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Apple's M4 iMac: What to Expect
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What would be the price of an 27” iMac?
Once the king at Apple, and then, a forgotten one…
Once the king at Apple, and then, a forgotten one…
They want you to spent 100% more on the Studio/Studio Display combo.
The alternative is a Mac mini or studio. Problem with all Apple devices is that they’re not upgradable. All is soldered or glued together with one purpose in mind… buy a new one. Apple should be ashamed when talking about how much effort the put in the environment.
Watch out, you'll stir all the Apple defenders from their slumber, rambling about how the 0.01% speed difference we gain from soldering the SSD makes all the difference, how they need the 'aWeSoMe bAndWiDth' of soldered RAM, or how these devices can be recycled by Apple which apparently means it's ok to scrap your device every 3 years.
No, not in the slightest. Whatever is coming with M4 would not radically affect what you want to do with your computer. In real world use you would be hard pressed to see a performance difference between M3 and M4. And whatever AI elements M4 might have will probably have little to no effect in accomplishing what you want from your computer on an everyday basis.
I bought an M3 iMac a couple of weeks ago with 16/512. I love it and I don’t feel the least bit cheated by the prospect of M4 being released in the next months.
For everyday tasks my 2011 21.5 iMac with 32 RAM and 500 SSD remains a solid and reliable workhorse, but it struggles with complex 3D models. My new iMac addresses that issue, and after thirteen years I wanted something new. A key distinction, though, is that I was able to user upgrade the old iMac from its base specs which I won’t be able to with the new iMac—thats why I ordered a higher than base spec M3 iMac.
My old iMac was from another time and designed with a different mindset that isn’t prevalent anymore. That said the price of my old iMac when new was near the same as the base iMac today adjusted for inflation. And yet the current machine is vastly superior in performance to the old one. Factor in inflation on what I spent over the years upgrading my old iMac and it probably comes close to what I bought the new iMac for.
If my M3 iMac gives me 5-6 years of reliable service I’ll be happy. If I get 10 years out if it I’ll be ecstatic.
Considering my old computer has lasted reliably for so long leaves me feeling it was a good investment. And I never felt cheated with newer more powerful machines coming along as the years passed. I’m hoping my M3 iMac will prove to be as good.
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An M4 iMac likely won’t be released in the next few months.
In fact, there is a decent chance there will never be an M4 iMac at all, and an update would just wait for M5.
I get that there should be some movement upward with regard to the base 8gb of RAM, but to say that it's inadequate, is not accurate for all but the most demanding users. I previously had a mid 2015 MB Pro with 16gb RAM and 512gb storage. When the battery finally gave out and warped the case, I needed a replacement quickly because of an upcoming, international trip. There was talk about a product refresh coming up so I bought the lowest price MB Pro (2020 M1), 13" with 8gb RAM and 256gb storage, to be used as a 'disposable' computer until the one that I really wanted was finally available. But after using this 13" MB Pro with 8gb RAM, I have been simply amazed with its performance! I run two real-time financial market trading platforms as well as Discord and multiple Chrome browser windows open, all without missing a beat. I assume this is due to the unified memory and SoC. The only area lacking on my current system is the 256gb storage, but I knew going into it that the plan was for it to be a temporary solution. However.. 3 years later, it's still going strong! I'm sure there are users that absolutely need more than the 8gb base, but that is going to be a very small sample of people and definitely not the majority. Not even close. To compare it against MSFT, is 'Apple' to 'Lemon' comparison! Microsoft needs more hardware to accomplish less because of their bloated & inefficient code and libraries, as well as their 'invasion of privacy', features... If when AAPL does increase the base RAM size, I will happily accept it. But as things stand now, there is zero reason for the majority to complain about base RAM size. Probably comments similar to that which I replied to, originate from folks who have a Microsoft mindset or history?
Oh, again somebody scared of AI. LOL! If you don't know how to use it just don't use it at all.The best part of an "AI-focused" chip would be to have the "AI" disabled
Yup - what people miss is that the Mx Pro Mac Mini/Mac Studio Max plus Studio display combos cost roughly the same as the higher-end 5k iMacs used to do if you bought the RAM upgrade from Apple. You used to be able to save $$$ by getting a third party RAM upgrade, but that option was always going to go away with Apple Silicon (it had gone away with the Intel iMac Pro). Now, however, you can save $$$$ by choosing an alternative monitor, and even if you do shell out for a Studio Display or even a Pro XDR you'll hopefully be able to keep it when you upgrade to M4/M5/whatever (unless Apple are real jerks).
The other thing people miss is that there used to be a large performance gap between the top-end MacBook Pro with mobile-class processors and GPUs and Mac desktops with higher TDP desktop-class chipsets. Now, unless you go for the reassuringly expensive Mx Ultra Studio, everything is offering the exact same range of Mx systems-on-a-chip and desktops only have a marginal advantage due to better thermals. Many more "creative pros" will now be able to do their work on Mx Pro/Max MacBook Pros - maybe with an external display - which will hit the market for desktops. Which is probably why the Studio Display is largely designed as a deluxe laptop dock (with charging).
Not so much crippled as gone back to the original winning iMac concept of a compact, all-in-one for mainstream users.
Reality is a lot of professionals/enthusiasts were forced to buy the higher-end iMacs because, after about 2016 when - even if you liked the concept - the trashcan had become outdated, Apple didn't offer a credible headless desktop. The iMacs were great value if a 27" 5k display was exactly what you wanted and didn't allow for the value of as display which would outlive the computer.
Meanwhile, $4000 gets you a non-binned 12/16 core M2 32GB/1TB Mac Studio + Studio Display, which is exactly the same price as a 2020 iMac i9 10 core/Radion 5700XT upgraded to 32GB/1TB - and somewhere between that and the $5000 iMac Pro in terms of power, quietness, TB3 i/o etc.
That's a good point. I think people were nostalgic for the time that they could buy a decent 5K screen AND computer with good quality 3rd party RAM for way, way, way cheaper than the Mac Studio + Studio Display. Much of that discount went away though with Apple RAM, but just about no consumers did that. The ones that did were institutions and businesses.
BTW, my Huawei MateView 28.2" 4K+ monitor works fine with my M1 Mac mini, but people are reporting that while it works fine with older iPad Pros, it doesn't work with the M4 iPad Pro. WTF.
I hope this doesn't mean the MateView won't work with M4 Macs.
Get rid of that stupid white bezel and put the Apple logo back on the "chin" where it belongs.
I’ve been selling these iMacs since they were released. In all that time only one person ever commented somewhat critically on the white bezels.
I have an M3 iMac and the white bezels are a total non-issue. They’re not at all distracting and I never notice them while using the computer.
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It'd be nice to have a choice (as we used to have with iOS devices)
For some it's just a preference and we can't really evaluate it without data from a situation where folks have a choice.
You do realize that's no longer an all in one solution and therefore an entirely different product type, right?
Macs handle all of that better over displayport than HDMI, but chances are your TV doesnt have displayprt, few do.
Which is unacceptable in 2024
Macs need to be feature complete when connected over HDMI and DP
What you're describing is exactly not what an iMac has always been (an all in one solution)
The eco stuff is all just talk if it ever conflicts with their profit goals
It's basically a marketing greenwash
Sure, and if you want a bigger screen that’s what Apple is offering. You’re making it seem like Apple is locking you into a 24” display to have a desktop.
If you're not going to do a 27" iMac replacement - Why bother. (24" is a joke) . . .