10 ms·

iMac 24-inch

89 points by davidbarker 6y ago

wdb 6y ago
If you for years only had 720p front video camera I guess 1megapixel is an improvement but it's a bit of a joke. But I do like the colours and the design.
- Cu3PO42 6y ago
  1080p is 2 Megapixels, but that's beside the point. I maintain that this is a perfectly reasonable resolution for a webcam. They're used almost exclusively for video conferencing and all video conferencing software I've ever used doesn't use a bitrate high enough to take advantage of anything more anyway. What we really need is a good sensor that has these 2MP.
  - wdb 6y ago
    I only know that my MBP from last year has a shitty camera and the camera quality has been bad for many years. If you compare it to the frontside camera of the iPad.
    - Cu3PO42 6y ago
      No disagreement there, the webcams in MacBooks and other laptops are bad. But they're not bad because they don't have enough pixels. They're bad because the lens isn't great, the sensor is too small (or simply a bad sensor) or many other reasons.
rvz 6y ago
What is the point of the chin of the iMac if the logo is removed there? It would be better if it was an all screen iMac and being 27 inches but this one is only available as 24 inches. Looks more like a beautiful downgrade if you already bought an 27 inch iMac or iMac Pro in 2017. For that memory, screen size and price? No thanks and no deal.
- lucky_cloud 6y ago
  The chin is there so the overall design can be one uniform, very thin slab. If they were to get rid of the chin, they'd have to make the body thicker to accommodate the depth of the USB ports.
- mlindner 6y ago
  The speakers need to exist somewhere. Unless you want to put the speakers behind the display.
- vehemenz 6y ago
  I have a maxed out 27" 2017 myself, and this only seems like an upgrade in terms of webcam and CPU. Not really worth it at this point.
webmobdev 6y ago
Somehow the colours don't look as good as they did in the original iMacs - those were fun! These look drab and uninspiring ...
- kactus 6y ago
  I think it may be a result of the process being different on aluminum vs plastic and resulting in lighter, more washed out looking colors.
  - tracker1 6y ago
    I'm guessing it's anodized aluminum... so will come out differently. I'm not sure it's really worth it... would be happy with a black option, but I'm never going to buy an all in one, so not the target audience.
  - webmobdev 6y ago
    Yes, I guess it is the material and the proces that results in that kind of look.
- burlesona 6y ago
  We'll have to agree to disagree, I think these colors are bold and super fun :)
- oneplane 6y ago
  On the other hand, the background images seem like a bit of a reflection on those olden days; looks a lot like the default desktop backgrounds from back then (which still look good! but just not at retina resolutions).
- mlindner 6y ago
  Perhaps your screen colorspace is too low. (I'm serious.) They looked plenty bright to me. I think if you look at them in person the colors will be much more saturated than your display allows.
  - 6y ago
Cu3PO42 6y ago
I really like the design, including the colors. I realize it's just a standard "slab of glass and metal" design -- and in the mobile space competitors have caught up -- but I've never seen a monitor that sleek, except maybe the Pro Display XDR. Edit: In fact, give me just the display in a 27" form factor and put all the display connections in a "connect box" like they did for Ethernet and I'd even be willing to pay an Apple tax for such a product. Oh, and give it a way to mount it on an arm rather than use a stand.
- burlesona 6y ago
  Agreed. My ultimate dream - that will never happen - is that Apple would release a version of this which is actually designed to be a dock for the MBP, and priced somewhere between $500-900. I think the reason they won't do it is that the "computer" is actually a minority of the cost here compared to all the other componentry. So they probably can't make their margins on such a device if they price it below ~$900 or so, and at that point paying $200 less for just a screen makes the screen seem expensive and the computer cheap at the same time, which is not what Apple wants.
  - soneil 6y ago
    Honestly, I dig the styling enough that I'd buy it as a monitor if it supported Target Display still. I really do lament the loss of TDM, it was the perfect solution to the "disposable desktop" problem. Their excuse when they introduced the 5k is that the transports weren't capable. Now their entry-level machines can drive a 6k monitor, the excuse seems lacking.
  - arvinsim 6y ago
    Yeah, I don't think they will ever make a dock nor an external monitor. I have resigned to just settling for good enough displays like the Dell U2720Q which does feature a 90W USB-C connection that charges my laptop.
- jolux 6y ago
  It supports VESA: https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/imac-vesa https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/imac-vesa
frereubu 6y ago
Effectively a dupe link for the press release. More comments (currently > 200) on this thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26877806 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26877806
pdimitar 6y ago
Only 8GB RAM? Pity. EDIT: my bad, the configurator wasn't obvious to me so I made a mistake.
- newsclues 6y ago
  Almost positive it’s configurable for more
- smilespray 6y ago
  Configurable to 16GB.
  - mhh__ 6y ago
    16GB in 2021 is still pretty tight for what is at the end of the day a premium product.
  - throw0101a 6y ago
    Still only semi-useful, especially if you want to run VMs. The most recent x86 iMacs could offlicially hold 128GB (4 x 32GB DIMMs). * https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT201191 https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT201191 * https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/imac-2019-27-inch https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/imac-2019-27-inch
  - jandrese 6y ago
    IMHO not doing the 16GB update is a huge mistake. Even though you're going to pay the Apple Tax on it, the memory is going to be the limiting factor in the life of this machine.
    - Reason077 6y ago
      I have an 8GB MacBook Air, which I use extensively for development (Xcode, Eclipse, often both at the same time) and I'm actually really happy with it. 8GB on the M1 machines feels much, much faster than 8GB on an Intel MacBook Pro. No doubt there is swapping going on, but it's so fast you just don't notice it. (I would probably have got the 16GB upgrade if it were available, but 16GB can only be custom ordered directly from Apple)
christkv 6y ago
Is this max 8gb ram ?
