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

[TechRemarker]

As usual, Apple takes a few minor changes and makes them seem like such a big deal. The M1? It is more about saving Apple money then offering any real improvement to the customer. When a computer company's invovations come down to basically offering their product in more colors, you know the true innovation wheel has just about stopped turning.

Lol. At first I thought this person was joking when saying the M1 vs Intel doesn't off any real improvement but then realized they were being serious. Guess they have some how missed every benchmark that has come out about that massive live from Intel to M1 in performance even in all the apps that haven't even been updated to support M1 natively yet.

 

[ruka.snow]

That's cool, now how about a Standalone monitor like this instead of the $million dollar XDR display.

Ah but then do we have 3 matching colours for our triple monitor setup or three different colours?

 

[genovelle]

The design decisions confuse me. Why make it so thin that you have to plug in speakers/headphones on the side, so it sticks out, and then boast about how they've reduced the number of cables/clutter by plugging the ethernet in the power supply?

Because most are not using wired headphones anymore. I actually prefer it on the side because I always thought having on the back was not a good thing. If you need to plug and unplug regularly it becomes a chore.

 

[ruka.snow]

That said, the silver model should have black bezels.

Black bezels are a bother as they end to make the colours 'pop' when you are doing colour critical work. I much preferred the matte screen and silver of the old pro displays. Unless your suggestion is purely for aesthetics.

 

[DesertNomad]

Good to see them removing the SD slot, that is a dead end tech for pro's and consumers have iPhones now not the lower end DSLR's. Maybe a CF Express B slot could make it to the pro model as pro's will be using that slot for the next decade.

I use SD cards frequently. As a pilot, our aircraft even uses SD cards to update our navigation databases every 28 days. SD cards are going to be around for a long time.

 

[DanTSX]

Creamsicle iMac 😎

 

[ElectricPotato]

dongle, dongle, dongle.

Is dongular the adjective version of this word?

Is a power brick on a desktop dongular?

Does an ethernet port on a power brick make it anti-dongular?

 

[Mudhen]

Going from a 27" iMac to one of these in 24" will mean losing a lot of screen real estate. Not a plus. The 27" iMac always seemed popular. Why dump them?

M1's still can't (maybe never will) be able to run bootcamp. I'll wait on the verdict for that too.

SD Card slot gone. So I have to buy yet another adapter to lose?

I would not consider this a step forward at this point. too bad as I was planning on getting one until yesterday. Guess I'll make do a little longer.

 

[bluespark]

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.

This is not the model intended for pro photographers, dongle or not.

 

[DekuBleep]

I think this 24” iMac confirms that Apple could have put 2 TB ports and 2 USBC ports on the 2020 M1 13” MBP, but they choose not to…. There is no limitation at the level of the M1 chip.

 

[citysnaps]

Better looking?

View attachment 1761366

In a word, awful.

 

[MrPresident]

"Why would they remove the floppy disk!?" - '98
"But I NEED my optical drive!!" - '08
"No headphone jack!?!" - '16
"How will I survive without an SD reader?" - '21

Adapt or die.

I use headphones almost every day, the SuperDrive every other day and the SD card slot weekly.

Death by dongles!

 

[DekuBleep]

Going from a 27" iMac to one of these in 24" will mean losing a lot of screen real estate. Not a plus. The 27" iMac always seemed popular. Why dump them?

M1's still can't (maybe never will) be able to run bootcamp. I'll wait on the verdict for that too.

SD Card slot gone. So I have to buy yet another adapter to lose?

I would not consider this a step forward at this point. too bad as I was planning on getting one until yesterday. Guess I'll make do a little longer.

I am assuming that Apple is going to launch a 32” iMac with an M2 chip and a lot of ports in fall 2021. That that’s just my guess.

 

[bluespark]

The design decisions confuse me. Why make it so thin that you have to plug in speakers/headphones on the side, so it sticks out, and then boast about how they've reduced the number of cables/clutter by plugging the ethernet in the power supply?

It was in the back before, and always hard to find. Putting it on the front is a non-option and most people will use wireless headphones anyway, so this seems like the perfect spot.

 

[ruka.snow]

I use SD cards frequently. As a pilot, our aircraft even uses SD cards to update our navigation databases every 28 days. SD cards are going to be around for a long time.

