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New iMac Tidbits: Headphone Jack on Side, Ethernet Port on Power Adapter, Spatial Audio and WiFi 6 Support, No SD Card Slot
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People would still have complained about the thick bezels.
Personally, I only miss the Apple logo on the chin and think the lack of an SD slot is not optimal. Then again, I can live with it on the MBP, too...
Maybe a new iMac “pro” in the bigger size will also have a really advanced pro feature of being height adjustable.
I’ve been hoping for years that they would return to the G4 style and put the guts of the max in the base similar to a max mini (which can totally be a lot smaller now) and have the thin almost bezel-less monitor on an angle poise arm, or at least something similar to the Microsoft studio someone posted above
Oh well. This looks amazing still
I’ve been hoping for years that they would return to the G4 style and put the guts of the max in the base similar to a max mini (which can totally be a lot smaller now) and have the thin almost bezel-less monitor on an angle poise arm, or at least something similar to the Microsoft studio someone posted above
Oh well. This looks amazing still
Theory:
the front glass is separate and backpainted, so with enough patience one could strip the pastel paint (and white bezel if so inclined) off the glass.
This leaves you with a transparent fronted iMac with hints of the deeper coloured anodisation, much like the cut away images they showed for the chipset and speakers.
(wishful thinking, I know)
the front glass is separate and backpainted, so with enough patience one could strip the pastel paint (and white bezel if so inclined) off the glass.
This leaves you with a transparent fronted iMac with hints of the deeper coloured anodisation, much like the cut away images they showed for the chipset and speakers.
(wishful thinking, I know)
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I didn't realise they'd removed the SD slot, too. Together with no USB-A this is a return to dongle city but on the desktop this time.
I've never looked at an ethernet cable and thought "hmmm, that's cluttered. I wish I could plug it into a power brick rather than the back of my computer". So remove the clutter of a cable and replace with USB-C to A doles instead.
Thumbs up, Apple!
I've never looked at an ethernet cable and thought "hmmm, that's cluttered. I wish I could plug it into a power brick rather than the back of my computer". So remove the clutter of a cable and replace with USB-C to A doles instead.
Thumbs up, Apple!
I wish I could see a MacPad someday, like an iPad with macOS, MacSafe on the stand, and the back of the iPad.
24" MacPad wow 😍😍😍
24" MacPad wow 😍😍😍
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Just get a maxxed out M1 Mac Mini. Get your own monitor (Dell Ultrasharp comes to mind). Order the highest end Magic Keyboard and boomm... enjoy the Mac at its fullest without the quirks. I've been burned by an iMac once, never again. Especially now when the new iMac shares the same unified chip with Mini.
Bonus feature: You can actually upgrade your Mac anytime and not losing the monitor, or keyboard.
Bonus feature: You can actually upgrade your Mac anytime and not losing the monitor, or keyboard.
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Trying to work out who apart from Apple thinks designing an object that looks better from behind that in front is a good idea? The iMac looks great from the back but a significant proportion of people don't have the choice to place it in a beautiful open plan room and the back will be facing the wall with no way of seeing it. It just looks bland at the front.
When you plug in headphones or speakers, no matter where, there will be a cable running to the speakers or headphones. So the design principle should be: Put the plug where it's not visible when not in use, and where it's easy to find when I want to plug in my headphones. Front means it's visible all the time. Back means I have to search for it when plugging in headphones. Side is best. Wireless might be better, but then you have to change or recharge batteries all the time, and Grado doesn't make wireless headphones
I wouldn't say it's dead. I have a 256GB SSD card in my MacBook for Time Machine backup, so I don't have to carry a hard drive around and I'm protected all the time. Just that particular use isn't needed on an iMac, because a large hard drive is much better.
Nobody seems to know. _Gigabit_ Ethernet is an option, which means it has either no Ethernet or 100Mbit Ethernet. My current iMac has a huge USB-3 hub, so I wouldn't care about the two extra USB-C ports, and I paid £2.50 for a USB to Ethernet adapter. (USB to Gigabit Ethernet would be more).
They are not more expensive. They cost exactly the same as the 21.5" iMacs did, and they are better in every way. Yes, the 21.5 iMacs came with 8 GB as base.
