The latest iMac is a pitiful computer

[Kung gu]

M1 in an iMac 24" starts at $1299 with only 2 USB4 ports. Man, this is just sad at this point. 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. Horrible deal.

Now the next step up, $1499. You can same RAM and SSD but 2 more NORMAL USB C ports and ethernet(lol). Again I know it comes with a 4.5 display but you can get a decent PC with a 4k HDR monitor for less and with upgradeable parts.

Please if macOS is not needed don't get this iMac. Its full of crap.

 

[grmlin]

They are "full of crap" because they are expensive? What? There is simply nothing like it on the PC market, and if you want an all in one solution this is still the way to go.
We also know that the M1 is a very fast and efficient chip, I don't see anything wrong technically with the new iMacs.

Custom made PCs has always been cheaper, that not new. But you also can't buy a 4.5k 24" screen afaik.

 

[UltimateSyn]

M1 + 24" 4.5K Retina Display = Heaven

 

[Absrnd]

M1 in an iMac 24" starts at $1299 with only 2 USB4 ports. Man, this is just sad at this point. 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. Horrible deal.

Now the next step up, $1499. You can same RAM and SSD but 2 more NORMAL USB C ports and ethernet(lol). Again I know it comes with a 4.5 display but you can get a decent PC with a 4k HDR monitor for less and with upgradeable parts.

Please if macOS is not needed don't get this iMac. Its full of crap.

How...Wrong...You...Are...

 

[BrianBaughn]

The monitor is half the cost. Apple doesn't skimp on iMac monitors and you don't hear a lot of complaints about how they look.

You can probably get a hub to add more ports and ethernet cheaper than the upgrade cost from Apple.

I've always observed that the lowest RAM offering in Macs was too little. The upgrade for more is normally a price-gouge but with other RAM prices way up it ain't too bad, presently and comparatively.

I suppose you could get the most powerful Intel PC with a bunch of ports and a cheap monitor but you're going to hear a lot of fan noise while you're waiting twice as long for that process to finish!

 

[Abazigal]

Again I know it comes with a 4.5 display but you can get a decent PC with a 4k HDR monitor for less and with upgradeable parts.

I am pretty sure you couldn’t.

 

[skaertus]

M1 in an iMac 24" starts at $1299 with only 2 USB4 ports. Man, this is just sad at this point. 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. Horrible deal.

Now the next step up, $1499. You can same RAM and SSD but 2 more NORMAL USB C ports and ethernet(lol). Again I know it comes with a 4.5 display but you can get a decent PC with a 4k HDR monitor for less and with upgradeable parts.

Please if macOS is not needed don't get this iMac. Its full of crap.

Apple is charging $200 for 1 additional GPU core, two USB-C ports, Gigabit Ethernet, and Touch ID. Yes, it is a rip-off.

 

[velocityg4]

Cheapest 4.5K all in one I found was $3,500. Although it has the renowned Surface screen. It's really more in the league of the 5K iMac. Which the 5k iMac still has better pricing. But the Surface has a specific user design for digital artists.

Microsoft 28" Surface Studio 2 Multi-Touch All-in-One Desktop Computer

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www.bhphotovideo.com

Cheapest 4K all in one I found was $1,700 (8GB RAM, i5 9th gen, GTX 1650, 256GB SSD, 1TB HDD, 32in 4K)

HP ENVY All-in-One - 32-a0035

Free shipping. Buy direct from HP. See customer reviews and comparisons for HP ENVY All-in-One - 32-a0035. Upgrades and savings on select products.

www.hp.com

Basically, all in one prices suck. Compared to the competition. Apple's prices aren't that bad. If not pretty good. Sure you can get some cheap one with a 1080p screen. But then you are comparing something with a $100-$200 panel against something with a $500 to $700 panel.

At $1300. Apple is selling a comparable computer to the $1,700 HP. Probably better than the HP. As the panel is higher end, the CPU is faster and it has USB 4. Although the HP is upgradeable.

While I'm not a big fan of the looks of either. I do think the iMac looks nicer than the HP. Especially with that reverse notch.🤮

 

[UltimateSyn]

Apple is charging $200 for 1 additional GPU core, two USB-C ports, Gigabit Ethernet, and Touch ID. Yes, it is a rip-off.

What do you value each of those features at individually?

 

[mi7chy]

These disposable desktop Chromebooks are marketed to first time buyers and grandma. Even your average Joe won't touch these and will build a SFF PC/hackintosh.

 

[Queen6]

How...Wrong...You...Are...

Tend to think the same 😆 24" iMac isn't for me, however they are going to fly of the shelves. They are fun, if not playful, M1 it's gonna be fast. New iMac is not without issues, but for the intended audience they will be pretty solid machines that will likely serve a good few years.

Most simply don't need some upgradable behemoth, nor remotely care. Port constrained yes, RAM 8GB is still adequate for the majority and storage LOL will just be a matter of time before someone markets a drive caddy that clips on to the rear of the stand. Same as my own M1 MBP, I don't want to waste money on Apple's inhouse upgrades unless they are of actual benefit and that means revenue...

