Wow disappointing!

[jtmacb]

Minimum requirement for Big Sur is 4GB RAM - that's just for the OS.

That leaves 4GB RAM free for running Apps.

It doesn't matter whether you're just a consumer or not, it's not enough.

I'm sitting here typing this response with nothing but Safari, iTunes and Activity Monitor open and am using 11GB of RAM (see attached). So all that will happen is the new iMacs will use the SSD as a swap file much more often, which will reduce the life of the SSD too. Not great in a machine where the SSD isn't replaceable.

And that's just as it is now. In the future it’s likely Mac OS will require more RAM too.

Try and spin it anyway you want, it's a cynical decision by Apple to ship an entry level iMac with half the storage of an iMac from 12 years ago and with only 4GB more RAM. 8GB RAM has been default of the entry level iMac since 2012 - that's 9 years without an increase to RAM.

Consumer or not, it's pitiful. If 500GB was needed in 2009 - it should be double that as standard by now.

As for a $1trillion company not getting it wrong...Cube, Trashcan Mac Pro, Ping, antenna on iPhone 4, HomePod, butterfly keyboards, graphics cards in 2011 MacBook Pros and many more - they've been wrong plenty of times.

The amount of storage that comes as default with this iMac is less than I have on my phone for heavens sake - and my phone is 3 years old. 256GB storage on a £1250 desktop computer in 2021 is shameful.

I totally agree with you. Who cares if the thickness of the iMac is 2 inches or 4 inches. You are looking at the front of the computer all day, not the side or the back. Give me more storage, more RAM, more ports, an SD Card slot on the side and height adjustment. Apple screwed this one up big time in my opinion and I'm an owner that goes back to New Year's Eve when I purchased my first Mac. My 2011 27inch iMac offers more memory, a 2TB SSD, a 3 TB Sata drive and plenty of ports and the SD card slot on the side. Speed in fine but if you are going to reduce functionality just to say something is thinner and faster you are making a big mistake.

The only reason I am even considering a new iMac is because my current one died on me after 10+ years of excellent service and because I can no longer update the system software. I need to buy a new iMac but now I will have to wait on the next M1 iMac which I hope will have more of what I am looking for in addition to a larger screen. I don't mind paying thousands of dollars for the top of the line iMac if it can provide what I need because I know it will last me 10 years. That's a relatively small cost averaged out over 10 years or more.

As an Apple stockholder since the 80s I hope all of these new products sell like crazy but as a long time Mac fan I am very disappointed. Where are the engineers and designers who understand the value of storage, memory and ports? BTW, Tags are OK but I've been using Tile for years and will continue to because they are smaller, you don't need a holder to put them on your key ring and they work. Apple should have just bought Tile.

 

[portland-dude]

From these comments I see a lot of people just sit and stare at their iMac's and don't actually use them. Sheesh. I'm OCD, but you people are at a different level.

 

[Racineur]

Spot.
On.

Well said and great post.

Apple just green washes all over this while nickel and diming everyone to death.

That's why for now it's better to stick with what one have. For my part, I'm hanging on to my 2013 27 i5 with 1Tb Fusion drive and 24g RAM and three external SSD 250 and one 2tb HD. But I'm not a power user.

 

[SuperMatt]

That's why for now it's better to stick with what one have. For my part, I'm hanging on to my 2013 27 i5 with 1Tb Fusion drive and 24g RAM and three external SSD 250 and one 2tb HD. But I'm not a power user.

I think there will be higher-end Macs announced at WWDC

 

[Racineur]

Pros aren't a priority, at least at this event.

Very shallow analysis. Pros can go lament about the "end of real desktop computing" all they want, but the target market for this iMac (the average consumer) doesn't care.

Again, it's for the average person...

My sister has an older iMac than I have. A 24 inch 2008 with an Core2Duo. So it's kind of true that average consumer doesn't care too much for raw power or expandability. She just bought an iPad Air and it's only used to email and browse. So it will be powerful enough till the end of the world. I suggested the bass iPad but she loved the color and the feel of the Air.

 

[Racineur]

While I do think the color choices for the new iMac are embarrassing I will agree that bezel-free displays are not all that they are cracked up to be. If you look at pro grade monitors they tend to have thick bezels and I recently picked up a HP Dream Color monitor and its all black with really thick bezels and I have to say I love it. It actually sucks you more into the display and this is coming from someone a 5k iMac.

If I see well, these are vertical and horizontal part of some sort of frame (as can be seen on the upper right corner). Much less distracting than he border line effect of the iMac models. One thing though, since they are black (before) they tend to get lost in the surroundings. BTW, love the stand of your monitor.

 

[pmiles]

I see custom skins and decals making a huge splash with these new iMacs... people will do anything to make them look less hideous.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I’m sorry, why are people whining about a white border? Short memories? I think this iMac sold pretty darn well with a much larger white border:

View attachment 1761070

Yep - and it was a bad idea back then

They only did that because it was the "white everything/iPod era" at the time.

Notice that subsequent versions had black borders....it was..."progress"
This is a regression.

(Same thing happened on iOS btw - all white bezels were killed -- black is better for many reasons)

 

[locolhp]

Looks like a cheap toy computer

 

[groove-agent]

Having worked in the Apple Stores as a Technician, this would not work right now.

#1: a screen that takes up the entire device, in this case, would lead to a much larger casing in back. This would defeat the purpose of what Apple has done with the iMac for some time now: having a thinner over all computer

I don't know why they're so obsessed with the iMac being thin, you don't use the computer from its side, rather you work from the front of the computer. This should be more important.

 

[Arcade]

The first thing that popped out at me was the colors reminded me of the first iMacs.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I don't know why they're so obsessed with the iMac being thin, you don't use the computer from its side, rather you work from the front of the computer. This should be more important.

