M1 vs. M3 iMac Buyer's Guide: 15+ Differences Compared

[Warped9]

the entire iMac lineup - oh, wait, that's essentially this machine itself - is a joke.
we have an overpriced display, that alone costs about 40% more than the current iMac. why? how?
if you want to have a capable device, you have to buy a mini and the studio display and literally spend 2x as much than this iPad-on-a-stand? how on earth makes this sense?
i want my 27" back.

This repeated criticism is a joke when all it is is a subjective opinion offered up as fact. The arguments raised against the current iMac could be applied equally and easily against any bigger screen iMac. And if people think repeating this opinion will change anyone else’s mind or Apple’s they’re grossly mistaken. Your viewpoint is not a universal truth.

Apple’s viewpoint has already been established. To them the 24 iMac fits into their research and view of the marketplace. A bigger screen iMac evidently doesn’t or else it would be here, and it isn’t.

 

[Ifti]

If I were in the market for an iMAC, I'd still be tempted with an iMAC Pro. If only they had of continued to develop that lineup but without the silly childish new design......

 

[Warped9]

If I were in the market for an iMAC, I'd still be tempted with an iMAC Pro. If only they had of continued to develop that lineup but without the silly childish new design......

Yet they abandoned it probably because not enough of those who cried for it actually bought it. Evidently they didn’t vote for it with their wallet.

 

[satchmo]

In all candour the two-tone colour scheme of the iMac isn’t something I’m crazy about, and the Silver option avoids that, but it doesn’t bug me.

The Pink option is…weird. The back of the computer is red and the chin is…flesh coloured? I’ve seen it close up and the metallic pink is okay, but the rest is…weird. I wonder if it all would have looked better as Rose Gold.

And thats what I would have preferred—having the entire chassis the same metallic colour. But, of course, they were echoing the two-tone colouring off the original G3 iMacs.

Yeah, not loving the two-tone either. Silver is the one I'd get for sure.

Are you suggesting just the metallic to be the same colour? While I'd prefer that too, my greater issue is the lightly coloured frosted chin.

You can never match metal with plastic, so why try. Just go all white on the front. Yes, I know that takes us back to the big white chin. Or make that chin metallic and match it properly. Now that would be a very bold looking iMac!

 

[Agincourt]

Does everyone here remember the radical 2013 Mac Pro? Apple isn't always right and they do sometimes make some very poor products which don't prove a hit with their customer base.

My main gripe with the iMac since the M conversion has largely been that it doesn't fit into any category very well. Upgrading to 24 inch standard means they cannot offer any low-price options such as the last generation Intel 20 inch iMac. Meanwhile they've shrunk the maximum screen size and upgrade potential so that there are no semi-pro machines either. The last generation iMac had the capacity for 128 GB RAM, whereas this one is stuck at 24 GB... which costs $400 USD extra by the way.

So what we have now is an all-in-one machine which isn't so affordable for casual users and which cannot be upgraded to match the Mac mini. Apple should have made 16GB RAM 512GB storage standard with this upgrade to justify why their products cost more than the competition.

 

[nt5672]

I don’t think the thin thing was all Ives influence or doing. It’s seen everywhere in technology.

It was a at Apple. Of course it also was and is a fad. But at Apple it was prolonged by Ive's over powerful influence once Jobs left.

 

[Warped9]

I like the iMac’s thin form. It’s daring—as in how the hell do they get all that in there?

 

[Fuzzball84]

It was a at Apple. Of course it also was and is a fad. But at Apple it was prolonged by Ive's over powerful influence once Jobs left.

Even on M3 iMac, that’s just been released… they are highlighting its thinness.

Ive is long gone… there’s still someone at Apple pushing this, really really hard.

It’s a desktop 😂 Most people would welcome a few cm in the name of easier repairs and better thermal designs etc and removing that “chin” on the machine. Just hide it all behind the screen! With black bezels

 

[Warped9]

The chin is a distinctive design element of the iMac. Where they went wrong was removing the Apple logo and using those pastel hues. It would look better if the chin were the same metallic hue as the pedestal.

 

[swm]

Apple’s viewpoint has already been established. To them the 24 iMac fits into their research and view of the marketplace. A bigger screen iMac evidently doesn’t or else it would be here, and it isn’t.

I'd rather say apple is not researching the market but more intends to shape/bend it to their needs.

