I truly think the next iMac will signal an end to internal expansion. The M1 has the RAM built into the chip. That was the only think left that was upgradeable on the current iMac. I don't see Apple moving away from that with future ASi chips. Current iMac also has the SSD soldered in as well, and even the 4TB-8TB models (I have the 8TB model) the SSD is non-standard, and it shared with a soldered SSD on the motherboard.
The ASi iMac will essentially be a gigantic iPad with extra ports and zero ability to upgrade anything internally.
I'll say one thing about that... based on the horrible experience I had with my 2020 iMac during its first three months due to faulty RAM (by OWC), I can understand why Apple is going the way of UMA. Not only will performance be so much better, but gone will be the days of system instabilities due to crappy RAM that was not Apple's fault, yet has to deal with countless service calls and repairs. I'm sure Apple got fed up with that.
I wonder how Apple will handle the RAM situation. It will certainly hurt it Apple charges the crazy-high RAM prices for their ASi systems as they were doing with the Intel versions. I'm good for at least five years beforeI upgrade my iMac, so it will be interesting to see what Apple does.
Yep, the trend is definitely away from internal expansion. I get it. There are actually some good reasons for this. Manufacturing processes are simplified and reliability increases (so less warranty claims).
I wonder if "regular" people outside of these tech forums notice the higher cost of RAM (and SSD) beyond base level in Macs. If it is relatively common knowledge, it may be a marketing liability -- I mean sales are obviously quite good the way things are, but seems like more people would splurge on the next level up on RAM or SSD if pricing were more aligned with standalone retail pricing of those components. I personally would care a lot less about expansion/upgrade if initial higher RAM/SSD configurations were more affordable. I still think there is a case to be made for "upgradability" if it makes repairs less expensive too. Also, environmental impact is less if people are able to hang on to their devices longer or if repair does not need to require entire main systems board replacement.
After my horrible experience of faulty RAM in my 2020 iMac, I totally understand why Apple would go UMA outside of the performance benefits. I'm really crossing my fingers that Apple doesn't charge extortion-level prices for extra RAM. Most consumers will never upgrade their PC's after purchase. That has been established. Of those that do - my opinion - I think the majority is just one-time upgrades. I upgraded the RAM in my iMac (128GB) knowing I will never upgrade it again so it's a one-time "upgrade".
I wonder how RAM expansion (if even possible) it will be on the Mac Pro. I would think maybe the Mac Pro will be an exception in which one can upgrade the RAM. I would find it very hard to believe that Apple will have an option to include 1.5TB RAM on the chip itself as that would be one monstrous-sized chip!
How about just upgradable ram and an upgradable hard drive (or a place to add a 2nd HD/SSD
personally, I’d rather not have a touch screen - a touch screen on an iMac isn’t really convenient and just leaves fingerprints all over the beautiful screen.
The 27" iMac has upgradable RAM, and I hope the new iMacs keep this feature.
HD/SSD upgrade without having to remove the screen would be nice too...
If, for whatever reason, the SSD ends up being soldered in, I like your idea of having a place to add a 2nd SSD. Perhaps a removable panel to provide access to an area that would allow attaching a Thunderbolt drive inside. Or, given that SDUC-I Express cards can have SSD speed and capacity, maybe two SD slots--one external and one internal (you wouldn't want to inadvertently eject an SD card being used as an SSD). Frankly, I doubt either of these would happen, but we can dream, can't we?
Why do this when you can just have and external SSD that you can boot from? The is an iMac not a portable.
I have done this myself, but at the end of the day it is not elegant in the same way adding a drive internally would be. And a big reason to choose iMac is elegance.
How about just upgradable ram and an upgradable hard drive (or a place to add a 2nd HD/SSD
personally, I’d rather not have a touch screen - a touch screen on an iMac isn’t really convenient and just leaves fingerprints all over the beautiful screen.
No reason to not have a touch layer. You don’t have to use it if you don’t want it.
All for upgradeable RAM. Not sure how that factors into Apple’s SOC plans. Hoping for it though.
