Those "form over function" whiners complaining new iMacs don't have even more powerful hardware make me laugh.
1. "Omg, those awful 5400 drives turn iMacs into piece of ******"!
I bet you wont see ANY difference in 5400/7200 performance in your daily usage. They provide almost identical speeds and similar no-near-ssd response. From now on you're able to get Fusion Drive to improve your storage performance. Overall better than the previous gen? Without a doubt.
2. "Why oh why did they do iMacs slimmer instead of putting desktop graphics into it??"
Are you guys aware of the fact that decent discrete graphics cost MUCH more than laptop ones Apple offers? Apple will keep its margin with near no change, that's for sure. Desktop graphics would make iMacs simply more pricey, that's for sure. If graphics performance is something you need - voila, purchase 680mx bto and get amazingly fast graphics card. Standard gpus that new iMacs offer are notably better than older ones. The only disadvantage is the same amount of vRAM which is pretty sad. But for casual gaming that's more than enough so nothing to really whine about.
3. "I'm such a pro, that I won't survive the 21.5 soldered RAM which isn't enough for me"
First of all, most of you don't really NEED more than 8gb of ram. That is the fact. But if you REALLY need more than 8gb and you're uncomfortable with Apple's BTO pricing - you can simply grab the 27 model. If "I have no money for it" is your argument - you're not a pro, deal with it. But after all, if you really need to install more ram into 21 model yourself - the ram won't be soldered, so you'll be able to put two so-dimms into it. That's for sure.
I'll get base model and put more ram and 256gb mbp retina form-factor ssd into it. I need it for several VMs I have to run together. Since I'd had to disassemble previous design iMac to make such an upgrade, there's no differense for me anyway
New iMacs are overall better, they provide better hardware, better screen and new design for almost the same price. If your dreams about twice as powerful iMac with retina display for the same price haven't come true, that does't mean new iMacs are piece of ******. Calm down, realise it, deal with it and stop complaining.
Thanks for reading.