iMac 24” M1. Any problems with them? (Poll)

[MrMister111]

Just wondering if anyone has any specific problems with the M1 iMac?

I know they are now a few months old just wonder if anyone found any problems on screen, or memory issues, graphic problems etc?

Anything you’ve found it can’t run or struggle with?

Looking to buy one, reading forums doesn’t seem too many problems or have I missed them!

Thinking of getting 16Gb for future proofing.

Thanks

Have listed the problems I’ve read about abs posted on here for ease of finding

So problems I’ve read about, mostly on here, to look out for are.

Keyboard touchID stop working (OS?)
Whining noise
Bright pixel
Crocked display
Tap touch not working (OS?)
Memory leaks (OS?)
disuniform screen
out of focus camera

 

[hg.wells]

Love it, it’s great fast and no issues at all with ours.

 

[MrMister111]

Love it, it’s great fast and no issues at all with ours.

Good to hear!

Is screen all fine and uniform?

How long in general, does it take to boot from when it’s off? and also from standby?

 

[hg.wells]

Screen is great and boots in no time at all, had it since launch.

 

[ZebedeeG]

Just wondering if anyone has any specific problems with the M1 iMac?

I know they are now a few months old just wonder if anyone found any problems on screen, or memory issues, graphic problems etc?

Anything you’ve found it can’t run or struggle with?

Looking to buy one, reading forums doesn’t seem too many problems or have I missed them!

Thinking of getting 16Gb for future proofing.

Thanks

Had mine since beginning of July and I can't fault it - fantastic machine!

Only glitches I've had are a few Monterey bugs (also being experienced by others on various machines), so in no way my iMac's fault...

I maxed mine out with 16GB RAM & 2TB SSD, and I'm glad I did as I can see this machine being in daily use for very many happy years to come. It handles everything I ask of it with ease, though I'm in no way a "power" user.

(I just have to stop myself upgrading to new versions of macOS as soon as they're released... D'oh! ?)

 

[Wxchaser]

No issues whatsoever - bought on release date. Connected to 32UL950-W 32" external display.

Display quality, sound and overall quality are excellent. My only complaint is I wish 27" options had been available (2022). The M1 SOC works without flaws.

 

[MrMister111]

Had mine since beginning of July and I can't fault it - fantastic machine!

Only glitches I've had are a few Monterey bugs (also being experienced by others on various machines), so in no way my iMac's fault...

I maxed mine out with 16GB RAM & 2TB SSD, and I'm glad I did as I can see this machine being in daily use for very many happy years to come. It handles everything I ask of it with ease, though I'm in no way a "power" user.

(I just have to stop myself upgrading to new versions of macOS as soon as they're released... D'oh! )

I’ve heard/read about some problems on MacOS 12. As you say sometimes it’s best to wait until at least first point release, although I normally jump on OS releases as well!!

I think I will go for 16Gb, but couldn’t justify the cost of that much storage, I think I should maybe go to 512Gb though…..

Good to hear no problems though

 

[MrMister111]

No issues whatsoever - bought on release date. Connected to 32UL950-W 32" external display.

Display quality, sound and overall quality are excellent. My only complaint is I wish 27" options had been available (2022). The M1 SOC works without flaws.

How do you connect to your external monitor? Is it a USB-C type? So power cable and USB-C cable from iMac to monitor? Work well? I have a Dell USB-C monitor 24” I could use as well.

I wish the desktop iMac, had the M1 pro/max option, I feel as though the M1 is more a mobile, whereas the iMac could power a M1 pro/max.

The sound is supposed to be good as you say, I prefer no clutter and would just use iMac speakers.

 

[Wxchaser]

Connected via USB 3/Thunderbolt - and the speakers are well designed and sound good.

 

[400]

Sorry to rain on the parade but it seems unfinished and a later offering may be better.
External USB3 hard drives seem to be very slow to connect and run certain things such as an external photos library when formatted APFS (I wanted them encrypted and it changes from hfs to apfs with no warning, yeah it is in the instructions and all that but still). Random disconnects, no real pattern to them, USB3 hub is powered as are all the drives apart from one. Never had the issue on the 2013 iMac.

