As for those who wonder why I worry about the magnetic power cord - I have an adjustable desk and sometimes the cord is being grabbed while raising up causing my Intel iMac to tilt back but at least it didn't disconnect the power. With the magnetic power, it's a bit of a concern and would require that I have to be more careful. Also, what about desks at schools? What if they want to move their iMacs a little and oops, they get disconnected? Or if they tilt the iMac too fast enough to cause disconnection?
That's why I was hoping that the battery may at least provide an immediate "hibernation" so no data is lost.
Sounds like you need to fix your desk setup. I have a sit-stand desk as well and use cable management to run it up and into the cable reservoir under the desk. No issues with cords getting yanked while operating the lift.
As for your other creative scenarios, if you’re moving the computer around and disconnect the power, it turns off. This isn’t new or weird. And it’s also not a likely use case to design for. Sounds like needless handwringing to me, but….
I've wanted that for a long time. Power in our area can be on the dodgy side (safe seat close to city - we get load shedded to protect the city - well that and water gets in the pits all the time - hell a building literally fell down on our block the other week), a battery would be great.
I think alternative cables to drive machine off say PoE or USB-c hooked to household battery would be very useful more up to date way to use UPS both home in office.
Still interested to see 16inch MacBook vs 27+ iMac assuming with rumoured M2 laptop dock with some extra cooling built in and a couple of screens might be the go.
What happens to iMac if the power cable is accidentally pulled out? Does the battery provide enough backup to instantly power down safely without losing data?
These kind of batteries are usually PRAM batteries, they don't maintain the system state, just some basic computer settings like system volume:
"Settings that can be stored in NVRAM include sound volume, display resolution, startup-disk selection, time zone, and recent kernel panic information."
It would have been a nice addition to have a Macbook style battery as a UPS in an iMac. Even a small 5-10Wh battery would allow safe shutdown in the event of a power outage and it avoids any problems with the power cable being pulled during a system update.
I've wanted that for a long time. Power in our area can be on the dodgy side (safe seat close to city - we get load shedded to protect the city - well that and water gets in the pits all the time - hell a building literally fell down on our block the other week), a battery would be great.
Better still why doesn't Apple move to Hybrid RAM should improve battery life in the laptops would make power failure an annoyance not a data loose event.
Now that the power brick is external, they could also sell one with a battery pack in it as an option. There are some 3rd party options but they are pretty bulky:
Maybe a company like Anker could make a more compact one given the low power of the Macs. Old iMacs used 100W+ of power but the M1 models must use a lot less.
Non-volatile RAM would certainly help avoid data loss but there can still be damage during a system update and it's useful to be able to get online in a power cut to find out what happened. With a laptop you can use it as normal and connect to a mobile network via iPhone tethering or a mobile internet device. It's even possible to keep watching Netflix over it with the bandwidth dropped down.
With the amount of power in laptops now, they effectively give this setup. A Macbook Air in a dock hooked up to a nice 24"/27" display would be a good alternative to an iMac:
Why not a small UPS (like what poster #20 suggested). A somewhat smaller one (425VA) would probably work too, and save a few bucks (these cost ~$50 from online distributors):
As for those who wonder why I worry about the magnetic power cord - I have an adjustable desk and sometimes the cord is being grabbed while raising up causing my Intel iMac to tilt back but at least it didn't disconnect the power. With the magnetic power, it's a bit of a concern and would require that I have to be more careful. Also, what about desks at schools? What if they want to move their iMacs a little and oops, they get disconnected? Or if they tilt the iMac too fast enough to cause disconnection?
That's why I was hoping that the battery may at least provide an immediate "hibernation" so no data is lost.
The problem is not the iMac, but your cable management schema. I too have a standing desk and all the wiring neatly under the table. I installed a robust, high-grade power strip to bolt under my desk, with the power cord routed all the way down one leg, to a APC 1500-UPS.
The excess power cables and all data cables are neatly placed in a server-rack cable management tray under the desk, cut to size. Everything is super neat, and even when lifted at full height, one cannot see the any ugly cables under my desk.
I went one step further and purchased a Caldigit TB3 dock and everything is plugged into that so that the only cable going to my iMac is one, clean Thunderbolt-3 cable. Nothing more.
Here's the cable tray. It's 3" x 3" so there's plenty of room to put pretty much every cable in it. Some heavy-duty 2-sided tape to tape it under the table is all I used.
What happens to iMac if the power cable is accidentally pulled out? Does the battery provide enough backup to instantly power down safely without losing data?
You don't have to pull out power cable to make this experiment. Losing power has happened to many people. This phenomenon should be considered by experienced Apple engineers.
I really would of like the rear lower panel covering the logic board to secured with nice stainless steel screws so that it could be removed to be replaced with a upgraded logic board in the future. Maybe the panel would have to be glued for security, but that's ok too.
