After thinking about this further, I'm going to wait until I make a decision on what I'll get as a replacement for my 27" iMac.
There is no rush, my current iMac is trouble-free, and one objective is to have a new computer with Apple silicon that will maintain compatibility with the newest software features. That is a 'nice to have' motivation rather than a 'must have' or immediate need. And this could very well be the last computer I purchase, wanting it to last into retirement and for as many years as possible.
The 24" is surely a good choice and powerful enough for my needs, although I'd like to get a larger internal SSD so that I can keep all of my music files right on the computer. The maximum storage currently offered in the 24" is 2TB SSD. And you can't get more than 16GB RAM (I know, it's almost certainly sufficient).
I can adjust to a separate desktop and display and the new 27" monitor looks very nice. The affordable choice is to pair it with a Mac mini, but that has the same limitations as the 24" iMac - 16GB RAM and 2 TB SSD.
The Mac Studio looks fantastic and the very cheapest Studio would be just fine for my needs, it comes with 32GB RAM as standard and I can get up to 8TB SSD if I really want to splurge. I'd probably get 4TB. But - do I want to spend that much?
If I get separate computer and monitor then I could get a second display at some point, something I've thought about a lot during this work-from-home period.
I started a new thread a few days ago, including a poll (first time I've tried setting one of those up myself). I don't know if you noticed it. Not getting a lot of activity but one interesting observation is that of the forum members who have voted, the great majority are for a separate computer and monitor votes. I'll eventually decide what to do for myself, but it's interesting to see the variety of opinions:
Lots of discussion about the new Apple desktop choices now that the new Mac Studio has been announced and the iMac is only available in 24" size. I've been waiting to see what Apple would announce this year, expecting to have an obvious choice to replace my 7 year old 27" iMac, but instead I'm...
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