Why the chin on the M1 iMac?

[MYZ]

I still can't figure it out a year later, does someone have a better idea?

Judging from the internal layout of the latest iMac and the large amounts of empty space inside, the chin seems to offer no technical advantage whatsoever.

It adds extra weight, bulk, and cost to the bill of materials (!).

Considering this is Tim Cook's Apple post Jony Ive, they surely wouldn't have kept it solely for the aesthetics, would they?

 

[ignatius345]

This pearl-clutching about "chins" and "bezels" has gotten ridiculous.

Also, look, there's actual, you know, hardware inside:

https://guide-images.cdn.ifixit.com/igi/fdsIUtO6fHXwlMEv.huge

It is a computer, right? It has internal components and they have to go somewhere.

 

[curdy]

After just over a year of owning my launch day M1 iMac, I've actually grown to enjoy the look of this iMac even with the "chin".

 

[russell_314]

I love mine. I guess they figured it was the easiest way to fit the processor without making it thicker. Why does it need to be thin IDK... Why does it not need a chin IDK...

I don't see it adding much to the cost and weight isn't really an issue with desktop computers. It's not like the monitor would be sitting lower without the chin. I guess if you wanted to put something under it there would be an issue.

 

[Mr.Blacky]

THE CHIN!!! THE HOME BAR!!!1 THE NOTCH!!!!1!1 With highly mental stress like this, how can ANY Apple user stay sane?! 😱

 

[calstanford]

I still can't figure it out a year later, does someone have a better idea?

Judging from the internal layout of the latest iMac and the large amounts of empty space inside, the chin seems to offer no technical advantage whatsoever.

It adds extra weight, bulk, and cost to the bill of materials (!).

Considering this is Tim Cook's Apple post Jony Ive, they surely wouldn't have kept it solely for the aesthetics, would they?

I don't get it either. They could have easily just added it BEHIND the display, basically where the stand connects into the display now. Who cares if that part is 1 inch think while the rest is half an inch. Much better than some 2" weird thingie sticking out at the bottom

 

[Bodhitree]

Think of it this way: why does your face have a chin? Same reason!

 

[TechRunner]

Design continuity?

"It's the classic iMac look in a modern, colorful package!"

 

[MYZ]

It seems the only substantial reason why the chin was kept in the new iMac is aesthetics. Which lends credibility to the argument that Tim Cook doesn’t care solely about driving down supply chain costs.

 

[chrfr]

Tim Cook doesn’t care solely about driving down supply chain costs.

Of course this isn't true. If it were, Apple's products would more closely resemble products like Dell's lower end computers, but that isn't the market Apple has decided to be in.

 

[Kiimora]

One year on I still marvel at my “Golden Fleece”, so no hating & bashing please!!

No one is coaxed into buying what they’d hate further down the line !

 

[Fishrrman]

People are still asking about this?
"Why the chin?"
After all these years?

Fishrrman prediction:
There's always going to be "a chin" on an iMac, so long as there are iMacs...

 

[chabig]

It seems the only substantial reason why the chin was kept in the new iMac is aesthetics.

This was debunked in post #2.

 

[MYZ]

This was debunked in post #2.

See my original post. There is plenty extra, unused, volume inside for the electronics even if the chin was removed. You can confirm by yourself via looking at any teardown of the inside. (In fact the studio display has more and bulkier electronics without a chin, with much better speakers, and there's still empty, unused, volume on the inside. Just doing some quick downscaling math from a 27" to 24" size still suggests there's enough space.)

It's quite common for folks to ignore one or more sentence of what's written in any online forum when multiple thoughts are expressed so I don't typically reply to every single person who misreads and replies based on what they misread.

 

[minik]

The chin makes an iMac, an iMac. Besides the iMac G4 where they separated two elements, the bottom of the iMac G3 had the speakers and optical drive, where iMac G5 and early Intel iMac (pre-Mid 2011) had an infrared behind the front Apple logo. The current M1 iMac doesn't have an Apple logo on the chin, putting the cooling, set of speakers, logic board, antennas behind the display turn to a much thicker enclosure.

 

[theluggage]

See my original post. There is plenty extra, unused, volume inside for the electronics even if the chin was removed.

I'm sure that Apple know that space is there - maybe they left it empty for a reason?

Like - it's an essential part of the speaker system, to enable half-decent bass response?
Or - it's needed for cooling? Maybe the CPU still gets quite hot & could damage the LCD screen?
Or - maybe it's not actually deep enough to fit things like fans and USB-C sockets & still leave space for cooling air to circulate.

Now, a better question is why the iMac had to be so darned thin that these sort of things became an issue - but the need for the chin comes from the desire to make the iMac as thin as possible.

