Apple could launch a 32-inch iMac in 2024
Apple is reportedly working on a 32-inch iMac. The large screen device is not expected to hit the market until late 2024.
The news comes via Bloomberg's Mark Gurman who in his weekly Power On Newsletter, mentions that Apple is experimenting with iMacs that have larger displays. The 32-inch model is one of these, so we could still get some in other sizes.
(iMac image used for reference)
If you can recall, a few months ago Gurman said that Apple is designing a new iMac which would have a 24-inch display. This next-gen iMac would serve as a successor to the 24-inch M1 iMac that was launched in 2021. The upcoming iMac is said to feature an M3 chip, and Apple is yet to raise the curtain on its next-gen in-house SoC.
The Apple M3 chips are expected to be built on TSMC's 3nm process and may deliver significantly better performance and offer a longer battery life. It could feature a 12-core CPU, with six of those being high-performance cores and 6 power-efficient cores. The Soc will have an 18-core GPU and supports up to 36 GB RAM (Unified Memory). The company also has an M3 Pro chip in the works, which will have 2 additional power-efficient cores, and 2 more graphics cores, and an extra 4 GB of RAM.
Coming back to the 32-inch iMac, the Cupertino company is no stranger to large screens. As Macrumors points out, the Apple Pro Display XDR is in fact 32-inches in size too. The monitor has a Retina display that supports 6K resolution. It costs a whopping $4999. In comparison, the 24-inch M1 iMac costs a mere fraction of it at $1,299. It remains to be seen what the 32-inch iMac could cost. Gurman says that Apple is still testing the upcoming device, and that we may only see it by the end of 2024. Apple is said to be designing new M3 MacBook models, which may debut next year.
Apple Vision Pro could take a long time to succeed
On a side note, Gurman says that the Apple Vision Pro may take a longer time to bring in revenue. While the iPhone and iPad were regarded as instant hits among buyers, the iPod and Apple Watch took longer to catch on. Gurman says the company's first mixed reality headset will likely follow the same pattern. The hefty price tag of $3,499 isn't the lone hurdle for the device, it is quite bulky, requires an external battery, and will be sold exclusively in the US, at least for a few months before the company expands the market to more Countries. Apple will sell the wearable headset via appointments in its stores, and will have to fit prescription lenses on the device for some buyers.
A 24-inch Mac is ideal for personal use, gaming and work. A 32-inch Mac, however, could be a little too big for most people's desks. You could say that Apple maybe targeting a special audience with the big screen device, for example graphics designers, photo and movie editors, game developers, etc. But, the company already has a product for these people, the Apple Studio Display, which has a 27-inch 5K Retina display.
