Exactly that. It is cheaper than a Mac mini with the same screen. We have two Mac mini’s at work, connected to _one_ really cheap screen and _one_ really cheap keyboard / mouse.
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M1 iMac Configurations and Pricing Breakdown
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Well, that was a weird decision for Apple to make. I wonder what the rationale was behind that.
No. MacRumours is just daft here. “Mid-level” and “High-end” are identical, except for the “high-end” you already paid for the 512GB upgrade. “High-End” shouldn’t even be on the list.
Had the 27" replacement been announced at the same time we would see a lot less moaning about limited RAM and ports on the new 24". This is obviously the consumer mass model. 90% of iMac buyers will be perfectly happy with this computer. I expect to see more RAM, SSD size and connectivity on the 27" replacement.
Two interesting questions for me:
1) Will the bigger iMac still offer user-replaceable RAM?
2) Will the 27" come in a more neutral colour trim such as Space Gray? I understand there will unfortunately still be a chin but I find the white bezel distracting.
Two interesting questions for me:
1) Will the bigger iMac still offer user-replaceable RAM?
2) Will the 27" come in a more neutral colour trim such as Space Gray? I understand there will unfortunately still be a chin but I find the white bezel distracting.
1) How would accessible ram work with the M1x (or M2 or whatever chip it will be called) chip? Honestly wondering, because I admit I am still not very familiar with how the M1 chip works exactly, or whether conventional knowledge about how ram works with intel chips is even relevant here.
2) I suspect the “pro” iMac will come in fewer colour options (sorta like how the iPhone 12 has all the fancy colours while the 12 pro is stuck with the more staid, boring options).
I know I would have loved a 12 pro max in that bright red or orange colour.
My reasoning is that Apple’s promotional videos and images show the iMac’s back pretty prominently, which seem to suggest that Apple envisions the target market using it in locations where the back will be visible a fair amount of the time. Perhaps in the living room as a family FaceTime machine, or in a retail or doctor’s main counter.
Conversely, I am guessing that the target market for a larger imac would be the professional crowd, who are more likely to be using it on a desk with the back facing the wall, and so they won’t bother with as vibrant colours, because that’s what appeals to them less.
Either way, I guess my 2017 5k imac lives on to fight another day.
Good point. I would hardly ever see the back of my iMac as it is sitting against a wall. But I am afraid Apple will not see it this way and optimise for the 0.01% of time spent on marketing, buying and installation and not the 99.99% on usage.
Well, I started with a 256GB SSD on my 2012 CheeseGrater in 2012 ... but had to move up to a 512GB in 2017.
That 512GB boot drive is getting tight again; the guilty party is the OS doing Journaling of attached Time Machine drives (I've never stored my main data on the boot drive) and /Library/Mail/ ... can't readily (painlessly) move these off of the boot drive.
I'm debating if to upgrade to 1TB, or replace the whole machine, where I'd futureproof with a 2TB boot drive SSD.
For my lightweight use MBP laptop, I went cheap with the 256GB. Even by keeping it on a separate email account that doesn't get spam, its getting marginal.
For data, this is a huge YMMV based on one's own workflow & use case needs. I originally set up this CheeseGrater with a (2+2)TB RAID-0 using two internal bays, and the other two internal bays are still on TimeMachine backups (originally 4TB, but now a 6TB & 8TB), plus some externals for removable backups that are for going off-site.
For a 27" iMac replacement candidate, these externals would stay, plus all of my internals would have to move to externals too, with the commensurately ugly rats nest piles of of signal & power cables, TB/USB hubs, etc.
A lot of work & money ... not something to be looking forward to: I dread having to get a new Mac.
RAM unfortunately doesnt' really work this way and what works on phones and small devices doesn't really reflect well in a different experience
Applealso has gotten away with less RAM in their mobile devices due to iOS's "fake" multi-tasking that shuts down programs after 2 minutes idle and moves them out of RAM. its' "efficient" for RAM, but not necessarily for the CPU which must reload the application each time.
when you move into the desktop space, especially in a WIMP based UI, that sort of multi-tasking faking doesn't work. There's an expectation that an open running program remains open and running all the time. This will increase the demands and loads on the memory to keep these programs resident for more time.
plus, with bigger deviecs and real estate, the amount of programs you could be actively working on at the same time does increase. while on our phones / tablets. we might just swap between 2-3 applications, desktop use is not uncommon to have dozens of things running at the same time.
