For the next generation of iMacs, Apple may be bypassing a generation of CPUs.
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman in his current Power On email, the next generation of Apple iMacs will be powered by an Apple M3 processor. And it might be here before the end of the year.
Gurman says that the upcoming iMac would come packed with a third-gen Apple Silicon processor, thus bypassing the planned Apple M2 chip that’s supposed to be appearing shortly. Gurman estimates that the next iMac won’t be available until the end of 2022 at the earliest.
A new iMac Pro is also in the works, according to Gurman, although he doesn’t provide any specifics on its technical specifications. For those who have been eagerly awaiting a more powerful Apple-made all-in-one computer, he adds that it won’t arrive any time soon.
According to Gurman, the M3 chip will be available in Apple products starting in 2023, and we’ve already heard that Apple plans to begin trial manufacturing of the chips towards the end of 2022. While the M3 iMac might appear in 2022, it seems more probable that Apple would wait until following year, possibly in spring 2023, when the current 24-inch iMac becomes two years old before releasing it.
There is now an Apple M1 processor in the iMac, with M1 Pro, M1 Max, and M1 Ultra variations in other Mac devices. Even though we’re waiting for the release of Apple’s anticipated M2 series of processors, it’s not out of the question that Apple is planning a third version to its Apple Silicon.
Speaking about the M2 series, Gurman has indicated earlier there are multiple gadgets on the road employing these processors. The basic M2 will purportedly be arriving in next MacBook Air, Mac mini and entry-level MacBook Pro models, the M2 Pro and M2 Max in the next batch of premium MacBook Pros, and a new “dual M2 Ultra chip” for the Mac Pro.
After Apple debuted the M1 in the current iPad Pro 2021, it’s probable that the M2 will also arrive in the next iPad Pro. In order to make the most of this capability, the future iPad Pro will need to have more applications that can take use of it.
Apple’s WWDC 2022 conference, which is scheduled to take place in June, might see the debut of the M2 processor. While this is generally an event for software updates, which this year will almost probably contain iOS 16, macOS 13 and more, it was the 2020 edition of WWDC that Apple first introduced their Apple Silicon Mac/iPad processors. It would make logical that this would be the occasion where Apple would speak about the next generation too.