Could it not have been fitted on the side ? (as on laptops)
I would expect the body of the old retina MBP (before the switch to USB-c) without the screen to be about the same thickness...
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M1: iMac lack of ports
- Thread starter Bill Av
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I would expect the body of the old retina MBP (before the switch to USB-c) without the screen to be about the same thickness...
Designs and ports are always matters of tradeoffs.
Could it have been done? Sure!
Would there have been impacts to other components / size / something else to do this? Probably.
What would those impacts have been? We likely won't be able to guess until ifixit or someone has done a full tear down and we see the detail of the internal components and figure out what would have to be moved / shrunken / etc to fit a USBA port plus its support hardware/structure.
I'd guess Apple probably uses focus groups to understand the preferences of their target market. I'd further guess that if they felt USBA ports were important on 24" iMacs to enough of the customers to make a sufficient difference in sales they'd have included one.
Agreed that it is subjective. Why use pro for the iPhone? Or iPad? It’s mostly marketing talk for “high-end” or “more features”.
My point is that Apple did not create this machine for “pro” useage. They are not marketing this machine to content creators, video editors, animators, audio engineers, cad designers, etc. they are marketing this to families and kids and schools etc.
If you want more ports, or more IO, or more ram, more video out options, you would buy a 27” iMac, or a high-end Mac mini, a Mac Pro, iMac Pro etc.
The issue is that the M1 is SO good that you actually can do some professional workflows on it, and Apple hasn’t updated their higher-end products that I mentioned above just yet, so the M1 is starting to overlap with their higher end Intel macs which causes confusion - but the M1 is still apples lowest tier of chip. It just happens to be really good. Which is a good problem to have. When apples entire lineup goes to custom silicon, it’ll be very easy to see how M1 is just the bottom of the barrel, but for now it’s all we have so I understand the confusion.
With all due respect, not all video editors are equal. I record and edit my lets plays and online tutorials. I have a 2TB external Samsung T5, and when I have my master files I save them to my 30TB NAS. So I only need ONE port for my video editing needs.
I really like the new iMacs, of course, there will be more professional solutions for power users in the fall of this year.
But this 4,5K powered by M1 – a great option. I definitely plan to order two basic iMacs with 16GB ram. It is great for home and office. Even software development also fits well in specs. The price is neat.
White bezels also good separation between pro & consumer lineups.
But this 4,5K powered by M1 – a great option. I definitely plan to order two basic iMacs with 16GB ram. It is great for home and office. Even software development also fits well in specs. The price is neat.
White bezels also good separation between pro & consumer lineups.
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I always had and will always have an iMac.
I'm a little torn right now. My needs are : 4 USB ports, 16GB of RAM, 512GB SSD and ideally M1X. Ideally either silver, black or white, and ideally without a chin.
They're off to a good start, but I think I'll wait until they complete the iMac line with Apple Silicon and then I'll make my choice.
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While I agree with this statement I am not sure why the average consumer needs a computer so thin as to not accommodate a couple of USB A ports.
No. These are the MacBook Airs of the desktop world. The 27" replacement (30" maybe?) will be the iMac Pro and have a few more ports. I am good with USB-C / TB4. It's time for USB-A to die. Ethernet in the power brick was an awesome move. Still waiting for the iMac Pro.
I reckon a lot of people would use it as their main get everything done computer - simply because the 27inch will be unaffordable to many. Its frustrating to see so much emphasis on thinness to the detriment of usability. Its pointless on a desktop. I will be going with a mac mini instead most likely. Dont want any more dongles than I have to and dont want to have to replace all my peripherals, none of which are usbc
I’m curious, what peripherals do you have that are hardwired USBA-male rather than having an easily replaced data cable?
Good point about the 27". I had the 27" 5k iMac 2017 Maxed and it was close to $4k after all said and done. Four years later my needs have changed and no longer have a need for such big all in one.
The thinness aspect comes in handy in that it allows people to fit more on their desk, as well as hid the iMac a little better versus previous iterations.
I think the new family consumer iMac will be a big seller.