barnaclejive 6y ago
I'm holding out for a 27" version that hopefully comes with the next M chip and in black.
brian_herman 6y ago
The iMac looks like the computer from HER(2013) https://twitter.com/BrianHe67910493/status/1384576913633591296?s=20 https://twitter.com/BrianHe67910493/status/13845769136335912...
- dijit27 6y ago
  It really doesn't.
smoldesu 6y ago
This looks like a pretty good computer, I'm a little disappointed with the design and color options though. For starters, there definitely needs to be an option for a color matched or even black screen border. That white strip looks tacky and ugly in my opinion, and seems like a very strange direction for Apple to go in when I thought they left it behind on the old Macbook Airs. I don't like it, and it looks like the peak of "cheap Mac". Not to mention, it would destroy the dark mode experience. I'm also pretty disappointed with the stand on this thing. I would have loved to see a dual hinge design, a-la the Surface Studio that could bend down to be a sort of slate experience. Especially with the focus on wireless peripherals, this would have been a great choice for the Mac, considering it's new design language. Ah well. Oh, and the pricing. So confusing for the different models. The "base" model has less ports and gets an inferior keyboard out of the box, and it also has a worse-binned chip inside too. You pay an extra few hundred dollars, and you get to choose between more colors, have a non-gimped GPU, and you still don't even have 16 gigs of memory? This originally looked like a decent deal, but I'd really like to see Apple move forwards on this thing. 512 gigs needs to be standard, and Apple is the only manufacturer holding the industry back. The more I read into it, this kinda seems like a hatchet job by Apple standards. I suppose I'll hold my judgement until the reviews roll in, but... I'm not sure who this is for. Rich kids?
- volta83 6y ago
  > Rich kids? Startups that just got funded and already know wont be able to deliver. Fake it till you make it, and what better product to fake it than a room full of new iMacs.
  - smoldesu 6y ago
    That's true. It's a great way to signal to outside investors that you're really planning to get stuff done, but haven't got any "boots on the ground", so to speak.
- dont__panic 6y ago
  Good points about the RAM and pricing. As far as the simplicity of the design, white bezel, bright colors... I suspect that we'll see a black-bezelled iMac Pro in the next few months that addresses some of those issues, and Apple is trying to differentiate the products with those very design flairs.
ultimoo 6y ago
Would have loved to see a way to connect my work laptop and use this as a secondary display. Also more sustainable since monitors tend to be useful for longer than compute and memory.
Logon90 6y ago
The sketchy colors make it evident Apple will now cater to the riffraff. Not that that's bad for the business in any sense
fny 6y ago
I only wished they had made the screen mountable...
- twiceaday 6y ago
  https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/imac-vesa https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/imac-vesa
- abakker 6y ago
  They did - https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/imac-vesa https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/imac-vesa
- jandrese 6y ago
  There's a link for a version with VESA mounting holes. Edit: Three simultaneous replies within one minute. Nice job HN readers.
jandrese 6y ago
For a desktop computer there are an awful lot of design compromises for the sake of thinness. The magsafe port (which the laptops do not get!?!), the weird combo power brick/ethernet dongle thing, very reduced number of ports, and most likely very poor repairability score and no upgradability. But the thinness doesn't even buy you anything. It take up about the same footprint on your desk thanks to the stand, it's not like you're going to stick it in your pocket or purse or even carryon bag. So many design compromises for effectively no gain. The worst part is it might even be counterproductive in desktop space saving, because some users are going to end up plugging in some USB dock/port multiplier that is going to have to sit on the desk or be glued to the back of the computer. Also 8GB memory base is almost a crime in 2021. Even if you can get away with that with your current workload, in a couple of years you're gonna be swapping. If this were a more normal machine it wouldn't be so bad because you could always just buy more memory and slap it in. But I can guarantee that the memory on this Mac cannot be upgraded. If you need more you have to throw the whole machine in the trash and buy a new one. If you want to buy one of these definitely get the expensive 16GB option. If you have to choose between upgrading the small 256GB main storage and the small 8GB of RAM, do the RAM. You can always buy an external USB drive for more storage, but you can't buy USB RAM.
yrral 6y ago
Obviously Apple thinks that the extra sales that they get from having 7 different colors outweighs the production, supply chain and retail/physical stock complexities. But I really don't see it; are there really that many people who wouldn't have bought an iMac but because it comes it orange they suddenly want one? Who are these people?
- bombcar 6y ago
  It must be successful with the phones and so we'll see it continue.
- cbhl 6y ago
  To me, the design language feels like a cross between an iPad Pro and the iMac G3. The chin, the apple logo on the back, and the rainbow colors. If anything, I'd expect they're reducing complexity by having the seven colors -- I imagine they're adapting (reusing?) processes from the iPhone and iPad Air to this line of iMacs.
- stock_toaster 6y ago
  Remember the old imac g3? Unless I misremember, something like 13 different color options!
- zitterbewegung 6y ago
  This harkens back to the original iMac where it was first introduced in Bondi blue and then came in multiple colors. When I bought my iPhone Pro 11 and MacBook Air the fact I could get the iPhone Pro 11 in green made me not upgrade to the 12 pro because blue was the alternative. With the MacBook Air I like the gold color but also it is completely silent.
- downrightmike 6y ago
  Well, they aren't going to innovate 1000% every year. They can't. So they have to differentiate their products and color has been a classic way they do that.
  - munk-a 6y ago
alberth 6y ago
It's amazing that Apple are able to use the exact same CPU/GPU/Storage/RAM in: - Mac mini ($699) - iPad Pro ($799) - MacBook Air ($999) - MacBook Pro ($1299) - iMac ($1299) The only difference is the form factor and does it come with a keyboard. Said another way, these 5 products are all the exact same "computer". It's the most amazing market segmentation I've ever seen.
