Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
My buddy bought one last summer (2020) for med school and he says it’s painfully slow. Surprised they didn’t continue to at least upgrade the internals. Who in the world buys this over the new 24”??
Which configuration? I can't imagine in which context a 6-core i5, SSD, 16GB of DDR4 RAM and a dGPU iMac is painfully slow.
-----
P.S.: forget... the discontinued model is a dual core one, 7th-gen Intel CPU. Ok.
 
It also costs $200.

By this logic, Toyota should discontinue the Corolla because people could just by their teenagers a used Lexus EX.
And an iPhone 8 (NOT 7) used price is about $150 USD.

 
Which configuration? I can't imagine in which context a 6-core i5, SSD, 16GB of DDR4 RAM and a dGPU iMac is painfully slow.
I would assume the configuration Apple just discontinued, with the dual core seventh GEN Intel I5, 8 GB of RAM and a fusion drive
 
My buddy bought one last summer (2020) for med school and he says it’s painfully slow. Surprised they didn’t continue to at least upgrade the internals. Who in the world buys this over the new 24”??
I wish they would have put an M1 inside the 4K Intel model and kept the price the same, like they did for the Air and Mini. I’m not a fan of the iMac redesign at all.
 
It also costs $200.

By this logic, Toyota should discontinue the Corolla because people could just by their teenagers a used Lexus EX.
It cost $200 for barely enough storage to run the operating system.
if you want any more storage, it’s at least $300, and at that point you can get a refurbished iPhone 8 for the same price which has a better processor, better battery, better camera, biometrics, better display, and will be updated for longer.
Especially for what Apple is advertising this thing for, kids who want A thing to play games on or listen to music, you’re better off just giving them your old iPhone or just coughing up the extra $130 for an iPad.
If you truly want to know how painful it is to use that iPod touch in 2021, watch this:
And this guy was being nice, you play any games on this thing and it immediately heats up and the battery is gone within two hours.
Long car rides this is not for.
 
I wonder how many people bought this model in the last 30 days? Probably thousands of people who didn't do their research. Instantly outdated.
Hopefully almost none. I suppose the un-aware consumer is getting promotions for the M1 iMac anyway.

It's a disgrace that Apple keep ancient hardware in their store (ex: the 2014 Mac Mini until 2018 & the 2013 Mac Pro until 2019) at full price.
 
  • Like
Reactions: arefbe
Walked in to BB and grabbed a 1TB, 16GB, 16" and I have to say....WOW. My usage is making stupid, unprofessional YouTube videos and the speed increase over my existing 16GB 512GB M1 MBA is freakish. It's not only the speed, but the screen!!!! I can see things I've not seen before in my footage! The sound is incredible. Mac laptops of recent years have always sounded really good. Especially compared to others. But these new ones? This is NIGHT and DAY. Amazing picture, amazing sound, and FCPx edit and rendering speeds that are laughably quick. You don't need to go FULL 4K WALLET to get a great experience for us regular folk. The basic Amazon and Best Buy offerings save you some cash and are heroic machines. Thank you Apple!!!
 
  • Like
Reactions: orbital~debris
Well let’s see…
Take the current iPod touch.
Upgrade the one megapixel front camera to a good 12 megapixel wide-angle front camera
Upgrade the back camera from the current iPhone 5 camera to at least the one used in the iPhone 8.
Upgrade the home button to include touch ID.
Upgrade the starting storage to at least 64 GB.
Upgrade the screen to at least a 4.7 inch.
Give the battery a major, major, major, major, major upgrade because the current one is just awful.
Upgrade the CPU to at least the A13.
Give this thing stereo speakers.
Oh wait… that’s just the iPhone SE.
The fact that the iPod touch is still $299 for 128 GB, when literally for an extra 30 bucks you could get an iPhone 8 which has a better processor, better camera, better speakers, better display, better battery life, better everything, or for just another 60 bucks you could get the new SE should prove that the iPod touch has absolutely no place in Apple‘s current lineup.
If you truly need a device just dedicated to music, you can find a used or referbished iPhone with more storage, better speakers, and longer battery life for cheaper.
Hell for music lovers, I would recommend buying an old iPod classic before I would recommend buying the current iPod touch.
I just can’t recommend this product to anyone. It’s just way too expensive for what it is, the camera sucks, the battery life really really sucks, it has an under clocked CPU that’s over five years old, it’s using a display that’s going on a decade now, and it gives absolutely no benefits over similar iPhones from the time period which you can find for cheaper

alright, can't be bothered to read all that self indulgent nonsense. there's no reason to discontinue a product simply because YOU do not use it.
 
Not exactly true. The first intel iMacs we’re core solo. If I remember correctly they were not 64 bit but the next model core duos were 64 bit.
Core duo, which was 32bit. The core2duos were the first 64 bit machines if I’m not mistaken. I don’t think there was ever a core solo mbp.

Hot damn, I was wrong. I feel for the folks that bought the mini! What a let-down. Or was that just a developer’s machine?
 
Last edited:
Core duo, which was 32bit. The core2duos were the first 64 bit machines if I’m not mistaken. I don’t think there was ever a core solo mbp.

