Who else with an M1 MBP/MBA is buying the new iMac?

[Aggedor]

My M1 MBP replaced my ageing (2008) 24" iMac.

I'm perfectly ok with the size, so it suits me.

I hope you get what you're hoping comes to fruition.

Yeah the 24" will be good for lots of people. I'm surprised they didn't announce a whole range of iMacs together, including 27" and maybe even 30" models.

Having said that, I wonder if they are holding back on screen size because they don't want to cannabalise the Mac Pro and any potential new display they are working on (say a 30" normal display, not the XDR display) that would go with the Mac Mini.

 

[The Cockney Rebel]

Yeah the 24" will be good for lots of people. I'm surprised they didn't announce a whole range of iMacs together, including 27" and maybe even 30" models.

Having said that, I wonder if they are holding back on screen size because they don't want to cannabalise the Mac Pro and any potential new display they are working on (say a 30" normal display, not the XDR display) that would go with the Mac Mini.

I think they are saving bigger screen sizes for a future iMac Pro.

 

[cardfan]

These iMacs are kinda worthless. May as well get a mini and a better monitor. 629 for mini.

 

[The Cockney Rebel]

These iMacs are kinda worthless. May as well get a mini and a better monitor. 629 for mini.

I actually like them.

Variety is the spice of life, though.

 

[CheesePuff]

Matching the RAM limit on the smaller Intel iMacs (21.5")

Kinda like the two port MBPs. Max 16GB when they were Intel, max 16GB when they became Apple Silicon

Presumably the larger iMacs will have a higher RAM capacity when they transition, just as we anticipate the four-port MBPs will also match the higher RAM limit of the Intel versions.

The 21.5" 4K supported 32 GB of RAM

 

[kazmac]

Sounds very similar to my outlook.

I'll be going for silver (all of my devices are silver/white) ... you?

Either Green or Yellow. Want fun and cheerful: It won’t match anything and IDC 😂.

My inner snark aside, I 100% understand the unified look. Apple makes that tricky with all the different shades, so silver is smart.

 

[deeddawg]

The 21.5" 4K supported 32 GB of RAM

Good to know.

I was going by what's currently configurable as I hadn't looked previously.

Mac

The most powerful Mac laptops and desktops ever. Supercharged by Apple silicon. MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro.

www.apple.com

 

[pshufd]

I initially liked the 24 inch for my wife but I think that I'll wait for the larger one. I think that she'd like the 24 but she would probably notice the screen size difference.

 

[darngooddesign]

The 21.5" 4K supported 32 GB of RAM

Doesn't really matter since the 24" is faster, quieter, and more powerful despite having half the RAM. Beyond that, the 24" is less expensive to use from an "electricity consumed" point of view.

 

[katewes]

After getting an M1 Mac Mini with 16GB, I found that GPU insufficient for heavy lifting in Davinci Resolve Fusion motion graphics. So I was keenly awaiting the more powerful Apple Silicon chip, the M1X or M2 which everyone hoped would be in the iMac. But no. Since the M1 iMac has no chip upgrade, I'm not trading in my Mac Mini M1.

 

[spiderman0616]

These iMacs are kinda worthless. May as well get a mini and a better monitor. 629 for mini.

I don't agree that they're "worthless", but I do think if Apple is just going to continue propagating M chips throughout more and more devices and making the OSes more and more similar to each other, they're probably going to have to re-think some pricing and form factor strategies. Apple Silicon is going to make it possible for Apple to do anything they want with form factors, and I think the most dramatic space for that kind of evolution is in the laptop/tablet space. The desktop machines are where I want crazy amounts of power. The new iMac has that, but my M1 MBA has pretty much the same power give or take a GPU core.

 

[Serban55]

I think they are saving bigger screen sizes for a future iMac Pro.

Yes, apple is holding the 30" imac pro for the next gen M chip that will go into the 14"/16" mbp also
There will be interesting, since we will have more customisation i bet
Until now with M1...you have choice for 7 or 8 gpu M1 for the imac/macbook air, ssd storage and ram 8/16
But with the higher end macs i bet we will see difference in SoC, cores not just for the gpu but also for cpu
8/16/32 unified memory Ram, and for the bigger imac and 16" mbp also the possibility for the custom gpu that will be still unified with the SoC or something like that

 

[deeddawg]

After getting an M1 Mac Mini with 16GB, I found that GPU insufficient for heavy lifting in Davinci Resolve Fusion motion graphics. So I was keenly awaiting the more powerful Apple Silicon chip, the M1X or M2 which everyone hoped would be in the iMac. But no. Since the M1 iMac has no chip upgrade, I'm not trading in my Mac Mini M1.

Notice that Apple has only transitioned the smaller iMacs to Apple Silicon.

The 27" iMacs remain available on Intel
... just like the four-port Macbook Pros
... and just like the higher-port-count Mac Minis

Apple is clearly focusing first on the lower-tier systems -- they split the mini into a fewer-port/more-port tiering, they transitioned the smaller iMacs, they transitioned the two-port Macbooks.

The other shoe is yet to drop.

 

[Serban55]

After getting an M1 Mac Mini with 16GB, I found that GPU insufficient for heavy lifting in Davinci Resolve Fusion motion graphics. So I was keenly awaiting the more powerful Apple Silicon chip, the M1X or M2 which everyone hoped would be in the iMac. But no. Since the M1 iMac has no chip upgrade, I'm not trading in my Mac Mini M1.

until mac mini what mac did you used for davinci resolve?
Because, after apple mention that the M1 from the 24" imac is up to 50% better than the vega 20...i expect the M1 to be clocked higher into the imac..but even if its true, i dont expect to be 20% better than the M1 mac mini

 

[jerryk]

I think I will wait and see. I think these are like the Air and 13" MBP M1s. Gen 1 systems with replacement systems due in less than 12 months with M1x or if we get lucky M2 SOCs.

