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The latest iMac is a pitiful computer
- Thread starter Kung gu
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Honestly if it's just the internal drive I'd suggest limping along with booting/operating from an external fast SSD for a while until the upper-tier larger iMacs transition to Apple Silicon.
Right now isn't a good time to replace a 27" imac IMHO
You know what, I feel like arguing, let’s do this.
Many have pointed out that the weakest part of performance in the M1 is the gpu, comparing only to a 1050. (It’s easily the best integrated gpu currently though). So I’m just gonna post some screenshots of the prices of gpus that meet or exceed the M1 performance.
Many have pointed out that the weakest part of performance in the M1 is the gpu, comparing only to a 1050. (It’s easily the best integrated gpu currently though). So I’m just gonna post some screenshots of the prices of gpus that meet or exceed the M1 performance.
Don’t forget to add these to your superior build. The baseline to meet the performance of just the M1’s gpu is a third the cost of the iMac. Notwithstanding the high-end cpu performance you’d need, plus psu to run all of it. I’m going to even ignore the monitor, case, RAM, SSD, and potentially speakers.
I just looked up RX470 prices at eBay. What the heck. I’ll have to sell my pc this weekend. This is insane
Yeah, that’s mining for ya. I made a point to not even post “good” gpus, the 3gig 1060, 4gig 570, the prices are insane. Even cpus with integrated graphics were selling for higher than non-igpu ones last I checked.
The best case for building a PC comparable to the M1 iMac right now is to buy an ebay 4750g and cobble it together with a compatible mobo. Even then the M1 is more performant by itself, not counting other goodies on the iMac.
The lack of ports and the incredibly small amount of storage, combined with the bare-minimum amount of RAM that anyone would recommend in a modern computer, all make the base-line model hard to recommend, I'll give you that.
If these had 16GB of ram, 500GB of storage, and just one additional normal Type A USB port this would be a no-brainer fantastic deal. Unfortunately Apple likes to build a base-model that's hard to recommend, so that they can show (for example) "from $1299" and then up-sell to a model you would actually want to purchase. You do, nearly always, want to avoid that base model. (Apple is far and away from the only company to do this. Look at the automotive industry for a similar situation with the base-models on offer.)
On the other hand, you do get a great display thrown in with that price in a nicely designed product with a fast CPU and reasonably good GPU performance as well. It will be very, very hard to actually put together even a self-built Windows machine with the performance level of that iMac and have anything resembling an attractive package. Yes, you'll probably be able to put one together with 16GB or 32GB of ram, and at least double the storage, and DEFINITELY far more ports, but you'll sacrifice nearly everything else to do it (to keep the cost low you'll probably have to go with a really crappy case, cheap power supply, etc.)
As usual it's more of a toss-up and depends on what you want and need. For example, with the limited storage it would be a terrible machine for anyone doing video work, despite the speed. For someone working in audio or digital photography however, that may well be sufficient for a few years of work as those take many orders of magnitude less space than HD video.
Apple sells experiences. Everything from unboxing to set up is designed to provide a good experience. So Apple focuses on the touch points. So good display so your content looks as best as it can. A solid keyboard (with the glaring exception of the butterfly keyboard fiasco), and input. It took a while to find the proper friction on the trackpad glass that provided a good feel for using the product. Good speakers so audio sounds good.
This is the opposite of most other OEMs who will skimp on the displays and peripherals to push for higher specs like CPU or GPU, or to hit a lower price point. This has been changing somewhat on the high end. But even there, Apple has limits. Higher rez displays for example. Once you've reached a certain pixel density, you start hitting the point of diminishing returns. Running a 4K display on a 13" laptop accomplishes little more than stressing the GPU and draining the battery.
Individual specs matter only as much as they help deliver a solid user experiece
Which is largely why I suggest that the 24" iMac is not aimed at the typical MacRumors reader, as we tend to be enthusiasts and often have higher level needs / preferences.
IMHO the 24" iMac, especially the base model, is aimed at the family/kid computer where they specifically want an AIO system and don't want a laptop. Base model would also be good in a primary/early-secondary education environment.
Screwdrivers tend to be poor hammers.
I expect the higher tier users will be addressed with the yet-to-be-released transition of the 27" iMacs.
At least they're no longer selling a 1080p 21.5" version with dual-core 7th gen Intel processors in 2021. Oh wait...
That's what I've done with my two base model 21.5" iMacs (2013 and 2017, 8GB RAM/1TB spinner) Using an external SSD transformed these machines and are now dramatically faster than when they were new.
old: launching MS Word - 50+ icon bounces.
new: launching MS Word - 5 icon bounces. (talk about a precise measurement) 😅
"Apple sells experiences" is a meaningless marketing phrase. Apple sells products. It has strong opinions on how the products should be designed and used, which do not always match the user's preferences.
Many Apple products are good, but Apple is also known for frequent design failures by prioritizing form over function. For example:
- Butterfly keyboard, as you mentioned.
- Magic Mouse, which cannot be used while charging.
- Mighty Mouse, where the scrolling ball often failed due to dust.
- MagSafe charger, with easily fraying cables.
- Lack of ports, especially easily reachable ones, which sometimes leads to excessive use of hubs and adapters.
