One more year of the iMac Pro being missing in action

This week, Apple announced a new M4 iMac. It got some upgrades that help make it more appealing to creatives and pros, such as the more powerful M4 chip, Thunderbolt 4, upgraded camera, and nano-texture display.

But an iMac Pro, this is not.

A more larger and more powerful iMac has been missing in the lineup since before the transition to Apple Silicon. Despite Apple’s insistence that it completed the transition to Apple Silicon in 2022, a 27-inch iMac is still missing. Is there any hope?

Has it been replaced?

Yet conspicuous by its absence was any kind of larger iMac equipped with an M4 chip. Close to four years after the iMac Pro was discontinued, we’re still left wondering what — if anything — Apple plans for its plus-sized all-in-one computer.

And because of that, I can’t help feeling that there’s a noticeable gap in Apple’s desktop Mac lineup, whether we’re talking about a beefy iMac Pro or simply a larger iMac with the same colorful design as Apple’s base model. But will Apple actually do anything about this situation?

For its part, Apple has said that it thinks the combination of the Mac Studio and the Studio Display is a great combination for professional users. And on that point, it might be right: together, the Mac Studio and Studio Display start at $3,598, which is much cheaper than the iMac Pro’s old starting price of $4,999. Sure, the outcome is not quite as sleek, but it does a great job for almost $1,500 less. Who can argue with that?

In that regard, I’m inclined to agree that a true iMac Pro probably doesn’t need to be brought back, and that Apple was right to keep it out of the recent Mac announcements. It feels like more of a “nice to have” than an absolute essential, and I doubt that’s enough justification for Apple.

But what about the larger desktop iMac with an M4 Pro? Apple used to sell the iMac in both 21.5-inch and 27-inch sizes, yet now your only choice is the 24-inch iMac. For people who want a larger all-in-one computer without needing the beefier components (or hefty price tag) of the Mac Studio and Studio Display, there are few options from Apple.

Missing in action

Over the past few months, the idea that Apple was planning to release a bigger iMac in the fall simply hasn’t been on the agenda. In fact, there have been precious few rumors surrounding this mooted device at all in the last year or so. To me, that implies either that a larger iMac is a long way off, or that it’s not happening at all.

Even the upgrades seen by the actually existing iMac are minor at the moment. Sure, this year we’ve had a few new colors, a Thunderbolt 4 upgrade and, yes, the M4 chip, but it’s not exactly a radical overhaul of the iMac. Does this computer simply not sell well enough for Apple to devote significant resources to it? If so, that could explain why we’re not seeing a larger model — perhaps Apple just doesn’t think an upgrade like that is worth anyone’s time.

If so, that’s a sad state of affairs for such an iconic computer, but such is the world of technology. Things move on at such a rapid pace that it’s inevitable that some once-popular devices will get left behind.

The other possibility is that Apple is merely biding its time until it feels the larger iMac is ready before releasing it. The iMac doesn’t sell in huge numbers like iPhones and MacBooks, so it’s less important for Apple to get new updates out of the door every single year. We’ve already heard that Apple is still “exploring” the idea of a larger iMac, with Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman previously stating that Apple is still working on the product. When the timeframes are longer, Apple can afford to move at a slower pace.

I can’t tell you for sure whether Apple is ever going to bring back an iMac with a bigger screen, or what form that will take if it does happen. But what is certain is that we’ve got at least another year ahead of us before we see the next iMac upgrade. Let’s hope that one comes with some better news for fans of larger displays.