 

[jerryk]

After getting an M1 Mac Mini with 16GB, I found that GPU insufficient for heavy lifting in Davinci Resolve Fusion motion graphics. So I was keenly awaiting the more powerful Apple Silicon chip, the M1X or M2 which everyone hoped would be in the iMac. But no. Since the M1 iMac has no chip upgrade, I'm not trading in my Mac Mini M1.

So Resolve does recognize the GPU in the M1 and show it in the configuration settings?

 

[xraydoc]

After getting an M1 Mac Mini with 16GB, I found that GPU insufficient for heavy lifting in Davinci Resolve Fusion motion graphics. So I was keenly awaiting the more powerful Apple Silicon chip, the M1X or M2 which everyone hoped would be in the iMac. But no. Since the M1 iMac has no chip upgrade, I'm not trading in my Mac Mini M1.

While the M1 is faster than almost anything else with integrated graphics, it's not a workstation-class chip. Those are still forthcoming.

 

[fivenotrump]

I love my M1 MBA and shall keep it. I know what configuration of iMac I intend to order and now have a week to decide on the colour...

 

[The Cockney Rebel]

I love my M1 MBA and shall keep it. I know what configuration of iMac I intend to order and now have a week to decide on the colour...

What config are you going for?

Any shortlists, re colour?

Myself, top end model with 16gb of RAM and the keyboard with numerical keypad. Going with silver, as I always do.

 

[ADGrant]

Nah, no surprise. Apple's being methodical in their transition to Apple Silicon.

First are the lower tier systems: MBA, two-port MBP, smaller iMacs.

We'll later see the upper tier systems transition: four-port MBP, larger iMacs

The oddball in this was the mini - previously only in a many-port configuration, it was split into two tiers of fewer-ports M1 / more-ports Intel - presumably the latter will transition with the other upper tier systems.

The 13" MBP is also split into two tiers of fewer-ports M1 / more-ports Intel.

What is strange about the mini is it is now the value system. It is cheaper than an identically configured M1 iMac. This is not true of the Intel Mini. The 27" iMac is cheaper and faster than an Intel Mac mini with a 27" 5k display and an eGPU.

 

[ADGrant]

Nope.

If a desktop config had been the best fit to my needs I'd have waited until an M1 desktop config was available.

I'd suggest you give substantial thought to how you will span your usage across two different macs - particularly in terms of files and media. In my experience a single system set up to dock at two locations is far easier to manage.

Plus, a 24" 4K USBC display (with external keyboard & trackpad if suitable) is going to be far less expensive.

(I split my time between home and a weekend place as well - really it's just easier for me to dock one computer vs keeping stuff synced across two, which I've done in the past)

An M1 desktop config has been available since day 1, the M1 mini. It is still available, is better value than the iMac and much more versatile. However an integrated all in one does have its advantages and the M1 iMac has a much better web cam than the MacBooks (so does the 2020 27" iMac). I don't love the looks of the new iMac but I think a lot of people do including the OP. A mini setup will look very different.

I am only using one Mac currently and it is a desktop (working from home thanks to Covid). However, I have used two machines and I didn't find it hard to manage. iCloud takes care of a lot of the heavy lifting and a NAS takes care of sharing larger files and backing up multiple machines. Then there is Dropbox, OneDrive, GitHub etc.

Having two machines is a great way to ensure you can survive one of them failing.

 

[katewes]

So Resolve does recognize the GPU in the M1 and show it in the configuration settings?

I have Davinci Resolve 17.1.1 Studio version. In Preferences / Memory and GPU / GPU Configuration - it refers to the GPU as being Apple M1. Type: "integrated".

In these settings, I've allocated the maximum allowable allocation of memory for Davinci Resolve as being 12GB.

I have the 16GB RAM Mac Mini, and the settings indicate 10.7GB for the GPU.

 

[katewes]

until mac mini what mac did you used for davinci resolve?
Because, after apple mention that the M1 from the 24" imac is up to 50% better than the vega 20...i expect the M1 to be clocked higher into the imac..but even if its true, i dont expect to be 20% better than the M1 mac mini

Before using the M1 Mac Mini for Davinci, I had previously used an older 2015 i5 27" iMac with 32GB RAM.

I find the M1 Mac Mini ok for general editing with Davinci 17.1 (native), but for the Fusion tab with very complex composition, when trying to play these in real time it grinds to a standstill. It's relatively ok with simple Fusion compositions, but not for complex Fusion compositions.

 

[katewes]

Notice that Apple has only transitioned the smaller iMacs to Apple Silicon.

The 27" iMacs remain available on Intel
... just like the four-port Macbook Pros
... and just like the higher-port-count Mac Minis

Apple is clearly focusing first on the lower-tier systems -- they split the mini into a fewer-port/more-port tiering, they transitioned the smaller iMacs, they transitioned the two-port Macbooks.

The other shoe is yet to drop.

Yes, I guessed that. So given the choice of upgrading to an M1 or a PC (which I couldn't, given the shortage of 3000 series GPU's and 5000 series AMD CPU's), I got a Mac Mini M1 with the intention of upgrading it when the more powerful M1X or M2 chips come out.

 

[richinaus]

I have no idea why people say having more than 1 computer is a pain.
All my stuff is on the cloud and it has been absolutely zero issues And totally automatic.

So yep if you want an imac, get it. It’s only money [and yours too.]