Ideally I would of liked no chin, height adjustable (so that the unit can sit much lower to the table) and with the computer section put behind the screen, designed nicely of course so that it blends in with the thinner upper section and with the logic board easily replaced and upgradable. It could of been designed to look just as good, with the added benefit of future of up-gradability.
This current design looks nice certainly, especially with the colours, but it could of been made alot more practical and future proof. As this was a major redesign, I feel it was a missed opportunity. That being said, the current design maybe better for Apple from a business perspective.
I wonder if Apple is able to upgrade that logic board in the future? Will they? If so, that will be good.
LOL when has that ever happened? Yes, Apple's "missed opportunity" to do a thing it never ever does and build your fantasy logic board-upgradeable iMac.
Is it too difficult to just buy a UPS which is (imho) a far better option than engineering a battery pack inside the iMac which could cause other problems that occur to laptops like battery swelling, wearing out, etc? It's a desktop after all.
Besides, in a power outage, there are other items one would want connected to a UPS as well like modem/router/switch/external peripherals/etc.. that could use the protection of a UPS, especially for brownouts which cause more damage to computers than full-on power outages.
I have a big APC UPS1500 on both my iMacs (Office / Home) which also includes two PROMISE RAID towers, TB3 Docks, Standing Table, Audio speakers and as I live in an area of SF where the power fluctuates quite a bit, so when I see the lights dimming/flickering, I know my expensive equipment is safe and sound.
Ever since I've had a computer at home that does anything I want to preserve, I've had a UPS. The current one runs the computer itself, a single one of my three monitors, the cable modem, and the router on battery power for about 30 minutes. More than enough time to shut down properly and save my stuff to where ever it needs to save.
The Mac laptop I use for work has its own battery, obviously, so as long as the modem and router stay up, I can still work when the power goes out. Not that I do. 🤣
Is it too difficult to just buy a UPS which is (imho) a far better option than engineering a battery pack inside the iMac which could cause other problems that occur to laptops like battery swelling, wearing out, etc? It's a desktop after all.
Besides, in a power outage, there are other items one would want connected to a UPS as well like modem/router/switch/external peripherals/etc.. that could use the protection of a UPS, especially for brownouts which cause more damage to computers than full-on power outages.
I have a big APC UPS1500 on both my iMacs (Office / Home) which also includes two PROMISE RAID towers, TB3 Docks, Standing Table, Audio speakers and as I live in an area of SF where the power fluctuates quite a bit, so when I see the lights dimming/flickering, I know my expensive equipment is safe and sound.
How would a UPS help if the power cord on the machine is pulled out? That was the reason for the mention of a battery inside of the iMac. In case it's power was cut by the cord being pulled out accidentally.
What happens to iMac if the power cable is accidentally pulled out? Does the battery provide enough backup to instantly power down safely without losing data?
OMG! Why are people expecting Apple to include a feature that has never been included on a desktop computer?! If you are worried about power outages, then invest in a UPS. Don't burden every iMac with an unnecessary battery cost/bulk to solve a niche problem.
I think a small third party external battery pack that has a power pass thru and is stuck over the existing port on the machine and anchored security to the back would be a nice product (color matched of course), it would use the existing magnetic cable as input so you get to keep all the benefits of that too...not sure it would sell in a big enough volume, given how unlikely the cord being pulled might be...it could serve as a short term UPS too in power challenged areas...this way it doesn't go inside with the associated issues and is available to only those that want it. If I see a spec sometime on that apple connector and have some time I might even build one.
Pretty sure the button cell “batteries” are actually capacitors that allow the computer to safely suspend or shut down in case of accidental disconnection of MagSafe power supply. Capacitors wouldn’t have the longevity issues of batteries and rarely would need to be replaced.
Pretty sure the button cell “batteries” are actually capacitors that allow the computer to safely suspend or shut down in case of accidental disconnection of MagSafe power supply. Capacitors wouldn’t have the longevity issues of batteries and rarely would need to be replaced.
Comments
As for your other creative scenarios, if you’re moving the computer around and disconnect the power, it turns off. This isn’t new or weird. And it’s also not a likely use case to design for. Sounds like needless handwringing to me, but….
Still interested to see 16inch MacBook vs 27+ iMac assuming with rumoured M2 laptop dock with some extra cooling built in and a couple of screens might be the go.
https://www.apc.com/shop/us/en/products/APC-Back-UPS-6-Outlets-425VA-120V/P-BE425M
https://www.cyberpowersystems.com/product/ups/standby/st425/
The Mac laptop I use for work has its own battery, obviously, so as long as the modem and router stay up, I can still work when the power goes out. Not that I do. 🤣
https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iMac+M1+24-Inch+Teardown/142850
https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/tech-takes/what-is-cmos-battery-how-to-remove-and-replace