Hot damn, I was wrong. I feel for the folks that bought the mini! What a let-down. Or was that just a developer’s machine?
There was only one Core Solo (Mac mini 2006) configuration.

 
Last edited:
Not at all true.

On a personal note I have used a 2011 iMac with HDD for 10 years as a daily driver. For everything from content co sumptuous to medium level video tent creation (videos and movies, as well as some other things). Zero issues with the speed of the thing, even in 2021.

The downside is the video card crapped out this year and thus, I will be upgrading to a M1 Pro iMac when they release next year. In the interim I have a 2012 iMac coming to me and o cover my needs till then.

My use case is far from unique. Older Macs are still very capable machines. Sure pre OS 10 machines are getting a little long in the tooth but past that they are all still very usable today for many tasks.
Yes, older mac's, especially the 21" are good systems.

believe it or not, some people do not like Retina displays, for it bothers their eyes. The non-Retina screens on the iMac are not bad, but of course they are not Retina.

I have a 21" iMac 2012 and replaced the fusion drive with a SSD and it flys on Catalina. It is still a good desktop. Cleaned the dust out, runs now cool. Screen has a semi-type-matted (for Apple - some of the glare is gone from previous models) and it double-boots to Windows 10 (runs Windows if you need to wonderfully). The fusion drive was actually fast to my surprise (my first experience with fusion drives). I bought it for $350 in perfect condition last year and was very impressed with it for a 2012 model with fusion. To say fusion drives are trash is not true also. It is just time to move on. Better technology now, it served its purpose at a time when SSDs were pricey. Great idea at the time.

Also, to say that they "suck" just because it is intel is also ignorant. They did it's job for the time. Now it is a new time, new technology. The 21" iMac is a great design (and still actually). Yes, it is time to move on with it, but it cannot be said that they were bad.
 
Embarrassing they were selling $1000 new machines with a relic of a processor. I don’t think evil Microsoft was doing that.
 
Yes, older mac's, especially the 21" are good systems.
... The fusion drive was actually fast to my surprise (my first experience with fusion drives). I bought it for $350 in perfect condition last year and was very impressed with it for a 2012 model with fusion. To say fusion drives are trash is not true also. It is just time to move on. Better technology now, it served its purpose at a time when SSDs were pricey. Great idea at the time.
I never understood all the hate for fusion drives.

Years ago, I posted that I thought they were effective and got flamed on these forums. My 2012 MM has a 250 SSD fused to a 2TB spinner and it's been flawless.

My friend bought a 2014 base MM - notorious for it's bad drive speed - and he complained about how slow it was. I fused the 500gb internal with a 128 external SSD and the machine's performance improved by leaps. In fact, his MM is still chugging away with that external drive hanging off the case, faultlessly doing it's job.
 
  • Like
Reactions: loby
I still run Parallels Windows 11 VM on my 2015 MacBook 12. Works fine.
I have a pair of entry-level 21" iMacs (2017 and 2014 models) going stronger and better than when they were new (because I use small externally mounted SSDs as their boot drives rather than the internal spinners).

But this is a tech enthusiast site and that means anything that isn't the latest generation must die... it's the "Logan's Run" of tech. ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: nebojsak and ececlv
That took way longer than expected for Apple to fulfill their contract with Intel and other vendors for the iMac 21.5"

So the remaining Intel Macs are

Next Macs to be updatedReleased as early asApple SoC
iMac 27"Apr 2022M1 Pro & M1 Max
$1,099 Mac miniApr 2022M1 Pro & M1 Max
Mac ProDec 2022Multi M1 Max dies in multi die package
Laptop chips are not “pro” desktop worthy.
 
I wish they could do the Gold Macbook in M2. Mine was the original and it didn't support the Monterey. I really liked it.
You can consider getting the gold MacBook Air. Dimension-wise it is very slightly bigger to accommodate the extra inch of display, but since the design is pretty much the same, I'd consider it a direct replacement of the MacBook.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bobcomer
Laptop chips are not “pro” desktop worthy.
Multiple dies or "chop" of dies in a SiP package will make it "pro".

They need to increase the volume of these SKUs to benefit from economies of scale.

Why else have the M1 in the iPad Pro, MBA, MBP 13", Mac mini and iMac 24"?
 
Good!!!
That thing was a good five years out of date, if not more.
Now just replace the Touch Bar M1 MacBook Pro with a new M2 MacBook Air, discontinue the iPod touch, and I think they would have the best lineup they’ve had in years.
They would literally have a product at every price point that I could genuinely recommend, no pulled punches
I really hope for the following 2022 MacBook lineup:
— 700-800 MacBook SE (current base M1 Air with a price drop). Or just keep the Air name with a price drop. My choice :)
— M2 14” and 16” Just Macbook with colors. Fanless 14’ and maybe single small fan for 16’. Or maybe fanless in base config and small fan with an upper one (same as with iMac — single fan base model and double fan for the higher end model), usb-c on each side and mag safe, mini led without pro motion, notch, 1100-2000$
— new Pros of course.
— new super high end Air. 13” screen, super thin bezels, titanium body, Face ID, M2, 900 grams, pro motion mini led, 2 usb c: one on each side, nag safe, wedge shape, but more boxy and sharp, matte black option, price 1800+.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.