You can get 4k monitors reasonably cheap, say $400. I haven't seen 5k for less than $1,000 anywhere (I don't count $999 as "less than thousand"). The 4.5k monitor that the iMac uses isn't available for any money, anywhere. Same with the old 21.5" monitor which was a tiny bit larger than 4k. I think Apple should sell identically looking monitors. First, nice if you have a MacBook or MacMini. Two, nice if you have an iMac and want two monitors. Three, nice if you have a PC and want a bit of the iMac experience
Add an Apple keyboard and mouse, and nobody will know that you don't have an iMac Plus if burglars come to your home and steal your "computer", the real computer is still there
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It makes sense for ethernet, because your power is usually on the floor, and your ethernet cable is usually on the floor. At work, I'd plug in the power supply and ethernet cable once, and then forget that they exist. Any other ports I'd want to be plug things in and remove them quite often. Backup drive would be an exception. Since I never touch it, never unplug it, and there is a chance that burglars stealing my computer would miss it, so if the iMac gets stolen, I call the insurance, get a new iMac from Apple, and restore the backup.
In other areas, "Pro" equipment means you get better results, but only _if you are an actual pro who has practiced for at least months, or for years_. Like a "Pro" camera, hand it to me, and I won't get photos half as good as on my iPhone. Hand both to a pro, and they take better photos with my iPhone, and much better photos with the "Pro" camera. In most areas, unless you are a pro yourself, you don't want to buy "pro" tools.that's "Apple's Pro" marketing. I'm actually going to blame Microsoft for this one
in the IT world, Pro actually has a vastly different intentional meaning.
but consumers don't care as long as they get to call themselves "pro"
PROFESSIONAL equipment generally requires something to be scalable, modular, and capable of being adjusted in those to handle variety of different technologically demanding activities
The modern "PRO" labeled to things like SURFACE PRO and IPAD PRO don't meet that. in these cases its mostly marketting towards convincing users they're "pros" because of the naming.
Even the MacBook Pro is more an ultrabook. Not a Pro level laptop. its a damn nice ultrabook. But it's NOT scalable. It's not modular, and it doesn't have the capability of expanding it's productivity over time to match increasing workloads.
This is basically a ipad pro on a stand running Mac OS! The two platforms are basically converging now.
Outsourcing the DC transformer is absolutely a better design. It isolates the heat of the transformer away from the computing components, thus reducing wear over time. Also, should the transformer fail due to a power surge or electrical component failure, you don't need an expert to repair your heavy immovable machine—just replace the "power adapter". I'm sure that's cheaper too.
It may seem like "cheating to make a thinner computer", but I think it's really the optimal outcome for everyone.
Well we need to have the product in use for a few months to congratulate the vents redesign - to know its worth it
PS: in Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos on iMac 2021 ... how does Spatial Audio work with speakers when you turn your head???
That was a thought.
Apple is selling the iMac for the same price with a vesa mount adapter instead of a stand, so for those who need to adjust the height, they can buy their own stands.
Seems “unfair” but the Apple ][, Macintosh, Mac LC/SI+Performas with Apple Moniotrs, iMacs, etc have never been height adjustable except for that one G4 design. The world has managed for 37 years.
I know back in the day I had my honking 17” multisync display on a desk mounted articulating arm. Those were the days.
The mini went the other way. It started with a honking power brick, now the transformer is built in.
Pros: no brick, no priority connector, interchangeable power cords with other two prongers
Cons: a bear to seat properly without firm grasp on the mini, difficult to remove properly with peripherals attached, moves heat generation internal to the mini requiring more fan uptime
That's true too. But I think the mini is "more reparable" right? You can open it up without risking shattering any expensive 4k displays, and it's reasonably portable to get repaired.
I still think having an external transformer brick is a preferred way of powering Mac Mini, but I think the disadvantages of an internal transformer are fewer compared to an all-in-one machine.
Maybe I'm in the minority, but I almost never use the internal speakers on the iMac. I have Sennheiser RF headphones that I use 99.9% of the time and the RF transmitter has to be plugged in via the iMac audio jack. So for me, it would be sticking out all the time. Right-angle adapter would help some, but still would bother me. Would have been nice to at least have it centered no the bottom of the "chin" (the edge facing the desk) or maybe integrate a 2nd jack into the power adapter like they did with the ethernet.
Except this isn't a touch screen and the OS is completely different. The similarities are merely external.
I am honestly glad I chose to forgo a new imac and built my own PC. I have been using mac computers for over a decade and while there has some great ideas implemented over the years and still very impressive software, the hardware has been lacking to provide users with a thin aesthetic. The fact that the SD slot was sacrificed and the 3.5mm moved to the side to save space is asinine for a desktop computer. Also why is the base model outfitted with 256GB of storage and 8GB of ram? Thats essentially a high end smart phone these days. And I understand Apple loves to help push "future" port technologies but most of my peripherals still use USB A. The thing that made Apple products worth the cost was the fact that they "just worked" right out of the box, but now with the need to buy expensive adapters and dongles, you get much better value elsewhere. Like others have said, you are better off buying a mac mini with a separate display for much cheaper. Im sure they will still sell like hotcakes though. End of rant