I agree it would be ideal if iMacs (all AIOs) could be repurposed as a monitor. But I acknowledge that it’s probably not a high priority for the main target demographic of AIOs. It seems to me those are people or organizations that value simplicity and aesthetics above all else for their computing needs—more than performance and more than getting the best bang for your buck when factoring in future upgrades. Not prioritizing performance, these types of customers probably don’t replace their system often, and when they do they probably want to replace it with another AIO rather than repurpose their old AIO into a dedicated display and go modular going forward. And if they have an AIO it’s probably because they only wanted a single display (simplicity), but if they wanted dual they probably would have gotten a second display long before waiting for their next AIO upgrade—so already having dual displays they probably don’t even want to bother turning their old AIO into a second display. They probably just want to get rid of it, either sell it or pass it on like an old car.
But the usability of Macs can be stretched for quite a long time. It’s just that the usability gets more limited as time goes on. I hate waste so my hope is that old iMacs get sold or passed along to people with increasingly basic needs until both the computer and display are obsolete at roughly the same time.
