browsing and the occasional photoshop / office work.
      2. Does the Dell support usb-c or do you have to use a dongle to talk to it? I’m not aware of any monitors with usb-c support, yet, but maybe I missed something.

      Thanks

      • Ali Hamodi - 8 years ago

        @triankar
        I have the Dell 4k P2715Q 27″ monitor and I am connecting my macbook using diplayport to mini display port cable (comes the the monitor).
        I used to have imac late 2013 (core i7 and 16gb of ram) and sold it and bought the monitor (used for $450) and a high end new macbook pro mid 2015 (Upgraded to core i7 2.8GHz)
        As I know you need a 2014 macbook pro to get 4k resolution. But I am not sure.
        As far as my setup, I like it and I use android studio, Xcode, sketch 3, pixelmator, paintcode, ect… and do simulations and it works great. But this is only true in one way. First i tried to use the Dell as a secondary monitor and noticed some lag when having the monitor as a secondary screen :(
        So what I do is, I plug the mini displayport cable to my macbook, put the macbook on the charger (a must) and close my macbook’s monitor. No lag and my macbook works like if not better than my iMac.
        No usc-c suupoort but this monitor has a coupole of usb3, display port, and HDMI ports.

  8. 311sie - 8 years ago

    New MBP!!! that’s all I ask… new MB Pro’s!!

  9. Thomas Yoon - 8 years ago

    Any news on what the internal components this 4K baby will hold? I may be interested as I was saving up for a 5K, but if this does the trick, I could definitely go for it. The 21.5 inch versions were always lacking for my field of work though, I hope this one can hold up.

  10. MK (@MathiasMK84) - 8 years ago

    Waiting for a new 15″ mbp with a 4k screen and skylake.

  11. Nick Pryor (@nickpryor) - 8 years ago

    Any word on whether Skylake updates coming to the rest of the line? I’m about to push the button on a 12″ MacBook and would love to see some serious performance improvements…!

  12. stevelawrence - 8 years ago

    I might be asking too much here, but it would be nice if 4K became the standard for iMac, even on the entry-level machine and at the current pricing. It would also be nice if SSD became the norm, too, even if the entry level one only had 128GB (with the sales pitch being “your stuff is in the cloud”).

    • taoprophet420 - 8 years ago

      Fusion Drive should be stand on all the iMac retina models. Would not surprise me with the next iMac redesign they go super thin by getting rid of traditional hard drives. I just hate the prices Apple has always charged for storage and ram.

      • Thomas Yoon - 8 years ago

        Storage cost is a gripe of mine too. You do know that you can just include the standard 8GB in your purchase for RAM, then buy and expand after, right? iMacs have always let you expand and swap out RAM.

      • taoprophet420 - 8 years ago

        Just the 27 inch models have ram bays. Hopefully the 4K 21 inch models will have user replicable ram

      • Thomas Yoon - 8 years ago

        Right there with you, I hope to see a slightly more expansive 21 inch. Usually the lower end models have very little customizability.

    • taoprophet420 - 8 years ago

      4K won’t become standard on the 21″ iMac for sometime since Apple uses it as its entry Mac for education.

  13. kaymc (@kaymc) - 8 years ago

    Still waiting for a 27″ Skylake to replace my early 2009 24″ iMac. I guess the wait continues. 21.5″ is just too small. Feels like I’ve been waiting forever.

  14. Paul Van Obberghen - 8 years ago

    “a new Magic Mouse 2 with Force Touch integration and a new Bluetooth Keyboard with improved battery life”. I don’t care about the Bluetooth keyboard as long as it isn’t an extended keyboard, which is sine qua non for me. Because I usualy don’t carry my keyboards around, an USB connection is just fine. Plus it’s a 2 powered USB port hub, which is quite convenient ’cause you don’t have to reach for the back of the iMac… just to find out there’s no port left available. But I’d like too see the Magic Trackpad updated with Force Touch too. I use the magic trackpad exclusively (no mouse) and I like it alot. I wonder what it would be with force touch. Also, I wonder, if they update the Keyboard, would they use the same technology as they implemented in the MacBook keyboard.

  15. Nathan Anderson - 8 years ago

    God these need to push way harder than a new mouse, keyboard, and 4k screen, innovate … certain other companies are doing a lot more of just that lately

  16. Wonder when Apple will update the Cinema Displays?

  17. Jason McMinn - 8 years ago

    For the love of God, we need a 5k Thunderbolt Display!!!

    It has been 4 years since they update the current display.

    • triankar - 8 years ago

      I suspect we’re more likely to see a USB-C display coming out of Cupertino, rather than Thunderbolt. I think TB is going the way of the Dodo…

  18. Valion Hsu - 8 years ago

    Thunderbolt 3 ?

  19. Patrick (@PatrickPoech) - 8 years ago

    All I want is a 4k Thunderbolt display.

  20. triankar - 8 years ago

    any news on updated MacBook Pros / Airs?

  21. my iMac 21 was top of the line, fully specced out in April, costing 2400 euros so i wont be replacing it quite yet, but i will buy any new keyboard and mouse, and touchpad going. sick of the bloody batteries!