MacQuadra840av

The 24" iMac won't be a big seller.  Limited ports, limited storage, limited RAM, and not exactly attractive colors...and that white bezel.  Ugh.  It is a stop-gap machine.  The chip shortage has had a huge impact so Apple decided to use an M1 in an iMac to satisfy people.  The 21.5" with upgraded graphics is faster than the M1s integrated graphics.  And the 27" iMac smokes the M1 with the 10-core i9 and upgraded graphics.  People have been waiting for the 'second generation' Apple Silicon to fill in the gaps missing in the M1, but nothing in sight for the replacement 16" MacBook Pro or 27" iMac.  It is odd that not long ago, people were complaining that Apple was still shipping Macs with 8 and 16GB RAM, and now suddenly they all claim 8 and 16GB is the best thing ever.  Look how fast M1 MacBooks appeared in the refurb store because they were customer returns.

People will skip this first generation iMac and wait for something better, that is not so limited in features.

The article also left out the fact that if the iPhone is not running iOS 14.5 or later, the 'missing' AirTag won't alert the nearby phone.  Not everyone installs the latest updates and some people still have phones that can't run iOS 14.  So chalk those people up with the Android users that won't know if an AirTag has been secretly planted on them.  It is also scary to know that you can be tracked for 3 days without being warned.

Why this vital information was left out of the review is disturbing.  At least the Ars article mentioned this significant issue with AirTags.  One could be planted on your car and you would never know it.  It is also documented on how easy it is to disable the speaker too.

Fidonet127 said:

MacQuadra840av said:

Fidonet127 said:

CheeseFreeze said:

Removing the SD slot from a desktop computer aimed at creative professionals is unforgivable. 

Many need to offload gigabytes of data regularly and are now stuck in dongle hell. On an iMac. 

Yes, because reaching around to the back of the iMac or turning the iMac around was convenient. I’m sure that with time as money professionals, they already have a better solution of a dongle, hub or dock instead of dealing with the SD card slot on the back. I’m sure this will meet the needs of some professionals, however some professionals and power users will wait for more power and RAM anyhow. 

The previous model iMacs had more RAM and more graphics power with discrete graphics.  Apple seems to be going in reverse these days.  Less memory and slower graphics.  Yes, the M1 can beat integrated graphics, but not discrete graphics.  Reaching around the back to plug in any cable or SD card was not that difficult.  Much better than a headphone jack on the side of the iMac, for a cord sticking out for better powered 2.1 speakers.

There has never been more processing power, ram or storage on an iPad as the new iPad Pro. So that disproves that apple going to fit less memory and storage. Apple tailored the M1 for the low end Macs and it is a good fit for that market. We are only part way in the transition and it is crazy to interpolate what would be on high end Macs from what is on the low end Macs now. Apple says they are going to replace all their Macs with ASi Macs and they have chips that can do it. What that means is anyone’s guess. The sky isn’t falling. 

What does the iPad Pro have to do with Macs?  The 21.5" iMac supported 32GB RAM from Apple, but the board supports 64GB RAM.  The Intel Mac mini also supports 64GB RAM.  Both models also had more ports.  Their replacement models now only support 16GB RAM.  What part of this disproves that Apple is not using less memory?  The 21.5" iMac had a high-end model with discrete graphics and more storage options than the 'base model', for those that wanted the smaller screen, but more power, more memory, more storage, and more graphics power without going up to the 27".  Now all 24" iMacs are capped at 16GB RAM, no dedicated graphics, and less ports.  Now if you want something better, you'll have to get the larger screen version iMac.  It has been a year.  So far they haven't produced anything better, likely because of the chip shortage.  That is why they are still selling the higher-end Intel models.  So far, the M1 models have less features than the models they replaced.  Not something that anyone asked for.  No one said the sky is falling, but usually new models have more features, not less.

ireland said:

entropys said:

Bottom line, the M1 is fine for the base model iMac, but will need moar! for the replacement for the 27 inch iMac. A lot Moarrrrr!

And that power brick idea needs a fair bit more thought. Why not a TB hub if a more powerful and capable chip can be offered?

That power brick shouldn’t exist. An AIO should be an AIO. Ethernet, headphone jack/line-in and a single USB-A port should be on the back beside the two USB4 ports. The machine should be marginally thicker to accommodate them.

And decidedly colourless iMac Pro with the black bezel should have at least 4 USB4 ports, 2 USB-A ports, SD-Card, Ethernet and headphone jack/line in. With at least 6 USB4 ports on the higher end Pro model.

What’s more, both iMac and iMac Pro should include a Qi charger area built into the iMac foot-stand, make it magnetic if they must, but it’s an obvious oversight to miss this opportunity. Some creative thinking would allow the area to charge an iPhone whether the iMac is powered On, in sleep mode or shut down, but plugged in. Come on, Apple, some real innovative please.

I agree with everything you said, except for the Qi charging in the foot.   Most don't want to pay for something they would never use, also the VESA mount iMac would render that option useless.  Most prefer to charge their devices at a much faster rate than Apple's limitation of 7.5w.

ireland said:

CheeseFreeze said:

Removing the SD slot from a desktop computer aimed at creative professionals is unforgivable. 

Many need to offload gigabytes of data regularly and are now stuck in dongle hell. On an iMac. 

SD Card will be reserved for a marginally thicker Pro model as Apple figures out a way to upsell iMac users to a pro model that provides ports they had previously on a regular iMac. If there is no pro model then Apple has lost their mind and isn’t living in the real world. Dongles and hubs are horseshit.

You got that right!  Remember the original iMac advertisements?  They compared the snarling mess of cords on a PC compared to two cords for the original iMac - the power cord and the phone cord (back in the day with modems).  Now Apple is all about the dongles.  The replacement 27" model will only have USB-C.  You can already see that coming.  Like when they claimed no AC adapters was saving the environment, and then the very next day they start advertising the many various different power adapters available as an accessory to charge your devices.