7 ms·

Why does a stationary computer need to be so thin that they can't fit an ethernet port and have to place it in the charger?

heipei 6y ago
It doesn't need to be but it is. What are you gonna do, bloat the case just to fit an Ethernet adapter? Also, what's wrong with it being in the charger? This is actually genius, this way only a single cable leads to the machine itself.
- BitwiseFool 6y ago
  I suspect Apple designers think the RJ45 is an ugly cable that should not sully the minimalism of their smoothed rectangles. Jokes aside, putting the connection on the power brick actually seems like a really smart idea for cable management under the desk. And, you will have one fewer cable plugging into the back.
  - fossuser 6y ago
    Yeah, seems strictly better? It's an aesthetic win since you don't need the cable coming out the back of the machine and it's a pragmatic win since cable management is much easier if it can plug into the power brick that's already on the ground.
    - setr 6y ago
      perhaps weirdly, but it's basically a dock.. you could reasonably hotswap the mac with another one for purposes as yet unknown to me, and be fully setup. It's an almost ridiculously portable stationary device
  - benhurmarcel 6y ago
    It would be great to include a couple of USB connectors on the power brick too, for cable management.
  - fomine3 6y ago
    I initially thought that RJ54 on brick is weird, but it seems to make sense. Just curious about intermediate wire interface, 1000BASE-T or USB3? I also expect that it's hard to receive 10GbE update.
- insert_coin 6y ago
  But you have a “charger” on a device without a battery. Power bricks are the most inelegant solution to a problem ever. Can’t think of a clever design to accommodate the features we want? shove it on a box and put it to the side. Lazy.
  - PascLeRasc 6y ago
    I mean it does help with heat and electrical noise isolation, plus if a manufacturer cared to they could probably add more heat fins on an external brick not constrained by the case.
    - insert_coin 6y ago
      Funny the current iMac has none of those problems. And wasn’t the M1 supposed to be so efficient minimal cooling and power were required?
      - PascLeRasc 6y ago
        Apple's site says the power adapter is 143W, that's gonna be pretty toasty. The 4.5k display is probably the majority of that though.
        insert_coin 6y ago
        Again, current iMacs don't seem bother by that.
        culopatin 6y ago
        Maybe they can simplify the board if they are not dealing with lots of a electrical noise on top of everything.
  - ksec 6y ago
    Yes. Or I wish the Charger is small enough they are like the MacBook Pro where it plugs directly to the wall. And not something that is now hanging / sitting in between of my Cable to the wall.
- bombcar 6y ago
  But why just Ethernet? Why not go further, make the power cord also USB-C (or even Thunderbolt) and have the power brick be a dock with USB and whatnot plugs on it?
  - ibrarmalik 6y ago
    USB-C devices are the kind that you plug and unplug constantly. Unlike the power cord or Ethernet.
  - mixmastamyk 6y ago
    Is that not how it works?
Toutouxc 6y ago
You will not like the answer if you have to ask, but here goes: It's beautiful.
- incrudible 6y ago
  > It's beautiful. ...yet it somehow still has that huge pointless "chin" at the bottom. I don't think that's beautiful. I guess it's "iconic", like the ugly notch on the newer iPhones. I'd rather have the thing a bit thicker instead, because 99% of the time I'm not looking at it from the side.
  - billyhoffman 6y ago
    In the video, they show an exploded view. The "chin" is where all the SoC, cooling, and speakers are. The screen is just the screen
- alwillis 6y ago
  And light and easy to move around if necessary. Once needed to bring my old 27-inch Intel iMac to collaborate in-person on a project. It weighed 30.5 pounds, which isn't super heavy but it was a hassle to transport. The 24-inch M1 iMac weighs a little under 10 pounds. You could bring one of these into a conference room at work with no problem.
  - arvinsim 6y ago
    And why wouldn't an M1 laptop fill this use case?
    - alwillis 6y ago
      Of course it could; but there are other trade-offs such as screen size, etc.
- e_proxus 6y ago
  Since it is a desktop computer it makes total sense to move Ethernet to the power brick. That way, you can have a single cable up from under your desk to the computer. I'm collecting all my cables in a rack under the desk anyway, and the less cables I have to route over the desk the better. Wish there was a USB hub on the brick as well!
twobitshifter 6y ago
I don’t mind the Ethernet port, but I was wondering the same thing. Is there no longer any value in making the computer larger? I’d expect that there is something that was cut for the thinness, but maybe not?
- super_mario 6y ago
  The computer is so thin, the headphone jack had to be moved to the side. Now you have desktop computer with speaker cable hanging on the side going to your external powered speakers. How's that for elegant.
  - Toutouxc 6y ago
    From an audiophile's point of view: The thing on the side is a headphone jack (digital out through the jack has been long gone AFAIK), not a line level output, you're not really supposed to connect your speakers (directly or through an amplifier) to that. It usually works, sort of, but it's far from ideal. I'm not sure whether that could be Apple's line of reasoning, but I wouldn't be surprised.
  - lupire 6y ago
    Your lucky it has a "legacy" headphone jack at all.
reaperducer 6y ago
Why does a stationary computer need to be so thin that they can't fit an ethernet port and have to place it in the charger? Not everyone lives in a college dorm. Some people have beautiful homes with very carefully selected furnishings, and spouses that appreciate design. This fits in with that.
kolinko 6y ago
I, for one, would prefer it this way. One less cable floating on my desk
bern4444 6y ago
I think it makes sense. The power cable is usually fixed and not moved for a desktop computer. The same holds true for an ethernet cable. It's fixed and plugged into the wall. So both ports that are used for fixed cords plug and that plug into a wall are located at the same spot. The ports on the computer itself are for devices that you might plug and unplug on a daily basis. Peripherals, charging cables, USBs etc. This makes a lot of sense the way its setup. Fixed cables are grouped and separated from "free floating" cables. From my own experience, most people end up using wifi anyway at home and in office regardless of the device type (desktop/laptop). This way the least likely to be used port is also separated from the device and also means that if you need to for whatever reason swap one iMac with another, a single plug into the new iMac will connect power and ethernet with no other setup necessary.

