Totally disagree with PauloSeraa. He just doesn't get it. He prefers a MacBook Pro because it is portable. That is his choice.
He thinks the form factor is not attractive. The iMac is a desktop computer, and it has an award-winning form factor. It is even better with a VESA mount because it can float over your desk and be positioned in every way possible. My current 27" iMac 2020 has the VESA option and it floats over my desk without the stand taking up room, or a computer sitting on the desk. The Studio Display (that replaced the iMac with the Mac Studio) has the same form factor as the iMac. A Mac mini or Mac Studio and a separate display with all the cables coming off of them does not have the same elegant look as an iMac.
He thinks the iMac is not upgradable. Does he know that the MacBook Pros are also not upgradable? All Apple Silicon Macs are no longer upgradable. You must buy what you want at the time of purchase. Yes, the 24" iMac now falls under the category of non-upgradable, but now all Macs are not upgradable. So that is a weak argument.
He specifically discusses the Intel iMacs as not upgradable and not reusable. The Intel iMacs ARE upgradable! The 27" had user-replaceable RAM and before the 2020 iMac with the T2 chip, the SSD was also upgradable, by the user! I upgraded the RAM in my 27" iMac to 128GB for 1/4 the price of what Apple charges, and I did it two years after I bought it when RAM was at a low price. The 21.5" iMac also had upgradable memory and upgradable drives, once you removed the display, which is not hard to do.
He claims they are not re-usable. He thinks once a Mac is considered vintage or obsolete, you must throw them away. My 2012 27" iMac would disagree. I upgraded the memory to 32GB, replaced the spinning drive with a 1TB SSD, and also added the OWC 2TB blade SSD to the factory SSD slot. It was not hard to remove the display and re-attach it with new adhesive. Now this 2012 iMac can boot Mountain Lion, the original OS, Catalina, the latest version it can run, and also Windows 10 in Boot Camp. If I want to try OpenCore, I could upgrade it to Monterey or Ventura. I use it in my garage and iTunes also feeds to a stereo in the garage too. So I can do lots of things with that 11 year old iMac. I can also use my 'obsolete' Mac Pro 2008, QuickSilver G4, Power Mac G5, and Mac LC 575 for running vintage apps and games too. I guess he thinks those are un-usable too.
All we wanted was a 27" 5K iMac with an M Pro or M Max CPU, just like in the MacBook Pros, and the iMac would have been a top seller with customers. Instead, we got a bare-bones 24" iMac with a base model M1 chip that was hardly a valid replacement. And Apple has done nothing with it for almost 2 1/2 years. Sad.
My 27" 2020 iMac even has Parallels with Snow Leopard Server as a VM so I can run older PowerPC apps. I guess that is un-usable too since it is an Intel iMac.
I agree about the longevity of iMacs! I had a 2009 27" that I used as my main computer until 2017, and was still able to sell it (easily) for $500 used after all those years.
[...] The proof is in the sales. Apple hasn't even seen it worth their time to upgrade it to an M2 to keep it current, with M3 already on the horizon. Undoubtedly Apple is warring with itself right now over discontinuing its once-critical iMac, or spending money to update a Mac that doesn't sell.
What proof? You don't know that lower-than-expected sales is why they haven't refreshed it. Indeed, you don't even know that sales are in fact lower-than-expected. There are better explanations for the lack of an M2 refresh besides poor sales. Mpantone above points to one of them (education market) above. I'd add that the iPad Air (which also hasn't been refreshed) also fits into that calculus.
iMac could stay in its current position, the last of the Macs to see the M2 refresh. In a two-year cycle, it may always be the last. That doesn't mean the door is closed to an iMac Plus, it just means the iMac has a market and price point (especially educational pricing) that Apple wants to maintain, and that doesn't require it to have the latest and greatest silicon. Occam's razor.
I think I read that the iMac was 3% of Mac sales. 3%.
I really wanted a 30-32" iMac. Now, I'm leaning Mac Studio and a decent 4K display or wider.
I'll miss my 30" Cinema Displays. Nah... probably not.
Where did you find that stat? I’ve been looking for data on iMac sales. Of note: 3% of Mac sales in 2021 is nearly one million units. But I can’t find anything to back up the 3% claim.
I think the 24” iMac was a bit of a disaster. They got rid of the big iMac which was a mistake and those coming from the big iMac were not going to downgrade. The smaller iMacs were never really that popular. They also made the new baby iMac feel kind of cheap with the power supply now being a brick that just plops on your floor and has nasty white bezels. The new iMac was quite polarizing at launch. So that is an issue. Add to that the fact that they are still on m1 and that’s compounding the issue. I don’t want one of those myself, no matter how affordable. Interestingly, Best Buy had a sale a couple months back and I thought to get one for my sister. But they were sold out snd I would have had to wait. I went to a different ambers buy and they only had one. And it was blue, so she wouldn’t want that. Turns out she just wanted an m1 iPad Pro, so she got that instead (and it was more expensive).
Of course you couldn't find that stat. It was made up. Apple doesn't release specific data on iMacs as a percentage of overall Mac sales. Go read their quarterly reports or conference calls that follow. You won't find it. Similarly baseless: "..the 24" iMac was a bit of a disaster." Funny you say that but when you went to buy one it was sold out and required a wait to get one. A 24" screen size satisfies most users needs. And for those who really do need and use a 27" screen, there's the Studio Display + Mac Mini combo -- which offers WAY more power and a better display than any 27" iMac ever did, and does it at a price comparable to higher spec'd BTO 27" iMacs. And for prior iMac Pro users, there's the Studio Display + Mac Studio combo, which offers way more power and a better display at a price that's lower than the iMac Pro. And if you don't want to spend for the Studio Display, there are great 27" displays from LG and Samsung at lower price points. Apple's current line-up does a great job of catering to both "most people" and to creatives and other pros who need larger screens and more power.
iMac has never been very portable or upgradeable, so this is nothing new. The M1 iMac is arguably the most portable iMac, as it weighs almost nothing compared to its predecessors. iMacs do keep their resale value better than non-Apple computers, so they are reusable. They aren't impossible to sell or trade at all. Just look at eBay. They do remain useful for a long time.
Until the M1 Mac mini, the mini has always been an underpowered machine with horrible value. The current mini and Studio basically can't be upgraded, besides replacing the entire machine. A big part of the value of the iMac since the Retina models has been getting a top of the line display included, so this is a positive, not a negative.
It is weird that Apple has taken so long to update the iMac, which used to get updates every year. The cadence of all Mac releases has slowed down since 2020. An iMac with more than 16GB RAM is definitely needed. The all-in-one form factor is extremely good for office use, and even office users can use more than 16GB RAM. As far as cost-benefit, we know that isn't the main consideration for development, otherwise they never would have made the 2019 or the 2023 Mac Pro.
The iMac all in one is by far the most value for money of all the Mac’s that Apple sells because the end user is getting a nice 4.5K Apple display with the computer.
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iMac could stay in its current position, the last of the Macs to see the M2 refresh. In a two-year cycle, it may always be the last. That doesn't mean the door is closed to an iMac Plus, it just means the iMac has a market and price point (especially educational pricing) that Apple wants to maintain, and that doesn't require it to have the latest and greatest silicon. Occam's razor.