I had one of the higher spec 2020 Intel iMacs and traded it in for an M4 iMac with 32 GB ram, mainly because I got tired of the look of the 27” iMac (I know, a trivial reason.) I would not say it is a “huge upgrade.” Adobe photo editing is about the same. Definitely a downgrade on screen size. I suggest lower your expectations if you expect the improvement to be startling.
I don’t think the resell value on iMacs was ever particularly good as most people are buying laptops for the last 10 years and I suspect the average buyer of these machines is buying a basic one for their kids or older people that would never use a computer outside home, and both of these buyers are going to go to a store or purchase online new. In my area Craigslist ads used to be chock full of computers for sale; now only a fraction are listed (17 total in a major metro city lol). A quick search of fb marketplace shows a couple dozen mostly base m1 models with several being laughably “password locked” (aka stolen). I can’t imagine offices buying these in bulk as windows only apps are still very much a thing.
HDR is a “nice to have” feature at present. On my MacBook I rarely get to experience it given most online video is not hdr and for my personal photos I could care less if I saw them in hdr or not. I’d much rather have the 120 hz but seemingly the tech either does not exist for 5k or would cost way too much to make it feasible. I’m sure if Apple could sell it at a reasonable Apple price they would. I believe we had roughly a 4 year gap from the 1st retina MacBook until the 1st retina iMac (5 or 6 years for the 21 iMac) so going by that timeline next year or two would see the 120 HDR panel making it to the larger size although this seems highly unlikely given that 5k is a low volume monitor, and they don’t make 27 iMacs anymore while the 24” are the “cheap” Mac (if you exclude the Mac mini).
The two-tone really kills any desire I have to own one (the yellow from the front looks like puke, BTW). Why on earth did they make the one side that you see all day (including the kb/mouse) such miserable colors?
Yes, they look like something you might find in the centre isle at Aldi.
I’ve now boycotted Tesla too for reasons that would get my comment deleted by the forum moderators if I were to state it. 😉 (My boycott is a bit of a joke since I’ve never bought a new car in my life.) But yes, the last Intel iMac was definitely the peak of hardware design at Apple.
I am rocking with green and loving it. You forgot to mention those wonderful speakers, great sound for just listening to YouTube and music when you are too lazy to switch to your HomePods.
It's been just over a month since Apple released the refreshed M4 iMac, so we've finally been able to spend enough time with it to provide MacRumors readers with a comprehensive review ahead of the holiday season.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
Apple didn't make external design changes to the M4 iMac except for tweaking the colors, but it does have the latest M4 chip. You can't get the iMac with the M4 Pro or the M4 Max, as those higher-end chips are limited to the Mac mini and the MacBook Pro, but the M4 in the iMac is more than powerful enough for most people.
It can be used for simple tasks like web browsing and watching videos, but it's also powerful enough for photo editing, video editing, graphics work, 3D work, and gaming. Some of the latest console games can be played on the M4 iMac thanks to support for hardware-accelerated ray tracing and mesh shading.
This year, all M4 Macs come with 16GB RAM minimum with no increase in base cost, which is great. Depending on what you're going to do with your iMac, you might want to upgrade the RAM to 24GB or 32GB, but 16GB will get you by for most tasks. You can also get up to 2TB of SSD storage depending on which iMac you pick.
The base iMac has two Thunderbolt 4 ports, while higher-end models have four Thunderbolt 4 ports, another nice upgrade compared to the prior-generation iMac that had two Thunderbolt ports and two USB-C ports. Nano-texture, the feature that Apple first brought to the Pro Display XDR, is an option for the iMac this time, so you can get a super matte display that's ideal if you need to work in the sun or in bright lights.
If you have an M1 iMac or an iMac with an Intel chip, the M4 iMac is going to be a huge update that's worth it. If you have a newer iMac, there's no real reason to update.
Make sure to watch our video for a deeper overview of the iMac, and let us know if you have plans to get one in the comments below.
Article Link: Video Review: A Month With the M4 iMac
But how much difference would that make in practical user experience?
I remember when colour TV started in Australia. 1974 where we lived.
My grandparents wouldn’t allow a color tv in their home. They were afraid of the radiation. They warned us to only watch from the front. Watching at an angle increased the exposure.
The pre-5K iMac had the option. Had is past tense in multiple ways. Not only did the newer iMac lose this feature, but Apple apparently removed support on the older iMacs just before dropping support for them entirely, so by having upgraded my 2012 iMac's OS to as recent as possible, I actually lost the ability to use it as monitor now that I've got a mini.
My Mum, only half jokingly, said we didnt have a walk big enough for a VCR to throw a picture out...
Uh… just want to point out, they lived into their 90’s. Maybe they were right all along.
I think it's coming down to just buying a mini and super glue it to the back of a good monitor. I have a feeling the iMac over 24 is a goner.
