Given a bold new look last year, the 2021 iMac introduced a set of playful colors, a more angular look and the introduction of Apple Silicon with the M1 chip. But rather than maintaining the two size options of previous generations — 21.5-inches and 27-inches — Apple instead decided to split the difference, with just one 24-inch version. We don’t know for sure what Apple is planning next, but hopefully the company is thinking along the lines of Vox Media’s Parker Ortolani, who has imagined what the M2 iMac could look like when it emerges. In terms of design, as you can see from the included images, Ortolani hasn’t tried to reinvent the wheel, merely refining Apple’s design. Gone is the white bezel of the 24-inch iMac, for starters, which may seem odd, but it’s not just down to personal preference. “Took em away because of the MacBook Air,” Ortolani tweeted (opens in new tab). “Figured if it was something the vast majority liked about the iMac, it would’ve been applied there too. Plus if past is prologue, they’ll follow the current iMac with much a [sic.] more subdued one.” Subdued is how you might describe the colors Ortolani has picked out, too. While the current iMac is available in seven vibrant shades, the designer imagines just five more serious colors for the M2 iMac, with only the pink version offering the playfulness of the previous generation. He also imagines some very sharp looking Magic Keyboards built to match the new color options, as well. But the biggest change — and the one we really hope Apple adopts — is the reintroduction of a larger model for power users. Yes, Ortolani imagines a 27-inch model to compliment the 24-inch version. He’s even bold enough to predict prices, with an imagined $1,299 starting point for the smaller model, rising to at least $1,799 for the larger version. There’s certainly an appetite for a larger screen Mac experience, and while there’s nothing stopping you plugging a Mac mini or Mac Studio into any size of monitor, there’s something especially elegant about Apple’s all-in-one solutions. While Bloomberg’s well connected reporter Mark Gurman once predicted a 2022 refresh of the 24-inch iMac, more recently he’s stated that the hardware may skip M2 entirely with an M3 iMac arriving next year. If that’s the case, these renders sadly may be as close as we get to a new Apple desktop in 2022.
