Earlier this month, Apple introduced the all-new iMac. But if you look at it closely, there isn’t a lot that you could call “new,” per se. On the updated desktop, the most notable upgrades are the M6 chip and improved wireless connectivity, alongside the promise of better AI performance. But it appears that the machine, which hasn’t received a design refresh or any other meaningful upgrade in years, could finally get its due.
In the latest edition of Bloomberg’s Power On podcast, Mark Gurman mentioned that Apple is looking at an OLED screen upgrade for the iMac, but it could take a while before such a product hits the shelves. “Yeah, that would sell really well, but they are looking at an OLED iMac, that I can tell you as well, but I still think that’s a few years away. Okay, so maybe that’s the next big change,” Gurman said while discussing potential improvements to Apple’s desktop computer.
An OLED screen upgrade wouldn’t be surprising for the iMac, given Apple’s recent trajectory. But for a desktop, it would definitely push the iMac into a luxury category, because there aren’t many mainstream all-in-one (AiO) desktop computers out there that offer an OLED screen for around $1,200 to $1,500. It’s also plausible that Apple could reserve the OLED screen upgrade for its long-rumored 27-inch iMac, or even a revived iMac Pro.
In the past few years, Apple has leaned heavily on upgrading its devices to OLED screens. After iPhones and Apple Watches moved to OLED, the iPad Pro with M4 silicon was the first iPad to jump on the bandwagon, followed by the iPad mini and the OLED MacBook Pro. Bloomberg has previously reported that the iPad Air is next in line, and we might eventually see an OLED screen on the MacBook Air as well.
If you look specifically at the iMac, it definitely deserves a bigger overhaul. Ever since Apple refreshed the iMac with the M1 processor all the way back in 2021, the fundamental design and even the color options have remained more or less identical. The only major change has been the silicon, and the 2026 model with the M6 chip follows in the same footsteps. It’ll be interesting to see whether Apple goes with the supersizing approach first or redesigns its beloved all-in-one desktop from the ground up.