No, most people just want to work at a nice big screen with keyboard and mouse. Mac mini and Mac Studio are horrible substitutes for an All-in-One. They serve a very niche purpose. The iMac is not only the quintessential personal computer, it's also the core DNA of Apple as a company.
Sorry to break it for you, but since about 2010 the core of Apple's DNA has been the iPhone. As for personal computing, what the majority of people want is a laptop or tablet, and it was heading that way since long before the post-pandemic drive for flexible working:
In 2025, notebook PC unit shipments are expected to amount to ****** million, while detachable tablet shipments are set to reach ***** million.
www.statista.com
The quintessential/iconic
Mac is the MacBook Air - and has been since Steve pulled it out of that envelope (though it took a couple of years to get the design and price right) and Apple Silicon cemented that by making it more than powerful enough for the majority of consumers. Beyond that, the "flagship" Mac is the 14/16 MacBook Pro. Post Apple Silicon, you may notice, Macs get new silicon in that order.
All desktop Macs are niche - and a shrinking niche at that. The old 27" iMac market is being eroded in multiple directions. Even the iMac fans in this thread can't even agree on whether they want 27", 30" or 32", fake HDR or true local dimming... Not to mention all of us who only bought iMacs because there was no headless alternative at the time.
I don't entirely like the design of the 24" iMac, but if you want an all-in-one for "general" use it pretty much fits the bill, is more powerful than the old entry-level 27" and has a better/larger screen than the old 21.5".
If desktops were selling in the same volume as MacBooks then, maybe, Apple could offer a choice of sizes at sensible prices
and still offer headless options. Otherwise, letting people mix and max computers and displays is (and always has been) far more sensible
especially as Apple can sell the displays to all those MacBook Pro users who just need a bigger screen & docking solution.
Apple have the market research here, and their actions over the past 10 years pretty much suggest that the only way they can sell enough iMacs is to
not offer a mix-and-match alternative.
I’d buy one to replace my iMac Pro 2017.
And yet, unless you found a one-off bargain, the iMac Pro cost $5000. A Mac Studio Max, 32GB, 1TB, 38 core GPU
and Studio Display costs $4000 and should significantly out-perform it (if it doesn't its because Apple Silicon and a new iMac won't fix that).
...plus, if you'd been able to buy a "separates" system in 2017 you'd now have a perfectly good 5k display and would only need a $2400 Mac Studio. I'd see that as a sign that high-end iMacs were just a bad idea.