I loved the Apple iMac 24-inch as a general-purpose family PC, so hopefully the company can deliver an upgraded M3 version this year.
(Image credit: Future)A new 24-inch iMac may not arrive until late 2023 at the very earliest, with the all-in-one desktop computer tipped to replace the Apple M2 chip in favor of third-generation Apple Silicon.
That’s according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who in his latest Power On newsletter reported that he’s not received any hint of an M2 version of the iMac on the horizon. "I haven't seen anything to indicate there will be a new iMac until the M3 chip generation, which won't arrive until the tail end of this year at the earliest or next year," explained Gurman. "So if you want to stick with the iMac, you'll just have to sit tight."
As it stands, the current iMac 24-inch comes with the Apple M1 chip, which is plenty powerful but now lags behind the M2 chip that’s more powerful yet has better efficiency too. And there’s a good argument for a new iMac, as the design of the current model is somewhat polarizing; sure it’s super-slim and comes in a range of pastel colors, but it also sports an arguably ugly display bezel and a rather large ‘chin’.
There’s also the new Mac mini M2 that, as the name suggests, now comes with an M2 or M2 Pro chip meaning you can get a more powerful and portable desktop Mac for less money; sure it doesn't come with a display, but it starts at $599 compared to the iMac’s $1,299 price tag. That means you could get a Mac mini M2 and an excellent display for less than an entry-level iMac.
With improvements to its M-series chips, Apple could produce a redesigned iMac, hopefully opting for a machine that's mostly a display like a lot of the best all-in-one computers. And we’d like that display to make use of a 120Hz refresh rate, and potentially have a mini-LED panel given such tech has been used in the MacBook Pro 16-inch.
As for the next-gen M-series chip, likely to be dubbed the M3, we can expect an uptick in performance and efficiency yet again, with Apple tipped to move to a 3-nanometer process node to stick more transistors onto its custom silicon. And that would likely pave the way for a more powerful iPad Pro and MacBook Air.
Equally, M1 performance was already pretty impressive, so we’d hope to see Apple bring something more to the table, say a big boost in AI processing to power new smart features in macOS. But we’ll probably not find out anything official about the next iMac and Apple Silicon chips until late fall this year.
And we’d not be surprised if Apple waited until 2024 to bring out next-gen M-series chips in order to debut silicon and machines that really stand out from their predecessors.
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