I’m confused about the complaints about the M1 chip in the iMac

[dingclancy23]

The problem is that desktop has the potential to be faster. Without battery concern and more thermal headroom in a bigger chassis, it just seems like a wasted opportunity to see literally the same specs as MacBook Air.

As a result, it also makes more sense to buy an MBA and hook it up to external display so you get same power and portability.

That I believe is the pebble in the powerusers' shoes, personally I'm not too bothered, I'll just wait.

I have the M1 MBA, but I cannot find a monitor and speaker setup that is as slick as this iMac. It does not have the batteries but it has a great screen. I guess it is up to us decide what our priorities are, or buy both.

Apple is making a statement with this M1. They have a chip that can be on everything from laptops, to tablets, to desktops, and the difference is just what package you want that chip to be in.

Apple is done playing the processor differentiation game and the question now is how much design can they afford to put alongside their chips

 

[portland-dude]

Last year, when the laptops were released, people said that the M1 chip was one of the best, most powerful chips ever made... People have ditched their 16” Macbook pros, their 27” iMacs, even their IMac Pros for the M1 Macbook Air and claimed that they have seen improved performance.

So when these same chips are included in the iMac, now they are underpowered? The chips were called superior just a month ago! And now, some of the tech blogs are saying that the M1 is the “low end,” “low-power” chip and that much better chips will be released soon. Again - based on current needs, isn’t the current M1 meaningfully better than anything the comparable computers were offering before?

People here also said the M1 was amazing then crapped all over the MacBook Pro because it's "the same" as the air (it's not). Active cooling, extra GPU core, better battery, etc. Soo...the lesson? Don't listen to the cultists.

 

[Maconplasma]

driving a 4.5k screen vs a 2k screen may give less result towards other applications. no one will know unless this gets tested by the 1000 youtubers who buy it and then return it after their video. Apple owes the fans all the promised rumors....

LMAO! Apple OWES fans all the promised rumors... that they never created. 😂

 

[AVonGauss]

Deleted.

 

[mrcat]

Even if the M1 is clocked at the same ~3.2GHz as the other models, that there are two fans means it should be able to maintain full load better then the MBP and Mac mini (with one fan) and much better than the MacBook Air (no fan).

 

[mrcat]

I do find it funny that people expect apple to launch a pro machine before refreshing their existing line up. Patience.

 

[Robospungo]

The M1 MacBook Air/Pro and Mac mini are in every way (besides the missing SD-card clot on the mini) either equally or better than the models they replaced. That's not true for the new iMac and that's kind of a bummer for me.

The 21.5" iMac had 2018 Man Mini internals, no?

If the M1 Mini is an improvement, then shouldn't the M1 iMac be as well?

 

[Maconplasma]

I do find it funny that people expect apple to launch a pro machine before refreshing their existing line up. Patience.

Agreed! If Apple launched the Pro line first then the typical MR Apple hate crowd would call Apple greedy for trying to grab more money out of their customers before launching their cheaper line.

 

[mdgm]

The M1 is there to get consumers to buy it and create the market for developers to port their apps to Apple Silicon. It has some major steps forward but some drawbacks compared with the Intel Macs. The 2nd or 3rd generation will likely address most of the drawbacks of the M1 Macs compared with Intel Macs (More RAM, support for more external displays etc.).

Professionals generally want mature products with software that just works so except for those working in certain areas of IT or with niche needs there’s no need to rush to get a M1 Mac.

The 21.5” Intel iMac can actually take 64GB RAM though apple sold it with up to 32GB RAM, I think.

 

[Marty_Macfly]

24 inches is a perfect size for most people up close and you don't have to move your head or eyes much to see everything on the screen. its light, its portable, it runs cold and silent, it has a beautiful screen.

I'm imagining moving this around the house instead of a laptop. For people who do mainly document work, this is probably going to be a wonderful device. Sure I prefer a space gray metallic look but ill go see these in person before I jump to criticism.

Hi F,

I think you have hit it on the head there!


