Waiting for an iMac with a bigger screen? It’s en route according to rumors, but you might have to be very patient

New 2021 colorful iMacs in Apple Store
Et nylig innvilget patent avslører Apples store planer om en futuristisk nyskapning av iMac. (Image credit: abolukbas via Shuttertsock)

The iMac M3 is one of the best all-in-one PCs on the market right now, but although it’s a great device - and the M3 chip peps it up nicely - that 24-inch display does feel cramped. That could be about to change though, and those wishing for more screen real-estate might just be in luck.

Mark Gurman, a reputable leaker and Apple expert at Bloomberg, just penned a brief note on his expectations for the future of the iMac, and it’s enough to raise my hopes a little. In his Power On newsletter, Gurman states that: “A larger iMac remains something Apple is exploring as well, but it’s unclear if that will be an M4 product or something that comes the following year or later.”

Recent rumors have suggested that an iMac M4 is coming later this year (as well as MacBook Pro and Mac mini models packing the new chip), and that there’ll be further M4 refreshes into 2025.

So, according to Gurman, we will see an iMac M4 - presumably a 24-inch refresh - but probably not a larger-screened model. If it happens, that bigger all-in-one PC will likely be something that comes either in 2025, or maybe later (packing whatever M-series CPU is about at the time).

But I want it now!

This is a bit of a surprise; Apple has previously said we won’t get an iMac 27-inch down the line, so if Gurman is correct, the company has changed its tune. Of course, at this point, Apple is just ‘exploring’ ideas, which is a pretty vague term to use, so all this could come to nothing, and a bigger iMac may never get off the drawing board. (If Gurman is correct in his assertion in the first place).

I’ve always been a huge fan of the iMac, and the color schemes of the different versions helped sell it to me, giving me hope of seeing a more creative side of Apple in the future. While the iMac M3 certainly has its strengths, I was very disappointed with the design remaining virtually the same, even with the annoying Magic Mouse and that awkwardly placed charging port on the bottom. Here’s hoping that will change in the future.

However, while it’s tempting to get swept up in the rumors and start getting excited about a refresh of the iMac 24-inch later in 2024, it’s a good idea to exercise the usual caution around this kind of speculation - especially the idea of an M4 model with a larger screen, as it seems highly unlikely we’ll see that take on the all-in-one this year (particularly given Apple’s previous comments on the 27-inch model). In short, if it does happen, we’ve doubtless got a fair old wait on our hands for the rumored super-sized iMac.

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Muskaan Saxena
Computing Staff Writer

Muskaan is TechRadar’s UK-based Computing writer. She has always been a passionate writer and has had her creative work published in several literary journals and magazines. Her debut into the writing world was a poem published in The Times of Zambia, on the subject of sunflowers and the insignificance of human existence in comparison. Growing up in Zambia, Muskaan was fascinated with technology, especially computers, and she's joined TechRadar to write about the latest GPUs, laptops and recently anything AI related. If you've got questions, moral concerns or just an interest in anything ChatGPT or general AI, you're in the right place. Muskaan also somehow managed to install a game on her work MacBook's Touch Bar, without the IT department finding out (yet).

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