- zabzonk 6y ago
  Apple's differentiators are the display, keyboard, track pad, chassis and OS, not the CPU/GPU/storage/RAM.
  - noahtallen 6y ago
    Right, that’s what the OP said :) This is a new approach though, for Apple. Firstly, there was a difference between the desktop and mobile class chips used for iMac and MacBook. Secondly, there was a difference between the intel and arm chips.
- Someone 6y ago
  Are able to and, I guess, must. If they could build a better product (say one with 32GB of RAM), I guess we would have seen it here, even if only at some outlandish price point.
- meragrin_ 6y ago
  How is it amazing?
  - johnnyanmac 6y ago
    It's amazing in an extremely depressing way, but it's still impressive that they get away with it (assumedly, given the sales of the other devices). The benefits of a walled garden, I suppose.
- turtlebits 6y ago
  You mean they have the exact same processor/chipset/logic board. They have a large performance advantage over the competition, it makes sense to have unified internals.
pers0n 6y ago
$200 for 2 extra ports and ethernet. And to re-enable a GPU core they disabled. 16GB ram limit 512GB storage limit un-upgradable You are better off getting a Mac Mini, its the same performance.
- minimaxir 6y ago
  Part of the value of an iMac is the display, and a display of this quality is worth a couple $hundred.
- noahtallen 6y ago
  Comparing to the mini: - plus a 4.5k monitor - plus a webcam - plus a better mic & speakers And this monitor and webcam setup is probably better than most 4k monitors and most webcams, at least at the entry-mid level ranges.
  - volta83 6y ago
    Right, but if you get a good monitor, it will serve you what, 10 years ? 15 years ? What do you do with this monitor when Apple stops supporting the first generation of ARM CPUs and you have to upgrade to a new Mac in 4 years ?
    - crazygringo 6y ago
      When has Apple ever put out a macOS update that didn't support 4-year-old hardware? Big Sur still runs on iMacs from mid 2014. (And MacBook Airs from mid 2013.) [1] And most apps will continue to run on older macOS for several more years anyways. Plus, while a good monitor might technically last 15 years... that doesn't mean you want to keep using it. New technologies like Retina, P3, micro-LED, etc. mean that by the time you want to upgrade your computer, you often want to upgrade your monitor too. [1] https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211238 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211238
      - volta83 6y ago
        > When has Apple ever put out a macOS update that didn't support 4-year-old hardware? Every single time Apple has changed the hardware architecture of their machines. The last generation of PowerPC macs was only supported for two years. The first generation of Intel macs was only supported for 3 years. The second generation of Intel macs was supported for >8 years.
Reason077 6y ago
The Touch ID keyboard looks great. I wonder, will it be possible to use one of these keyboards with an M1 MacBook Air/Pro, with Touch ID enabled? I always miss Touch ID when using an external monitor/keyboard with my MacBook.
- gumby 6y ago
  > I always miss Touch ID when using an external monitor/keyboard with my MacBook. The watch can take over most of those cases, BTW.
  - Reason077 6y ago
    I don't wear a watch and haven't for many years. I've tried the Apple Watch and wanted to like it, but it just wasn't compelling enough for me to make up for the inconvenience of, well, having to wear a watch. Admittedly, I do like the health and fitness tracking features, and having Apple Pay on my wrist would be convenient. If they came out with a smaller Apple Watch with much longer battery life (a week?) then I'd probably be converted.
    - gumby 6y ago
      Everyone's milage varies. I stopped wearing a watch when I started carrying a keitai (mobile phone) in the early 90s. This was a switch from at least 15 years of continuous watch wearing. I bought an Apple Watch 0 shortly after they came out just to see what all the fuss was. My intent was to get a feeling for it, return it within the free return window, and then buy v3 or so when they "got it right" and I thought of something I'd like to write for it. On day three or four I started driving to work without the watch -- wearing one wasn't muscle memory. When I realized it I turned around and went and got it. It was already that important. That's when I realized it would be a big deal. In my case I was in a job where I had lots of meetings and calls; so I could use the silent reminders, check (filtered) messages in a meeting without pulling out my phone, and screen calls the same way. I was a single parent so couldn't just leave my phone at my desk when in a meeting. In the pandemic I've been at home and have a different job where I don't have many appointments. For that case the watch would be less useful....except I'm a convert to the exercise features, and I often run out to the shops without phone, wallet or keys. But, as it sounds for you too, those later features only work because I was already a convert.
jlmendezbonini 6y ago
Fingers crossed that we bring back Target Display mode. I've been using an iMac Pro at home for over a year now and my only grievance is that I can't use it as a monitor for my laptop and/or a Windows gaming rig.
vehemenz 6y ago
I'm underwhelmed. - Anyone wanting a 27" or a better screen will have to wait. - Only two TB3 ports. - No improvement to the Magic Mouse, the worst peripheral in Apple history. - If you're going to offer three keyboards, one of them had better be a 65% or a TKL. This is bizarrely out of step with the market. - The colors are nice, but honestly, who cares? I guess I was expecting more of a desktop computer instead of MacBook Pro with a dedicated screen. It's hard to imagine jumping to one of these until the graphics performance is figured out.
- mlindner 6y ago
  > - Only two TB3 ports. That's a limitation of the M1 silicon itself from my understanding. It doesn't have enough PCI express channels. It's been one of the few commonalities on all the M1 macs. This new iMac I think is the last computer we'll see using it until the release of a higher power chip for the Mac Pro, Macbook Pro (insert larger size here), and maybe some kind of "iMac Pro".
  - vehemenz 6y ago
    Yes, but the smaller M1 devices have been out for a while ago, and the iMac is the de facto Apple workstation. I don't think it's too unreasonable to expect some iterative improvement 5 months later. It seems like a half-baked release and a downgrade in some respects from an iMac 27". Maybe that is intentional though?
