Apple Allegedly Prototyped a Redesigned 27-Inch iMac With M1 Max Chip and Black Finish Last Year

According to information shared by a member of the MacRumors forum, Apple made at least three larger iMac models with Apple chips. The forum member said they got the information from a friend.

We decided to share this iMac information because we know that the iMac would be available with a doubled-up version of the M1 Max chip with a 20-core and 48-core graphics card. The studio display information was shared by Amethyst.

Three iMacs were prototyped by Apple.

• The first one prior to August 2021 used the same design as the discontinued Intel-based 27-inch iMac from 2020 with an M1 chip
• The second one around August 2021 used the same design as the 24-inch iMac, but with a 27-inch display and an M1 chip
• The third one around November 2021 used the same design as the 24-inch iMac, but with a 27-inch XDR display, black finish, and M1 Max chip

The source said they were not aware of any other iMac models that had been prototyped by Apple.

The most interesting prototype was a 27 inch iMac with the same design as the 24 inch iMac, but in a black finish and an XDR display, which would have meant a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio and high brightness.

There is no guarantee that this iMac-related information is accurate or that Apple will release any of the larger iMac models that it allegedly prototyped, especially given that the prototyping happened last year.

The iMac with the M1 chip is Apple's sole all-in-one desktop computer, despite the fact that the iMac Pro and iMac 27 are no longer available. Details about the computer's design and chip options are not entirely clear, despite claims by Mark Gurman and Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

Mac Pro

According to the same source, there is a pre-production Mac Pro logic board that includes an Apple chip with a 40-coreCPU, eight efficiency cores, and a 128-coreGPU. The prototype Mac Pro board is said to have a x16 slot.

It is possible that the logic board is for an older Mac Pro prototype based on the M1 series of chips, and it may never be released, as reported by Mark Gurman. Gurman did not reveal the core counts for the M2 Extreme and M2 Ultra chips in his newsletter last month.

The forum post about the Mac Pro was found by Max Tech.