- Noisy fans, because the case is too small for the hardware it houses.
And sometimes the specs of the high-end display do not matter, because it does not deliver a better user experience than a cheaper ordinary display.
Going by the HP in my example. If HP did release such a thing. I'm guessing they'd charge $2500 to $3000.
Picking at straws.
The experience of owning a Mac far outstrips that of a PC.
my partner just got a surfacebook3 for work. Spent 2 hours trying to get the headphones to work on Bluetooth.
Hinge wobbles, hours of updates required, tablet mode is a joke, blah blah blah.
I love how people pick some thing to complain about, but in my experience the ease, quality, usability and satisfaction I get from a Mac far far outweighs that of any other computer or brand I have ever used.
What you say is true, but it is also completely irrelevant to this branch of discussion.
Apple cares more about the opinions of its designers than user experience. These goals often align, but sometimes Apple deliberately makes the user experience worse for aesthetic reasons.
I get people complaining about dongles for laptops but what's the fuss about getting one for the iMac...
I don't disagree with you except for one thing.
For a very large number of people the base model is exactly what I would recommend.
These are people who don't have huge requirements of their computers. They use them for internet browsing, some music, maybe looking after their photo library and playing around with iMovie for videos they have taken. They may use a word processor or spreadsheet occasionally (often Pages/Numbers as that is free).
For those purposes 8gb/256gb is absolutely fine. I know lots of people like this. Many use Macs.
These are often people who have plenty of disposable income, want an easy experience (they really don't want to be messing around with the things that many on this site love) and whilst they can justify £1,249 for an iMac they have no wish to start upgrading it and feel they are getting a lot for their money.
If these people do upgrade from the base model then I suspect most would do it for touchID rather than to get extra storage. If they did start paying more for storage and the extra GPU core then they are probably paying for something they will never use (outside of the OS keeping files/data in RAM when closed).
I mean the screen is a lower DPI overall than either retina iMac too. The newest iMacs are slightly brighter too.
I guess it depends on what rankles people the most. I wasn't happy about picking up an adapter, but I found one reasonably priced that works. The upside is now I just connect one cable and everything is connected.
For the iMac, I imagine we'll soon see hubs, with and without additional storage, that match the iMac body or bezel colors, that fit under the stand. I bought the OG iMac back in the day, and the complaints were exactly the same. Too few ports, not enough USB devices, etc. Within a short time, there were tons of adapters and USB peripherals, often in matching Bondi blue. Apple did still keep the ADB port on the PowerMac G3, but otherwise it was USB and FireWire.
We'll see reviews for the new iMacs in a few weeks. Time will tell. People keep complaining about Apple's designs, but sales keep growing.
For the iMac, I imagine we'll soon see hubs, with and without additional storage, that match the iMac body or bezel colors, that fit under the stand. I bought the OG iMac back in the day, and the complaints were exactly the same. Too few ports, not enough USB devices, etc. Within a short time, there were tons of adapters and USB peripherals, often in matching Bondi blue. Apple did still keep the ADB port on the PowerMac G3, but otherwise it was USB and FireWire.
We'll see reviews for the new iMacs in a few weeks. Time will tell. People keep complaining about Apple's designs, but sales keep growing.
Totally agree - if my father was still alive, the base iMac would have been a perfect fit for his genealogy and church work.
He always struggled with Windows and I nearly always had to do maintenance on his PC whenever I visited. Handoff & continuity with an iPad would have been great for him too.
The only reason I’m not getting one of the mid-range models myself is because I got an M1 Mac Mini to use with the screen I needed for home working with my Dell work laptop. I really miss having the integrated AIO of my late 2013 iMac but don’t have enough room for two screens on my desk, although I am tempted by one of these if I can declutter my workspace.
So says a wanna be influencer with no credibility or credentials.
It interesting because HP just announced a brand new All-In-One today.
www.hp.com
Configuring it as closely to the base iMac it’s not even close and it won’t even ship until mid-January 2022.
In Stock HP EliteOne 800 All-in-One | HP® Official Store
Free Shipping. Buy direct from HP. See customer reviews and comparisons for HP EliteOne 800 All-in-One. Upgrades and savings on select products.
Configuring it as closely to the base iMac it’s not even close and it won’t even ship until mid-January 2022.
| Feature | Apple iMac | HP EliteOne 800 |
| Screen Size | 23.5" 4480 × 2520 | 23.8" 1920 × 1080P (?) |
| Memory | 8GB Integrated | 8HB DDR-4 |
| CPU | Apple M1 | Intel Core i3 3.7Ghz |
| Graphics | Apple GPU | Intel Integrated UHD Graphics 630 |
| Storage | 256 GB SSD | 256 GB SSD |
| Networking | WiFi6/Bluetooth 5 | Ethernet + WiFi6/Bluetooth5 |
| Keyboard | Bluetooth | Wired |
| Mouse | Bluetooth | Wired |
| Webcam | 1080P | 5MP |
| Ports | 2 Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 ports (40 Gb/s) | Display Port 1.4, HDMI, 7 USB mix of Type A and C (5-10 Gb/s) |
| Ships | 06/01/2021 | 01/20/2022 😂 |
| Price | $1299 | $1294.30 |