iMac Pro release date: Bigger iMac with 32-inch display rumors

iMac Pro: display size

• 27 or 32 inches have been reported
• Upgrade from the iMac’s current LED display

Display analyst Ross Young and others have said the iMac Pro will have a 27-inch screen, the same as its predecessor, which is a bit disappointing. However, in June 2023, Mark Gurman of Bloomberg reported that he had information suggesting that Apple was developing an iMac with a screen larger than 30 inches. He then elaborated a few weeks later, suggesting that a 32-inch iMac would be in testing. In October 2023, he reaffirmed that the new iMac Pro “will have a 32-inch screen, making it the largest iMac in Apple history.” Currently, the 32-inch Pro Display XDR is Apple’s largest display.

Kuo agrees that this new, larger iMac could have a 32-inch screen, according to his October tweet. Neither Kuo nor Gurman are expanding on the screen’s specifications, but it will likely have ProMotion and XDR (Extreme Dynamic Range).

A larger screen would certainly make the iMac Pro more attractive to potential buyers. Next to the 24-inch iMac, with its 4.5K (4480 x 2520 pixels) screen, the 27-inch iMac looks barely more impressive with its 5K (5120 x 2880 pixels) screen. But it’s not just the 24-inch iMac that the iMac Pro will be compared to. The 27-inch screen also doesn’t compare particularly favorably to many modern displays over 30 inches (including the 32-inch Apple Pro Display XDR 6K).

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Gurman previously predicted that the 27-inch iMac could see an increase in screen size by a similar amount as the 24-inch iMac: “I still absolutely believe that a larger, redesigned iMac to replace the 27-inch Intel models is on the way. Apple increasing the screen size of the smaller 21.5-inch model to 24-inch seems to indicate that the 27-inch model could see an increase in size as well,” he wrote in July 2021.

A larger screen might be possible without significantly increasing the size of the iMac. The 27-inch iMac measured 25.6 inches wide, 20.3 inches tall, and 8 inches deep, and Apple’s new design helps make the 24-inch iMac smaller than even the 21.5-inch iMac it replaced (21.5 x 18.1 x 5.8 inches versus 20.8 x 17.7 x 6.9 inches). Apple could also integrate a notch at the top of the screen to accommodate the FaceTime camera, reducing the size of the bezel at the top of the screen.

The new iMac Pro wouldn’t need to be as large as the Pro Display XDR to offer a 6K display. A 30-inch display with smaller bezels could still accommodate the 6,016 x 3,384 pixels for Retina 6K resolution and a 6K iMac.

In an October 2024 article on X, Kuo said the new iMac will have a 32-inch mini LED display, which would be an upgrade over the LED display used in the 24-inch iMac.

To get an idea of ​​what we might expect with the larger iMac’s screen if Apple takes it beyond the Studio Display, we can compare it to Apple’s Pro Display XDR.

• Pro XDR display: Retina 6K display (6016 x 3384 resolution), 1000 nits (XDR) or 500 nits (SDR) brightness, wide color (P3), True Tone
• Studio display: Retina 5K display (5120 x 880 resolution), 600 nits, wide color (P3), True Tone

The next larger iMac will likely have smaller bezels than the 27-inch iMac and iMac Pro, which could help the screen achieve a higher pixel density without having to make the screen bigger. A rumor by Ross Young in October 2021 and a follow-up report in December 2021 claimed that Apple would bring a Liquid Retina XDR display with “approximately 1,000 zones and more than 4,000 mini-LEDs” to the iMac. That would be fewer than the iPad’s 10,000 mini-LEDs and the MacBook Pro’s 8,000 mini-LEDs, although they would likely be visually indistinguishable due to size and viewing distance.

The 27-inch iMac once came with standard glass on the screen front, but (for $300) Apple offered nano-texture glass that provided a matte finish and did a good job of reducing glare. Apple will likely continue to offer this with the new iMac Pro. As you can see above, this significantly reduces shine and glare.

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