Right, so he is just like Apple! Why else would they release colors unless they felt it was also a fashion accessory.
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Almost bought the new iMac… then came to my senses
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Issue is you need to bring your own monitor. To get anywhere near the quality of an imac display you need to spend the equivalent of what you paid on the mini and that also means no webcam and no auto brightness or keyboard based brightness adjustments. Instead you have to dig through a horrible OSD and good luck getting a good picture without some kind of calibrator to help you select the right brightness contrast ratio.
5k more pedestrian (read not as expensive as a motorcycle) apple Thunderbolt Display when?
Yea I agree the display is definitely an advantage in the iMac, there are definitely tradeoffs to each proposal.
I think Apple would have a hit with a 5k 27" monitor for the rest of us. It'd be an instant buy from me at least.
My one and only iMac was purchased in 2008. At the time I was impressed with the display colours and image. However, I started to move around for work reasons and soon tired of lugging the iMac from new home to new home. I sold it four years later and it has been a laptop ever since. I have been tempted when I see the iMacs in the store but I am not sure I want to go back to being tied to a desk at home. Pros and cons I realise.
Not sure "Fashion Accessory" is a proper term for Apple's design interest with their products. It's more about a lifestyle. Firstly Apple knows COVID isn't going to be fully over for at least another year and kids ages 5-18 are schooling at home still. The colors tend to represent the personality of the user. In the ages I listed each color would cover most personalities. Then there are other people of ages 5-80 who want a computer with a fun color to make their computing day enjoyable. Those are more lifestyle choices of iMac colors, not because it's a fashion accessory.
But since you are pinpointing Apple about making their products "fashion accessories" then you may as well pinpoint Samsung, Sony, Microsoft, Alienware, Tesla, Mercedes, BMW, etc. They all make fashion accessories.
when others will start bringing colours also....then all of this will be over
The M1 iMac will…. forget about it, even iPhones from the recent few years are much stronger than your old iMac in terms of performance.
I have the M1 MacBook Air and it’s the best computer I’ve bought since 2012. And I’m not joking.
The iMac form factor… hmm the sheer difficulty of upgrading it is a big turn off for me. I have the 2017 iMac and it’s still going very strong and the monitor is extremely great. But I can definitely feel the difference in speed with my M1 MBA, but I can’t just upgrade the internals, I must give up the gorgeous 5k monitor just because the internals are a little bit outdated.
I have the M1 MacBook Air and it’s the best computer I’ve bought since 2012. And I’m not joking.
The iMac form factor… hmm the sheer difficulty of upgrading it is a big turn off for me. I have the 2017 iMac and it’s still going very strong and the monitor is extremely great. But I can definitely feel the difference in speed with my M1 MBA, but I can’t just upgrade the internals, I must give up the gorgeous 5k monitor just because the internals are a little bit outdated.
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The way I see it.
It’s no longer a performance choice. With the M1 you’re choosing a form factor.
Want a laptop? Get a MacBook
Want to use your own monitor? Get a mini
Want an all in one? Get an iMac
Now people can choose the device based on the most beneficial form factor instead of having to sacrifice performance and I think this is a step forward until you get to desktop pro machines.
You no longer have to pay iMac prices for the performance over a mini when you already use your own display.
You don’t need to sacrifice portability of a laptop vs iMac desktop performance.
I think this level performance with a form factor choice is going to be beneficial going forwards
Coming from a MacBook Pro, I've been holding off on buying a 27 inch Intel iMac and giving a try to the M1 Mac. However, while the design & color scheme is questionable, there are some Red Flags that I just can't ignore.
1. RAM limited to 16GB. Considering the previous gen Intel iMacs could go all the way to 128GB, this is a major step-back especially for professional or semi-professional workflows.
2. Internal & RAM are soldered & upgrade pricing is ridiculous. Also, M1 Macs cannot boot from an external USB SSD. It'd need more expensive Thunderbolt SSDs/Interfaces.
3. No eGPU support. This is a killer for many. Sure M1 graphics are fast, they're not even close to the high end graphic cards like the Radeon 5000 series or the Nvidia 3000 series.
4. Fewer USB/Thuderbolt ports. The Intel iMac had 4x USB A ports, 2x Thunderbolt 3 ports, an SD card slot & built-in ethernet port.
5. No Bootcamp, at least for now. This is partly Apple's responsibility as they need to write firmware, drivers, boot loader etc. They should have worked this out with Microsoft to make Windows on M1 possible from day 1.
1. RAM limited to 16GB. Considering the previous gen Intel iMacs could go all the way to 128GB, this is a major step-back especially for professional or semi-professional workflows.
2. Internal & RAM are soldered & upgrade pricing is ridiculous. Also, M1 Macs cannot boot from an external USB SSD. It'd need more expensive Thunderbolt SSDs/Interfaces.
3. No eGPU support. This is a killer for many. Sure M1 graphics are fast, they're not even close to the high end graphic cards like the Radeon 5000 series or the Nvidia 3000 series.
4. Fewer USB/Thuderbolt ports. The Intel iMac had 4x USB A ports, 2x Thunderbolt 3 ports, an SD card slot & built-in ethernet port.