    - plorkyeran 6y ago
      This seems to be positioned as a replacement for the 21.5" iMac, and the 27" iMac replacement is yet to come. During the announcement they only ever compared it to the 21.5" model, and it's pretty much a strict upgrade compared to that.
    - turtlebits 6y ago
      I don't believe the iMac is the de facto Apple workstation. I would bet the Macbook Pros sell an order of magnitude more.
peter303 6y ago
Seven colours too. Added final rainbow colour purple.
dillondoyle 6y ago
I LOVE the colors - I almost want to get one just as a monitor but it's pretty small sized. same aw pretty reaction as their actual pro monitor until I saw the price not worth it for the video editing i do. I personally see a good market fit for this. An example is my business partner, who doesn't do intense video rendering or compute, but has n joke 100s of tabs open and does other digital multi-tasking, streaming video & capture from web. Keeping open tens of FB power editor and other large sqlite and hunky react sites is a hit. M1 should be great for that some of that. Maybe some stuff in an ML accelerator might help with too but that sounds like mostly marketing? Mostly it just looks really cool IMHO +M1 for chrome. Personally I love the style but seems like most comments so far don't. The max 16 gigs ram limit is really bad though. I really hope for an update for the large size MBPro I'd totally get a purple one, M1, with a TON of RAM and fast storage NVMe or whatever. I actually miss the 17 inch though my 16 is really nice literally 14 hours a day for a couple years workhorse. If they can get a skinny bump like the iMac that'd be amazing so long as lap heat isn't a problem seems the limit is the power plug.
- jlawer 6y ago
  I bet there will be matching monitors available from a 3rd party within 12 months. Probably outrageously priced for the specs. The mac accessory community is really good at producing matching products, and I am sure someone is going to license an existing monitor design and put it in a new shell.
bsharitt 6y ago
I like the colors and design, but needing a separate work/personal computer at the same desk at different times means I can't have a big display that's only usable by one computer. If they still had target display mode, I'd be very tempted to flip my M1 MacBook Air for one of these.
esel2k 6y ago
I am wondering what is behind the idea of having so many different colors. We used to know imacs or in general notebooks to be mostly black or silver. Aren’t like 90% of people and companies going to purchase just these old colors? Or is this a way to “create identity” as everyone seems to have the same device? Or to make the used and spare parts market more complicated? - Not a psychologist myself but would be interested to know more.
- anyfoo 6y ago
  Sigh, seems like I'm old... https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/IBook_flavors.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/IBook_fl...
- crazygringo 6y ago
  If you work in engineering or banking, then yes you see all black and silver. But if you work in fashion, a nice doctor's office, retail, or really any environment that is decor-focused, having color options is HUGE. This is just taking "OMG I love the color you painted your kitchen, it's so tasteful yet energetic, what is it?" and applying as well to the computer that sits prominently in your home's shared area.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- wazoox 6y ago
  The second generation iMac was also available in many colours. So that's back to the origin, actually. See https://everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/specs/imac_266.html https://everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/specs/imac_266.html
  - the_only_law 6y ago
    Man these things are all over eBay and I can’t help looking at them and feeling like they were a children’s toy.
nevi-me 6y ago
As someone who owns the M1 MBA, the 8GB unified memory thing isn't working. It can work for bloggers who only need to have some light tasks open, but once you install and use Docker, you start hitting the swap. Just in the last ~24 hours, where I used the device for ~16 of those hours, the kernel task has written almost 800GB to disk. I'm assuming that the storage isn't replaceable, so this raises questions of the longevity of the device due to SSD wear and tear. The iMac looks beautifully thin though. I would def buy it as a desktop (as someone who has a 64GB Ryzen 9)
- alberth 6y ago
  Please don't take this the wrong way, but if you're doing serious development and require resources to support Docker ... why did you choose to purchase the lowest spec'd laptop Apple has to sell?
  - nevi-me 6y ago
    It's a fair question to ask. I have tinnitus at ~30 because of loud poor-thermal expensive work laptops. My work Dell's fan gets really loud, to the point where I can't bear sitting next to it. I got desperate as they couldn't do anything about it at work (nor could I). So, on the 22nd December, I went to look for an MBA as I'm now sensitive to even the slightest fan noise. At that time, there was a shortage of stock, so I didn't have much choice. I don't actually know if there's a 16GB option, as all I'm finding in my country is the 8GB. Nonetheless, even for the iMac, I think a max of 32GB would have been reasonable,
    - Cu3PO42 6y ago
      There is a 16GB option, but you may need to configure it on Apple's online store.
    - viklove 6y ago
      > I have tinnitus at ~30 because of loud poor-thermal expensive work laptops. I'm sorry, but I just cant bring myself to believe this statement. There's no way a computer fan can get loud enough to cause hearing damage.
tonoto 6y ago
Only 8GB RAM and probably not usable as external thunderbolt display, otherwise I would have pressed the buy button as quick as they open it up for orders...
- metalforever 6y ago
  Yes, this was my must have for WFH and they didn't hit it.
- arvinsim 6y ago
  Same here. If this had TDM, this would be an auto buy for me.
JustSomeNobody 6y ago
Basically, A large iPad that runs MacOS minus the touch screen.
jsight 6y ago
I hope you like phone levels of RAM and storage.
Tiktaalik 6y ago
Delighted that they're bringing the colour back. The thing looks absolutely amazing really.
perrohunter 6y ago
I absolutely love this design and the colors
thefz 6y ago
In 2021 8GB expandable to 16GB of RAM is just laughable. Here's Apple stating "you are a consumer and thus you must consume. Any kind of remotely more complex task is prohibited on a 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD machine". Plain ridiculous.