I’ve gone downstairs to dinner table, with the M1 MBA undocked, and the screen drop from a 24” external monitor, to the 13“ MBA screen is horrible form my old eyes!


An easily moveable large screen


Regards
Martin

 

[Mr.Blacky]

Eh, the M1 Mac mini lost two Thunderbolt ports as well.

Really? I have imagined the entry level Intel Mac mini also had just two Thunderbolt ports. But thanks for the clarification.

 

[Abazigal]

I think also there is still a perception that in terms of processor speed desktop beats laptop beats tablet. By just putting an M1 in all of those, they are now at performance parity. Which means that if you want to buy a new computer, you can now buy any of them and do some quite demanding tasks... it’s a bit of a paradigm shift in the industry.

Agreed.

This is another incident of Apple turning conventional wisdom on its head. What this means right now is that when shopping for a Mac, I just need to focus on price point and / or form factor. No need to think about performance (which is more or less the same across the board).

Simplicity at its finest.

 

[Bodhitree]

The M1 MacBook Air/Pro and Mac mini are in every way (besides the missing SD-card clot on the mini) either equally or better than the models they replaced. That's not true for the new iMac and that's kind of a bummer for me.

Well if you consider the low-end 21.5” iMacs they were really a bit of an embarrassment if you look at the price/performance ratio compared to the PC market. The M1 is a massive upgrade for those machines. I believe it just takes a little time to get used to the new way of thinking about which machine to buy, and people will get used to the colours.

The iMac is a capable computer, but I can see for a lot of use cases people are going to prefer laptops with a dock, a large screen, a keyboard and a mouse if this is their only computer. The added benefit of being able to take your computer with you is a very significant draw. It’s only in places where you know you need a static media consumption machine that the iMac comes out ahead.

 

[4sallypat]

The 21.5" iMac had 2018 Man Mini internals, no?

If the M1 Mini is an improvement, then shouldn't the M1 iMac be as well?

I have the M1 Mini base (8GB) and it is smoking compared to the fan blowing, constantly hot, slows down, spinning beach balls, bouncing app opening: i7 Quad Core 2.7GHz CTO/BTO with 16GB of RAM sitting on a laptop cooling pad.

So glad to get rid of the Intel Mini & cooling fans just to keep them running - now the M1 Mini is ice cold all day long and no fan noise.

I'm pre-ordering the M1 iMac to replace the stinking slow 2019 21.5" 4K i5 iMac...

No need for awful Intel Macs anymore...

 

[richinaus]

Hi F,

I think you have hit it on the head there!


I’ve gone downstairs to dinner table, with the M1 MBA undocked, and the screen drop from a 24” external monitor, to the 13“ MBA screen is horrible form my old eyes!


An easily moveable large screen


Regards
Martin

Exactly the conversation I had yesterday. We can leave the adaptor plugged in, whip out the MagSafe cable and store it away - makes wfh so much better in small spaces

 

[lumencreative]

I’m actually tempted to buy one of the new iMacs. I think the issue the ‘pros’ have is that while Apple aren’t expecting pros to replace their high end iMac with a ‘low end’ iMac, there is no other option at present. Apple are no longer offering the higher end models so it’s M1 or nothing if you want an iMac.

 

[richinaus]

I’m actually tempted to buy one of the new iMacs. I think the issue the ‘pros’ have is that while Apple aren’t expecting pros to replace their high end iMac with a ‘low end’ iMac, there is no other option at present. Apple are no longer offering the higher end models so it’s M1 or nothing if you want an iMac.

They will offer the higher end models when they do a ‘pro‘ launch for the imacs, macbook pro, and desktop [mini?]

The M1 is great for the majority of users [consumers / light work etc], and those who know it isnt for them should simply stop complaining.

Although if you are a pro and really need a computer it’s a bit of a crap time right now if you are an apple office.

 

[Ethosik]

The M1 MacBook Air/Pro and Mac mini are in every way (besides the missing SD-card clot on the mini) either equally or better than the models they replaced. That's not true for the new iMac and that's kind of a bummer for me.

