Apple discontinues 27-inch iMac, no M-series upgrade in sight

Apple has officially announced that it is discontinuing the 27-inch iMac, the last Intel-powered desktop computer in its lineup. The company’s PR representative Starlayne Meza confirmed to The Verge that Apple is not working on a new 27-inch iMac with an M-series chipset, which powers the latest MacBooks and iPads.

The 27-inch iMac was launched in 2020 with an Intel processor, but many fans were hoping for a new version with Apple’s own silicon. The M-series chips offer better performance, battery life, and compatibility with iOS apps than the Intel chips.

Apple offers Mac Studio and Studio Display as alternatives

Instead of a 27-inch iMac, Apple suggests customers to buy the Mac Studio and Studio Display, which were launched in October 2023. The Mac Studio is a portable Mac Mini-like machine powered by the M2 Max and M2 Ultra chips, which are the most powerful processors in the M-series family. The Mac Studio can handle up to 192GB RAM and 8TB storage, and has a built-in speaker, a 3.5mm headphone jack, one HDMI port, four Thunderbolt ports, and two USB-A ports.

The Studio Display is a 32-inch monitor that features the same 5K panel as the existing 27-inch iMac, but with a sleeker design and a higher peak brightness of 600 nits. The Studio Display also supports macOS’ TrueTone feature, which adjusts the color temperature according to the ambient light, and has an integrated 12MP ultrawide camera for video conferencing.

Apple still sells 24-inch iMac with M3 chip

For those who don’t need the Mac Studio’s processing power or the Studio Display’s large screen, Apple still sells the 24-inch iMac with the M3 chip, which was launched in April 2023. The 24-inch iMac has a colorful design, a 4.5K Retina display, a 1080p FaceTime HD camera, a six-speaker sound system, and a Touch ID keyboard. The 24-inch iMac starts from Rs 1,34,900 for the base variant with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage.

Apple rumored to be working on 32-inch iMac with mini-LED screen

While Apple has confirmed that it is not working on a 27-inch iMac with an M-series chip, there are rumors that the company is working on a larger 32-inch iMac with a mini-LED screen. Mini-LED is a display technology that uses thousands of tiny LEDs to provide better contrast, brightness, and color accuracy than traditional LCD screens. Apple has already used mini-LED screens in the 12.9-inch iPad Pro and the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.

According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is planning to release a 32-inch iMac with a mini-LED screen in the second half of 2024. The 32-inch iMac is expected to have a new design, a faster M-series chip, and more ports than the current 24-inch iMac. However, these are only speculations and Apple has not confirmed or denied them.