Now I have the "its new and shiny" sheen removed, I am not that impressed as I was coming from the emac to iMac. Trying to plug anything in the C ports spin the thing around (especially when trying options for the slow drives), scarcity of ports (but then the 2013 wasn't well appointed hence the hub). Speaker plug in the side like an after thought, Some apps are certainly faster than my 2013 but others are clunky. Last 2 OS have not really been anything to bring it out its shell, both have poor browser experiences. I would say speakers are average and playback through iTunes is tinny and equaliser really needs to be in the mix.
But this is just my experience.

To be honest not had a good experience with it from day 1. Sat here looking at it and wonder what I have for my money. At the moment it looks like a trade in option as soon as something better comes out.

Screen and track pad are good though.

 

[MrMister111]

Sorry to rain on the parade but it seems unfinished and a later offering may be better.
External USB3 hard drives seem to be very slow to connect and run certain things such as an external photos library when formatted APFS (I wanted them encrypted and it changes from hfs to apfs with no warning, yeah it is in the instructions and all that but still). Random disconnects, no real pattern to them, USB3 hub is powered as are all the drives apart from one. Never had the issue on the 2013 iMac.

Now I have the "its new and shiny" sheen removed, I am not that impressed as I was coming from the emac to iMac. Trying to plug anything in the C ports spin the thing around (especially when trying options for the slow drives), scarcity of ports (but then the 2013 wasn't well appointed hence the hub). Speaker plug in the side like an after thought, Some apps are certainly faster than my 2013 but others are clunky. Last 2 OS have not really been anything to bring it out its shell, both have poor browser experiences. I would say speakers are average and playback through iTunes is tinny and equaliser really needs to be in the mix.
But this is just my experience.

To be honest not had a good experience with it from day 1. Sat here looking at it and wonder what I have for my money. At the moment it looks like a trade in option as soon as something better comes out.

Screen and track pad are good though.

Thanks for comments, it’s good to hear good and bad.

The port issue though I feel that’s something you know and accept before buying, did you get the 2 or 4 port edition? I think as it’s so light then when you must plug-in it pushes it, difficult to solve really, as people want it light but then have this. The solution I suppose is a hub.

Could it maybe be the drivers/MacOS messing with the drives? I also would have my Photos library on an external, but would also want it encrypted, so this isn’t good. I ditched my old 2012 iMac as it was getting slow.

The speakers (I haven’t heard them personally) is disappointing to hear that you don’t like them, as they were supposed to be good, and I wouldn’t want extra speakers.

When you say speaker plug in side, do you mean the headphone jack? If so personally I would never use it, I hate wires and would just use AirPods or Bluetooth headphones, good enough for what I would need. But it’s the only way they could fit it, as it’s too thin to sit on back (or front).

I understand your “new and shiny” point, I keep thinking I should wait as the M1 should be upgraded to at least the M1 pro/max, IR and option anyway in it, although that wouldn’t change your complaints on it. I also think the 27/30” whatever will be a lot more expensive.

Thanks

 

[ZebedeeG]

Just to add on the speakers, which I guess are a very personal thing...

I find they compare very favourably with my stereo Pure DAB radio. So no they're not HiFi quality and aren't going to blow the doors off any time soon! But they are nice and clear to my ear.

They won't "fill" a room, but are perfectly pleasant for me to listen to music whilst working.

 

[NeonIbis]

I adore mine! No problems – I do have a mild case of the low-brightness screen whine issue, but it's something I notice maybe once a fortnight on a quiet night (and barely audible then). I don't do heavy user stuff but a lot of multitasking (including a bit of photoshop and some memory hog web apps) and nothing taxes it. I think it has crashed ONCE since I got it in July, and that was a kernel panic caused by an obscure app running under Rosetta. I also have a 2020 27" iMac at work and I prefer my 24". I haven't gone to Monterey yet. The latest release of Acrobat seems slow, but previous versions were fine so it's definitely a software thing. I know there were concerns about memory swap with the M1s, but I don't have a problem there; I do see some swap when the iMac wakes from sleep but that happens even when there's free RAM and seems to be normal behaviour related to caching stuff in sleep state. I have 16GB and I haven't seen the memory pressure even hit yellow.

