Now that the Mac Pro has finally made the leap to Apple silicon, the next question is whether Apple will resurrect another professional favorite: Will the iMac Pro return after more than two years in the wild?
Apple discontinued the 27-inch iMac in March 2021, and at the time it was arguably one of the best Macs and one of the best all-in-one PCs in existence, leaving professional buyers with fewer options when it comes to choosing a desktop Mac.
The Mac Studio came along to try to fill the gap left by the iMac Pro, and it did so admirably, but there’s something to be said about an all-in-one solution. It’s a pain to have to buy the Studio Display to go with the Mac Studio, and there are few alternatives for those who want 5K around the 27-inch.
Right now, Apple’s only all-in-one option is the 24-inch iMac, a machine that few would argue looks anything like a professional desktop machine. The M1 chip is fine, and the rumored 24-inch iMac (2023) will undoubtedly be even better. But at 24 inches, it’s simply too small for professional workflows. That’s before we get into the low RAM ceiling and lack of CPU and GPU cores.
No, for videographers, photographers and audio engineers, an iMac Pro would be a much better option. But will Apple bring it back? If so, what can we expect? The rumors are few and that is a cause for concern. But that doesn’t mean there haven’t been suggestions of a return to form with the possibility of an iMac Pro 2023 release.
As it turns out, though, we unfortunately didn’t see a new iMac Pro at Apple’s October event; instead we received a trio of M3 chips, a new iMac, and new MacBook Pros. Still, the lack of a new MacBook Air shows that this is just the first wave of M3 products, so we could still see a new iMac Pro in 2024.
M3 iMac Pro (2023): straight to the point
- What is it? A return of the 27-inch iMac Pro
- When will it be available? Possibly late 2023 or early 2024
- How much is it? The iMac Pro has never been a cheap machine, but price is a big question mark if and when we get an Apple silicon version
M3 iMac Pro (2023): release date
When will the M3 iMac Pro arrive? At this point we’re not 100% sure this will ever happen, but the well-connected Mark Gurman of Bloomberg fame has hinted at a 2023 release.
Earlier this year, Gurman said he believes the iMac Pro will be based on Apple’s upcoming M3 chips, although it seems likely it will use something other than the base silicon. That means at least M3 Pro and M3 Max, and at best M3 Ultra.
These three chips aren’t expected to debut until the early months of 2024, likely in updated 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros. If that’s the case, we’ll have to look at 2024 for this new iMac Pro. But with so much up in the air, it’s hard to be sure.
It’s worth noting that Gurman isn’t the only one who thinks the M3 iMac Pro will make a return. Respected supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo previously pointed to the new Mac Pro and iMac Pro machines will arrive in 2023. The first one is of course already available, so will the iMac Pro be added before the new year?
There has been feverish speculation that we could see a new iMac (2023) sometime in October. Apple has since sent out invitations for an event on October 30, titled ‘Scary Fast.’ This ties in with recent iMac 2023 rumors, although the ‘Scary Fast’ tag suggests we could be looking at some really powerful devices – could an iMac Pro 2023 rise from the dead, alongside a refreshed 24-inch iMac?
M3 iMac Pro (2023): price
The previous Intel iMac Pro started with its Not quite Mac Pro money, but still a costly proposition.
How much an Apple silicon refresh would cost is anyone’s guess at this point. If we take the Mac Pro as an example, unfortunately we cannot expect it to become cheaper. For example, the M2 Ultra Mac Pro starts at $6,999, while the old Intel machine started at $5,999. Add in all the best and the price quickly rises to almost $54,000, but the fact that the M2 Ultra version costs more than the old Intel model should give us an indication of what to expect.
The final price you pay for your M3 iMac Pro will depend on the upgrades you choose, such as more RAM and SSD storage, but those hoping for a cheaper iMac Pro may be left disappointed.
M3 iMac Pro (2023): What to expect
While a refreshed 24-inch M3 iMac is expected to debut at Apple’s ‘Scary Fast’ event in October, things are much less certain when it comes to the iMac Pro.
One school of thought is that the combination of Mac Studio and Studio Display is essentially the new iMac Pro, just not in all-in-one form. But with Gurman claiming that “Apple is working on a larger-screen iMac aimed at the professional market,” hope remains that an Apple silicon iMac Pro could grace the lineup again.
What that would look like is another question. The 24-inch iMac comes in a handful of colorful finishes, but it’s unlikely this is the route an M3 iMac Pro would take. Apple offers its pro Macs in more muted colors, while the old iMac Pro is only available in Space Gray. We’d guess this is the route a new model would take, although there’s always the possibility of silver matching the MacBook Pro’s color options.
In terms of overall design, the previous iMac Pro was heavily based on the iMac of the time. It wouldn’t be a big leap to expect a new model to borrow from the design of the 24-inch iMac, just with less yellow and green.
Figuring out what’s going on with the M3 iMac Pro is difficult because there are so few leaks that it’s hard to know if it’s in the cards at all, let alone what it has to offer. If it arrived before the end of 2023, we’d probably have heard more about it by now.
The fact that a new iMac Pro would definitely use M3 Pro, M3 Max or M3 Ultra chips adds even more fuel to the fire in terms of a 2024 release.