It’s been more than two years since Apple released the redesigned 24-inch iMac with Apple silicon. There may be good news and bad news on that front, according to a new rumor.
Japanese Apple blog MacOtakara points out that higher configurations of the current M1 iMac are seeing delayed shipments. Increasing SSD and RAM can push the machine out to November, for example. Ship dates are hit or miss, however, when it comes to predicting hardware refreshes. For what it’s worth, 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros are also seeing delayed ship dates.
MacOtakara, which is often well sourced when it comes to hardware rumors, believes the iMac ship dates are an indicator of an upcoming hardware revision. According to the site, Apple may be planning to upgrade the M1 chip to M2 and M2 Pro options. The M1 generation iMac does not offer M2 Pro or higher.
Switching to the M2 chip, which was released last year, would presumably give the iMac opportunity for more RAM as well. Prior to now, the iMac was expected to skip the M2 generation entirely and hold off until the M3 is ready.
However, M3 Macs are no longer expected to be on the slate for 2023. Refreshing the iMac now would be an interesting choice considering the age of the M2 chip at this point. It’s also not a massive leap over the M1 chip. Waiting for the M3 chip would presumably be more significant.
Perhaps the M3 upgrade is further off than expected, or maybe Apple is only now ready to prioritize M2 chips for the iMac? Aside from the iMac, Apple also sells the M1 MacBook Air. M2 MacBook Air prices are frequently discounted enough to make the M1 MacBook Air less of a no-brainer purchase, however. Maybe M1 supply is winding down?
What’s your prediction? M2 with new colors and USB-C accessories? Something else? Sound off in the comments.
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