89 points by davidbarker 6y ago

wdb 6y ago

If you for years only had 720p front video camera I guess 1megapixel is an improvement but it's a bit of a joke. But I do like the colours and the design.

Cu3PO42 6y ago
1080p is 2 Megapixels, but that's beside the point. I maintain that this is a perfectly reasonable resolution for a webcam. They're used almost exclusively for video conferencing and all video conferencing software I've ever used doesn't use a bitrate high enough to take advantage of anything more anyway. What we really need is a good sensor that has these 2MP.
- wdb 6y ago
  I only know that my MBP from last year has a shitty camera and the camera quality has been bad for many years. If you compare it to the frontside camera of the iPad.
  - Cu3PO42 6y ago
    No disagreement there, the webcams in MacBooks and other laptops are bad. But they're not bad because they don't have enough pixels. They're bad because the lens isn't great, the sensor is too small (or simply a bad sensor) or many other reasons.

rvz 6y ago

What is the point of the chin of the iMac if the logo is removed there? It would be better if it was an all screen iMac and being 27 inches but this one is only available as 24 inches. Looks more like a beautiful downgrade if you already bought an 27 inch iMac or iMac Pro in 2017. For that memory, screen size and price? No thanks and no deal.

lucky_cloud 6y ago
The chin is there so the overall design can be one uniform, very thin slab. If they were to get rid of the chin, they'd have to make the body thicker to accommodate the depth of the USB ports.
mlindner 6y ago
The speakers need to exist somewhere. Unless you want to put the speakers behind the display.
vehemenz 6y ago
I have a maxed out 27" 2017 myself, and this only seems like an upgrade in terms of webcam and CPU. Not really worth it at this point.

webmobdev 6y ago

Somehow the colours don't look as good as they did in the original iMacs - those were fun! These look drab and uninspiring ...

kactus 6y ago
I think it may be a result of the process being different on aluminum vs plastic and resulting in lighter, more washed out looking colors.
- tracker1 6y ago
  I'm guessing it's anodized aluminum... so will come out differently. I'm not sure it's really worth it... would be happy with a black option, but I'm never going to buy an all in one, so not the target audience.
- webmobdev 6y ago
  Yes, I guess it is the material and the proces that results in that kind of look.
burlesona 6y ago
We'll have to agree to disagree, I think these colors are bold and super fun :)
oneplane 6y ago
On the other hand, the background images seem like a bit of a reflection on those olden days; looks a lot like the default desktop backgrounds from back then (which still look good! but just not at retina resolutions).
mlindner 6y ago
Perhaps your screen colorspace is too low. (I'm serious.) They looked plenty bright to me. I think if you look at them in person the colors will be much more saturated than your display allows.
- 6y ago

Cu3PO42 6y ago

I really like the design, including the colors. I realize it's just a standard "slab of glass and metal" design -- and in the mobile space competitors have caught up -- but I've never seen a monitor that sleek, except maybe the Pro Display XDR. Edit: In fact, give me just the display in a 27" form factor and put all the display connections in a "connect box" like they did for Ethernet and I'd even be willing to pay an Apple tax for such a product. Oh, and give it a way to mount it on an arm rather than use a stand.

burlesona 6y ago
Agreed. My ultimate dream - that will never happen - is that Apple would release a version of this which is actually designed to be a dock for the MBP, and priced somewhere between $500-900. I think the reason they won't do it is that the "computer" is actually a minority of the cost here compared to all the other componentry. So they probably can't make their margins on such a device if they price it below ~$900 or so, and at that point paying $200 less for just a screen makes the screen seem expensive and the computer cheap at the same time, which is not what Apple wants.
- soneil 6y ago
  Honestly, I dig the styling enough that I'd buy it as a monitor if it supported Target Display still. I really do lament the loss of TDM, it was the perfect solution to the "disposable desktop" problem. Their excuse when they introduced the 5k is that the transports weren't capable. Now their entry-level machines can drive a 6k monitor, the excuse seems lacking.
- arvinsim 6y ago
  Yeah, I don't think they will ever make a dock nor an external monitor. I have resigned to just settling for good enough displays like the Dell U2720Q which does feature a 90W USB-C connection that charges my laptop.
jolux 6y ago
It supports VESA: https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/imac-vesa https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/imac-vesa

frereubu 6y ago

Effectively a dupe link for the press release. More comments (currently > 200) on this thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26877806 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26877806

pdimitar 6y ago

Only 8GB RAM? Pity. EDIT: my bad, the configurator wasn't obvious to me so I made a mistake.

newsclues 6y ago
Almost positive it’s configurable for more
smilespray 6y ago
Configurable to 16GB.
- mhh__ 6y ago
  16GB in 2021 is still pretty tight for what is at the end of the day a premium product.
- throw0101a 6y ago
  Still only semi-useful, especially if you want to run VMs. The most recent x86 iMacs could offlicially hold 128GB (4 x 32GB DIMMs). * https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT201191 https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT201191 * https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/imac-2019-27-inch https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/memory/imac-2019-27-inch
- jandrese 6y ago
  IMHO not doing the 16GB update is a huge mistake. Even though you're going to pay the Apple Tax on it, the memory is going to be the limiting factor in the life of this machine.
  - Reason077 6y ago
    I have an 8GB MacBook Air, which I use extensively for development (Xcode, Eclipse, often both at the same time) and I'm actually really happy with it. 8GB on the M1 machines feels much, much faster than 8GB on an Intel MacBook Pro. No doubt there is swapping going on, but it's so fast you just don't notice it. (I would probably have got the 16GB upgrade if it were available, but 16GB can only be custom ordered directly from Apple)

christkv 6y ago

Is this max 8gb ram ?