Modern Desktop OS's, even MacOS will use 2GB of RAM just idling these days. 4gb once you start running just your standard Daemon programs and basic tools people use.
Where Apple is typically winning against Android for speed, is due to the CPU itself. the Apple Arm CPU's are wicked fast. they often mask the work arounds that iOS does to preserve RAM. EG: those programs that iOS kills? that's hidden form you. when you relaunch it you see an image snapshot of the program as it last was open, while it reloads from storage the program fully. combined with the amazing CPU, this "fake" multi-tasking is unnoticable. But in a desktop, this would likely piss you off.
It does. Programs take up the same amount of memory. You'll wear out our NVME drive all the faster with less ram. 8GB of ram is something you expect on the Black Friday special laptop, or the cheap one you find on the end cap at Best Buy. Apple is neither of those, but they are historically behind on understand that. iPhone has 16gb of storage for far too long. It's a squeeze on the consumer to spend extra or deal with inconvenience. This will go on with the iMac for as long as they can do it. Hate it.
RIGHT? It'd be easier to shove an M.2 2TB drive (that you bought for MOUNDS cheaper) into the rear thunderbolt port, and run your entire OS off of it. xD
None of these iMacs are mid or high end products. All we are seeing is different configurations of the low end products. The only pro or mid/high level product that has M1 so far is the iPad Pro. The high end products will come later from Apple and it's rumoured they will have M1X or M1's successor. A chip that can handle 32GB of RAM and other higher end features.
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The golden era of Apple design is over. We just have to accept it and move on.
Ive really doesn't fit in, in the modern Apple anyway. He's too revolutionary (in design terms) and thinks outside of boxes that we are not allowed to talk about here.
I hope you realise these are just the best low end iMacs. The mid/high end iMacs havenot been announced yet. The only M series pro product that has been announced is the iPad Pro. If you are ok with a top of the range, low end iMac then sure go ahead and buy it.
Personally I'm waiting for the mid/high end iMacs to be released and I'll buy one of those.
I did and regretted that decision immensly. The MacRumor 5 minute keynote overview was so much better in every single way. If current trends continue the MacRumor overviews will be what I view and I'll not atch the actual full kaynotes anymore.
That's why I put "high end" in air quotes.
I'm fully aware these will be the general consumer level models, which is where I fit in.
I already have a 16 512 M1 MBP, which I'll keep. It replaced my ageing iMac (2008) but I've come to realise that I prefer a larger screen. My MBP never really leaves my desk, and I have my iPP for sofa use. The new iMac will fit into my use case very nicely.
Exactly. What are they going to offer the midrange user?
I am concerned the high end will be over budget.
I was ready to buy until I saw the configurations.
I am ready to buy also but alas it's not the iMac you or I are after. I guess we have to be patient till the iMac we want (mid range) is released.
The one silver lining I see is, I feel these 24 M1's are 21.5 intel replacements and we've yet to see the M series replacement to the 27 intel. Hopefully they have a few different configerations of that so we can both choose he one we each want.
Who knows what midrange configurations will be and if they are priced out of my range.
When I got my 2010 21.5, I selected the best process offered for the model and doubled the RAM. It has served me well over the years.
Did I need what I selected? Most likely not but it is what I wanted and still accomplishes what I need.
I'm on a 2011 21.5 and also selected the best processor I could afford as well and went for the 16GB RAM option. I'm still using this Mac today as my daily driver.
I agree both our macs have been our fauthful workhorses but it's about time I think we upgrade to a new shiny M1. . . whern Apple relase the mid/high end ones.
You mean you didn’t enjoy the lame ass mission impossible acting job by Tim Cook? Lol
256 gb storage is almost unsuale. I personally think 512 should be the bare minimum. Especially considering they are not upgradable. I mean you can buy external storage but that still leaves little room for software
The more I think of it, the better deal the M1 iPad Pro with 1 tb of storage and 5G sounds. It’s actually $100 dollars less than the 1tb 16 gb iMac, and you get a XDR mini LED display, pencil support, portability, 5G connection, lidar, better cameras and pencil support. It’s actually a far better deal.
I think i talked myself into preordering the new iPad Pro.
The more I think of it, the better deal the M1 iPad Pro with 1 tb of storage and 5G sounds. It’s actually $100 dollars less than the 1tb 16 gb iMac, and you get a XDR mini LED display, pencil support, portability, 5G connection, lidar, better cameras and pencil support. It’s actually a far better deal.
I think i talked myself into preordering the new iPad Pro.