heipei 6y ago

It doesn't need to be but it is. What are you gonna do, bloat the case just to fit an Ethernet adapter? Also, what's wrong with it being in the charger? This is actually genius, this way only a single cable leads to the machine itself.

BitwiseFool 6y ago
I suspect Apple designers think the RJ45 is an ugly cable that should not sully the minimalism of their smoothed rectangles. Jokes aside, putting the connection on the power brick actually seems like a really smart idea for cable management under the desk. And, you will have one fewer cable plugging into the back.
- fossuser 6y ago
  Yeah, seems strictly better? It's an aesthetic win since you don't need the cable coming out the back of the machine and it's a pragmatic win since cable management is much easier if it can plug into the power brick that's already on the ground.
  - setr 6y ago
    perhaps weirdly, but it's basically a dock.. you could reasonably hotswap the mac with another one for purposes as yet unknown to me, and be fully setup. It's an almost ridiculously portable stationary device
- benhurmarcel 6y ago
  It would be great to include a couple of USB connectors on the power brick too, for cable management.
- fomine3 6y ago
  I initially thought that RJ54 on brick is weird, but it seems to make sense. Just curious about intermediate wire interface, 1000BASE-T or USB3? I also expect that it's hard to receive 10GbE update.
insert_coin 6y ago
But you have a “charger” on a device without a battery. Power bricks are the most inelegant solution to a problem ever. Can’t think of a clever design to accommodate the features we want? shove it on a box and put it to the side. Lazy.
- PascLeRasc 6y ago
  I mean it does help with heat and electrical noise isolation, plus if a manufacturer cared to they could probably add more heat fins on an external brick not constrained by the case.
  - insert_coin 6y ago
    Funny the current iMac has none of those problems. And wasn’t the M1 supposed to be so efficient minimal cooling and power were required?
    - PascLeRasc 6y ago
      Apple's site says the power adapter is 143W, that's gonna be pretty toasty. The 4.5k display is probably the majority of that though.
      - insert_coin 6y ago
        Again, current iMacs don't seem bother by that.
        culopatin 6y ago
        Maybe they can simplify the board if they are not dealing with lots of a electrical noise on top of everything.
- ksec 6y ago
  Yes. Or I wish the Charger is small enough they are like the MacBook Pro where it plugs directly to the wall. And not something that is now hanging / sitting in between of my Cable to the wall.
bombcar 6y ago
But why just Ethernet? Why not go further, make the power cord also USB-C (or even Thunderbolt) and have the power brick be a dock with USB and whatnot plugs on it?
- ibrarmalik 6y ago
  USB-C devices are the kind that you plug and unplug constantly. Unlike the power cord or Ethernet.
- mixmastamyk 6y ago
  Is that not how it works?

