iMac Pro -> M1 Imac 24"

[mpe]

I develop mostly video streaming apps for iOS and tvOS. So luckily, I use no VMs for my work. But I do use Intel-only software through Rosetta (like my favourite git client, MS Teams and a bunch of Java tools). I also have to, from time to time, run old versions of Xcode through Rosetta. This seems to be working fine. Occasionally some binary-only 3rd party libraries are not yet providing arm versions of libs for simulators so I am debugging on real devices more than I used to on Intel Mac. I am still impressed with how well the emulation works.

As for 27" vs 24" I found it to be no issue. Perhaps it is due to the gap I spent on the 13" screen, but I don't notice any practical difference between 24" and 27". I currently don't use a second monitor (well technically I do, but it is a TV constantly showing the output of the device I am developing for rather than the code itself). If I really wanted extra space, I'd think a second monitor would be far more useful for dev than 640 extra horizontal pixels of a 27" screen and that's where a smaller physical size of a 24" screen would help as I guess I'd have far less problems finding an acceptable 4k 24" LCD than 5k 27".

 

[ADGrant]

I develop mostly video streaming apps for iOS and tvOS. So luckily, I use no VMs for my work. But I do use Intel-only software through Rosetta (like my favourite git client, MS Teams and a bunch of Java tools). I also have to, from time to time, run old versions of Xcode through Rosetta. This seems to be working fine. Occasionally some binary-only 3rd party libraries are not yet providing arm versions of libs for simulators so I am debugging on real devices more than I used to on Intel Mac. I am still impressed with how well the emulation works.

As for 27" vs 24" I found it to be no issue. Perhaps it is due to the gap I spent on the 13" screen, but I don't notice any practical difference between 24" and 27". I currently don't use a second monitor (well technically I do, but it is a TV constantly showing the output of the device I am developing for rather than the code itself). If I really wanted extra space, I'd think a second monitor would be far more useful for dev than 640 extra horizontal pixels of a 27" screen and that's where a smaller physical size of a 24" screen would help as I guess I'd have far less problems finding an acceptable 4k 24" LCD than 5k 27".

I used to use a 4k 24" monitor attached to a MacBook. They are actually not that common. If you use them as Retina displays they offer quite a bit less screen real estate than a 5k 27". I agree that two 24" displays is better than a single 27" but I have space for the 27" but not the 24".

Do you make your apps available on MacOS via either allowing them to run on ARM Macs or via Catalyst?

 

[MacGizmo]

I do graphic design (mostly print) using Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator and Acrobat, for a living. My primary concern with the M1 iMacs is screens size and RAM. I have no doubt the processor will blow away my current i9 MBPro 16".

But here's the thing. I'm 50+ years old, and my eyesight isn't what it used to be. Currently, I have the LG Ultrafine 27" 5K screen set to 3200x1800. At this resolution, it's comfortable to use, but I wish I could increase the resolution to show more on the screen... but the eye strain after a few hours bothers me. How much I see on the screen is important to me, as it makes page layout a lot easier, but I also have to be able to actually see the controls and GUI text of the apps I'm working in. I worry about the size of the controls in Adobe's software on a higher-resolution setting - which seems almost a sure thing with the 24" M1 iMac in order to see more on the screen. Adobe's GUI for its apps is too small as it is.

The second concern is RAM. I fully understand how the M1 is a completely different architecture and that the RAM isn't quite as vital to the system as it is with Intel machines. BUT, RAM is everything when dealing with Photoshop. PS loads an image into RAM for editing... the more RAM you have, the faster you can manipulate the pixels and not experience any stuttering while scrolling and zooming, applying filters, etc. InDesign also seems to perform significantly better with more RAM, this is easily seen with two Macs sitting next to each other and doing a visual comparison with something as simple as scrolling. Two of the exact same Macs with one having more RAM. The one with more RAM easily is more fluid in InDesign. And while I don't use Illustrator too heavily, I suspect it is the same. So while many people say 16GB is enough even on an Intel Mac, I've found 32GB to be the minimum config for satisfactory use (for me).

I'm soooooo over using a laptop as my main workhorse. I'm ready to go back to the iMac for my serious work, and perhaps a MacBook Air for light-duty work on the go.

However, I suspect that the current 24" iMac will not be satisfactory for me. And if there's one thing I've learned over the last 30+ years of using Macs professionally, it is this:

Regret is MUCH more expensive than paying a little more for something I may not need.

 

[Ifti]

Has the audio issue with Final Cut since been rectified??
I'd find that super annoying"

 

[ADGrant]

The second concern is RAM. I fully understand how the M1 is a completely different architecture and that the RAM isn't quite as vital to the system as it is with Intel machines.

Your understanding is not correct. RAM is as important to an Apple Silicon Mac as it is to an Intel Mac. Remember also on an Intel iMac, you will have a separate GPU with its own RAM (e.g. my iMac has 16GB of Video RAM in addition to the 64GB of system RAM). An M1 Mac shares the RAM between the GPU and CPU (as do most MacBooks).

 

[coso]

I do graphic design (mostly print) using Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator and Acrobat, for a living. My primary concern with the M1 iMacs is screens size and RAM. I have no doubt the processor will blow away my current i9 MBPro 16".

