M1 iMac Reviews: Impressively Fast With Long-Awaited Redesign

[HowardEv]

The green one in UrAvgConsumer’s video looks really great too. It looks more like teal.

I want to see what happens when the power cord is stuck behind the desk and he pulls it closer. Does it just pop out and turn off? He picks it up and spins it around and even says its like a big iPad, taking it for granted that he has to keep it plugged in.

 

[ericwn]

I want to see what happens when the power cord is stuck behind the desk and he pulls it closer. Does it just pop out and turn off? He picks it up and spins it around and even says its like a big iPad, taking it for granted that he has to keep it plugged in.

Not that keeping a desktop computer plugged in would be anything out of the ordinary of course and exactly what the customer expects.

 

[Cyprusian]

Wait.... so you're saying Orange is the new Apple?

Hmm..... there was once a computer brand named Apricot....

 

[HowardEv]

One fly in that ointment, though, is that the iMac seems to need a 143W PSU (according to Apple specs) and I believe that Thunderbolt tops out at 100W.

How much of that 143W is for the screen and how much is for the CPU and fans? How many watts does the M1 MacBook Pro need? I really hope Apple ditches All In One format and puts the CPU in a separate CPU brick with lots of ports and a battery, and gives us choice of displays can be powered through the Thunderbolt cable (and that have batteries so you don't have to find a plug).

 

[HowardEv]

Not that keeping a desktop computer plugged in would be anything out of the ordinary of course and exactly what the customer expects.

I think some customers are going to be surprised when they pull the power cord out and find out that it crashes. Especially after all these videos that call it an iPad on a stand. What happens when the power cable is unplugged?

 

[theluggage]

How much of that 143W is for the screen and how much is for the CPU and fans? How many watts does the M1 MacBook Pro need?

I suspect that it's the screen - by my calculations, a 23.5" screen is a bit over 3 x the area of a 13.3" and power consumption is probably pretty much proportional to area...

The M1 MBP comes with a 61W adapter, the M1 Mini is rated at 150W max - but I really wouldn't want to read too much into that because those are exactly the same rating as the far more power-hungry Intel versions, so it doesn't look like they've bothered to make new power adapters for what are probably going to be stopgap products. The iMac is the first ground-up M1 design so presumably the power adapter is more indicative. Not betting the farm on it, though...

I'm sure OWC is working on something like this, and in matching colors.

Probably... but if the iMac can't accept power via Thunderbolt (and if Apple are precious about licensing their new Magsafe connector) there's nothing OWC can do about that.

Also interesting to note that, although it is strongly rumoured that MagSafe will be returning to the MBP, the power connector on the new iMac looks too big for a portable, so we're probably not going to get a common connector across MBPs and iMacs...

 

[ericwn]

I think some customers are going to be surprised when they pull the power cord out and find out that it crashes. Especially after all these videos that call it an iPad on a stand. What happens when the power cable is unplugged?

While I agree that there are always some idiots out there, this will be a non issue for the majority of people. And if one solely buys based on some YouTube video, so be it.

 

[HowardEv]

Even if people know it can’t be unplugged, they will be pissed when the power goes out, or it’s accidentally pulled out. There is no longer a cpu performance gain from being plugged in. It’d raise the price just a little, but the added security and convenience and utility of a battery is so worth it.

 

[DanTSX]

Do you feel the same way about the headphone jack?

Round holes are much more aesthetic than slots😬

Apple would lose education buyers if they removed the headphone slot. Schools need 3.5mm hole so kids can listen to their lessons better than the lousy teacher can do it.

 

[DanTSX]

Even if people know it can’t be unplugged, they will be pissed when the power goes out, or it’s accidentally pulled out. There is no longer a cpu performance gain from being plugged in. It’d raise the price just a little, but the added security and convenience and utility of a battery is so worth it.

You can plug the power brick into a UPS, or a cheap Amazon gas generator if you like using Apple care. Nobody wants a battery in their iMac. Wtf are you high? Leave the trolling to me.😉

 

[uller6]

Even if people know it can’t be unplugged, they will be pissed when the power goes out, or it’s accidentally pulled out. There is no longer a cpu performance gain from being plugged in. It’d raise the price just a little, but the added security and convenience and utility of a battery is so worth it.

