While the iMac 24 came out earlier this year, we've still been waiting for a new 27-inch model (or larger). And, it looks like that wait will continue - perhaps all the way until 2022.
The leak making the rounds today, spotted by Gizmodo, comes from @dylandkt on Twitter and claims that the new "high-end" iMacs won't arrive any sooner than next year. On top of that, according to a rumor from Mark Gurman (via Notebook Check), the MacBook Pro 16-inch and 14-inch have also been delayed to the end of 2021, thanks to a shortage of Mini-LED panels.
The high end iMac will release in 2022. 🙃July 23, 2021
That delay reportedly pushes back the launch of the M1X-powered iMac 27 until 2022 as Apple doesn't want its launches to compete with each other too much, at least according to @dylandkt. So, we could see the iMac ship next year to give Apple's MacBook Pro lineup more room to breathe.
Still, this is all rumors and leaks, so you should take it all with a grain of salt. We won't know when Apple is going to actually launch its next MacBook until it actually does.
Analysis: how much longer until a real desktop from Apple?
While we loved the iMac 24 that launched earlier in 2021, it is still packed with an M1 processor – the same chip found in the MacBook Air. This is generally fine because the iMac 24 is meant for more casual, everyday PC users, but people that need a heavyweight desktop-class computer have been left wanting.
The latest iMac 27 is still rocking an Intel 10th-generation Comet Lake processor. That's not old by any stretch of the imagination, but it's still more than a year old at this point. We're sure that there are a lot of creative professionals that would love an updated 27-inch iMac with a more powerful version of the M1.
Because Apple has proven what it can do in an ultra-portable form factor with the Apple M1. When we tested the M1 in both the MacBook Pro and Mac mini against other processors in its class, Apple's silicon pulls ahead, especially compared to offerings from Intel.
We've started to hear more rumors that something like that is coming. We even heard that the MacBook Pro 16 could have a 32-core version of the M1X, which would definitely be worthy of including in a workstation-class iMac.
That might be a bit more than we can actually hope for though. Gizmodo also spotted some leaked benchmarks, that show a pre-sample version of the Apple M1X with 12 cores and a frequency of 3.35GHz. That's not quite as exciting as a 32-core chip, but that's still plenty of horsepower to work through something like video editing. However, this chip only has a TDP (Thermal Design Point) up to 45W, which suggests a more powerful processor that can keep up with a 95W Intel desktop chip might be needed for a high-end MacBook.
Still, we don't know anything for certain until Apple finally lifts the veil from its next iMac. But we can't wait to see what's waiting inside when it finally arrives.