 

[Fishrrman]

400 wrote in reply 10 above:
"External USB3 hard drives seem to be very slow to connect and run certain things such as an external photos library when formatted APFS (I wanted them encrypted and it changes from hfs to apfs with no warning, yeah it is in the instructions and all that but still)."

You don't want platter-based hard drives to be formatted APFS.
It's hard on them -- fragments them badly, slows them down, and the drives "thrash".
Is encryption of a photo library that important?

If so, then get an SSD for the job, they seem to run APFS better.

 

[imdog]

It’s fantastic. I returned the M1 mini because I was having a ton of Bluetooth issues. None whatsoever with the M1 iMac

 

[ignatius345]

The sound is supposed to be good as you say, I prefer no clutter and would just use iMac speakers.

Speakers are ok, but not as good (or anywhere near as loud) as the speakers in the 27" 5K model. It's a very thin machine so this is not surprising, but still a little bit disappointing.

To me it's about analagous to the difference between the sound of the HomePod vs HomePod Mini. In practice, I find that I have the volume turned very nearly all the way up when, say, watching a movie. Turning the 5K iMac's sound up anywhere near that high would've been too loud.

 

[400]

400 wrote in reply 10 above:
"External USB3 hard drives seem to be very slow to connect and run certain things such as an external photos library when formatted APFS (I wanted them encrypted and it changes from hfs to apfs with no warning, yeah it is in the instructions and all that but still)."

You don't want platter-based hard drives to be formatted APFS.
It's hard on them -- fragments them badly, slows them down, and the drives "thrash".
Is encryption of a photo library that important?

If so, then get an SSD for the job, they seem to run APFS better.

Yeah, I know, but I have 4tb+ external hard drives, aint gonna be ssd any time soon unless the prices drop. I didn't know that encrypting them popped them over to APFS (I shifted from Catalina to this M1 and day 1 managed to remove the fingerprint option, don't ask), then saw the blurb in the instructions regarding encryption, if you remove encryption it stays apfs. Then the time it takes to put the drive back to hfs and re sync the library (some days at least and it messes up my other backup), it really is a mess, photos becomes almost unusable. No warning unless you saw the blurb.

I use encryption in case they are stolen. Other drives have data on that can be used for cloning.

 

[400]

Thanks for comments, it’s good to hear good and bad.

The port issue though I feel that’s something you know and accept before buying, did you get the 2 or 4 port edition? I think as it’s so light then when you must plug-in it pushes it, difficult to solve really, as people want it light but then have this. The solution I suppose is a hub.

Could it maybe be the drivers/MacOS messing with the drives? I also would have my Photos library on an external, but would also want it encrypted, so this isn’t good. I ditched my old 2012 iMac as it was getting slow.

The speakers (I haven’t heard them personally) is disappointing to hear that you don’t like them, as they were supposed to be good, and I wouldn’t want extra speakers.

When you say speaker plug in side, do you mean the headphone jack? If so personally I would never use it, I hate wires and would just use AirPods or Bluetooth headphones, good enough for what I would need. But it’s the only way they could fit it, as it’s too thin to sit on back (or front).

I understand your “new and shiny” point, I keep thinking I should wait as the M1 should be upgraded to at least the M1 pro/max, IR and option anyway in it, although that wouldn’t change your complaints on it. I also think the 27/30” whatever will be a lot more expensive.

Thanks

4 port, top of the shop with 1tb SSD.

Annoyingly I swapped from a 2013 all working to a new M1 toss a coin working. Just swapped the lead over with an adapter (but then I was on a call with support for 2 weeks after other issues), now have a C to USB3 cable. The re plugging and spinning the iMac was before I had realised that encryption did apfs and trying to remove the hub to see if photos was quicker. But I need to plug up the card reader into the computer when I download pics or plugging into the hub which results in random disconnects. So spinning iMac it is. I need to sort a solution for that. The nice elegant power lead is really going to get swamped with other leads so they needn't have bothered.

