iMac Pro 2022 release date rumors, leaks and what we know so far

A new iMac Pro 2022 is reportedly in the works at Apple, and we may see it sooner than you think. 

That promising news comes courtesy of Bloomberg Mark Gurman, a proven Apple insider who believes that Apple will ship a new “iMac Pro” in 2022 with a larger screen than the 24-inch iMac (pictured above) Apple launched in 2021. Such a new iMac Pro would almost certainly replace the existing Apple iMac 27-inch 2020, an excellent machine that’s still sold with Intel chips — and thus starting to look a little long in the tooth next to all of Apple’s M1-powered products.

The 27-inch iMac has long been of the best all-in-one computers you can buy, thanks to its big, beautiful display and graphical muscle under the hood, so the promise of a revamped “Pro” model shipping in 2022 has us excited about the future of the Mac desktop. 

Here’s everything we know so far about the potential 27-inch iMac Pro 2022.

iMac Pro 2022 price and release date

We’re still waiting on Apple to officially confirm plans to ship an iMac in 2022. Once it does, we’ll have a much clearer picture of when it’s due out and how much you should expect to pay.

Based on the latest rumors, it looks like the iMac Pro 2022 could be slated for a summer reveal and release around the same time, or potentially in September. At least that’s going by a tip from display analyst Ross Young who has a solid reputation whne it comes to Apple devices. 

As far as pricing goes, don’t expect the iMac Pro 2022 to be any cheaper than the current 27-inch iMac, which has a starting price of $1,799. We expect its successor to pack more powerful components, including an under-the-hood upgrade from Intel chips to Apple silicon, so it’s a safe bet we’re looking at a starting price of around $2,000 for this upcoming 27-inch iMac 2022.

iMac Pro 2022 design

So far we haven’t heard much about what (if any) changes to expect in the design of an iMac Pro 2022. Since we expect it to be a refresh of the 27-inch iMac, it seems likely that a 2022 iMac will have the same 27-inch display as its predecessor. The bezels may be slimmer, with less of a bottom “chin” on the display, which would bring it into line with the revamped design of Apple’s 24-inch iMac 2021. 

If Apple does take a page from the design of its 24-inch iMac when building the iMac 2022, we’d love to see it come in the same vibrant array of eye-catching color schemes.

iMac Pro 2022 display

Early on we heard compelling rumors that Apple was designing a 27-inch iMac Pro for 2022 that had the same remarkable mini-LED displays as its 2021 iPad Pro, MacBook Pros, and 24-inch iMac. 

That could still pan out, but the iMac 27-inch 2022’s biggest upgrade just got shot down thanks to some reporting from DigiTimes which claims Apple has opted to stick with an LCD panel for its 2022 iMac. then again other leaks and tips have contested this and a mini-LED display would seemingly make snese for the next iMac Pro. 

iMac Pro 2022 performance

Apple has yet to confirm any specs for a potential iMac Pro 2022, so we can only make educated guesses about what such a Mac might be packing under the hood. It’s a safe bet that it will be powered by the latest M1 Pro and M1 Max chips, which Apple unveiled near the end of last year as the muscle driving its new MacBook Pro 14-inch 2021 and MacBook Pro 16-inch 2021 laptops. Those have proven to be impressive machines, blowing away the lion’s share of Windows laptops in our lab tests, so putting the power of those chips in a big new 27-inch iMac seems like a pro move on Apple’s part.

Of course, a new 2022 iMac might also ship packing the Apple M2 chip that’s rumored to be making its debut in a new MacBook Pro 2022 later this year. However, it seems unlikely, as we expect the new Pro to launch late in 2022 and we believe the M2 chip to be a more power-efficient version of the M1 — which would make it ill-suited to serve as the centerpiece for a powerful new 27-inch iMac. 

Specs-wise, you should expect a new 27-inch iMac Pro 2022 to start with at least 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD, as that’s what’s available in the entry-level configuration of the current 27-inch iMac. However, we hope that Apple will see fit to bump that up to 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD as the lowest possible specs you can get on a new 27-inch iMac Pro 2022, as that’s what’s really required for something bearing the “Pro” moniker.

iMac Pro 2022 camera

We haven’t heard so much as a peep yet about what sort of webcam you should expect from a new 27-inch iMac Pro. However, there’s every reason to believe it will be at least as good as the camera on the 24-inch iMac 2021, and that’s quite a good camera.

It’s a 1080p FaceTime HD camera, and in our hands-on testing it captures clear, accurate images and video. That’s nice to have since iMacs are traditionally set up like family PCs, so there’s every reason to think you’ll be taking calls from friends and family with friends or family alongside you at the computer. The M1 chip in the 24-inch iMac also helps out by doing a bit of image signal processing to improve image quality, and we certainly hope to see similar functionality on a future 27-inch iMac Pro 2022.

iMac Pro 2022 outlook

Right now we have every reason to expect Apple will release a new 27-inch iMac Pro in 2022. The 27-inch iMac is one of the few remaining Apple computing products which is still sold with Intel chips, and given that Apple announced plans to transition all Macs to Apple silicon back in 2020, the 27-inch iMac is overdue for an update.

All that remains to be seen is when it will happen, and what kind of upgrade we should expect in terms of both performance and design.