I've been using iMacs since they released the first one with intel cpu. the iMac experience is absolutely stellar compared to anything else. yes, the mini is capable device, but without a proper apple-made display it's just meh. I spent almost 20 years with monitors w/o a single button on them, no menus, no quirky navigation, nothing. that was replaced by F1 and F2 on the keyboard. regardless what kind of display you pair with the Mac, it won't be as natural to use as the apple made ones.
now if I am dissatisfied with the iPad-pro-on-a-stand design, I can get a Mac mini (which is a great device) and a studio display (which already has a fkn computer inside) and costs about 2 as much as the computer itself.
yes, I know, it will probably outlast the mini, if that damn hidden computer with all the same components and tech in the inside won't break. the 27" retina iMacs we have are still good, still supported, they came for about $1800 a piece.
now they clearly lag behind the m-series devices, but they have almost the same visual experience as the studio display. yet somehow apple managed to make the SD almost as expensive as them. the $200 difference wouldn't be enough to cover the CPU and the memory alone.

people usually compare the SD to the 27" TBD, which was absolutely superior to this vanity item:
it had ethernet, a bunch of usb ports and thunderbolt passthrough.
somehow those 2 products, the 27" iMac and the 27" TBD could happily coexist on the market, as each served a different purpose.

with the external power supply apple essentially crippled the current iMac range - except of one thing: the headphone connector is finally on the side and not on the backside. niche thing, but a good decision. and otherwise they did not have enough thickness to install it anyway.

the only thing apple would've done is to take the guts of a Mac mini and slap I into the SD. it already has the thickness to hide the logic board and the power supply. I'd buy one of those within a heartbeat.

 

[jlnr]

the headphone connector is finally on the side and not on the backside. niche thing, but a good decision. and otherwise they did not have enough thickness to install it anyway.

Putting it on the bottom would have been infinity times better for those of us who use external speakers. I know Apple wants to sell HomePods, but that just makes the value proposition even worse.

 

[Warped9]

The trend to eliminating or minimizing external ports is done not only by Apple. Other manufacturers are doing it also albeit at a slower pace. The Microsoft surface is notorious for it and worse than Apple’s MacBook Air.

Speaking strictly for myself I rarely have occasion to use the ports I have. I have almost never used the headphone jack on my iMac and very rarely used it on my older iPad Air. And I never connect headphones to my iPhone. I do it occasionally with my iPod Touch.

Sometimes I connect my iPod to my iMac to add/sync music. I’m very old-school about music. I don’t use Spotify or Apple Music or pay for streaming anything and I manage my music manually. Almost never do I have to connect a USB drive to my iMac and my printer connection is wireless. Internet is wireless as well.

I’m not representative of anyone who needs a lot of physical connectivity. My iPad is my portable computer and to a much smaller extent my iPhone. My iPhone is used primarily while at work for quickly looking up whatever, but at home I rarely look at it.

In that context the iMac is ideal for what I want. It’s more than sufficiently powerful, and with a beautiful display, for my 3D modelling needs. It fits into my lack of need for lots of physical connectivity which manufacturers are pushing anyway. And it looks awesome and welcoming on my computer desk. For convenience I would get myself a USB-C to USB adaptor or hub for the short term. And if circumstances change than there are any number of external docks designed to fit to the pedestal of the iMac, and it’s a more elegant solution than having dongles hanging off the back of the computer.


Now having said all that I can see the legitimacy of criticism on this point. Buying dongles for ever thinner laptops is one thing given the pursuit of lightness for a mobile computer creates a connectivity conflict. But a desktop machine doesn’t need to create that conflict. I can easily envision a number of ways the iMac could have been designed to accommodate more physical connectivity. The Studio Display is but one way wherein Apple could have even eliminated the chin, or not if they really want to retain that distinctive feature. I don’t think the design would have to have been a lot thicker to accommodate USB ports and an SD card slot on the side or bottom as opposed to the back. Particularly at this price point they’re sacrificing a bit too much utility for the sake of form. It would be interesting to know what the conversation was like for them to get to the product we now have.

 

[Warped9]

Although he overviews all three new chips his remarks on the base M3 are particularly interesting. The performance of M3 not only makes the base MacBook Pro 14 more appealing, but the fact the same M3 is in the iMac underscores a respectable improvement in performance. Essentially with M3 it’s near the same as if they had put an M2 Pro into the iMac.

The Mac Studio with M3 Max next year is going to be crazy!

 

[jlnr]

Speaking strictly for myself I rarely have occasion to use the ports I have. I have almost never used the headphone jack on my iMac and very rarely used it on my older iPad Air. And I never connect headphones to my iPhone. I do it occasionally with my iPod Touch.

Sometimes I connect my iPod to my iMac to add/sync music. I’m very old-school about music. I don’t use Spotify or Apple Music or pay for streaming anything and I manage my music manually.

How do you listen to music then? I honestly thought that having a pair of wired speakers next to one's screen/iMac was pretty normal in non-office settings, and sometimes even at work. Sorry if this has already been discussed to death in the original iMac threads.