Uhhh you do know that the low end 21.5 inch had horrible CPU right? The fact that the Mac mini - M1 in general really, is better than my 2019 i9 iMac. The M1, in many ways, is better than an i9-9900k. Why do general users need more than that?

 

[Ethosik]

32 GB RAM (+ up to 4 GB VRAM)?
(Much) more I/O?

Just FYI, the unified memory means the GPU has access to any and all of the 16GB of RAM in the M1 (16GB variant obviously). There is no separation of GPU and normal RAM anymore.

 

[Ethosik]

Eh, the M1 Mac mini lost two Thunderbolt ports as well.

Yes and no. You are right that they physically went from 4 to 2. But those two EACH have their own controller. So if you need more Thunderbolt ports, you can get the OWC Thunderbolt 4 Hub. Since they are on separate controllers, its basically the same as the old Mac mini. And actually, it does cause less confusion. I don't have to worry about plugging things in to 4 individual ports and knowing which controller I am using. If I plug it in to connection 2, is it using the controller of connection 1 or 3? Or is 1 and 2 the controllers, where 3 and 4 are extensions of each one of those controllers? Its confusing. With the OWC Thunderbolt hub, I know when I plug items into that hub its all shared with one controller.

 

[jdb8167]

I’m actually tempted to buy one of the new iMacs. I think the issue the ‘pros’ have is that while Apple aren’t expecting pros to replace their high end iMac with a ‘low end’ iMac, there is no other option at present. Apple are no longer offering the higher end models so it’s M1 or nothing if you want an iMac.

I assume you mean, if you want a 24” iMac? Apple is still selling the high-end 27” Intel iMacs. (They are actually still selling one model of the Intel 21.5” iMac too.)

 

[4sallypat]

Uhhh you do know that the low end 21.5 inch had horrible CPU right? The fact that the Mac mini - M1 in general really, is better than my 2019 i9 iMac. The M1, in many ways, is better than an i9-9900k. Why do general users need more than that?

Yes, well said and compared.

My base 21.5" 2019 iMac still had the awful spinning 1TB HDD.
Now that was a disgrace when all other Macs came with SSD.

Can you believe I had to connect an external SSD to boot the Intel iMac ?

Can't wait to get the M1 iMac - no more external SSD boot drive!!!

 

[Robospungo]

Yes, well said and compared.

My base 21.5" 2019 iMac still had the awful spinning 1TB HDD.
Now that was a disgrace when all other Macs came with SSD.

Can you believe I had to connect an external SSD to boot the Intel iMac ?

Can't wait to get the M1 iMac - no more external SSD boot drive!!!

That 1TB spinner being sold in 2019 was an absolute embarrassment. This should feel like a massive upgrade for you based on that one component alone.

 

[smbu2000]

The M1 imac should be fine for most casual users and provides great performance without the heat issues of Intel cpus.
It would have been nice to have the 8 core gpu included with every model like the M1 mac mini, but it probably won’t matter too much for the people opting for the lowest cost base model 24”.

The 24” imac is not supposed to be a replacement for the 27” imac as that should come later when Apple has a faster M1X? available.

 

[Abazigal]

The 21.5" iMac had 2018 Man Mini internals, no?

If the M1 Mini is an improvement, then shouldn't the M1 iMac be as well?

The M1 Mac mini represents a significant improvement because they were replacing a device that had fairly crappy specs up till now (no dedicated graphics, poor thermals).

The iMac seems less of a boost because previous generation iMacs had fairly decent specs. But it's still an improvement nonetheless.

The beauty now is that you no longer have to compromise. If you want to use that ultra-wide monitor with your Mac mini, or have an existing monitor (even if it's some 1080p monitor you decided to recycle) and wired keyboard+mouse, you can do so, and still enjoy the same performance as someone else using the iMac. Or you can choose to pay more money for an awesome display + integrated speakers and webcam.

The choice is yours!