barnaclejive 6y ago

I'm holding out for a 27" version that hopefully comes with the next M chip and in black.

brian_herman 6y ago

The iMac looks like the computer from HER(2013) https://twitter.com/BrianHe67910493/status/1384576913633591296?s=20 https://twitter.com/BrianHe67910493/status/13845769136335912...

dijit27 6y ago
It really doesn't.

smoldesu 6y ago

This looks like a pretty good computer, I'm a little disappointed with the design and color options though. For starters, there definitely needs to be an option for a color matched or even black screen border. That white strip looks tacky and ugly in my opinion, and seems like a very strange direction for Apple to go in when I thought they left it behind on the old Macbook Airs. I don't like it, and it looks like the peak of "cheap Mac". Not to mention, it would destroy the dark mode experience. I'm also pretty disappointed with the stand on this thing. I would have loved to see a dual hinge design, a-la the Surface Studio that could bend down to be a sort of slate experience. Especially with the focus on wireless peripherals, this would have been a great choice for the Mac, considering it's new design language. Ah well. Oh, and the pricing. So confusing for the different models. The "base" model has less ports and gets an inferior keyboard out of the box, and it also has a worse-binned chip inside too. You pay an extra few hundred dollars, and you get to choose between more colors, have a non-gimped GPU, and you still don't even have 16 gigs of memory? This originally looked like a decent deal, but I'd really like to see Apple move forwards on this thing. 512 gigs needs to be standard, and Apple is the only manufacturer holding the industry back. The more I read into it, this kinda seems like a hatchet job by Apple standards. I suppose I'll hold my judgement until the reviews roll in, but... I'm not sure who this is for. Rich kids?

volta83 6y ago
> Rich kids? Startups that just got funded and already know wont be able to deliver. Fake it till you make it, and what better product to fake it than a room full of new iMacs.
- smoldesu 6y ago
  That's true. It's a great way to signal to outside investors that you're really planning to get stuff done, but haven't got any "boots on the ground", so to speak.
dont__panic 6y ago
Good points about the RAM and pricing. As far as the simplicity of the design, white bezel, bright colors... I suspect that we'll see a black-bezelled iMac Pro in the next few months that addresses some of those issues, and Apple is trying to differentiate the products with those very design flairs.

ultimoo 6y ago

Would have loved to see a way to connect my work laptop and use this as a secondary display. Also more sustainable since monitors tend to be useful for longer than compute and memory.

Logon90 6y ago

The sketchy colors make it evident Apple will now cater to the riffraff. Not that that's bad for the business in any sense

fny 6y ago

I only wished they had made the screen mountable...

twiceaday 6y ago
https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/imac-vesa https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/imac-vesa
abakker 6y ago
They did - https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/imac-vesa https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/imac-vesa
jandrese 6y ago
There's a link for a version with VESA mounting holes. Edit: Three simultaneous replies within one minute. Nice job HN readers.

jandrese 6y ago

For a desktop computer there are an awful lot of design compromises for the sake of thinness. The magsafe port (which the laptops do not get!?!), the weird combo power brick/ethernet dongle thing, very reduced number of ports, and most likely very poor repairability score and no upgradability. But the thinness doesn't even buy you anything. It take up about the same footprint on your desk thanks to the stand, it's not like you're going to stick it in your pocket or purse or even carryon bag. So many design compromises for effectively no gain. The worst part is it might even be counterproductive in desktop space saving, because some users are going to end up plugging in some USB dock/port multiplier that is going to have to sit on the desk or be glued to the back of the computer. Also 8GB memory base is almost a crime in 2021. Even if you can get away with that with your current workload, in a couple of years you're gonna be swapping. If this were a more normal machine it wouldn't be so bad because you could always just buy more memory and slap it in. But I can guarantee that the memory on this Mac cannot be upgraded. If you need more you have to throw the whole machine in the trash and buy a new one. If you want to buy one of these definitely get the expensive 16GB option. If you have to choose between upgrading the small 256GB main storage and the small 8GB of RAM, do the RAM. You can always buy an external USB drive for more storage, but you can't buy USB RAM.

yrral 6y ago

Obviously Apple thinks that the extra sales that they get from having 7 different colors outweighs the production, supply chain and retail/physical stock complexities. But I really don't see it; are there really that many people who wouldn't have bought an iMac but because it comes it orange they suddenly want one? Who are these people?

bombcar 6y ago
It must be successful with the phones and so we'll see it continue.
cbhl 6y ago
To me, the design language feels like a cross between an iPad Pro and the iMac G3. The chin, the apple logo on the back, and the rainbow colors. If anything, I'd expect they're reducing complexity by having the seven colors -- I imagine they're adapting (reusing?) processes from the iPhone and iPad Air to this line of iMacs.
stock_toaster 6y ago
Remember the old imac g3? Unless I misremember, something like 13 different color options!
zitterbewegung 6y ago
This harkens back to the original iMac where it was first introduced in Bondi blue and then came in multiple colors. When I bought my iPhone Pro 11 and MacBook Air the fact I could get the iPhone Pro 11 in green made me not upgrade to the 12 pro because blue was the alternative. With the MacBook Air I like the gold color but also it is completely silent.
downrightmike 6y ago
Well, they aren't going to innovate 1000% every year. They can't. So they have to differentiate their products and color has been a classic way they do that.
- munk-a 6y ago

alberth 6y ago

It's amazing that Apple are able to use the exact same CPU/GPU/Storage/RAM in: - Mac mini ($699) - iPad Pro ($799) - MacBook Air ($999) - MacBook Pro ($1299) - iMac ($1299) The only difference is the form factor and does it come with a keyboard. Said another way, these 5 products are all the exact same "computer". It's the most amazing market segmentation I've ever seen.

