New iMac Tidbits: Headphone Jack on Side, Ethernet Port on Power Adapter, Spatial Audio and WiFi 6 Support, No SD Card Slot

[theluggage]

Any engineering reason why the ‘chin’ is there at all? Is it a place for the logic board and speakers to be away from the display?

Ultimately, its because Apple wanted to make the computer thin so, yes, they need an area for speakers, fans, TB ports etc. away from the display for space and, probably, heat dissipation.

Why a desktop computer has to be so thin is another matter...

 

[Orson Farris]

I have to pass on this and keep my 21.5 inch IMAC. If I let anything this ugly in my house my wife would kill me for sure. So I will stay with my dongle-not-needed Intel IMAC and keep peace in my house.

 

[nordique]

Lack of sd slot is a bummer.

 

[nordique]

This is a very disappointing decision. SD cards are at least a decade or two from becoming obsolete.
Pros use them all the time. Guess it's gonna be a dongle for them now.

I agree
But pros won’t be buying the base iMac
I’m sure the larger version will support it. Or perhaps an iMac pro

 

[DanTSX]

The iMac didn't used to have a power adapter.

It was internal.

Apple just outsourced it.

 

[DanTSX]

Waiting for an iMac Pro with no chin.

It will have a “pro sized” chin

 

[nordique]

and yet people claim the SD slot is coming back on the MacBook Pro?

Random people don’t; analysts and reporters from reputable sources do

i agree with the gist though. It’s all a bit sloppy on apples part

 

[ruka.snow]

Is there any equivalent to a 600 mm telephoto lens for your iPhone? How can you shoot macro on an iPhone and not be 3 cm away from the subject? How do you attach strobe lights to your iPhone? I see consumers out all the time taking nature and bird photographs with digital camera's not iPhones. Kind of hard to get a shot of a bird 60 feet away with an iPhone 12. Now if you are into taking selfies or your plate of food, then an iPhone is fine.

I couldn't imagine attaching one of my super-telephoto lenses on my iPhone, I already make sure I have a grip on my camera if I am not using an integrated vertical grip body to get a wee bit more weight on my end.

But I am sure you already knew that was a rather daft idea. And somehow you missed that the entry-level DSLR market collapsed with Canon and Nikon restructuring their businesses towards enthusiasts and pro's as there aren't buyers for a $500 crop body and the 18-55mm f/3.5 - f/5.6 that will never be detached from the camera.

 

[Abazigal]

What I don't understand is why is it important to make an iMac, which is a desktop computer so thin at the expense of useable ports and higher end graphics? Yet Apple makes the iPhone, that you carry or put in your pocket thicker and bigger. I can see making the portable device smaller and thinner, but would't you rather have the desktop a few mm thicker and more ports and hardware? This whole idea with the desktop that less is more, leaves you with a mess of cables and adapters.

A good way to start with this sort of analysis is how Apple might envision their products being used.

That the backs of the new iMacs are coloured as well is a huge hint of Apple’s intentions. They likely see the iMac being used in different ways than just placed on a desk with its back facing the wall. Perhaps in areas of the home or office where the iMac is displayed prominently and seen by many others.

Perhaps Apple wants these iMacs to be placed in the centre of rooms. If they are going to serve as TVs or FaceTime hubs (hence the massively improved speakers), then Face ID probably won’t work as well with multiple people present at the same time (thus Touch ID being integrated into the keyboard).

Ultimately, my take is that these devices are geared towards the masses, who have less of a need for all those added functionality that you mentioned.

I suspect the larger iMac might include this missing features, but I guess we will just have to see.

 

[ruka.snow]

My Canon c70, which was released this year, uses SD cards. I'm a pro.

Yep, Canon crippled the R6 with dual SD cards too. That doesn't change that the industry has moved on to CF Express. No doubt the most common card in use for pro's is CF given how popular the Canon 5D II, III, and IV are. But all of those are specialised tools and we don't scream out for a CF, CFast, and CF Express reader on the iMac.