If you have an intel iMac, you'll know the power cords are really hard to pull out of the back of the machine. So when you want to move the iMac, you need to first crawl under the desk to unplug the cable, then snake it upwards around your other cords to pull it up with the iMac. I would appreciate being able to remove the power cord more easily from the back of the iMac, for those 1-4 times a year I actually move the machine.

I'm totally fine without a battery in the iMac. I have an external UPS that works great and can power way more than just the iMac alone!

 

[pdoherty]

Even if people know it can’t be unplugged, they will be pissed when the power goes out, or it’s accidentally pulled out. There is no longer a cpu performance gain from being plugged in. It’d raise the price just a little, but the added security and convenience and utility of a battery is so worth it.

Just buy a battery-powered UPS.

 

[HowardEv]

Just buy a battery-powered UPS.

A UPS won't help if the MagSafe cord gets pulled out. Would you put up with having to use a UPS with your laptops and iPads? It'd save you a little money to leave out the battery of those too. Why pay for a battery if you can just get a UPS, right? Please, people, it isn't 2003 anymore. The M1 chip is designed to run on battery power. You are already paying for the advanced battery management in OS X. There is no need for line voltage anymore, it doesn't make it go faster.

 

[theluggage]

If you have an intel iMac, you'll know the power cords are really hard to pull out of the back of the machine.

No, they really aren’t - at least for something which, as you say, (a) you only need to do occasionally and (b) you really don’t want to happen by accident. Plus, they’re compatible with standard IEC mains plugs (you lose the nice “flush” effect, that’s all) so it’s easy to replace the cable with a longer/shorter one if needed.

...and as for struggling under the desk, wait until you’re dealing with a little brick on a string with a captive cable that you don’t dare strain, possibly with an Ethernet cable plugged in to it, rather than a nice, robust mains cable.

A UPS won't help if the MagSafe cord gets pulled out.

Yup, that’s why Magsafe makes sense on a laptop, but on an iMac it is nonsensical. It’s a desktop - route the mains cable sensibly and you’re done until you move desks. If you’re moving it daily, should have got a laptop. Not necessarily a deal-breaking “fire Tim Cook now” issue, but still a solution looking for a problem.

I suspect that the reasoning starts and ends with “thinner is better” (MagSafe doesn’t rely on friction to hold the plug in so it can be very shallow). I really hoped that Apple had got that obsession out of their system.

 

[Darth Tulhu]

No, they really aren’t - at least for something which, as you say, (a) you only need to do occasionally and (b) you really don’t want to happen by accident. Plus, they’re compatible with standard IEC mains plugs (you lose the nice “flush” effect, that’s all) so it’s easy to replace the cable with a longer/shorter one if needed.

...and as for struggling under the desk, wait until you’re dealing with a little brick on a string with a captive cable that you don’t dare strain, possibly with an Ethernet cable plugged in to it, rather than a nice, robust mains cable.


Yup, that’s why Magsafe makes sense on a laptop, but on an iMac it is nonsensical. It’s a desktop - route the mains cable sensibly and you’re done until you move desks. If you’re moving it daily, should have got a laptop. Not necessarily a deal-breaking “fire Tim Cook now” issue, but still a solution looking for a problem.

I suspect that the reasoning starts and ends with “thinner is better” (MagSafe doesn’t rely on friction to hold the plug in so it can be very shallow). I really hoped that Apple had got that obsession out of their system.

OK, sorry but based on what I've heard the reviewers say and what I saw on YouTube, this cord is NO MORE LIKELY to be yanked out than the one the iMac has always had. The old one is merely held in by friction.

Everyone is making a fuss because it's magnetic and looks really cool, but the design of the (very sturdy) plug doesn't only look FAR superior to the one on my iMac, but it is designed to:

1. Be EASY TO INSERT so that the iMac setup is as...ahem...frictionless as possible
2. STAY ON (magnet's constantly pulling it on)

I've taken my iMac enough times to the Apple Store for repairs, as well as moved it around the house and between houses (I'm ex-military; I moved A LOT), so I can say with confidence that the old iMac power connector is easier to yank out than to put in.

This looks like the reverse.

Apple has thought well about EVERYTHING regarding this base iMac, down to the friggin' power socket.

 

[HowardEv]

Apple has thought well about EVERYTHING regarding this base iMac, down to the friggin' power socket.

It sure does look like a complex and expensive power socket. Luckily it won't wear out like the little pins on MacBook MagSafe did, requiring constant fiddling to get the green light on, because it will only be used once, when it gets moved to the shelf of old Apple products and replaced by the next one.