That is an edge case for a machine aimed at the masses. I am not expecting a iMac to have a SD slot for the same reason I don't expect it to have CF Express; consumers don't use multi thousand dollar SLR cameras and the entry level SLR market died in favour of ever better smartphones.

That isn't to say someone isn't going to buy one of these iMac's and connect a TB3 CFE reader to dump the files of their Canon R3, but that user is a as much of an edge case as updating a navigation database using an obsolete format.

There are machines on factory floors that still get updates via floppy disk and SD card, that isn't an expected environment for a pastel blue iMac.

 

[citysnaps]

"Why would they remove the floppy disk!?" - '98
"But I NEED my optical drive!!" - '08
"No headphone jack!?!" - '16
"How will I survive without an SD reader?" - '21

Adapt or die.

Amen on that. I'm sure there are people out there still lusting for SCSI and FireWire as well.

 

[yesjam]

Black bezels are a bother as they end to make the colours 'pop' when you are doing colour critical work. I much preferred the matte screen and silver of the old pro displays. Unless your suggestion is purely for aesthetics.

Interesting; didn't know that.

 

[citysnaps]

Well where is Apple’s Prosumer desktop... I can’t afford a Mac Pro and apparently this is for basic consumers?

It's not ready yet. Cook said the transition to M-based computers will be over two years.

 

[bluespark]

Going from a 27" iMac to one of these in 24" will mean losing a lot of screen real estate. Not a plus. The 27" iMac always seemed popular. Why dump them?

Unless I missed something, Apple hasn't said anything about dropping the larger iMac, and Apple is still selling it. Updating one model also doesn't mean another model won't later be updated as well.

 

[citysnaps]

Is dongular the adjective version of this word?

Is a power brick on a desktop dongular?

Does an ethernet port on a power brick make it anti-dongular?

Could be for those who enjoy staying stuck in the past. No doubt some are still jonesing for a Centronix port.

 

[Macintosh IIvx]

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.

They're obsolete for the vast majority of users. People don't have point and shoot cameras anymore and most pro photographers aren't using SD anyways (nor is this machine targeted at them).

For the very very small number of people that need an SD port, you can get a reader for under $5. For the other 99.9% of buyers, they'll never miss it. Why impose the additional expense and environmental impact on everyone, when most have no use for it. They AirDrop or email their photos (or even sync them via the USB-C to Lightning cable included with this iMac). Most people have their photos on their iPhone these days.

 

[WestonHarvey1]

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.

Or just build a Hackintosh with a huge ATX case with tempered glass and RGB fans.

The appeal of the iMac has always been the form factor. Literally not buying a computer and picking out a monitor and accessories and connecting them together is the product's appeal.

 

[mikeyy00]

Going from a 27" iMac to one of these in 24" will mean losing a lot of screen real estate. Not a plus. The 27" iMac always seemed popular. Why dump them?

M1's still can't (maybe never will) be able to run bootcamp. I'll wait on the verdict for that too.

SD Card slot gone. So I have to buy yet another adapter to lose?

I would not consider this a step forward at this point. too bad as I was planning on getting one until yesterday. Guess I'll make do a little longer.

They're not dumping the 27.. I think they're holding off until the fall, since they'll need a better CPU than the M1 to compete with the current higher end i7's/Xeons. My $ is on a 30 inch iMac Pro coming in the fall, probably in neutral colors.. maybe we'll get a chrome edge like the iPhone Pro.

 

[ikramerica]

I am certainly no hardware engineer, but seeing the amount of available space on the inside it would appear this was a conscious choice, not a limitation. I can understand why this is disappointing for many. If the rumors hold true and the redesigned MacBook Pros regain the SD card slot, it would appear Apple might be reserving this as something only "pros" use. Hence the omission in this iMac.

If the pro 30” has an SD slot and a “level 2” RAM slot, it would start to make sense. Back in the day, Macs had soldered RAM and a RAM slot or 2, or 4.
But they went so thin, good luck...

 

[ruka.snow]

They AirDrop or email their photos (or even sync them via the USB-C to Lightning cable included with this iMac). Most people have their photos on their iPhone these days.

Well really, for most, their photos and videos 'magically' appear in the Photos app when they get home from taking them.