Forget the MacBook, I want an iMac Ultra

Source Domain: www.macworld.com

Apparently, 2026 is going to be the year when Apple introduces the “Ultra” branding for the iPhone and MacBook. Which sounds interesting and leads to pedantic arguments over what constitutes an Ultra product. But it’s Apple, it can define “Ultra” however it sees fit.

Which leads me to the gaping hole in the proposed Ultra lineup: a desktop Mac. (Settle down, iPad fans; CEO-in-the-wings John Ternus has been working on what sounds like an iPad Ultra, though it has an uncertain status.) It just seems like if Apple is going down this Ultra road, it has to have a Mac Ultra. After all, of all of Apple’s products, the desktop Mac is the one best suited to go all out and truly hold up the “Ultra” branding.

The Mac Pro had its day

The Mac Pro seemed like the most fitting computer to be rebranded as a Mac Ultra. The tower form factor allows Apple to go hog wild with its components, fitting it with an M-series Ultra chip, installing a ton of RAM, installing the fastest SSD, and using the latest specifications with Thunderbolt, USB, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc. Apple could redesign the tower so it doesn’t have as many expansion slots.

Apple doesn’t really want anything to do with the tower form factor anymore.

Thiago Trevisan

There’s a reason why Apple discontinued the Mac Pro, however. Apple just doesn’t sell enough towers to make it worthwhile, and even a redesigned, smaller tower probably wouldn’t sell in the numbers Apple would like.

As much as I would love to see Apple create a “hot rod” Mac, it doesn’t fit in Apple’s product methodology. The Mac Pro–actually, the tower Mac, to be more specific–is no longer a supported Apple form factor.

iMac Ultra: iMac Pro reborn

Of all the desktop Macs, the iMac is the most likely candidate for an Ultra version. Would it be the fastest, most powerful Mac available? No, but Apple isn’t necessarily defining “Ultra” that way. “Ultra” applies…

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