 

[Darth Tulhu]

It sure does look like a complex and expensive power socket. Luckily it won't wear out like the little pins on MacBook MagSafe did, requiring constant fiddling to get the green light on, because it will only be used once, when it gets moved to the shelf of old Apple products and replaced by the next one.

This socket is much more, since it's also able to transmit/receive Ethernet data.

And the only similarity it shares with MagSafe is magnet use.

The MBP MagSafe port was really shallow (I STILL have that fiddling problem). Maybe the new MB MS will be a socket like the iMac, just smaller.

 

[Jamvan]

I've read through this entire thread and I have to say I think I've heard every reason NOT to buy one of these on every single Mac release going back to the lampshade iMac way back when. From "it's all about looks" or "it's doesn't have enough (pick a feature)" or "You can't do...". It's all been said before yet Apple continues to grow and grow and grow so I'm still fairly certain they are more in tune with what their market wants in an AIO desktop. Good lord, remember when they removed the optical disk drive?! Heaven forbid, the world was coming to an end! Yet I'm sitting here typing on my late 2012 27" iMac with USB disk drive and USB hub that is clawing it's way through every task, trying to convince myself that there is some reason I should wait for whatever replaces the 27" iMac...and I'm really struggling to come up with something valid.

A 27" already dominates my desk so can't image what a 30"+ iMac will do. Maybe it won't be substantively larger than the existing 27" size. I don't really even need the USB hub anymore as all the peripherals I used to use I no longer do or they've moved to wireless. I have often wondered why there's not a small bettery in these machines to facilitate a shut down process if it loses power but I've unplugged my current iMac numerous times when adjusting the screen not knowing the cord was stuck. Ploop! The old connector popped right out. My USB didn't help at all for that. But as such, I'm not worried about the magnet power cord as it doesn't eliminate the risk but it does eliminate an ethernet cord and makes it easier to connect.

Regarding M1 I/O...

I get the impression that M1 - clearly designed mainly for ultra-portables - just doesn't have the spare I/O capability to provide more than two USB 3.1 ports worth of I/O on top of Thunderbolt (or to support more than 2 displays total) so arguing about port provision on M1 machines is a bit moot. More i/o is one of the things on the 'must have' list for M1x/M2, especially if (as rumoured) the 14/16" MBPs are getting some ports back...

I just watched this earlier today regarding this very thing. If the M1 Mac Mini is any indication, there isn't much limitation if any for the M1 SOC. Heck, it eliminated my concern if I DID need to add an external hub. Data just flows.

I tried SO HARD to break this…

I will continue to excercise patience but I've been reading the same responses to anything Apple for 20+ years and all I'm going to say is these are really enticing machines in their own right and the ONLY thing holding me back from ordering an orange one right now is 3" of screen size...oh, and my wife. But Apple can't address that.

EDIT: Now get off my lawn!

 

[theluggage]

I've read through this entire thread and I have to say I think I've heard every reason NOT to buy one of these on every single Mac release going back to the lampshade iMac way back when.

(OK, but I don't think Apple has made you use an external power brick for a desktop machine since the old G4 Mac Mini - I had one of those and it was a pain...)

In this case, though, the problem is that we haven't seen the 5k iMac/iMac Pro replacement or the "M2" Mini - so for the moment the M1 iMac is as good as it gets with Apple Silicon, so I think we're looking at it from the perspective of "is this good enough to replace our 5k iMacs or do we need to wait?"

I'm OK with the M1 iMac as the new entry-level iMac, it's going to be fantastic for many people - and on (selective) speed tests the M1 gives most of the 5k range a run for their money, but alongside the 5k it is deficient in only supporting one extra display and maxing out at 16GB RAM... and "run for their money" is incredible for the smaller machines, but isn't much of an upgrade to a 5k iMac if you're looking at a machine to last you another 3-5 years.

Of course, that's an unfair comparison - but right now it's the only one we have. If Apple delivers the goods, and the new M1x/M2/whatever machines offer the same sort of improvements vs. the 5k Intel iMac as the M1 does vs. the old Intel MacBook Air, then the M1 machines are going to start looking entry-level again, premature upgraders will be stuck with buyers' remorse, but we can stop beating up the M1 iMac for not being an iMac Pro replacement .

There's also the worry that Apple are still making design compromises (e.g. external power brick, new proprietary power connector) for the sake of thinness.

