I hope the first ‘Apple Silicon’ iMacs comes in 24-inch and 27-inch (or bigger) models — Apple World Today

The first iMac powered by Apple Silicon will arrive in the first half of 2021 and will feature a “A14T” chip, according to Chinese-language newspaper The China Times.

Apple Silicon is, per Apple, “world-class custom silicon to deliver industry-leading performance and powerful new technologies” as the tech giant phases out Intel processors in its Mac line. It involves customized ARM technology, as well as Apple’s own System on a Chip.

The China Times has this to say: “In addition to the first Apple Silicon processor A14X for the MacBook, which is already in volume production using TSMC’s 5-nanometer technology, according to Apple’s supply chain, Apple will launch its first self-developed GPU under the research and development code name Lifuka next year, and its first desktop processor A14T under the research and development code name Mt.Jade, both produced using TSMC’s 5-nanometer process.”

The article adds that the first Apple Silicon chip will be a MacBook. It’s expected to be announced next month, and I suspect it will be a 12-inch laptop. The Sellers Research Group (that’s me) thinks The China Times is right. At one point, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo was predicting a 24-inch iMac with Apple Silicon this fall/winter, but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.

I’m a big iMac fan, so I hope that the Apple Silicon iMacs will debut in both 24-inch and 27-inch (or bigger!) sizes and a fresh industrial design. A possible redesign is based on a January 2020 patent filing for an “electronic device with glass housing.” It’s pictured in a drawing from the patent filing and in this mock-up based on the patent filing: