Apple has forgotten everything that’s great about the iMac

Image: Foundry

Now that the transition to Apple silicon is in full swing, we’re seeing some regularity with the Mac release cycle. The MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac mini made the switch from Intel chips to the M1 in November 2020, followed by M2 upgrades in January 2023. The Mac Studio was introduced with the M1 Max/Ultra, and then a year later the M2 upgrades came. We also got the M2 Ultra Mac Pro and an M2 Pro Mac mini, but since those releases are relatively recent, there’s still time left in their cycle before we’ll see updates.

But there’s a huge gap in Apple’s Mac cycle, and it involves the most iconic computer of them all: the iMac. The M1 iMac was introduced on April 20, 2021, and that was over two years–over 830 days–ago. It hasn’t been updated since. (The Mac Pro took 1,464 days for an update with Apple Silicon, while the 2014 Intel-based Mac mini went 1,475 days before getting an upgrade in 2018. So we haven’t reached that scale yet, but still, it’s been a long time for the iMac.) There was a time when the iMac was Apple’s most cherished machine, the Mac that set the ton and turned heads. Times have changed, but it still feels like Apple is ignoring one of its greatest computers.

A good start and then nothing

When it was released, the M1 iMac raised rosy hopes about the future of the iMac. The case is so thin that the headphone jack had to be placed through the side instead of the rear panel. The screen is high quality, and the performance is fast, energy-efficient, and quiet thanks to the M1. The iMac looks at home as a media hub in a living room or study.

The iMac had a lot going for it and got off to a good start. But since then, Apple has apparently shifted its priorities, leaving the iMac to linger. That’s frustrating because Apple already has the component for a successor: the M2 was introduced as an upgrade for the other M1 Macs, but the iMac was curiously left out. Since the iMac features a new design, there’s no need to make other upgrades other than to the chip, so it seems like a simple update.

We’ve also heard rumors that Apple could release a larger iMac, one that has a 27- or 32-inch display and acts as a “pro” Mac. It also seems like all the components to make such as Mac are within close grasp of Apple: the 27-inch Studio Display and the 32-inch Pro Display XDR have been on the market and could serve as the larger iMac’s display. As you can see from the spec comparison below, the difference in displays could give the user a variety of choices. Apple could use an M2 Pro or M2 Max as the processor. But still, this larger iMac isn’t coming anytime soon, according to reports.

Why not? A 24-inch display is basically the bare minimum for 2023, and even Apple knows that most people want something bigger, at the very least 27 inches. There was a time when Apple would have made a big deal out of a 27-inch or 30-inch iMac, but today it can’t even be bothered with making one.

The iMac is not the only all-in-one

Why is the iMac not getting any attention? We can take a few guesses. The Mac mini gets attention because it’s Apple’s most affordable desktop Mac, while the Mac Studio gets attention because it’s Apple’s top-of-the-line desktop Mac. (The Mac Pro is a niche product that’s a prestige project for Apple.) So the iMac is caught in the middle, and thus, neglected.

The main reason is likely that Apple prioritizes laptops since they’re the most popular Macs. The iMac and MacBooks actually compete with each other, because the MacBooks are all-in-ones that have the advantage of being portable. The MacBook Pro, in particular, has an advantage of an all-in-in that offers better performance for heavy workloads. 

So it’s no wonder the iMac has slipped down Apple’s priority list. Nevertheless, there is currently a gap in the Mac portfolio: the 24-inch iMac urgently needs an update, and a larger iMac (be it 27 or 32 inches) with a faster chip could address demand by users who want a bigger display and faster performance for demanding tasks. Perhaps there’s an upgrade coming soon, with Apple’s M3 on the horizon. Then maybe Apple’s most iconic Mac can get back on track.

This article originally appeared on MacWelt and was translated by Roman Loyola.