zabzonk 6y ago
Apple's differentiators are the display, keyboard, track pad, chassis and OS, not the CPU/GPU/storage/RAM.
- noahtallen 6y ago
  Right, that’s what the OP said :) This is a new approach though, for Apple. Firstly, there was a difference between the desktop and mobile class chips used for iMac and MacBook. Secondly, there was a difference between the intel and arm chips.
Someone 6y ago
Are able to and, I guess, must. If they could build a better product (say one with 32GB of RAM), I guess we would have seen it here, even if only at some outlandish price point.
meragrin_ 6y ago
How is it amazing?
- johnnyanmac 6y ago
  It's amazing in an extremely depressing way, but it's still impressive that they get away with it (assumedly, given the sales of the other devices). The benefits of a walled garden, I suppose.
turtlebits 6y ago
You mean they have the exact same processor/chipset/logic board. They have a large performance advantage over the competition, it makes sense to have unified internals.

pers0n 6y ago

$200 for 2 extra ports and ethernet. And to re-enable a GPU core they disabled. 16GB ram limit 512GB storage limit un-upgradable You are better off getting a Mac Mini, its the same performance.

minimaxir 6y ago
Part of the value of an iMac is the display, and a display of this quality is worth a couple $hundred.
noahtallen 6y ago
Comparing to the mini: - plus a 4.5k monitor - plus a webcam - plus a better mic & speakers And this monitor and webcam setup is probably better than most 4k monitors and most webcams, at least at the entry-mid level ranges.
- volta83 6y ago
  Right, but if you get a good monitor, it will serve you what, 10 years ? 15 years ? What do you do with this monitor when Apple stops supporting the first generation of ARM CPUs and you have to upgrade to a new Mac in 4 years ?
  - crazygringo 6y ago
    When has Apple ever put out a macOS update that didn't support 4-year-old hardware? Big Sur still runs on iMacs from mid 2014. (And MacBook Airs from mid 2013.) [1] And most apps will continue to run on older macOS for several more years anyways. Plus, while a good monitor might technically last 15 years... that doesn't mean you want to keep using it. New technologies like Retina, P3, micro-LED, etc. mean that by the time you want to upgrade your computer, you often want to upgrade your monitor too. [1] https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211238 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211238
    - volta83 6y ago
      > When has Apple ever put out a macOS update that didn't support 4-year-old hardware? Every single time Apple has changed the hardware architecture of their machines. The last generation of PowerPC macs was only supported for two years. The first generation of Intel macs was only supported for 3 years. The second generation of Intel macs was supported for >8 years.

Reason077 6y ago

The Touch ID keyboard looks great. I wonder, will it be possible to use one of these keyboards with an M1 MacBook Air/Pro, with Touch ID enabled? I always miss Touch ID when using an external monitor/keyboard with my MacBook.

gumby 6y ago
> I always miss Touch ID when using an external monitor/keyboard with my MacBook. The watch can take over most of those cases, BTW.
- Reason077 6y ago
  I don't wear a watch and haven't for many years. I've tried the Apple Watch and wanted to like it, but it just wasn't compelling enough for me to make up for the inconvenience of, well, having to wear a watch. Admittedly, I do like the health and fitness tracking features, and having Apple Pay on my wrist would be convenient. If they came out with a smaller Apple Watch with much longer battery life (a week?) then I'd probably be converted.
  - gumby 6y ago
    Everyone's milage varies. I stopped wearing a watch when I started carrying a keitai (mobile phone) in the early 90s. This was a switch from at least 15 years of continuous watch wearing. I bought an Apple Watch 0 shortly after they came out just to see what all the fuss was. My intent was to get a feeling for it, return it within the free return window, and then buy v3 or so when they "got it right" and I thought of something I'd like to write for it. On day three or four I started driving to work without the watch -- wearing one wasn't muscle memory. When I realized it I turned around and went and got it. It was already that important. That's when I realized it would be a big deal. In my case I was in a job where I had lots of meetings and calls; so I could use the silent reminders, check (filtered) messages in a meeting without pulling out my phone, and screen calls the same way. I was a single parent so couldn't just leave my phone at my desk when in a meeting. In the pandemic I've been at home and have a different job where I don't have many appointments. For that case the watch would be less useful....except I'm a convert to the exercise features, and I often run out to the shops without phone, wallet or keys. But, as it sounds for you too, those later features only work because I was already a convert.

jlmendezbonini 6y ago

Fingers crossed that we bring back Target Display mode. I've been using an iMac Pro at home for over a year now and my only grievance is that I can't use it as a monitor for my laptop and/or a Windows gaming rig.

vehemenz 6y ago

I'm underwhelmed. - Anyone wanting a 27" or a better screen will have to wait. - Only two TB3 ports. - No improvement to the Magic Mouse, the worst peripheral in Apple history. - If you're going to offer three keyboards, one of them had better be a 65% or a TKL. This is bizarrely out of step with the market. - The colors are nice, but honestly, who cares? I guess I was expecting more of a desktop computer instead of MacBook Pro with a dedicated screen. It's hard to imagine jumping to one of these until the graphics performance is figured out.

mlindner 6y ago
> - Only two TB3 ports. That's a limitation of the M1 silicon itself from my understanding. It doesn't have enough PCI express channels. It's been one of the few commonalities on all the M1 macs. This new iMac I think is the last computer we'll see using it until the release of a higher power chip for the Mac Pro, Macbook Pro (insert larger size here), and maybe some kind of "iMac Pro".
- vehemenz 6y ago
  Yes, but the smaller M1 devices have been out for a while ago, and the iMac is the de facto Apple workstation. I don't think it's too unreasonable to expect some iterative improvement 5 months later. It seems like a half-baked release and a downgrade in some respects from an iMac 27". Maybe that is intentional though?
  - plorkyeran 6y ago
    This seems to be positioned as a replacement for the 21.5" iMac, and the 27" iMac replacement is yet to come. During the announcement they only ever compared it to the 21.5" model, and it's pretty much a strict upgrade compared to that.
  - turtlebits 6y ago
    I don't believe the iMac is the de facto Apple workstation. I would bet the Macbook Pros sell an order of magnitude more.

