Video Review: A Month With the M4 iMac

[drrich2]

It is obviously straightforward for Macbooks but I am thinking about Mac mini here as primary Mac.

I won't derail this thread too much more, but when you're ready, here's a thread on my recent monitor shopping (I picked up an 'open box, like new' Dell UltraSharp U2723Q).

Regarding the M-series 24" iMacs, it's disappointing Apple hasn't brought back some sort of 'target display mode' type approach. Now that recent generation Macs have the capability to drive 27" 5K 60-Hz external displays, it seems like a waste. Granted, 'retina' resolution is lower in a 24" monitor, and perhaps the current iMac's small screen size makes the waste factor less glaring. Perhaps people aren't as concerned about making 24" displays last through 2 or 3 computer systems?

 

[TSE]

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?

Back off with your negativity. The yellow iMac is absolutely gorgeous.

 

[tomtad]

Still needs an Apple logo on the front. It's just so..... plain

 

[Musocat]

I just upgraded to that very iMac - 32GB and 2TB. My old one was a 2017 Intel i7 so yeah, it's a huge improvement. Going from 27" to 24" screen isn't as painful as I thought. I considered getting a Studio Display and having two screens, but now that I've used it for a while I'm happy with the 24. The most abuse this thing gets is editing photos with Lightroom and Photoshop and it's plenty good enough for that.

 

[glindon]

Back off with your negativity. The yellow iMac is absolutely gorgeous.

For every “yes” there are a thousand “no’s.”

 

[Allen_Wentz]

Apple talks “green policies” but this literally proves they dont give a damn!

Nonsense. Observing for the last few years, clearly Apple has worked to encourage Mac mini + display over the AIO iMacs. But some folks [inexplicably to me] keep liking the AIO form, so Apple keeps making them.

Apple's iMacs are pretty on a desk, but all AIOs suck because
• If a display fails the AIO is dead, wasting the computer
• If a computer fails the AIO is dead, wasting the display
• To update to a larger/smaller display for any reason the whole AIO needs replacing
• Going to additional external displays becomes visually unbalanced

Just my $0.02 obviously. A lot of folks like the iMac form factor.

 

[SouthPalito]

“It can be used for simple tasks like web browsing and watching videos."

🤣 seriously? “Can be used”? LOL. A regular M4 is one of the fastest chips available today. This machine is insanely fast . It is as fast or faster than the M3 Pro of last year !

 

[SouthPalito]

Still using 2019 iMac (i5 with 40GB Ram) … M4 is tempting but my iMac has been flawless and still working well. But I haven’t updated to the latest OS - still don’t think I’m missing much.

Hope to get a couple more years out of it - see you then M6 or M7!

The funny thing is the psychological aspect of it. I used a 2018 mini with i7 as main computer with no issues, always felt it was super fast. Then in 21’, I got the cheapest base model MacBook Pro with M1 Pro and kept the mini.…Well suddenly the mini felt so slow, the noise of the fan that had never bothered me now it was so loud compared to the silence from the MacBook. Once you switch to these M chips, your perception changes.

 

[artifex]

I'm enjoying my M4 Pro mini, but I'm still annoyed that it doesn't support Hey Siri.

(unless it's connected to a Studio Display that costs about as much as the mini itself)

It doesn't support USB microphones or headsets? Or over BT? Also, kinda weird if the headphone jack is just a headphone jack, these days.

 

[artifex]

I won't derail this thread too much more, but when you're ready, here's a thread on my recent monitor shopping (I picked up an 'open box, like new' Dell UltraSharp U2723Q).

Regarding the M-series 24" iMacs, it's disappointing Apple hasn't brought back some sort of 'target display mode' type approach. Now that recent generation Macs have the capability to drive 27" 5K 60-Hz external displays, it seems like a waste. Granted, 'retina' resolution is lower in a 24" monitor, and perhaps the current iMac's small screen size makes the waste factor less glaring. Perhaps people aren't as concerned about making 24" displays last through 2 or 3 computer systems?

Thanks for the link; I didn't know that about Macs not doing subpixel scaling. I've been looking at getting an Acer 27 inch 4k monitor, which you've said is 'not in the sweet spot.' But I'll also be using it with other inputs. So I'll read and think about it a little more.

 

[drrich2]

Thanks for the link; I didn't know that about Macs not doing subpixel scaling. I've been looking at getting an Acer 27 inch 4k monitor, which you've said is 'not in the sweet spot.' But I'll also be using it with other inputs. So I'll read and think about it a little more.

What's frustrating is that more reading and thinking doesn't necessarily lead to closure because you'll keep finding contradictory assertions. Just yesterday I stumbled across this one at Jerad's Tech Tips:

MacOS 4k Monitor Performance Issues? Here's Why​

He talks about using a 16" M3 Max MacBook Pro and seeing a performance cut with more demanding tasks. But drop down to the comment by motionfxes about 1 month ago:

"I have never experienced such a performance drop on a M1 Pro base model (14 core gpu) with 16gb of ram.I did a few tests in Final Cut Pro and DaVinci Resolve. The difference between running a 4k display at 1920p or 1440p equivalent was around 2 o 3% performance lost. Barely noticiable. So run your own tests to see if it's a problem or not based on the software you use, as it seems to be part of the problem."

