iMac with iPad Pro-like design slated for WWDC

Apple could be readying the launch of a redesigned iMac at this year’s WWDC according to information from leaker Sonny Dickson. The virtual event starts on 22 June, and according to the rumour Apple will unveil an iMac with “iPad Pro design language”.

Amazingly, it would be the first redesign of the iMac’s chassis since 2012 when the sides of the machine were tapered down. But the face-on look of Apple’s core desktop machine has been the same for even longer, which is largely unheard of in modern computing.

New iMac incoming at WWDC. iPad Pro design language, with Pro Display like bezels. T2 chip, AMD Navi GPU, and no more fusion drive

— Sonny Dickson (@SonnyDickson) June 9, 2020

Dickson says the iMac will gain “Pro Display like bezels” in reference to Apple’s Pro Display XDR monitor Combined with he iPad Pro design language, we could be looking at a curved corner display with tiny bezels, signifying a huge leap forward in design but one that is long overdue.

As Windows laptops like the Dell XPS line have trimmed the bezel to virtually nothing Appls’s MacBooks have kept the black trim around the edge. The iMac holds a fairly unique position as one of the few all-in-one desktops constantly on sale and would benefit from a shot in the arm.

Dickson also says that the iMac will gain the T2 coprocessor from the MacBook line, AMD Navi GPUs as well as stop using the spinning Fusion Drive of the cheaper models, moving to SSDs for all. It’s unclear if Apple will release 21.5 and 27in screen sizes like the current line-up. The changes may well cause the price to rise.

The news comes the same day Apple was said to be announcing its move to ARM chips at WWDC. If that is the case, the iMac is unlikely to be one of the first to get them, and we’d expect Intel chips to power the new redesigned generation.