Speaker plug, yeah, 3.5mm socket. Mine is used for the stereo but I now unplug it as it is a handy accident waiting to happen on my desk environment, might not be an issue for others but don't fancy fishing out a snapped plug. I understand that it is in the side cos not deep enough and that would lead me onto other idea's on what they should have done.

Speakers seem OK with a game, just iTunes, but then my main music is played through the stereo via the sticky out lead on the side.

Overall it feels christmas cracker.

But then that is me. Ignore me, probably a minority but if I could have ecked out the 2013 iMac, I would wait see what is next.

 

[MrMister111]

Don’t know much about all these formates but on a side not of my original post, and the post above can someone recommend what I’d need please.

I’d also want my photo library on an external HDD. At the moment it’s on a USB HDD 2Tb. It’s encrypted, not sure if the format.

If I go iMac M1 I’d still want it encrypted for security in case drive was stolen. Wouldn’t want all my pics posted around which I’m sure they would.

So I presume getting an external SSD is better for speed, and easy connecting to the M1 iMac.

So what format would I use, and any recommendations please, I’d need a 2Tb one.

Thanks

 

[MacFather]

The speaker comparison (24" vs. 27" vs. 27" Pro).

 

[Bodhitree]

So far it’s been excellent. Fast, responsive, quiet, cool, everything working nearly without issues. Boots to the login screen in about 5 seconds, wake from sleep with touch id is near instant. Speakers are fine, certainly loud enough to fill a room though not loud enough to make the walls pulsate. I had one morning where the keyboard disconnected from Bluetooth a couple of times in succession, but it hasnt happened again and it was a few updates ago.

 

[400]

Don’t know much about all these formates but on a side not of my original post, and the post above can someone recommend what I’d need please.

I’d also want my photo library on an external HDD. At the moment it’s on a USB HDD 2Tb. It’s encrypted, not sure if the format.

If I go iMac M1 I’d still want it encrypted for security in case drive was stolen. Wouldn’t want all my pics posted around which I’m sure they would.

So I presume getting an external SSD is better for speed, and easy connecting to the M1 iMac.

So what format would I use, and any recommendations please, I’d need a 2Tb one.

Thanks

What backup plan do you have in place? Very important if you value your images, documents etc.

I am just waiting for the prices to drop down. The rate of increase means my library and the mrs will be way over 1tb soon and the leap in price 2/3 from 1tb to 2tb is still too far for me at the moment. I could probably manage on 2tb for a few years, but not forgetting that your library will need separate backups. For me it is 4 hard drives, 5 including off site, one of those is Time Machine and that is covered to apfs no matter what you want to do it seem?

Even if prices drop my conversion will be a disk at a time as my wallet allows. But I have concerns will long term storage on SSD, not sure where I picked up on that and if it is valid?

 

[sonstar]

Nope. Sold my 27” 2015 fusion for a 24” base 512gb, only cost extra $500Aud.

 

[DanTSX]

How do you connect to your external monitor? Is it a USB-C type? So power cable and USB-C cable from iMac to monitor? Work well? I have a Dell USB-C monitor 24” I could use as well.

I wish the desktop iMac, had the M1 pro/max option, I feel as though the M1 is more a mobile, whereas the iMac could power a M1 pro/max.

The sound is supposed to be good as you say, I prefer no clutter and would just use iMac speakers.

The processor is fine. Nobody complains about their speed. And the processor runs a lot better in the iMac because of heat and power consumption restraints are basically removed.


I prefer to think of other M1 equipped devices to be overspecced with a desktop class chip, rather than the other way around. Sure the iMac will eventually get a “M2”, but it’s not worth waiting if you are in the market now. These things don’t break a sweat with consumer or business level tasks, and do professional level tasks very well.

 

[MrMister111]

Think going to have to decide very soon as dates slipping to middle of Dec now….

Or wait until Black Friday as Apple sometimes give a gift voucher, and hope dates don’t slip to after Xmas.