The average consumer takes a photo and it magically materialises in their Photos app now. Before when Macs had SD slots it was far more common for people to buy a entry level DSLR with a kit lens and use that, but then smartphone cameras got good enough that the images to most are imperceptible to what they got out of those cameras that the entry level ILC market died.

 

[jtmacb]

Removing the SD slot is not a "feature."

I agree. How can removing ports and reducing functionality and convenience be construed as new features. Shame on you MacRumors for characterizing these shortcomings as "new features". The most glaring shortcoming of this new iMac is the small amount of RAM and the very small SSD drive. I have an iMac built in 2011 that has two internal hard drives, one a 2 TB SSD and one a 3 TB SATA. How is not being able to order a new iMac about one forth the storage capacity of the SSD drive in my 10 year old iMac such a great "new feature". I can only hope that when they actually start selling them we will have the ability to increase both RAM and SSD size. How about at least 4 TBs. MacBooks can have as much as 8TBs. Go figure.

 

[ikramerica]

The iMac was never marketed as a pro product, with the exception of the iMac Pro (the giveaway is the name).

Not true. Over the years they have marketed certain models to pros.

Like the Core2Extreme model I had. That was marketed to pros and functioned well running Apples creative suite and Adobe’s.

 

[ruka.snow]

What I don't understand is why is it important to make an iMac, which is a desktop computer so thin at the expense of useable ports and higher end graphics? Yet Apple makes the iPhone, that you carry or put in your pocket thicker and bigger. I can see making the portable device smaller and thinner, but would't you rather have the desktop a few mm thicker and more ports and hardware? This whole idea with the desktop that less is more, leaves you with a mess of cables and adapters.

You just need to imagine these in their hundreds in school and university computer labs. Or in a kids bedroom. For most the current ports are to charge the keyboard and mouse. Wired ethernet is rare outside of a office or campus and wiring up the house is just not going to fly when you can get good enough performance from WiFi.

Why would a Mac have higher end graphics? You can use all the pro apps just fine and the M1 is faster than the previous models and still games aren't going to magic their way over.

Why would there be a mess of cables and adaptors? What do you envision a home user plugging into a iMac? People rarely even have printers and scanners at home, never mind more exotic peripherals.

 

[jtmacb]

I have an SD card reader I can connect to any new iMac via USB but I also have 4 external HDs, a label maker, a color printer, a Neat scanner, a regular scanner, a DVD drive and a couple of other devices including a pro level microphone. I have to use several USB hubs to connect all of these to my current iMac but it recently bit the dust so do I buy the new 24 inch or wait for the bigger version. As long as I can still use all of those devices then I can deal with the number and kinds of ports on the back. However, I think I'll be waiting for the larger version. It has to come with more RAM and storage capacity.

 

[usagora]

I agree. How can removing ports and reducing functionality and convenience be construed as new features. Shame on you MacRumors for characterizing these shortcomings as "new features". The most glaring shortcoming of this new iMac is the small amount of RAM and the very small SSD drive. I have an iMac built in 2011 that has two internal hard drives, one a 2 TB SSD and one a 3 TB SATA. How is not being able to order a new iMac about one forth the storage capacity of the SSD drive in my 10 year old iMac such a great "new feature". I can only hope that when they actually start selling them we will have the ability to increase both RAM and SSD size. How about at least 4 TBs. MacBooks can have as much as 8TBs. Go figure.

People really need to slow down when reading. The article is titled New iMac TIDBITS (a tidbit simply being a fact) and the article states "In the aftermath of the event, a few new features AND tidbits may have slipped under the radar, so we’ve compiled this list of some of the less-talked-about features AND changes of the new 24-inch iMac."

Obviously, the lack of an SD slot is a tidbit and change, not a feature. They never said it was a feature.

 

[Xenious]

I like the new design and can appreciate the headphone adapter on the side, except when you have to use that same plug as a line out for powered speakers. I bet the built in ones are even better but sometimes a big sub is needed.

I wasn't sure about the ethernet adapter but I can see the benefit. Is there any type of external transformer in it or is it solely for the ethernet?

 

[montuori]

The chin is actually useful from a usability point of view, you can grab it to move without leaving finger prints on the screen [...]