peter303 6y ago

Seven colours too. Added final rainbow colour purple.

dillondoyle 6y ago

I LOVE the colors - I almost want to get one just as a monitor but it's pretty small sized. same aw pretty reaction as their actual pro monitor until I saw the price not worth it for the video editing i do. I personally see a good market fit for this. An example is my business partner, who doesn't do intense video rendering or compute, but has n joke 100s of tabs open and does other digital multi-tasking, streaming video & capture from web. Keeping open tens of FB power editor and other large sqlite and hunky react sites is a hit. M1 should be great for that some of that. Maybe some stuff in an ML accelerator might help with too but that sounds like mostly marketing? Mostly it just looks really cool IMHO +M1 for chrome. Personally I love the style but seems like most comments so far don't. The max 16 gigs ram limit is really bad though. I really hope for an update for the large size MBPro I'd totally get a purple one, M1, with a TON of RAM and fast storage NVMe or whatever. I actually miss the 17 inch though my 16 is really nice literally 14 hours a day for a couple years workhorse. If they can get a skinny bump like the iMac that'd be amazing so long as lap heat isn't a problem seems the limit is the power plug.

jlawer 6y ago
I bet there will be matching monitors available from a 3rd party within 12 months. Probably outrageously priced for the specs. The mac accessory community is really good at producing matching products, and I am sure someone is going to license an existing monitor design and put it in a new shell.

bsharitt 6y ago

I like the colors and design, but needing a separate work/personal computer at the same desk at different times means I can't have a big display that's only usable by one computer. If they still had target display mode, I'd be very tempted to flip my M1 MacBook Air for one of these.

esel2k 6y ago

I am wondering what is behind the idea of having so many different colors. We used to know imacs or in general notebooks to be mostly black or silver. Aren’t like 90% of people and companies going to purchase just these old colors? Or is this a way to “create identity” as everyone seems to have the same device? Or to make the used and spare parts market more complicated? - Not a psychologist myself but would be interested to know more.

anyfoo 6y ago
Sigh, seems like I'm old... https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/IBook_flavors.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/IBook_fl...
crazygringo 6y ago
If you work in engineering or banking, then yes you see all black and silver. But if you work in fashion, a nice doctor's office, retail, or really any environment that is decor-focused, having color options is HUGE. This is just taking "OMG I love the color you painted your kitchen, it's so tasteful yet energetic, what is it?" and applying as well to the computer that sits prominently in your home's shared area.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
wazoox 6y ago
The second generation iMac was also available in many colours. So that's back to the origin, actually. See https://everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/specs/imac_266.html https://everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/specs/imac_266.html
- the_only_law 6y ago
  Man these things are all over eBay and I can’t help looking at them and feeling like they were a children’s toy.

nevi-me 6y ago

As someone who owns the M1 MBA, the 8GB unified memory thing isn't working. It can work for bloggers who only need to have some light tasks open, but once you install and use Docker, you start hitting the swap. Just in the last ~24 hours, where I used the device for ~16 of those hours, the kernel task has written almost 800GB to disk. I'm assuming that the storage isn't replaceable, so this raises questions of the longevity of the device due to SSD wear and tear. The iMac looks beautifully thin though. I would def buy it as a desktop (as someone who has a 64GB Ryzen 9)

alberth 6y ago
Please don't take this the wrong way, but if you're doing serious development and require resources to support Docker ... why did you choose to purchase the lowest spec'd laptop Apple has to sell?
- nevi-me 6y ago
  It's a fair question to ask. I have tinnitus at ~30 because of loud poor-thermal expensive work laptops. My work Dell's fan gets really loud, to the point where I can't bear sitting next to it. I got desperate as they couldn't do anything about it at work (nor could I). So, on the 22nd December, I went to look for an MBA as I'm now sensitive to even the slightest fan noise. At that time, there was a shortage of stock, so I didn't have much choice. I don't actually know if there's a 16GB option, as all I'm finding in my country is the 8GB. Nonetheless, even for the iMac, I think a max of 32GB would have been reasonable,
  - Cu3PO42 6y ago
    There is a 16GB option, but you may need to configure it on Apple's online store.
  - viklove 6y ago
    > I have tinnitus at ~30 because of loud poor-thermal expensive work laptops. I'm sorry, but I just cant bring myself to believe this statement. There's no way a computer fan can get loud enough to cause hearing damage.

tonoto 6y ago

Only 8GB RAM and probably not usable as external thunderbolt display, otherwise I would have pressed the buy button as quick as they open it up for orders...

metalforever 6y ago
Yes, this was my must have for WFH and they didn't hit it.
arvinsim 6y ago
Same here. If this had TDM, this would be an auto buy for me.

JustSomeNobody 6y ago

Basically, A large iPad that runs MacOS minus the touch screen.

jsight 6y ago

I hope you like phone levels of RAM and storage.

Tiktaalik 6y ago

Delighted that they're bringing the colour back. The thing looks absolutely amazing really.

perrohunter 6y ago

I absolutely love this design and the colors

thefz 6y ago

In 2021 8GB expandable to 16GB of RAM is just laughable. Here's Apple stating "you are a consumer and thus you must consume. Any kind of remotely more complex task is prohibited on a 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD machine". Plain ridiculous.