Toutouxc 6y ago

You will not like the answer if you have to ask, but here goes: It's beautiful.

incrudible 6y ago
> It's beautiful. ...yet it somehow still has that huge pointless "chin" at the bottom. I don't think that's beautiful. I guess it's "iconic", like the ugly notch on the newer iPhones. I'd rather have the thing a bit thicker instead, because 99% of the time I'm not looking at it from the side.
- billyhoffman 6y ago
  In the video, they show an exploded view. The "chin" is where all the SoC, cooling, and speakers are. The screen is just the screen
alwillis 6y ago
And light and easy to move around if necessary. Once needed to bring my old 27-inch Intel iMac to collaborate in-person on a project. It weighed 30.5 pounds, which isn't super heavy but it was a hassle to transport. The 24-inch M1 iMac weighs a little under 10 pounds. You could bring one of these into a conference room at work with no problem.
- arvinsim 6y ago
  And why wouldn't an M1 laptop fill this use case?
  - alwillis 6y ago
    Of course it could; but there are other trade-offs such as screen size, etc.
e_proxus 6y ago
Since it is a desktop computer it makes total sense to move Ethernet to the power brick. That way, you can have a single cable up from under your desk to the computer. I'm collecting all my cables in a rack under the desk anyway, and the less cables I have to route over the desk the better. Wish there was a USB hub on the brick as well!

twobitshifter 6y ago

I don’t mind the Ethernet port, but I was wondering the same thing. Is there no longer any value in making the computer larger? I’d expect that there is something that was cut for the thinness, but maybe not?

super_mario 6y ago
The computer is so thin, the headphone jack had to be moved to the side. Now you have desktop computer with speaker cable hanging on the side going to your external powered speakers. How's that for elegant.
- Toutouxc 6y ago
  From an audiophile's point of view: The thing on the side is a headphone jack (digital out through the jack has been long gone AFAIK), not a line level output, you're not really supposed to connect your speakers (directly or through an amplifier) to that. It usually works, sort of, but it's far from ideal. I'm not sure whether that could be Apple's line of reasoning, but I wouldn't be surprised.
- lupire 6y ago
  Your lucky it has a "legacy" headphone jack at all.

reaperducer 6y ago

Why does a stationary computer need to be so thin that they can't fit an ethernet port and have to place it in the charger? Not everyone lives in a college dorm. Some people have beautiful homes with very carefully selected furnishings, and spouses that appreciate design. This fits in with that.

kolinko 6y ago

I, for one, would prefer it this way. One less cable floating on my desk

bern4444 6y ago

I think it makes sense. The power cable is usually fixed and not moved for a desktop computer. The same holds true for an ethernet cable. It's fixed and plugged into the wall. So both ports that are used for fixed cords plug and that plug into a wall are located at the same spot. The ports on the computer itself are for devices that you might plug and unplug on a daily basis. Peripherals, charging cables, USBs etc. This makes a lot of sense the way its setup. Fixed cables are grouped and separated from "free floating" cables. From my own experience, most people end up using wifi anyway at home and in office regardless of the device type (desktop/laptop). This way the least likely to be used port is also separated from the device and also means that if you need to for whatever reason swap one iMac with another, a single plug into the new iMac will connect power and ethernet with no other setup necessary.