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Why the chin bar? The could have easily removed it now that there is no logo on it, and the logic board footprint is now next to nothing. Their design decisions
by dschuetz 5y ago
Why the chin bar? The could have easily removed it now that there is no logo on it, and the logic board footprint is now next to nothing. Their design decisions are just plain weird. Also, why is there no black version? No network ports? No USB type A ports? Really?
- dschramm 5y agoDark grey is probably reserved for the iMac Pro. Spoiler alert: It will be the fastest iMac ever.
- exhilaration 5y agoThe ethernet port is built into the power adapter, which is a pretty nifty idea.
- dschuetz 5y agoWell, the thinness at least explains why. Both RJ45 and type A USB ports are huge. By that extent, they could have introduced fiber channel adapters beside the 1GBit Ethernet port.
- bzzzt 5y agoWrong target audience ;)
- meepmorp 5y agoI've gone through a lot of power cables for Apple products, so it's not as nifty an idea for me as for you.
- alfonsodev 5y agoyes, I really like that, I hope they introduce it in macbook pro power adapters as well.
- rrrrrrrrrrrryan 5y agoI wonder if they were inspired by the Chromecasts. Definitely nifty.
- briandear 5y agoSo when you adjust the screen you don’t touch the screen.
- cptskippy 5y ago> Why the chin bar? With a bezel less display you need somewhere to attach post-it notes.
- Eric_WVGG 5y agoheh, my though too but seriously, the cooling system and speakers are built around it. Speakers in particular obey the laws of physics, so they either need to go behind it or under, and someone made that call.
- dschuetz 5y agoisn't there an app for that?
- aylmao 5y agoIMO it looks pretty iconic. An all-screen look would've been very very cool, but I don't think this looks bad. Also, I'd imagine with this design the motherboard, cooling and speakers don't overlap the screen. I wouldn't be surprised if it's just much cheaper to manufacture them this way, or if since this is supposed to have a beefier sound system and an M1 configured to run hotter, there were other considerations with having screen and logic overlap that would've added thickness beyond just that of the stacked components. At the end of the day Apple is one to choose thinness over all other things, and to leave room for future upgrades haha.
- jamespetercook 5y agoI think they’ll remove the chin eventually, but probably need a new (thinner) screen technology first
- websites2323 5y agoI’m going to go ahead and say if you haven’t gotten onboard with USB C by now you’re behind. It’s been half a decade since the USB A port went away on Mac. I know everyone has their legacy peripherals they love but... it’s time to move on.
- mort96 5y agoThey're not "legacy peripherals". Mice and keyboards are far from "legacy", and almost all of them come with USB A cables still. Having to add a flaky USB hub to your desktop just to plug in your keyboard is actually ridiculous. It makes sense on a laptop, but these desktops have _a lot_ of surface area on which they could put a few USB-A ports. EDIT: Though, Apple removing the USB-A ports from everything might be what the industry needs to push peripherals to use USB-C for everything? If that's the case, then that might be a win for everyone, except for people who buy these new iMacs.
- martinald 5y agoYou can get USB A to USB C adaptors for like $1. They work totally fine.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- rrrrrrrrrrrryan 5y agoI don't think "most" mice and keyboards are USB-A: bluetooth peripherals eclipsed wired peripherals ages ago. Yes, most of the decent new ones charge via USB-C.
- slantyyz 5y agoI have a recent vintage Logitech mouse (came out this year). The charging port on the mouse, is USB-C, but the charging cable it came with was still A to C. Same goes for the 2.4Ghz unified dongle it came with.
- greedo 5y agoThe chin is where all the SOC/logic board etc are.
- lisper 5y ago> No USB type A ports? Really? There are lots of legitimate complaints about the iMac, and indeed the entire Apple ecosystem nowadays, but this isn't one of them. https://www.amazon.com/Syntech-Adapter-Thunderbolt-Compatible-MacBook/dp/B07CVX3516/ https://www.amazon.com/Syntech-Adapter-Thunderbolt-Compatibl...
- lghh 5y agoNot all devices work when adapted like that. I have keyboards that are usb-c (keyboard output) to usb-a that don't work when converted to usb-c.
- robertoandred 5y agoThe speakers are in the chin. Network port is on the power brick.
- fossuser 5y agoTrade-off that biases towards iPad like thinness. Logic board and speakers have to go somewhere, they can either go behind the display and make things thicker or they can go in the chin bar area. I was surprised they did that too - I expected a look that was more like the pro display. Other than that though I'm pretty impressed with the design, and it is quite thin. It looks like how I'd imagine a 'future' computer to look.
- bluthru 5y agoThe chin was probably the best idea for speakers but it's not a worthwhile tradeoff. The decision to have a chin makes it look dated and I would have preferred a rounded back instead.
- furyg3 5y agoThe chin bar lines up with the ports (USB and power) on the back, and is probably where the speakers are. So I think they prioritized thinness, which meant there was not enough room for screen+board+ports stacked, and they had to offset them. It's probable that the whole SoC and board are in the chin, given how small they are in the MacBook Air/Pro: https://www.ifixit.com/News/46884/m1-macbook-teardowns-something-old-something-new https://www.ifixit.com/News/46884/m1-macbook-teardowns-somet...
- layer8 5y ago> Why the chin bar? Besides being iconic: To make the 16:9 aspect ratio less apparent. There may also be thermal benefits from separating the logic board from the panel.
- phire 5y agoI suspect it's purely there for style reasons. Even without the logo, it makes the design more recognizable as a iMac from the front. Apple doesn't want people to mistake it for a regular old monitor. Especially when iMacs end up in movies and tv shows.
- fomine3 5y agoAgreed. Reducing bigger ports from laptop is great tradeoff, but having them on desktop computer is convenient, thickness/lightness for desktop isn't good tradeoff.
- kristianp 5y ago> Why the chin bar? It's really thin, so to fit the motherboard etc. Also to fit the six speaker sound system.