Is the iMac Pro coming back?
I didn’t have this on my bingo card, but here’s Hartley Charlton at MacRumors with a report about Apple testing a high-end iMac configuration:
Apple is developing a high-end iMac featuring the M5 Max chip, according to information from leaked internal software… The software contains references to an iMac with the identifier J833c running platform H17C. H17C is associated with the codename “Sotra C,” which relates to the expected marketing name “M5 Max.” This suggests that an iMac with the M5 Max chip is in active testing.
As Charlton notes, this isn’t the first we’ve heard about Apple potentially doing a high-end iMac. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported back in 2023 that Apple had initially planned an M2-based iMac Pro, but tabled it “due to cost concerns.” However, Gurman emphasized that a pro iMac was still on Apple’s agenda:
It’s worth noting that the pro version was tabled but never canceled. This larger model is still poised to follow the 24-inch one, coming in either late 2024 or 2025. It will have a 32-inch display, making it the biggest iMac in Apple’s history.
Well, it’s very late 2025 and it’s not here, but sometimes these things slip. Perhaps 2026 will be the year of a true large-screen iMac Pro. I have to admit I’m a bit surprised—I was a very happy iMac Pro owner, but I thought the model (introduced eight years ago this month) was just too niche and that Apple would prefer to refer pro users to a MacBook Pro or Mac Studio attached to an external display. Maybe the iMac Pro might once again be used to soften the blow of the possible discontinuation of the Mac Pro?