But here's the thing. I'm 50+ years old, and my eyesight isn't what it used to be. Currently, I have the LG Ultrafine 27" 5K screen set to 3200x1800. At this resolution, it's comfortable to use, but I wish I could increase the resolution to show more on the screen... but the eye strain after a few hours bothers me. How much I see on the screen is important to me, as it makes page layout a lot easier, but I also have to be able to actually see the controls and GUI text of the apps I'm working in. I worry about the size of the controls in Adobe's software on a higher-resolution setting - which seems almost a sure thing with the 24" M1 iMac in order to see more on the screen. Adobe's GUI for its apps is too small as it is.

The second concern is RAM. I fully understand how the M1 is a completely different architecture and that the RAM isn't quite as vital to the system as it is with Intel machines. BUT, RAM is everything when dealing with Photoshop. PS loads an image into RAM for editing... the more RAM you have, the faster you can manipulate the pixels and not experience any stuttering while scrolling and zooming, applying filters, etc. InDesign also seems to perform significantly better with more RAM, this is easily seen with two Macs sitting next to each other and doing a visual comparison with something as simple as scrolling. Two of the exact same Macs with one having more RAM. The one with more RAM easily is more fluid in InDesign. And while I don't use Illustrator too heavily, I suspect it is the same. So while many people say 16GB is enough even on an Intel Mac, I've found 32GB to be the minimum config for satisfactory use (for me).

I'm soooooo over using a laptop as my main workhorse. I'm ready to go back to the iMac for my serious work, and perhaps a MacBook Air for light-duty work on the go.

However, I suspect that the current 24" iMac will not be satisfactory for me. And if there's one thing I've learned over the last 30+ years of using Macs professionally, it is this:

Regret is MUCH more expensive than paying a little more for something I may not need.

Fellow designer here, the 24" "resolution" is like when you set your 27" 4K screen to 2560x1440 equivalent. I don't know how you can use yours at 3200x1800... it strained me already at 5K equivalent that often I used it at 1920x1080 equivalent, and I'm in my 40s with 12/10 vision on both eyes. I now use the 24" closer to me and I find it perfect with the Adobe suite. I never experienced a slow down yet even with biggish images and 26MP images from my mirrorless. Mine is a 4 port 16GB / 512SSD. You could wait for may 2022 when they'll present the 28/32" supposed big M1X brother of the 24", but I'm so happy on not using my old MBPr 2015 with an external 27" 4K monitor anymore, anything opens blazing fast on this machine and I don't have to move my head around to reach both sides of the screen with the eyes.

 

[MacGizmo]

...I don't know how you can use yours at 3200x1800...

I do switch to 2880x1620 often when the projects don't have large page/image sizes with lots of manipulation work. I don't find myself having to move my head around to see both sides of the screen much at any resolution though. Nose-to-screen, I'm about 22" away, so it's enough to get a pretty good view of the entire 27" screen.

I often wonder if one of those super-duper widescreen LCDs might be the answer. It's a lower resolution, but so much more screen real estate. I long for the days when there were numerous computer (brick & mortar) stores around where I could actually go in and see it in action, rather than believing the hype the manufacturer puts on their website and hoping for the best.

 

[jamiemcd]

Until last month I used an upgraded 2010 Mac Pro 3.33GHz Hex-core with a 27" Dell 4K monitor for Xcode. It could not be upgraded to Big Sur, so once Xcode required that I had to finally pay Apple for a new computer.

I was thinking about the M1 Mac mini, but really liked the all-in-one M1 iMac. I was kind of concerned the 23.5" would be an adjustment, but it wasn't. It is the perfect size. I love it!

I mean, professor Paul Hegarty teaches CS193p on what looks to be a 13" laptop. He just closes the navigator and the inspector a lot.

 

[mpe]

You certainly don't need a big screen for coding. I've completed a number of professional projects on 13" Macbook Air. Often, on train, plane, in a coffee shop, in my parent's house or everywhere and I've been using Macbook Air exclusively as my only coding machine for months since I sold my iMac Pro.

A bigger screen has its benefits and could improve comfort such as when doing complicated merges where you need to see 2 or more source code files at the same time. Also works nicer with SwiftUI previews where you need to see code and canvas at the same time, which isn't great on 13".

So while I'd still prefer 24" permanent desktop setup over 13" laptop for the above reasons, I don't believe there is any practical difference between 27" 5k or 24" 4.5k for coding. In fact, I actually much prefer the smaller size as it gives me a cleaner desk, allows me to place the computer to the optimal viewing distance.

 

[crashnburn]

From what I heard a lot of development stuff still has not been ported. Again, depends on what tools & stacks and underlying dev stuff you rely on.

 

[Freeangel1]

I would have waited for the M1X chip which should give you 32GB ram or more
Also extra GPU cores in the M1X chip
The M1 is very easy to max out the GPU cores along with just 16GB of memory
The M1X should also allow multiple 5k monitor hook ups

 

[mpe]

I would have waited for the M1X chip which should give you 32GB ram or more

I am still waiting There is always something better getting ready for us. In the meanwhile, I eBayed iMac Pro for £2300. Bought the pink iMac for £1700, enjoying my new computer and extended my summer holidays for the difference . In my opinion, Intel Macs are quickly depreciating assets right now.

The M1 is very easy to max out the GPU cores along with just 16GB of memory

Not in my use. The GPU performance isn't something I care too much about. I don't experience any slowdowns going down from 32GB to 16GB for my type of use (software development), in fact, everything feels a bit faster thanks to significantly better single-core performance.

The M1X should also allow multiple 5k monitor hook ups

I couldn't care less about that one. I am sure there might be a use case for some people, but I have no desire to infest my desk with multiple external 5k screens.