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Apple this week added iMac models with the M4 chip to its certified refurbished store in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and select other countries, for the first time since the computer was introduced in October 2024.

purple-m4-imac.jpg

As usual for refurbished Macs, the refurbished iMac configurations are all discounted by approximately 15% compared to the equivalent new models on Apple's online store. In the U.S., prices start at $1,099, down from $1,299 brand new.

All of the usual accessories are included in the box with refurbished Macs. For the iMac, this includes a Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse, USB-C power adapter, USB-C cable, and power cord. Apple's refurbished products come in a more plain white box.

Apple says it puts refurbished Macs through "full functionality testing" and a "thorough cleaning process and inspection," and they are covered by Apple's one-year limited warranty and eligible for extended AppleCare+ coverage.

In our view, Apple's refurbished Macs are virtually indistinguishable from brand new ones, providing a good opportunity for savings directly from Apple. But, you can often find better deals on Macs through resellers like Amazon.

Article Link: Apple Begins Selling Refurbished M4 iMacs at Discounted Prices
 
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Ah nice! I just spotted this last night. It seems they haven't updated the M1/M3 iMac prices yet though, so right now you can buy an M4 iMac with 8-Core/256GB/16GB/Ethernet for $1129 and an M1 iMac with 8-Core/256GB/16GB/Ethernet for $1139. Oops!
 
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iMacs become obsolete even faster these days as RAM and CPU are no longer upgradable. Loads of perfectly good 4.5k displays junked because Apple is too greedy to bring back Target Display Mode. I know I'm beating a dead horse here but, of all the ways they contradict their claimed environmentalism, this is one of their more wasteful moves. And it's sad to see those gorgeous colorful panels get wasted. Hopefully some Chinese entrepreneur comes up with an affordable driver card like those available for the 5k 27" Intel iMac.

Also it's ridiculous that the base model doesn't come with an ethernet port. Good GOD they're greedy.
 
iMacs become obsolete even faster these days as RAM and CPU are no longer upgradable. Loads of perfectly good 4.5k displays junked because Apple is too greedy to bring back Target Display Mode. I know I'm beating a dead horse here but, of all the ways they contradict their claimed environmentalism, this is one of their more wasteful moves. And it's sad to see those gorgeous colorful panels get wasted. Hopefully some Chinese entrepreneur comes up with an affordable driver card like those available for the 5k 27" Intel iMac.

100% agree

At one time there was a technical limitation in terms of available connectors and cable bandwidth requirements.

That time has long since passed and it's really sad to me that they won't bring back an objectively useful feature from the past (TDM)
 
Ah crap, I could've saved $300 by waiting a couple months. Loving this machine in general. The difference from the M1 is not night and day, but it's a very nice performance bump. It's incredibly responsive and everything I do happens pretty much immediately.
 
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iMacs become obsolete even faster these days as RAM and CPU are no longer upgradable. Loads of perfectly good 4.5k displays junked because Apple is too greedy to bring back Target Display Mode. I know I'm beating a dead horse here but, of all the ways they contradict their claimed environmentalism, this is one of their more wasteful moves. And it's sad to see those gorgeous colorful panels get wasted. Hopefully some Chinese entrepreneur comes up with an affordable driver card like those available for the 5k 27" Intel iMac.

Also it's ridiculous that the base model doesn't come with an ethernet port. Good GOD they're greedy.

They really need Target Display Mode - ewaste can be avoided by probably a $10 part from Apple to make it work.

If they would allow a M4 Pro in there, I'd probably buy one since it would last 6+ years easy. Ugh...
 
I really want an iMac, but at this point, I'm rocking a 32" screen as my daily driver. I could never go back to 24 or 27.

A 32" iMac would fly off the shelves
 
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I really want an iMac, but at this point, I'm rocking a 32" screen as my daily driver. I could never go back to 24 or 27.

A 32" iMac would fly off the shelves
What would a 32" iMac give you that your current setup does not?

People should appreciate this product for what it is - a well running, quiet, attractive general computing machine! And these refurbished prices make it an even better value

- Typed on an M3 iMac
 
Ah nice! I just spotted this last night. It seems they haven't updated the M1/M3 iMac prices yet though, so right now you can buy an M4 iMac with 8-Core/256GB/16GB/Ethernet for $1129 and an M1 iMac with 8-Core/256GB/16GB/Ethernet for $1139. Oops!
They’ll pull a Mac Mini from last week (where the base M2 mini fell to $319). The M1 iMacs will get a significant price reduction.
 