I doubt the hard drive thing is going to happen though. Would be great and easy for Apple to do. They love to gouge though. And that’s a way to sneak the prices way up.
Beyond that, truly hoping for some killer silicon improvements with very large amounts of RAM available.
A close second would be an ultra wide retina form factor with 34+ inches.
That would definitely put the iMac further into a class of its own - especially in a day and age of big screen all in one PCs.
Really? You want fingerprints all over you big, shiny, sharp screen? If you don't want to use a Microsoft product, then don't. Just don't expect Apple to make equivalent crappy, comprimised products for you.
I would just as soon avoid touching the screen on my iMac, especially since the OS isn't really geared to touch. However, if you happen to have a macOS app that is designed to work with touch, consider a Mac mini or MacBook with a separate touchscreen monitor. Elo, 3M, Viewsonic and many others have pro-cap screens. Also, PQ Labs has an IR frame that can overlay an iMac (or any other display) for touch. Most touch screens use drivers made by Touch Base, which support multi-touch on macOS (not sure about M1 though).
I have a 22" touch screen monitor attached to a Mac mini and it is crap. Not because of macOS - it support it out of the box. It is crap because the apps & OS are not designed for touch screen. This is a computer, not a tablet or phone. macOS designed devices should not include a touch screen, especially integrated.
How about just upgradable ram and an upgradable hard drive (or a place to add a 2nd HD/SSD
personally, I’d rather not have a touch screen - a touch screen on an iMac isn’t really convenient and just leaves fingerprints all over the beautiful screen.
The 27" iMac has upgradable RAM, and I hope the new iMacs keep this feature.
HD/SSD upgrade without having to remove the screen would be nice too...
If, for whatever reason, the SSD ends up being soldered in, I like your idea of having a place to add a 2nd SSD. Perhaps a removable panel to provide access to an area that would allow attaching a Thunderbolt drive inside. Or, given that SDUC-I Express cards can have SSD speed and capacity, maybe two SD slots--one external and one internal (you wouldn't want to inadvertently eject an SD card being used as an SSD). Frankly, I doubt either of these would happen, but we can dream, can't we?
Why do this when you can just have and external SSD that you can boot from? The is an iMac not a portable.
Because an external SSD (unless it's TB3) is > 10x slower than the built-in storage. If it's TB3, it's about 2x slower than the built-in storage.
Died before it got its first upgrade. If I were one of the 17 people who bought one I'd be worried about support.
Just because you were not one of the thousands that bought one, don't worry about support - Apple generally provides OS updates/security patches for 7+ years after model release date.
How about just upgradable ram and an upgradable hard drive (or a place to add a 2nd HD/SSD
personally, I’d rather not have a touch screen - a touch screen on an iMac isn’t really convenient and just leaves fingerprints all over the beautiful screen.
No reason to not have a touch layer. You don’t have to use it if you don’t want it.
All for upgradeable RAM. Not sure how that factors into Apple’s SOC plans. Hoping for it though.
I doubt the hard drive thing is going to happen though. Would be great and easy for Apple to do. They love to gouge though. And that’s a way to sneak the prices way up.
Beyond that, truly hoping for some killer silicon improvements with very large amounts of RAM available.
A close second would be an ultra wide retina form factor with 34+ inches.
That would definitely put the iMac further into a class of its own - especially in a day and age of big screen all in one PCs.
A "touch layer" without the OS & apps designed for it is HORRIBLE. Just try to use a Windows 2-in-1 laptop with the touchscreen, exclusively - it just doesn't work. And Microsoft even tried to DESIGN it to work this way...
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I have a 22" touch screen monitor attached to a Mac mini and it is crap. Not because of macOS - it support it out of the box. It is crap because the apps & OS are not designed for touch screen. This is a computer, not a tablet or phone. macOS designed devices should not include a touch screen, especially integrated.
Because an external SSD (unless it's TB3) is > 10x slower than the built-in storage. If it's TB3, it's about 2x slower than the built-in storage.
Just because you were not one of the thousands that bought one, don't worry about support - Apple generally provides OS updates/security patches for 7+ years after model release date.