Originally spotted by 9to5Mac (opens in new tab), the only iMac Pro model now available to buy on the Apple Store is the $4999 base configuration with the site warning that this is only available ‘while supplies last’. Obviously, it’s possible to buy the iMac Pro at third-party retailers still but we suspect that’s only going to be a limited time only as stock depletes fast. There’s a chance that this could mean all things iMac will be discontinued but this seems highly unlikely. The iMac Pro was introduced in 2017 to provide a more powerful all-in-one desktop for customers looking for high-end workstation Intel Xeon CPU-based solutions, and it’s likely due to have a refresh now. A fairly niche system at the time given its workstation credentials, we think it’s more likely that the iMac range on the whole will be relaunched. In the past, it’s been hard for consumers to choose between high-end standard iMac models and the iMac Pro. With the recent launch of Apple’s own silicon CPUs and GPUs, this has to be the ideal time to consolidate everything. Last November, we saw the launch of Apple’s M1 chip (opens in new tab) which powers the new MacBook Air, MacBook Pro (opens in new tab), and Mac Mini (opens in new tab) so a switch is likely for the iMac too. Rumors suggest it could even be a next-generation Apple silicon chip building upon the already extraordinary success of the M1 processor. As it stands, the M1 chip has already been described by Apple as “the world’s fastest CPU core in low-power silicon” as well as “the world’s best CPU performance per watt”. That’s in laptop form so we can only imagine how much better a souped up next-generation processor could be as part of the iMac range. Hold onto your imagination for a bit longer though as we suspect news is imminent. As 9to5Mac (opens in new tab) has reported in recent times, there have been supply constraints for a while now on some 21.5-inch iMacs. The general consensus is that a summer release around the time of WWDC is pretty likely given how Apple likes to refresh its products at certain times throughout the year. Maybe hold off on a new iMac for a little bit longer if you can. If you can’t wait, you can always check out our iMac review (opens in new tab) which covers the 21.5 and 27-inch regular versions.
