Keeping my 16" M1 MBP Max until OLED MacBook Pro is released. It's still chugging along pretty strong.
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M1 vs. M3 vs. M4 iMac Buyer's Guide: 25+ Upgrades Compared
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Yay, a new data point. The 8GB RAM drought is over:
... see you again about base RAM around 2040.
... see you again about base RAM around 2040.
The real starting value is $1,379 -- because a 2024 iMac without TouchID is a terrible idea. Strangely, that $80 option is for a Touch ID with numeric keypad; there's no option for just the Magic Keyboard with Touch ID. Standalone, the new Magic Keyboard with Touch ID costs $149.00. That's messed up. Magic Keyboard without Touch ID is The New 8GB.
I didn't notice that! If you go up one or more models from the base, they include the Magic Keyboard with Touch ID by default. The upgrade for adding the numeric pad drops to $30.
If they thought there was a decent market for this they would make it. My guess is that they have decided that there isn't.
Perhaps they will update the ASD with a better Webcam and then with the rumored smaller Mac mini you could probably have a 27" iMac like experience. Probably cost you more than the iMac did, but you'll have a super set-up. I mean the rumored Mac mini is about the size of an AppleTV - if that's true you could just run it under your desk. Sure - two cables not one, but not a bad compromise and you get to keep the monitor when it's time to replace the Mac.
WiFi-6E??? I think that's just ridiculous in 2024. I couldn't believe that the M4 iPad Pro also didn't have Wifi-7. That decision by Apple made me upgrade from my 2018 iPad Pro to the M2 iPad Pro instead of the M4. That and the Apple Pencil Pro and Magic Keyboard incompatibility. Very poor choices by their product team.
The new iMac comes with a Magic Keyboard with TouchID. They just call it "Magic Keyboard" because the Magic Keyboard comes with Touch ID. Not sure why they called out the Touch ID feature in the $80 upgrade for numeric keyboard.
These are consumer level machines. Most people won't even have home or office WiFi that even supports wifi 6, much less wifi 6E. And most consumer purchasers will never push enough data through their internet connection to make a difference between wifi 6 and 6E. Once a consumer can stream a 4k video from the internet and get it to their screen over their home wifi, their data needs are pretty much met.
No, the entry-level iMac has a Magic Keyboard without Touch ID. Look at the M4 iMac comparison chart from the Apple Store. Do you see the difference?
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The Magic Keyboard without Touch ID has been around since at least the M1 iMac's introduction.
to borrow a phrase from the Mandalorian -- "This is the way."
That is, this is the APPLE way.
So a bunch of new technology is available (and being used by many vendors), but Apple will put just a little bit of it in their base (so-called low-end) models (e.g. 2 ports only), and reserve --and charge for-- the higher spec bits (e.g. 4 ports, ooo!) in the higher end models. And maybe not even offer some of the really new tech, so that they've got it waiting in the wings for their next model down the road.
They've got us by the ball$$.
Since we like their computer line and know we can't get it from anyone else.
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yup! Part of me wants to wait for a machine with wifi 7, thunderbolt 5 and bluetooth 6. I feel like that would be the most future proof machine ya could invest in