I'm surprised you're the only one to mention fingerprints. I agree with you 100%.

What does a professional color look like? Is it the absence of color?

If your boss cares what color your computer is, maybe it's time for a new gig.

That the backs of the new iMacs are coloured as well is a huge hint of Apple’s intentions. They likely see the iMac being used in different ways than just placed on a desk with its back facing the wall. Perhaps in areas of the home or office where the iMac is displayed prominently and seen by many others.

That plus the magsafe improvement seem to indicate appealing to uses outside of cubicles. This year's sudden rise of remote work might have something to do with that.

I dunno, I like the new design. I can find things to bitch about (losing the card slot makes flashing the RaspPI cards a little more difficult, for instance, but hardly a real issue). More memory and a larger screen would be nice (and is no doubt forthcoming) but these seem like really usable machines as is.

And at 10 lbs, they're really portable -- there's a market here for a well designed travel case. The form factor + weight make them suitable for temporary installations.

 

[emrelee]

I would have placed the headphone jack and an extra usb-c port (for quick plug-ins) at the bottom where the speaker grills are, aligned with the power button vertically. By that cord will have natural curve to the desk while wearing the headphone and would keep the sides scratch free at the times when you try to jack in without looking.

 

[MarvinMartian]

Is there no way to increase the RAM on these things? It doesn't seem to be available for order. I had been forwarding info regarding iMacs to a friend who has an older one. He pointed out that all he could see was 8GB. His current system has 16GB. He's not interested in moving backwards. Is this one of those cases where we have to wait to buy a newer model which either incorporates more RAM, or ifixit will eventually host a tutorial where we can do it ourselves?

 

[deevey]

Not true. Over the years they have marketed certain models to pros.

Like the Core2Extreme model I had. That was marketed to pros and functioned well running Apples creative suite and Adobe’s.

I stand corrected, mind you that's going backaways. Not that I've ever seen any iMac really struggle with anything I've thrown at it.

But these machines are obviously not targeted at the pro demographic just going by the keynote. Although I imagine they will be quite capable creative machines.

 

[thewhitehart]

Bit off-topic, but the image used to show the headphone jack is kinda trippy. I was looking at it as if the power button panel was recessed, until my brain corrected my perception.

 

[Tsubame]

I actually really like the ethernet being moved off to the power brick.

Generally speaking I don't use ethernet, even on my desktop, because of my impassioned hatred of cables. One power cable is about my limit, and honestly I would be happy to get rid of that if I could. Having the ethernet run into the one cable you can't get rid of anyway is smart, especially as it will be something that can be hidden under the desk pretty easily.

This may be the first thing that ever gets me to use an ethernet connection on my desktop, though I am not sure if I would notice much difference. My flat's internet does not seem the best from my experience (can not run GeForce Now on a wired connection as an example).

 

[AL2TEACH]

I just can't figure out what purpose there was to leave the big chin? Everyone always hated the chin and now I am sure it is 100% not needed. I assume it must be because whats the point of having colour if it isn't on the front of the machine, yet they could have made the bezel be coloured instead of white. I just don't get the design of the front of the machine at all

isn't that where the speakers are?

 

[duervo]

Buy a Mac mini then take the $700 you saved and buy a nice display, keyboard and mouse. Or, buy a new Mac mini, hook it up to whatever you have laying around the house, spend an extra $99 and get an M1 powered iPad Pro and get two devices for just about the price of one base model iMac.

This is what I would do. The thought of me having to bring an entire iMac into an Apple Store for troubleshooting/service turns me off of buying one. I’ve seen people, at a local mall where I am, lug those things in on a hand truck they had to get from mall maintenance. What a pain that would be. I’d rather not have to deal with that crap at all. It would be annoying to have to do that, just for an issue with display portion, for example.

This is the same reason why I refused to get one of those TV’s with a built-in DVD player back in the day. Didn’t want to do without a TV, just to have the DVD portion repaired.

 

[citysnaps]

The iMac didn't used to have a power adapter.

That's because previous iMacs were thicker and could handle a power supply, AND, a standard IEC 320-like male power receptacle for AC power.