Apple reportedly planning big iMac redesign and half-sized Mac Pro
In addition to revamped MacBook Pros that ditch the Touch Bar and resurrect MagSafe, Apple is also said to be planning to announce its long-awaited iMac redesign this year — and a pair of Mac Pro refreshes are on the roadmap, too. This is all according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who says the iMac will undergo its most significant overhaul since 2012: Apple will reportedly ditch the chin beneath the screen, cut down on display bezels, and move to a flat-back design. The overall appearance will likely resemble the Pro Display XDR.
The new iMac will replace the Intel-powered 27-inch and 21.5-inch versions currently available and move the all-in-one desktop to Apple silicon. It’ll be one of the most significant visual makeovers of any Apple product this year, according to the report. The existing iMac packs top-tier specs and a beautiful screen into a design that has felt particularly outdated these last couple of years, so this change will be welcome. The last revision focused on increased speed, an improved webcam, and also added an option for a matte / nano-texture display coating.
As for the Mac Pro, Apple seems to have a two-prong plan: it’ll refresh the current upgradeable tower design — Gurman says the company is considering sticking with Intel processors for this machine. But that doesn’t mean Apple is stalling on a Mac Pro that runs on its own chips. The company is also apparently at work on a completely new form factor that Gurman says is less than half the total size of the current Mac Pro. “The design will feature a mostly aluminum exterior and could invoke nostalgia for the Power Mac G4 Cube,” he says.
All of these will feature the next generation of Apple’s own Mac processors, which first debuted in last year’s M1 MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini. Last, Apple is reportedly planning to release a new external monitor that gives up some of the professional-grade display specifications of the Pro Display XDR to reach a wider audience of customers. The Pro Display XDR starts at $5,000, and Apple currently sells third-party monitors from LG as a more affordable step-down option. But it sounds like a spiritual successor to the Thunderbolt Display could be on the way in 2021.
In addition to revamped MacBook Pros that ditch the Touch Bar and resurrect MagSafe, Apple is also said to be planning to announce its long-awaited iMac redesign this year — and a pair of Mac Pro refreshes are on the roadmap, too. This is all according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman,…