Which may bring some people around to consider the 24" M4 iMac's value proposition. A 24" monitor can be okay if you're sitting pretty close, which 'retina' resolution makes look good. Since there's controversy and mixed messages over whether the Mac's lack of sub pixel anti-aliasing and issues with scaling leads to significant performance reduction (or not), and 27" 5K monitors tend to start roughly around $800 (the new Asus ProArt 5K, or a competitor on a recent sell) to the Apple Studio Display (which adds spacial audio and other value-adds but costs around $1,600 without height-adjustable stand or figuring in sales tax or AppleCare, so even if you get it on sale or a refurb., pricey!) at roughly double that, an M-series iMac (literally and figuratively) looks good! Until you upgrade to a new system in 5-years and need another display.

So the M-series iMac offer a low cost of entry to retina resolution use on a budget system. That might be somewhat compelling, but does anyone know of a standalone 24" retina display on the market? If demand were strong, seems like there would be...

A couple of nagging questions come to mind, one related to the iMac and one night. What would be the added cost to Apple (and would there be any functional downsides to end users) of giving the M-series 24" iMacs something like 'target display mode' so they could function simply as external displays for another system?

The other question is whether Apple could change MacOS so that it could handle 27" 4K dpi without requiring scaling, like it already does with 27" 5K dpi?

 

[Geekett]

What's frustrating is that more reading and thinking doesn't necessarily lead to closure because you'll keep finding contradictory assertions. Just yesterday I stumbled across this one at Jerad's Tech Tips:

MacOS 4k Monitor Performance Issues? Here's Why​

He talks about using a 16" M3 Max MacBook Pro and seeing a performance cut with more demanding tasks. But drop down to the comment by motionfxes about 1 month ago:

"I have never experienced such a performance drop on a M1 Pro base model (14 core gpu) with 16gb of ram.I did a few tests in Final Cut Pro and DaVinci Resolve. The difference between running a 4k display at 1920p or 1440p equivalent was around 2 o 3% performance lost. Barely noticiable. So run your own tests to see if it's a problem or not based on the software you use, as it seems to be part of the problem."

Which may bring some people around to consider the 24" M4 iMac's value proposition. A 24" monitor can be okay if you're sitting pretty close, which 'retina' resolution makes look good. Since there's controversy and mixed messages over whether the Mac's lack of sub pixel anti-aliasing and issues with scaling leads to significant performance reduction (or not), and 27" 5K monitors tend to start roughly around $800 (the new Asus ProArt 5K, or a competitor on a recent sell) to the Apple Studio Display (which adds spacial audio and other value-adds but costs around $1,600 without height-adjustable stand or figuring in sales tax or AppleCare, so even if you get it on sale or a refurb., pricey!) at roughly double that, an M-series iMac (literally and figuratively) looks good! Until you upgrade to a new system in 5-years and need another display.

So the M-series iMac offer a low cost of entry to retina resolution use on a budget system. That might be somewhat compelling, but does anyone know of a standalone 24" retina display on the market? If demand were strong, seems like there would be...

A couple of nagging questions come to mind, one related to the iMac and one night. What would be the added cost to Apple (and would there be any functional downsides to end users) of giving the M-series 24" iMacs something like 'target display mode' so they could function simply as external displays for another system?

The other question is whether Apple could change MacOS so that it could handle 27" 4K dpi without requiring scaling, like it already does with 27" 5K

 

[Geekett]

Apple please bring back the target display mode !

 

[Suicidy]

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.

24” is just small by today’s standards.

 

[bkendig]

It doesn't support USB microphones or headsets? Or over BT? Also, kinda weird if the headphone jack is just a headphone jack, these days.

The M4 Mac mini supports USB microphones and headsets, but it won't use Hey Siri with them.

You can use them to talk to Siri after you've activated it with a click, but the only thing that will pick up on you starting your interaction by saying "Hey Siri" is an Apple Studio Display.

 

[artifex]

The M4 Mac mini supports USB microphones and headsets, but it won't use Hey Siri with them.

You can use them to talk to Siri after you've activated it with a click, but the only thing that will pick up on you starting your interaction by saying "Hey Siri" is an Apple Studio Display.

That's disappointing, to not at least have the option. I'll be getting a Mini and also trying to move off the Alexa voice assistant, soon. I guess I can fall back on my iPad for always-listening requests, for now.

 

[wbeasley]

24” is just small by today’s standards.

Running Mac mini (top level standard version) with a 32" Samsung m7 4K monitor.
It's awesome.
External camera, old keyboard and mouse I had lying around.

It does many things super fast.

I bought it to upscale video with Topaz app.
It's not as superfast as I thought it would be compared to the 8G memory M2 laptop. It's faster just not huge.
Maybe the app needs finetuning for the hardware?

Copying files around is superfast.

It sits unobtrusively under the monitor. I guess you could rear mount it you wanted

 

[devinher]

I disagree. I think they’re probably the most interesting computer out there for a professional setting like reception.

For your Tesla example the red would look incredible in their stark showrooms.

Of course, this doesn’t mean they shouldn’t also offer silver and black models, they absolutely should.

sure. That would look great but for most folks in their home office, I think these computers are facing the wall. As they were at Tesla where they still looked amazing and clearly "Apple" from the front.

Maybe Apple has data that shows the iMac is typically set up in open offices and reception desks but that seems unlikely to me. Could be wrong.

 

[devinher]

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.

Spot on. And that model is so beautiful that I've kept mine in a box in my basement. At some point, I hope to find a use for it again but it's just too gorgeous to toss.

 

[kalsta]

I hope to find a use for it again but it's just too gorgeous to toss.

I’ve been lurking in this thread and wondering if I should have a go at converting my 2017 iMac to a monitor to go with a new M4 mini. It would seem crazy to fork out A$2500 for a Studio Display when I have basically the same monitor sitting in front of me already! Just not sure if I’m quite up to the task.