 

[rpmurray]

I still can't figure it out a year later, does someone have a better idea?

I think it's just that Apple doesn't like you and did this to get your panties in a twist.

 

[rosegoldoli]

i dont get why this still a discussion after a whole year. i like the chin, i think it looks good aesthetically, has a reason for it (the chip and other stuff is literally inside) and as post #16 has said maybe apple had technical reasons for it too such as overheating, speaker quality etc because unlike the studio display the imac is an AIO

 

[MYZ]

I'm sure that Apple know that space is there - maybe they left it empty for a reason?

Like - it's an essential part of the speaker system, to enable half-decent bass response?
Or - it's needed for cooling? Maybe the CPU still gets quite hot & could damage the LCD screen?
Or - maybe it's not actually deep enough to fit things like fans and USB-C sockets & still leave space for cooling air to circulate.

Now, a better question is why the iMac had to be so darned thin that these sort of things became an issue - but the need for the chin comes from the desire to make the iMac as thin as possible.

Interesting suggestions.

Bass response doesn’t seem likely.

Cooling, or more precisely the temperature gradient, seems like a good reason since in the worst case the CPU can be at 95 degrees C 24/7. I hadn’t thought of that as iPad chips never get that hot.

Thinness probably as it would at least need a hump of 2 mm or more to house the moved electronics plus insulate the heat of the M1 chip.

 

[ADGrant]

This was debunked in post #2.

No it wasn't. The Studio display has bulkier internals but with no chin and an internal power supply. The iMac has a chin because iMacs have chins.

 

[theluggage]

Bass response doesn’t seem likely.

Actually, I’d say it was the most likely - speakers need a volume of air to get bass response.

No it wasn't. The Studio display has bulkier internals but with no chin and an internal power supply. The iMac has a chin because iMacs have chins.

The studio display only has an iPhone-class processor (and probably doesn’t push that too hard) - which doesn’t need direct cooling, or even much of a heat sink (the fans aren’t mounted on the cpu).

The SD power supply takes up a huge area because it’s been made so thin using expensive low-profile components.

The SD is 27” rather than 24“ so there’s more area to start with and means it can be made thicker while still having the same relative proportions (and ultra-thin “look”) as the iMac.

Maybe the iMac chin could be removed by throwing money at the problem, but the other thing about iMacs is that they’re cheap by Mac standards. The Studio Display costs nearly as much as the 27” iMac used to, without the computer (and no, having an iPhone chip in it doesn’t make it a Mac).

 

[ucfgrad93]

The iMac has a chin because iMacs have chins.

The chin is the distinctive feature that differentiates it from other computers/monitors, especially now that the logo is gone from the chin.

 

[ADGrant]

The studio display only has an iPhone-class processor (and probably doesn’t push that too hard) - which doesn’t need direct cooling, or even much of a heat sink (the fans aren’t mounted on the cpu).

The SD power supply takes up a huge area because it’s been made so thin using expensive low-profile components.

The SD is 27” rather than 24“ so there’s more area to start with and means it can be made thicker while still having the same relative proportions (and ultra-thin “look”) as the iMac.

Maybe the iMac chin could be removed by throwing money at the problem, but the other thing about iMacs is that they’re cheap by Mac standards. The Studio Display costs nearly as much as the 27” iMac used to, without the computer (and no, having an iPhone chip in it doesn’t make it a Mac).

The iMac chin could have been removed simply by making the case thicker. The A13 in the display may not generate as much heat as the iPad class A14 derived M1 in the iMac. The M1 is in three different iPads and the fanless Mac Book Air.

With the inclusion of the power supply, the Studio Display has much hotter and bulkier internals than the iMac. It also has a speaker system that is at least as good as the iMacs. No chin though because that wasn't the look Apple were going for with this display.

 

[chrono1081]

I still can't figure it out a year later, does someone have a better idea?

Judging from the internal layout of the latest iMac and the large amounts of empty space inside, the chin seems to offer no technical advantage whatsoever.

It adds extra weight, bulk, and cost to the bill of materials (!).

Considering this is Tim Cook's Apple post Jony Ive, they surely wouldn't have kept it solely for the aesthetics, would they?

What? There's hardware in the chin. Check out this pic:

The entire chin is used. You don't want anything like that directly behind the LED panel because that can cause all kinds of heating issues (and it'll make things thicker).

 

[ADGrant]

What? There's hardware in the chin. Check out this pic:

The entire chin is used. You don't want anything like that directly behind the LED panel because that can cause all kinds of heating issues (and it'll make things thicker).

What issues? My 2020 iMac has a 10 core i9 and a 5700XT behind the screen. Much hotter than the tiny M1 in the iMac.
Why does thinness matter in a desktop Mac?