Apple could be planning to release an 8K iMac

Back in February, we've reviewed Apple's 27-inch iMac with a Retina 5K screen. Its 5120 x 2880 resolution provided an unmatched sharpness at 217 ppi, but reaching it wasn't easy: Apple had to utilize a custom display controller, since even DisplayPort 1.2 was not able to provide enough bandwidth. At least not in its stock state - it seems that Apple had to overclock it in order to reach sufficient throughput.

However, the situation changed when VESA announced eDP (Embedded DisplayPort) 1.4a, which added support for Ultra HD 8K (7680 x 4320 pixels) resolution. It was too late for the iMac 5K to take advantage of it, but VESA claimed that the first products using eDP 1.4a would arrive next year. LG, however, seems to disagree: the South Korean company claims that Apple has "announced" that it will release an iMac equipped with an 8K screen already "later this year".

Of course, no such information has come out of Cupertino and LG could be simply mistaken. But being the primary supplier of the iMac 5K displays, LG could have been aware of something an average customer isn't meant to know. This alleged leak was part of LG's advertisement for "8K resolution era", which the company believes is about to begin, and it's unlikely that made-up information related to Apple was thrown in just for the hype. LG has since taken down the post and neither its representatives nor Apple's replied to requests for comments on the matter.

If the information does prove to be correct and Apple won't increase the screen size past 27 inch, we could be looking at a 326 ppi iMac, which is about as sharp as Sony Xperia Z Ultra's 6.44-inch Full HD display. Whether such high pixel density will find enough customers willing to pay for it remains to be seen.

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