iMac 2021 with Apple Silicon just leaked — what you need to know

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The inevitable Apple Silicon iMac is coming, and probably quite soon

iMac 2021 leak
(Image credit: Front Page Tech)

Apple is set to release a brand new iMac 2021 later this year, powered by an Apple Silicon chip. Or at least it looks that way, thanks to a discovery by DaftCloud developer Dennis Oberhoff.

Oberhoff has discovered an unreleased ARM-based iMac in his app’s Xcode crash log. Considering past iMacs don’t use ARM architecture, it can only mean there’s an Apple Silicon version on the way. Considering how well the MacBook Pro M1 and MacBook Air M1 have been performing, this can only be a good thing.

DaftCloud is a third party SoundCloud application for macOS, and this screenshot means the software crashed while running on an ARM iMac. Obviously this means that an Apple Silicon iMac is not just coming, but actively being used by people behind the scenes. 

9to5Mac investigated Oberhoff’s crash report, and concluded that this is legit. So the crash really did occur on an ARM64 machine, and the device family matches the iMac. However, the site points out that Apple has a history of cleaning up reports to avoid these sorts of leaks. So there isn't much else we can glean from this.

Of course, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard about an Apple Silicon iMac coming. Back in January Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that one would be arriving later this year. Gurman also promised that the new machine “will be one of the biggest visual updates to any Apple product this year”.

The iMac 2021 has been tipped to include a new mini-LED display with thinner bezels, and the design itself may come in as many as five colors. 

In addition, Apple has just discontinued the iMac Pro, meaning there is a gap in its line-up that an Apple Silicon iMac could easily fill. Considering there’s rumored to be an Apple event in April, we could hear about the new iMac sooner rather than later. 

Apple already seems to have a lot planned for this year, including the launch of a new iPad Pro range, an upgraded 16-inch MacBook Pro running on the M1 chip, the iPhone 13, and possibly even the super-charged M1X chip. 

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Tom Pritchard
Tom Pritchard
UK Phones Editor

Tom is the Tom's Guide's UK Phones Editor, tackling the latest smartphone news and vocally expressing his opinions about upcoming features or changes. It's long way from his days as editor of Gizmodo UK, when pretty much everything was on the table. He’s usually found trying to squeeze another giant Lego set onto the shelf, draining very large cups of coffee, or complaining about how terrible his Smart TV is.