I feel the same way

The 27" monitor I'm looking at right now - I have no idea if it's 1" thick or 6" thick (truly) - I simply can't ever really see it from the side (and I don't really care how thick it is).

 

[Kierkegaarden]

I know the video is still going but where's the larger option? I wish there was a silver and black. I'm not feeling that white on blue thing. 😡

I believe we’ll see the return of the iMac Pro with similar colors to the iPad Pro (silver/grey), and this will also be available in a larger size. The iMac shown today is the entry level option and probably only available in the 24” size.

 

[Madonepro]

I believe we’ll see the return of the iMac Pro with similar colors to the iPad Pro (silver/grey), and this will also be available in a larger size. The iMac shown today is the entry level option and probably only available in the 24” size.

Yep I think you are spot on. This one got a 3" screen size update, and I think the iMac Pro will get the same too, to have a 30" screen

 

[Martius]

The chin without logo is just... it's not aesthetically balanced IMO. A lot of empty plain space. Even if they just engraved the Apple logo, it would look much better.

The white bezels probably look better in combination with the colors... I still prefer black bezels. Made two quick mockups.

 

[wolfboy]

How would you even know in the first place?

Apple knows, considering their cheapest iMacs (and presumably biggest sellers) only come in silver, blue, green, and pink.

iMac - iMac Technical Specifications

See all the technical specifications for iMac with the M4 chip and 24-inch display.

www.apple.com

 

[azentropy]

Agreed, and these don’t look much like the 2005 models… just a point of comparison. We’ve had basically the same iMac design since 2007. Time for a change, and I think this is a fantastic change.

Glad you like it, but there are many reasons why pretty much everyone moved away from white bezels in TVs, phones, displays Etc. Fine line between retro and tacky. These look extremely tacky to me besides just being harder on the eyes.

 

[weaztek]

Here's my quick thoughts on yesterday's announcement... It's not a Mac for me. I used to have a 27" iMac but in that era it was the best value in the Apple lineup and that's just not the case anymore. Though I haven't seen benchmarks for it yet, an 8-core CPU, w/ 7 or 8 graphic cores sounds like similar specs to the existing M1 Mini. I have no doubt it will test faster on Geekbench but I don't think it will be twice as fast or anything.

The industrial design of it is fine. I don't see the point of making it thin since desks are at least a foot wide but it's a bullet point for their marketing. For me a 24" monitor is too small. The 27" I had was usable but I'm spoiled with my 32" [calibrated monitor] now.

I think most graphics/photography/video pros will want to wait for the iMac Pro or Mini Pro (or whatever new model comes out in this price range) which I assume will arrive within a year and a half. If I were in the market for a new Mac that's what I'd do!

 

[LeafsFanNL]

I'm not sure why anyone would get this. I got a 512 GB 8 GPU M1 MacBook Air last month. I use it half of a time connected to a Samsung monitor, with a magic keyboard and bluetooth mouse. Same functionality, with the ability. One of the iMac's is $2100 CAD, vs $1650 for the Air. If you are looking for a desktop only set up, you could get a similar spec Mac Mini for $1150.

 

[gnasher729]

The iPad Pro does not need active cooling. The iMac does.

Because you want the maximum clock speed for the maximum time on an iMac.

 

[Poindexter333]

I for one do NOT understand this obsession with being THIN- in devices I mean. I would give anything for them to add another millimeter or two to add a few more hours of battery life on my iPhone 12 Pro Max. Or maybe a solar charging ceramic backside. That being said why make an iMac so thin if the tradeoffs are so many? Give me my ports back, on the edge if they have to. And WHY not have a dark bezel option? I HATE white bezels. Very distracting. I'd prefer a Space Gray option myself. I'd also like some similarity in colors among the products. I'd take Space Gray in everything, even Pacific Blue. But not white.

 

[Poindexter333]

We all wanted this. SIGH

Perfect. Wrap up two. Black bezel!!! The only change I would suggest is a charging pad on the stand, maybe with a shortcut for devices to transfer data to the iMac.

 

[Merode]

It's not what I expected but it's ok-ish. I don't mind colours nor white bezel. However that chin is just.. Ugh.. Especially when it's completely blank. It looks like unfinished render. Like a cheap knock-off.

However, knowing Apple and it's trend-building, next year every computer will look like that. In two years you'll like this design. In three years when you'll see old iMac you'll think it's antiquated.

Orange looks great.

 

[Geoff777]

The chin without logo is just... it's not aesthetically balanced IMO. A lot of empty plain space. Even if they just engraved to logo, it would look much better.

The white bezels probably look better in combination with the colors... I still prefer black bezels. Made two quick mockups.

I agree.... the empty bar just looks wrong..... almost as though it's ashamed of being Apple
Your mockups look much better than what we have.

 

[Bug-Creator]

So many people who just don't get what this or anything M1 (minus the iPadPro)is.

ENTRY LEVEL HW for people who don't care about HW.
Yes it is faster than midrange Intel Macs, but that just shows what a complete failure x86 (not just Intel AMD too) is when viewed outside gaming PC and HigEnd workstations.

Most people who bought an 21" iMac in the past 13 years never bother to update the RAM or storage even when it it was super easy. Most of them never did anything that required more than "base model form 3 years before" spec and these people are the target audience for the new 24" ones. They will put it onto their desk, connect to WLAN and just use it for the next 3-5 years till they will buy the next one.

Cramming the PCB, cooling and speakers behind the screen might have been possible but it would have made the iMac thicker by quite a lot and maybe even compromised sound and cooling. The result would look dated and weird, wether that is worse than a chin is a pointless discussion.

They can put the M1 in a thin iPad Pro

Sure, but don't expect it to perform at the same level, maybe for a short burst but I expect not even that.