 

[Warped9]

How do you listen to music then? I honestly thought that having a pair of wired speakers next to one's screen/iMac was pretty normal in non-office settings, and sometimes even at work. Sorry if this has already been discussed to death in the original iMac threads.

The vast majority of my music I imported from CDs into my computer years ago. Back in the day I also used LimeWire to (re)collect a lot of my music. Periodically I still buy the occasional song from iTunes. A lot of my music library I then downloaded into my iPod which I listen to either in my car or through my Logitech UE Boom bluetooth speaker. I rarely use headphones.

I’m sure people would laugh at my setup in the car. I have a 2004 Ford Crown Victoria with no bluetooth connectivity. I use a Scoche cassette tape deck adapter attached to my iPod for music. I have no patience for commercial radio and I’m not interested in paying for satellite streaming.

 

[GermanSuplex]

The issue with the iMac's isn't speed, its screen size. Sorta like the issue with iPads isn't speed, it's the software being written to get the most out of the chip. Here its just a waiting game which is frustrating, eventually they will release something over 24 inches. I have no interest in a studio display + Mac mini combo at all.

Yeah, I’m fine with the smaller size, but it seems like a no-brainer to have two options. As you say, probably just a waiting game. I do hope they don’t try to push a larger screen as part of a new pro design, as the premium for faster components is unnecessary for me, and probably a lot of people who are happy with the hardware but just want a larger screen.

 

[CoreForce]

I will have the chance of replacing one of my two 27” iMac with this 24”, as the 2009 model just power-bricked. What a coincidence. Maybe I should set up a YT live stream when doing it, to give real world live comparison and rant on all what’s going wrong with Apple?

 

[Heat_Fan89]

The vast majority of my music I imported from CDs into my computer years ago. Back in the day I also used LimeWire to (re)collect a lot of my music. Periodically I still buy the occasional song from iTunes. A lot of my music library I then downloaded into my iPod which I listen to either in my car or through my Logitech UE Boom bluetooth speaker. I rarely use headphones.

I’m sure people would laugh at my setup in the car. I have a 2004 Ford Crown Victoria with no bluetooth connectivity. I use a Scoche cassette tape deck adapter attached to my iPod for music. I have no patience for commercial radio and I’m not interested in paying for satellite streaming.

That car's in great shape, including the paint. That was a great car Ford built. Nice wheels too!

 

[TruthAboveAllElse]

No one cares how fat an iMac is. Can we finally get rid of Ive's influence.

Guess I am no one

 

[mectojic]

I have a late 2012 27-inch iMac. Been waiting for this upgrade for a long time. Very disappointed! The design is OK, I don't need a PRO-version, however i want black bezels and the same 27-inch screen! I just use it for internet browsing. The screen on this model is too small for my needs.

Just stay on your 27-inch iMac, if your needs are minimal.

 

[nt5672]

Guess I am no one

OK, can you explain why you would give up 1/8 inch or 1/4 inch depth so you can get poorer performance because of reduced cooling and heat extraction, which causes Apple to reduce the CPUs clock speed.

Oh, I get it you probably don't really do much except email. Right, that is really a good application for an iPad.

 

[marcushe]

The main issue I have is with future macOS Upgrades. My father's 2008 iMac finally died last month and he literally just purchased a refurb M1 iMac. The M1 iMac originally shipped with macOS 11 Big Sur and has already gotten 3 macOS upgrades. So the M1 iMac will be cutoff from upgrades before the M3, and my father will suffer even though his M1 was really purchased a month before the M3, my father's M1 iMac will be left in the dust with OS upgrades 3 years too soon when that time comes in (2) years?

 

[mectojic]

The main issue I have is with future macOS Upgrades. My father's 2008 iMac finally died last month and he literally just purchased a refurb M1 iMac. The M1 iMac originally shipped with macOS 11 Big Sur and has already gotten 3 macOS upgrades. So the M1 iMac will be cutoff from upgrades before the M3, and my father will suffer even though his M1 was really purchased a month before the M3, my father's M1 iMac will be left in the dust with OS upgrades 3 years too soon when that time comes in (2) years?

I wouldn't worry too much. Macs work far past their supported software updates, and still get security updates on top of that. You can expect at least 10 years out of the Mac before needing to upgrade, and far, far longer if you don't need the latest features.

 

[2pacjeeman]

Just stay on your 27-inch iMac, if your needs are minimal.

It's no SSD in it, it's regular HDD. It's slow. Fans are noisy. I want new design.

 

[mectojic]

It's no SSD in it, it's regular HDD. It's slow. Fans are noisy. I want new design.

Replace SSD, the speed improvement will be insane.
But if you want a new design, then upgrade the SSD, then just run your iMac with an external monitor. It will "look" new