A 27" already dominates my desk so can't image what a 30"+ iMac will do.

I agree that a 32" iMac is too big for an all-in-one, but I reckon they could fit 28" in the same size as the 27" iMac just by shrinking the bezels, or 29-29.5" by making the whole thing about 0.5" wider to accommodate a small bezel. Since the '24"' is only 23.5" diagonal (if you read the small print) they could probably sell that as '30"'...

I just watched this earlier today regarding this very thing. If the M1 Mac Mini is any indication, there isn't much limitation if any for the M1 SOC.

My point was actually that there's no sense in people asking for more ports on a M1 machine because it looks like everything the M1 can support is already there. Anything extra will have to steal bandwidth from one of the two Thunderbolt controllers. An M2 could/should change that game.

As the LTT video shows, the M1 actually has a heck of a lot of i/o bandwidth: in terms of Thunderbolt, the two independent controllers give the same TB3 bandwidth as the 4-port MBP. OTOH you need (expensive) TB3 hubs/docks to unlock that

...but the main point of that video was to show that the 10GB Ethernet wasn't leeching off anything else - it did show that the 6k display* was leeching off anything else connected to that TB3 port. That's one area where the M2/whatever will need to up its game, not for the sake of the M1 iMac, but in order to be not just as good as the Intel Macs but to convincingly beat them.

Other thing is - sometimes it is about whether you have the boring ports you need day-to-day, rather than seeing how much total bandwidth you can wring out of it for LULZ. I still regularly need about half-a-dozen USB 2 devices connected simultaneously, twice that if I don't want to keep juggling plugs - and while they won't scratch the surface of 100 Gbps of bandwidth, that doesn't mean that they won't work better (esp. things like audio interfaces) with their own, top-level USB port, rather than sharing a single USB 2 stream via a hub. The Intel iMacs didn't do too badly: 4 straight USB ports, plus 1-2 USB-C ports if you don't need external displays/TB3 peripherals mean I can connect the most critical USB devices directly and have a hub or two for the rest. For the new iMac... however you spin it, 2 fewer ports is 2 fewer places to connect things without needing a hub. Again, more about wondering what the M2 will be like than criticising the M1 - which could only add 2 more USB ports by stealing from Thunderbolt.

(* another reason why it's dumb to have to connect displays via Thunderbolt/USB-C when you've got room for a proper DisplayPort socket...)

 

[ikramerica]

I’m sure the reviews are all positive but I’m not going to buy another iMac until they remove the chin and border. If that means buying something else then so be it.

Then buy a mini. They gave it the same exact internal options and it’s the same performance, so get a mini and your own monitor and webcam.

 

[ikramerica]

Which iMac looks better and thinner in this shot?? 😉

View attachment 1776643

EDIT: Fellow MacRumors user Woochoo pointed out that at 2:10, the new iMac looks thinner compared to the previous one. So this picture is deceiving and it all depends the angle from which the picture was taken.

But I truly believe that Apple could have improved upon the previous design as it still is amazing.

That pic makes it obvious that the front should have been all light gray with an apple logo in the color of your Mac. I don’t mind the chin. I mind THAT chin.

 

[AdamNC]

24" for entry level 28" for mid-level. 32"Pro.

 

[ikramerica]

I think people do, but at one point in time the same was said about the home button on the iPhone and iPad, yet here we are. Apple need to stop letting the design and it being a recognisable product come before what the consumers actually want.



View attachment 1776980
Apple logo along the bottom bezel matching the colour of the reverse of the mac would have been perfect, easily recognisable, far better than a huuuuge chin on the device and I think most would agree this would be a lot more appealing for the majority of users.

There is just no reason in 2021 to have that huge outdated chin, TV makers only have their logo similar to the above and are all recognisable on a shop floor.

Render that with a light gray front instead. Then you have the answer. Black bezels are jarring.

 

[Slartibart]

… Apple logo along the bottom bezel matching the colour of the reverse of the mac would have been perfect, easily recognisable, …

Well, the new M1 iMacs are “easy recognisable”, aren’t they? “Iconic” is probably the better word, isn’t it? 🤓

 

[AdamNC]

The 24 inch iMac is for home use, college use, and light medium usage. No one has said from Apple it's a professional machine. For a home computer there's not much that can beat it. A small business could get by with it. I don't understand why people say over and over this is a weak machine.... the big guns have yet to be released by Apple.