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Such a silly framing for a review. The iMac is for someone who just wants a good simple desktop computer. Ah but what if you want customize? Don't. That's not w

Such a silly framing for a review. The iMac is for someone who just wants a good simple desktop computer. Ah but what if you want customize? Don't. That's not what it's for. Sure, if you're a tech reviewer and you're all jazzed about HDR and mechanical keyboards then this product isn't for you. But then... your job as a tech reviewer is kind of to understand what different customers will want and "I just want a computer" I would say is literally the most obvious market. Who is this for? Someone who wants a computer. Ah, but take away the people who want multi-monitor, take away the people who want mechanical keyboards, a bigger fancy monitor, and what are you left with? Still basically everyone! And it's not like this is the only computer Apple makes. They have 1 basic hardware platform based on the M4, they give you the laptops for portability, the iMac as the basic desktop, the mini for if you want to do all the things that the iMac isn't configured for, and they have the Mac Pro to taunt professionals. It's an incredibly coherent product line up. No one is confused about which one they want. Oh and by the way, it works really well for Apple too, because they are literally just taking the guts from their other products and sticking it in the same design desktop they've had for years. Do you really think that'll be improved by redesigning it and therefore charging 50% extra due to all the bespoke costs?

wqaatwt 2y ago
> Still basically everyone! Desktop is pretty niche these days. Most of those people would buy a laptop and it’s likely that a significant proportion of people buying desktop have specific needs
- Spooky23 2y ago
  That’s the genius of the iMac. It’s a MacBook with a nice screen. They deliver the form factor while simultaneously taking advantage of the massive economies of scale brought by their laptops. Because they ship so few models, Apples individual SKUs are typically #1 or #2 in a category despite smaller share. Dell sells 10x computers with 50x SKUs.
  - stephencanon 2y ago
    Nah, Dell sells less than 2x as many computers as Apple does (40 million in 2023 vs 22 million for Apple).
    - Spooky23 2y ago
      Thanks for the correction!
RandomThoughts3 2y ago
> Still basically everyone! I will hasard that the amount of people who would like a desktop computer with no customisability whatsoever and wouldn't be better served by actually pluging a laptop to a monitor is basically zero. And well, that's what the article is pointing. That and the uter irrelevance of the base model and how extremely marked up the actually useful model is, all par for the course with Apple.
- tuna74 2y ago
  You can't buy the same monitor that is in the iMac anywhere else so it is really hard to compare. Similar monitors are really expensive.
- LittleTimothy 2y ago
  I think you're massively over-estimating what the average consumer wants from their computer. I need a computer but you're saying I shouldn't buy a computer I should buy a laptop and then a separate monitor? Why!? What a weird thing to do. Call me crazy, but people will just buy a computer when they need a computer. I know, I know, we could get them a laptop and a fancy display and a mechanical keyboard and we could load Ubuntu onto it for them too while we're at it so that they aren't locked in to Apple's walled garden. That's just not what an average consumer is going to do, they're going to need a computer and buy one.
  - RandomThoughts3 2y ago
    > Why? Because you then also have a laptop for the same price and as a bonus you can upgrade the monitore and computer separately. It's so obvious I don't understand what you are missing there. Why do you think the market for desktop literaly cratered outside of the gaming segment? I don't understand your rambling about mechanical keyboards and Ubuntu. You can simply buy a Macbook Pro (or god forbid a Mac mini) and an Apple screen for a cost which is roughly equivalent to this iMac and a net gain of functionality. Average consumers stopped buying desktop two decades ago by the way.
    - 2y ago

wqaatwt 2y ago

> Still basically everyone! Desktop is pretty niche these days. Most of those people would buy a laptop and it’s likely that a significant proportion of people buying desktop have specific needs

Spooky23 2y ago
That’s the genius of the iMac. It’s a MacBook with a nice screen. They deliver the form factor while simultaneously taking advantage of the massive economies of scale brought by their laptops. Because they ship so few models, Apples individual SKUs are typically #1 or #2 in a category despite smaller share. Dell sells 10x computers with 50x SKUs.
- stephencanon 2y ago
  Nah, Dell sells less than 2x as many computers as Apple does (40 million in 2023 vs 22 million for Apple).
  - Spooky23 2y ago
    Thanks for the correction!

RandomThoughts3 2y ago

> Still basically everyone! I will hasard that the amount of people who would like a desktop computer with no customisability whatsoever and wouldn't be better served by actually pluging a laptop to a monitor is basically zero. And well, that's what the article is pointing. That and the uter irrelevance of the base model and how extremely marked up the actually useful model is, all par for the course with Apple.

tuna74 2y ago
You can't buy the same monitor that is in the iMac anywhere else so it is really hard to compare. Similar monitors are really expensive.
LittleTimothy 2y ago
I think you're massively over-estimating what the average consumer wants from their computer. I need a computer but you're saying I shouldn't buy a computer I should buy a laptop and then a separate monitor? Why!? What a weird thing to do. Call me crazy, but people will just buy a computer when they need a computer. I know, I know, we could get them a laptop and a fancy display and a mechanical keyboard and we could load Ubuntu onto it for them too while we're at it so that they aren't locked in to Apple's walled garden. That's just not what an average consumer is going to do, they're going to need a computer and buy one.
- RandomThoughts3 2y ago
  > Why? Because you then also have a laptop for the same price and as a bonus you can upgrade the monitore and computer separately. It's so obvious I don't understand what you are missing there. Why do you think the market for desktop literaly cratered outside of the gaming segment? I don't understand your rambling about mechanical keyboards and Ubuntu. You can simply buy a Macbook Pro (or god forbid a Mac mini) and an Apple screen for a cost which is roughly equivalent to this iMac and a net gain of functionality. Average consumers stopped buying desktop two decades ago by the way.
  - 2y ago