Apple doesn’t like to talk about its upcoming products before they’re ready, but sometimes the company’s software does the talking for it. So far this week we’ve had a few software-related leaks out of products Apple is currently testing — one a pre-release build of iOS 26, and the other some leaked files from the kernel debug kit (both via MacRumors).
Most of the new devices referenced in these leaks are direct updates to pre-existing products: a new Apple TV, a HomePod mini 2, new AirTags and AirPods, an M4 iPad Air, a 12th-generation iPad to replace the current A16 version, the next-generation iPhones (including the 17e, 18, and the rumored foldable model), a new Studio Display model, some new smart home products we’ve already heard about elsewhere, and an M5 update to the MacBook. Air, Mac Mini, Mac Studio, and other MacBook Pros. There’s also another reference to a lower-priced MacBook that Apple is apparently planning to replace the M1 MacBook Air that still sells for $599 through Walmart.
However, for power users, the most interesting revelation may be that Apple is working on a high-end Apple Silicon iMac powered by the M5 Max chip. The kernel debug kit refers to an iMac with internal identifier J833c, which is based on a platform identified as H17C – and H17C is apparently based on the M5 Max rather than the lower-end M5 chip. (For those who don’t remember Apple’s branding, “Max” is associated with Apple’s second-fastest chips; the M5 Max will be faster than the M5 or M5 Pro, but slower than the rumored M5 Ultra.)
The device could be the long-awaited, occasionally-rumored-but-never-launched replacement for Apple’s 27-inch iMac, which was slated to be discontinued in 2022 without any direct replacement. An M5 Max chip would make this machine the closest thing to a direct replacement for the iMac Pro, a 27-inch iMac variant that launched in late 2017 but was similarly discontinued without an update or replacement.
With the current M4 Max chip featuring 14 or 16 CPU cores, 32 or 40 GPU cores, and 36GB and 128GB of integrated memory, we expect the M5 Max to match or beat it. And because Max chips already fit in the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro, there should be no problem fitting it into an all-in-one desktop PC.
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