5. No Bootcamp, at least for now. This is partly Apple's responsibility as they need to write firmware, drivers, boot loader etc. They should have worked this out with Microsoft to make Windows on M1 possible from day 1.
1. I’d expect the next gen of this chip to improve support. The current setup is very much aimed at the less demanding users.
2. If Apple continue to share this hardware amongst devices I don’t see non soldered ram being a feature outside of their Mac Pro.
3. I don’t think we will see a return of eGPU support on apple silicone for a while.
4. Got to admit, removing ports on the cheapest iMac is a ****** move. Considering there’s no cost to run the extras. This is just making it less appealing to push people up the chain. Maybe Apple know there’s not much differentiation to have their pricing tiers. But Apple have always done this.
5. I don’t think we’ll ever get Bootcamp again in the same way. Regular Windows just will not run on ARM there is very little Apple can do about this. Firmware and drivers don’t help when the chip architecture is so different. The only hope for a return is that Microsoft sort out their Windows for ARM and support M1 or a third party builds in support on the Mac platform via virtualisation.
Of course, but you are missing the point again. That is all fine and dandy but then it is hypocritical to then go and criticize people who don’t like the new lifestyle design or whatever you want to call it (I referenced fashion accessory term from another’s post) and tell them it is just a tool. No doubt that Apple made “look at me” device and some people don’t like it because either they don’t like “look at me” things in general or don’t like this particular style.
BTW - it IS the exact same type of design decision discussions that are happening on the BMW forums about the HUGE grill design new models are getting and in the Tesla forums about the CyberTruck currently. In the past they have been about other design aspects (the Bangle designs at BMW or the door handles and dashboard design at Tesla Etc.)
I solved this by buying a fully loaded 2015 MacBook Pro 15” and plugging it into the monitor of my choice (along with a nice wooden space-saving vertical stand for the MacBook in clamshell mode.)
2015 MBPs are cheap now that people are selling them and buying the M1 Macs. Ample RAM and power for my needs, and with the last of the old-school decent non-butterfly keyboards, plus an upgradeable NVME drive which I upgraded to a fast modern large drive (makes a huge difference).
Plus I get a wonderful Mac laptop for portable use. Your other option is to do the same thing with a M1 Air…
2015 MBPs are cheap now that people are selling them and buying the M1 Macs. Ample RAM and power for my needs, and with the last of the old-school decent non-butterfly keyboards, plus an upgradeable NVME drive which I upgraded to a fast modern large drive (makes a huge difference).
Plus I get a wonderful Mac laptop for portable use. Your other option is to do the same thing with a M1 Air…
Unfortunately, there are no retina screens out there that can match the iMac display — besides the LG 5K. But if you decide to get the LG, the price of the iMac does not look as bad any more.
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FIVE iMacs that needed screen replacing in months because of the integrated power?? You say that I’m in a very small minority? You’re probably in a class all by yourself with that one. (Even more bizarre given that you were making the guy discussing the inverted T on the keyboard seem outlandish when that has in fact been mentioned by many users).
And the design/colors are ugly and it is definitely not a fringe number of people saying that. It was panned all over the internet as soon as it was unveiled, not just here but among multiple other tech sites and forums.
Again, it looks like a Xiaomi version of an iMac.
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The iMac screen is absolutely fantastic. However, I don't think it is fair to add an LG UltraFine to the price of the Mac mini to say the iMac is cheaper. The topic starter has a 2011 iMac and doesn't complain about the screen as far as we know, so he will probably be happy as well with a more budget external monitor, be it 1080p or 4K. The UltraFine is not the only good monitor on the market!
Of course, if you do want or need the best screen, an iMac is probably better than Mac mini + UltraFine. On the other hand, the iMac has the downside that you lose the screen with the computer. I recently sold my 2017 iMac, and it irritated me that I had to say goodbye to the fantastic screen as well, simply because Apple doesn't allow the iMac to be used as an external display (the old Target Display Mode is long gone). Of course, this is the problem with every all-in-one computer, but it is something to take into account. (Though probably not for the topic starter since he uses his computer for ten years anyway.)
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Yeah I can confirm no screen issues for me. But that being said, I wouldn’t say I would go for a budget monitor either on upgrade either. It’s like assuming if I have an HDTV from 2008, that I wouldn’t get a 4K TV now.
My iMac wasn’t a budget device in 2011 when I got it. I’ve used it for ten years because it was just that great of a computer and Apple didn’t really give me much of a reason to upgrade. The only modification I made was adding a little more RAM about 4 years ago.
But again, when I do upgrade, I’m going with something worthwhile. If I did go Mac Mini, I would get the Ultrafine display because from the research I have done, it is the closest thing to the “Apple experience” and yet it is still lacking for the reasons others have posted above. And plus with the other peripherals needed it really does in fact cost more than an iMac is most cases, so no go for me on the mini.
The problem with the new iMac is that the Mac Mini is such a good value. The $699 (sold frequently for less at B&H) has more ports/flexibility and the same specs as the $1499 iMac. As good as the display and other features/accessories are, $800 more is a hard sell for many especially if they are iffy on the design.
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