Q-6

 

[velocityg4]

Tend to think the same 😆 24" iMac isn't for me, however they are going to fly of the shelves. They are fun, if not playful, M1 it's gonna be fast. New iMac is not without issues, but for the intended audience they will be pretty solid machines that will likely serve a good few years.

Most simply don't need some upgradable behemoth, nor remotely care. Port constrained yes, RAM 8GB is still adequate for the majority and storage LOL will just be a matter of time before someone markets a drive caddy that clips on to the rear of the stand. Same as my own M1 MBP, I don't want to waste money on Apple's inhouse upgrades unless they are of actual benefit and that means revenue...

Q-6

Or just use any aftermarket external NVMe and double sided tape.

 

[usagora]

I'm guessing you're one of those Amazon reviewers that go around saying, "I wish I could give this product zero stars!" That's always a red flag to me that I'm about to read an imbalanced review. So was your thread title ("pitiful"). I'm sorry, but that is patently silly. It is a VERY capable machine and is targeted towards average consumers, not "pros" (either self-styled or actual pros).

 

[Queen6]

These disposable desktop Chromebooks are marketed to first time buyers and grandma. Even your average Joe won't touch these and will build a SFF PC/hackintosh.

Average Joe who want's macOS will be visiting Apple one way or the other simple as that. Same as the other M1 Mac's the 24" iMac will be a very capable machine and frankly most people don't push there hardware unless they game.

I've had my own concern's and arguments related to Apple for several years, equally M1 is a revelation and you can bet after the Butterfly Keyboard fiasco and other Mac centric issues that the message from the very top was the launch of Apple silicon Mac's is to be as flawless as humanly possible...

Q-6

 

[mi7chy]

RAM 8GB is still adequate for the majority

It's not. I opened the same number of browser tabs and PDF docs. On M1 it uses about 11GB, on Windows 10 about 4GB and on Linux 2GB. It's a disservice to ship these M1 iMacs with less than 16GB especially for the price they're charging since 8GB will cause swapping and prematurely wearing out the non-replaceable SSD.

 

[grmlin]

These disposable desktop Chromebooks are marketed to first time buyers and grandma. Even your average Joe won't touch these and will build a SFF PC/hackintosh.

Haha no. Average Joe will not build a hackintosh lol.
The now oldish 27“ is great value and if the screen of the 24“ is as good as they say the 24“ iMac will be too

 

[Queen6]

Or just use any aftermarket external NVMe and double sided tape.

Yeah exactly I think I remember something similar for the outgoing iMac, a tray or the likes to store drives etc. To me is a no brainer as why pay Apple's premium unless there's good reason and you can always repurpose the external storage in the future.

Q-6

 

[GSWForever8]

M1 in an iMac 24" starts at $1299 with only 2 USB4 ports. Man, this is just sad at this point. 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. Horrible deal.

Now the next step up, $1499. You can same RAM and SSD but 2 more NORMAL USB C ports and ethernet(lol). Again I know it comes with a 4.5 display but you can get a decent PC with a 4k HDR monitor for less and with upgradeable parts.

Please if macOS is not needed don't get this iMac. Its full of crap.

Your argument regarding the ports is valid. Everything else is invalid.

 

[LeeW]

It's not. I opened the same number of browser tabs and PDF docs. On M1 it uses about 11GB, on Windows 10 about 4GB and on Linux 2GB. It's a disservice to ship these M1 iMacs with less than 16GB especially for the price they're charging since 8GB will cause swapping and prematurely wearing out the non-replaceable SSD.

Certainly not my experience, just tried a similar test, same browser, 10 tabs, some PDF and a few other items. RAM usage is not that much different, within 1GB on the PC vs M1 Mac Mini.

Not saying 8GB is ideal but I am using an 8GB version, yes it does SWAP up to 2GB when I fire up World of Warcraft along with everything else that is running but that won't be an issue and your average user will never look at the monitor. As long as it runs fine and it will in the main.

 

[mi7chy]

Certainly not my experience, just tried a similar test, same browser, 10 tabs, some PDF and a few other items. RAM usage is not that much different, within 1GB on the PC vs M1 Mac Mini.

Not saying 8GB is ideal but I am using an 8GB version, yes it does SWAP up to 2GB when I fire up World of Warcraft along with everything else that is running but that won't be an issue and your average user will never look at the monitor. As long as it runs fine and it will in the main.

I'm seeing a huge difference.

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...ke-8gb-on-windows-10-or-4gb-on-linux.2294965/

 

[Queen6]

It's not. I opened the same number of browser tabs and PDF docs. On M1 it uses about 11GB, on Windows 10 about 4GB and on Linux 2GB. It's a disservice to ship these M1 iMacs with less than 16GB especially for the price they're charging since 8GB will cause swapping and prematurely wearing out the non-replaceable SSD.

I've been using Mac's for year's professionally and I've yet to have issue with 8GB on a 13". A 16" MBP (more likely a PC) I'd be looking at 16Gb/32GB depending on the project. Even one of my far older 8GB 13"s (2014) could handle 10 virtual desktops fully populated with the Memory Pressure occasionally just clipping into the yellow.

