Apple Could Bring Back iMac Pro In 2026 With New M5 Max Power
The last time Apple released an iMac Pro was back in 2017. That could change next year, however, with the Pro designation for Apple's all-in-one PC making a comeback with a custom M5 Max chip in tow. Alternatively, Apple could be prepping a higher-end model of the iMac without the Pro moniker, while still having it aimed at power users.
Nothing is official at this point, though the sleuths at MacRumors point to hints found in leaked kernel debug kits that Apple's engineers use. The site reports seeing references to an unreleased iMac identified as "J833c" running on the "H17C" platform. That latter identifier is believed to be the codename for Apple's also-not-yet released M5 Max.
Looking at Apple's current iMac lineup, the colorful AIO desktops are built around the M4 chip. The version in the base model sports an 8-core CPU (4 performance cores, 4 efficiency cores), 8-core GPU, and 16-core neural engine. Every model above that bumps up the M4 configuration to a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU, with the same 16-core neural engine.
The last iMac Pro, released in 2021, paired an Intel Xeon CPU with an AMD Vega GPU.
There are no M4 Pro or M4 Max. Historically, the hierarchy among Apple's M-series silicon has consisted of Mx, Mx Pro, Mx Max, and Mx Ultra. Apple never got around to releasing an M4 Ultra variant, so the M4 Max is the fastest model available in the M4 series.
For the M5 series, Apple has only released the standard M5 so far. It remains to be seen how many more SKUs will follow suit, but either way, an M5 Max would either be the top chip or near the top chip in the M5 series.
It also remains to be seen if Apple truly is planning to launch an iMac Pro as the leaked kernel details suggest, or more performant version of the iMac. The other possibility is that Apple is using a version of the iMac with an M5 Max chip solely for testing purposes, especially since there's been no discovery of an iMac running an M5 Pro chip.
One interesting side note: the last iMac Pro ran on Intel Xeon hardware, alongside an AMD Vega 64 GPU. It came out the same year as Apple's M1 iMac models (non-Pro variant).