100% agree

At one time there was a technical limitation in terms of available connectors and cable bandwidth requirements.

That time has long since passed and it's really sad to me that they won't bring back an objectively useful feature from the past (TDM)
This best describes why they stopped support of that.

Target display mode was discontinued on a hardware level with the 5K iMac because DisplayPort couldn't accommodate the resolution at the time of its release. Internally, it's using two DP signals and stitching them together.

On the OS level, I imagine they stopped supporting it with Big Sur because it took some level of effort to support on M1 Macs and they thought it was easier just to scuttle the whole feature across the board.
 
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iMacs become obsolete even faster these days as RAM and CPU are no longer upgradable. Loads of perfectly good 4.5k displays junked because Apple is too greedy to bring back Target Display Mode. I know I'm beating a dead horse here but, of all the ways they contradict their claimed environmentalism, this is one of their more wasteful moves. And it's sad to see those gorgeous colorful panels get wasted. Hopefully some Chinese entrepreneur comes up with an affordable driver card like those available for the 5k 27" Intel iMac.

Also it's ridiculous that the base model doesn't come with an ethernet port. Good GOD they're greedy.
While not exactly the same, iMacs since 2019 (and other Macs) can do AirPlay to Mac: https://support.apple.com/en-us/108046#airplaytomac
This feature is pretty useful for when these will become older computers and are put out of commission for other uses, and it means you can use them as a monitor for your iPad or iPhone too, not just another Mac.
 
iMacs become obsolete even faster these days as RAM and CPU are no longer upgradable. Loads of perfectly good 4.5k displays junked because Apple is too greedy to bring back Target Display Mode. I know I'm beating a dead horse here but, of all the ways they contradict their claimed environmentalism, this is one of their more wasteful moves. And it's sad to see those gorgeous colorful panels get wasted. Hopefully some Chinese entrepreneur comes up with an affordable driver card like those available for the 5k 27" Intel iMac.

Also it's ridiculous that the base model doesn't come with an ethernet port. Good GOD they're greedy.
"Loads" of junked 4.5k displays? Link? Source? Photo?

Wild things are being said here with no verification or proof!
 
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Can you post more info on this? First I've heard of it. Thanks.

This (and clones of it) can be found on many different online retailers, not just AliExpress. YouTube also has some videos posted by people who have done the mod. It requires taking your iMac apart and only works with 2017-2020 which are harder to disassemble (IMO) than the thicker 27" iMacs that came before those.
Screenshot 2025-02-26 at 2.10.18 PM.png
 
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"Loads" of junked 4.5k displays? Link? Source? Photo?

Wild things are being said here with no verification or proof!
It's an exaggeration but my point is that they'll have an overall shorter lifespan than previous upgradable models but, also, that many will get thrown out sooner than they would if they could be used as a monitor when computer itself is no longer powerful enough for the owner. If you replaced your M1 iMac with an M4 iMac wouldn't it be nice to still use the old one and have two matching displays?
 
If you replaced your M1 iMac with an M4 iMac wouldn't it be nice to still use the old one and have two matching displays?
You know that with the current MacOS that you can do that, don't you? You can hook those iMacs together with a cable and use one as a second screen. (You can also use WiFi but a cable is better.)
 
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Ah crap, I could've saved $300 by waiting a couple months. Loving this machine in general. The difference from the M1 is not night and day, but it's a very nice performance bump. It's incredibly responsive and everything I do happens pretty much immediately.
What M1 spec did you have, and which M4 spec do you have now?

Would like to hear about any differences you picked up.
 
What would a 32" iMac give you that your current setup does not?

People should appreciate this product for what it is - a well running, quiet, attractive general computing machine! And these refurbished prices make it an even better value

- Typed on an M3 iMac
For example on the 32" screen I can put an Indesign window with a whole bunch of expanded indesign panels and have a good amount of space for visualising my current project at the same time. Not possible on 24".
 
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Good to know about the availability of refurbished iMac. But with not much significant discount, it might be better to buy new ones from select retailers. Will be nice if Apple sells at least the refurbished Magic accessories. This way at least there is an option to get the coloured keyboard and mouse.
 
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