People sweat on this far too much, by the time the SSD is done the Mac in question will be near redundant. Same 2014 13" was repurposed as a HTPC/media server years ago, it must have countless terabyte's of writes on the internal SSD with the failure of the drive being not remotely on the radar.

As for pricing I think is fair for what you now get with M1, not bargain priced mind nor is Apple noted for being so. Apple has always been "cheap" regarding RAM & storage. Forcing upgrade's with excessive margins on those that do have need. Bottom line is if you need more you'll likely know so.

Is very simple to me; if the Mac/PC doesn't do what I need or I consider it a bottleneck I'd just replace it. This Asus ROG notebook was rerolled as a workstation with 32GB for purpose, I stand by what I said average user is fine with 8GB as the OS is far more efficient now. Think about it 🤔 Apple is all about the user experience, if 8GB negatively impacted that experience, Apple would bump up the RAM, potentially the price and it may.

Apple in many respects is correct; just buy your Mac, use and enjoy it, don't get into all the scare mongering. Vast majority of my Mac's have been no issue and they've all been thrashed on engineering projects from the sub artic to the jungles of Papua Ne Guinea. Sure Apple has royally screwed up at time's and does it's level best to avoid any responsibility until faced with court action that it can not possibly win or defend. Had a few myself and continue to retain one of the notoriously ill fated 2011 15" MBP's with the auto destruct Radeon dGPU, yet despite all the abuse it continues to run, stock HW and never clean installed. At this point in time it's just an exercise in curiosity as to how long it will last 😆 Like all in life, there's good & bad in all

A long time ago I ceased using system monitors and the likes. If I think the design is solid I'll move forward, if I think the design is flawed I'll avoid. M1 is the first Mac since 2015 as we need portables and the 2016 design was hopeless and only went on to prove it's unreliability...

Is my M1 MBP perfect? No it remains port constrained and has other HW/SW issues multiple display's etc. and Big Sur is what it is. Are the current M1's a poor design no. I strongly suspect that they will be prove to be some of the most reliable of the MBP line as the chassis is now well tried and proven. 2nd Gen M1X/M2 I'll skip as will be a new chassis and display technology. Apple can be overly ambitious & arrogant as we know all too well, 3rd Gen we'll see.

I think Apple is listening as the 2013 Trash Can Mac Pro and the 2016 MacBook Pro were lacking to say the very least and Apple very much needs that professional user endorsement, equally Apple has to deliver. Overall I think the future for the Mac is bright...

Q-6

 

[LeeW]

I'm seeing a huge difference.

Well, taking out the application caching which is quite aggressive in macOS but useful. It will use RAM if it's there, no point wasting it. Then there are so many other elements that do not make it a simple like for like comparison. I don't actually see any issues other than more RAM usage that is not explained simply with 'Windows uses less'.

 

[Apple_Robert]

M1 in an iMac 24" starts at $1299 with only 2 USB4 ports. Man, this is just sad at this point. 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. Horrible deal.

Now the next step up, $1499. You can same RAM and SSD but 2 more NORMAL USB C ports and ethernet(lol). Again I know it comes with a 4.5 display but you can get a decent PC with a 4k HDR monitor for less and with upgradeable parts.

Please if macOS is not needed don't get this iMac. Its full of crap.

What is pitiful is your OP.

Other people will do just fine with the base model.

 

[Queen6]

Certainly not my experience, just tried a similar test, same browser, 10 tabs, some PDF and a few other items. RAM usage is not that much different, within 1GB on the PC vs M1 Mac Mini.

Not saying 8GB is ideal but I am using an 8GB version, yes it does SWAP up to 2GB when I fire up World of Warcraft along with everything else that is running but that won't be an issue and your average user will never look at the monitor. As long as it runs fine and it will in the main.

Nor mine, my M1 MBP is fine and comparable the other 8GB Intel Mac I have on Big Sur. I tend to agree 8GB may not be optimal for some use cases, yet it's not the significant drawback as some would like you to believe. To be brutally honest if the user has no negative impact, who actually cares.

All OS employ Swap and applications can and do push more data to the drive irrespective of RAM. 32GB of fast RAM and it still use's Swap, Microsoft & Apple clearly have some understanding of what they are doing LOL...

Q-6

 

[LeeW]

I manage and monitor hundreds of web servers and I can tell you that many servers running older SATA Samsung EVO SSD's rarely fail. These servers are reading, writing and thrashing SWAP 24/7 for years without issue.

Now if they can handle that then today's modern NVMe drives and soldered on modules will easily handle the average user's workload for longer.

It's just a personal bug of mine for my own machines that I want enough inside so that it does not SWAP other than for intended purposes. But my point is that even if your Mac swaps a few GB's it will not wear out your drive to the extent it will fail prematurely simple because it is swapping. Yes, swapping is slower than RAM but the performance from the drives these days is such that the difference will never be noticed.

Use it, enjoy it and deal with an issue if and when it happens, not worry about what might happen!