It would have resulted in a lot of waisted space and extra materials which would add cost. Part of it being thin is to minimize materials and Packaging used.
Of course nobody needs a thin computer but it certainly is a selling point for some people. Contrary to what power users think, consumers like thin, light, airy products. They don’t want a big chunky computer on their desk.
For you and I, we could care less about that because we would rather have more features and power. That’s why things like the Mac Pro and Pro Display are actually thicker and bulkier. Apple knows (now... maybe not back in 2013 but that’s a different story) that professionals want function over form first.
It's not as much about replacing data cables than about buying new cables and carrying them around in addition to the existing ones. You often want to connect the same peripherals to other devices from desktop PCs to solar chargers, and those devices are more likely to use USB-A than USB-C.
The main problem is the user expectation that USB-C ports are fast, which makes adding them expensive. With USB-A, there may be a few redundant ports in easily accessible locations for convenience. With USB-C, the number of ports is limited by available bandwidth. Instead of ~10 USB-A ports and specialized ports for displays, you are limited to maybe 4 USB-C ports that must also be used for connecting displays.
Looking at the back of my 2017 iMac, a printer cable and a dongle for my wireless mouse.
I could use a usb adaptor for my printer and switch to a purely wireless mouse if I wanted to. Keyboard and Trackpad are already wireless. AirPods are wireless. I have been running my iMac off wifi since 2011. My T5 drive uses usb-c. There's a hub I am using with my iMac to bring usb-a ports to the fore as needed (and I don't really plug them in that much these days).
Part of the benefit of using the M1 MBA and iPad Pro is that I have had time to migrate my accessories over to wireless and usb-c. So it's not really a big deal for me to go all-in with this iMac if I felt so inclined.
I think it would be cool, but it's just so me to be a sucker for controversial tradeoffs.
I have nothing against thin, especially when it comes to portable devices. However I don't like losing functionality just for the sake of being thin. On a desktop there's no reason these systems have to be so thin as to not be able to accommodate a few USB A type ports.
What if Apple purposely wants to do away with USB-A ports? 🤔
Anker sells some tiny tiny USB-C to USB-A adapters for $12 on Amazon for 2 of them. Get some of those tiny things and stick them in your USB C ports and when you ever do update your peripherals, toss them and you are good to go!
I can't even begin to tell you how many adapters I have laying around in a box because of Apple.
Not really surprised or disappointed tbh. Its exactly the computer I expected and will be fine for its target market. That target market isn't me as I'd like a bigger screen, more powerful machine and more ports. And I'm sure that machine will come later this year.
I bet the vast majority of people who buy that iMac will just be after a couple of "usb" ports so they can charge their iPhone and connect something else to it occasionally.
Lots of external drives, many thumb drives, a mechanical keyboard (yes, wireless are available, but it was expensive and it works perfectly fine for me), a hub for attaching extras as required. As another poster already mention - GPS - I normally just charge it from the computer rather than looking for a plug. Charge my phone that way too if it needs charging/i forgot the plug (iphone....USBA to lightening). I also use the SD card reader a lot too - its just more convenient. My camera has a cable too - but again USBA to micro. Charger for wireless headphones - USBA. Im sure if I started rooting around the desk Id fine more. I don't want the hassle or expense of replacing things that work perfectly fine. I also feel the 'pro version' will probably be ridiculously overpriced for the average user to justify - I dont do video editing or anything like that.
Remember people getting all upset about the lack of a floppy disk drive on the iMac? Or the lack of SCSI, parallel & serial ports?
"WTF am I going to do with only USB ports?!"
That situation sorted itself out pretty quickly...
Why do people use a GPS on a stationary desktop computer?
Easy to pop a USB-A to USB-C adapter plug on the end of these, or keep one plugged into the back of the iMac in case you need to temporarily plug in a USB-A-only thumb drive. I got a set of like 6 of them from Amazon for $12 or something.
USB-C to Lightning cables are pretty much everywhere now and included with a lot of Apple stuff (including the new iMacs per the specs).