Apple’s 32-inch iMac not expected until late 2024 at the earliest, but why?

Last month, Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman reported that Apple is in the early stages of developing an Apple Silicon version of the iMac with a screen larger than 30 inches. In this week’s version of his Power On newsletter, Gurman offers a couple more tidbits on the timeline for this machine, saying that it would be released in late 2024 at the earliest.

The report describes Apple’s work on a 32-inch iMac as something the company is “experimenting with” right now. Given that the work is still early, Gurman says he doesn’t “anticipate such a computer launching before the end of 2024, if not a little later.”

I’m told that Apple is experimenting with iMacs with larger displays, including a model with about a 32-inch screen. I don’t anticipate such a computer launching before the end of 2024, if not a little later, as development still remains early. This comes a couple of years after Apple had plans to introduce a larger-sized version of the 24-inch M1 iMac. 

Gurman does point out that Apple is also working on a new version of the 24-inch iMac with an M3 chip that will be released by “early next year” as “one of Apple’s first M3-based devices.” The completely redesigned 24-inch iMac was first released with an M1 chip over two years ago and has not seen an update since then.

9to5Mac’s Take

It’s interesting to me that Apple doesn’t seem to feel any pressure to release a larger version of the iMac with Apple Silicon. Presumably, such a machine would act as a sort of follow-up to the now-defunct iMac Pro line.

My read on the situation is that Apple views a large-screened version of the iMac as redundant. For the first time in years, the company is selling two versatile and capable desktop Macs that can be used with any external display, the Mac mini and the Mac Studio. It’s also selling its own consumer-grade external display, the Studio Display, for the first time since it discontinued the Thunderbolt Display way back in 2016.

There are, of course, a lot of benefits to opting for a setup that includes something like the Studio Display paired with the Mac Studio or the Mac mini. The biggest benefit is the modularity that a setup like this provides, allowing you to replace the Mac without needing to abandon the display itself, and vice versa.

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