New iMac - I wish

[Dazmondo77]

After the disappointment of a missed opportunity with the re-design of the new 24" iMac, and after seeing loads of posts from other mac users voicing similar disappointment, I thought I'd have a shot at something more inline with something I would want to buy while still retaining the chin, although saying that I think I'd only buy another iMac if they allowed Apple Pencil support so you could draw directly on the screen - I also think it's current ugliness could be rectified with stickers (I'll give it a week or so before you'll be able to pre-order a sticker kit from somewhere) ----- white bezels??? just adding back a small Apple logo gives the 'chin' purpose, and for me, works in the same way as seeing someone without a navel - anyway find attached for anyone interested an all vector re-design for anyone to download and play with - I have it set up as snapshots for each colour which are all setup as global colours.

Be interested to know other users thoughts on the subject

2021 imac.afpub

[VectorVonDoom]

The rumours were that it would be based on the look of the XDR display, shame that wasn't the case. The colours are generally a bit on the girly side, why no space grey? The white bezel is horrible and I'd imagine look even worse in dark mode which could be why the wallpapers are light. Who cares if a desktop is thinner, the old one was plenty thin enough and better thermals are far more important even for the M1. I thought with Jony gone they'd drop this needless push for even thinner where it doesn't matter. Putting the apple logo on the back because that is what most see first is nonsense, the vast majority of desktops are facing walls or partitions. 

Don't get me started on the penny pinching (although hardly new under Cook), only 2 ports on the base model and no touch id or ethernet. As usual they're making an absolute killing, aka ripping customers off, on ram/ssd upgrades you'd think that would be enough.

[jmwellborn]

“All that glisters is not gold: Often have you heard that told: Many a man his life has sold, But my outside to behold: Gilded tombs do worms enfold.”   Wm Shakespeare had it right.  Personally I don’t care two hoots about the sveltness or lack therof of the outside.  I am waiting eagerly for April 30 to buy the new 24” M1 Mac, not because it comes in colors, but because of its insides.  And I will definitely be upgrading from the basic model to acquire more of everything I will need and want in the way of ports, RAM and hard drive space.  Judging from the overwhelmingly positive experience I am having with the M1 chip in my new MacBook Pro, I expect to be even happier with this new Mac than I have consistently been with my previous Mac desktops.  (Although I must confess that I will be plugging in my trusty old tethered mouse and my trusty old tethered keyboard.)  To each his/her own!  

[Dazmondo77]

7 hours ago, jmwellborn said:

To each his/her own!  

Yeah but it's just so ugly (from the front), I'd personally find white bezels to be really distracting, which goes against what makes Mac OS so good, and the chin looks almost nipple-less or navel-less (on a human level)  maybe Jony Ive designed the back before he legged it then they got a chimp to finish it off - then they use all that emotive fluff speak to sell it to all us zoned out, slack jaw, drooling apple zombies, just to see how they have us under their spell - what next, a turd with a screen, although on an artistic level that would be great, providing it's M1 powered (I could see myself buying that?!?!?!)

[OllyH]

Nice work on those renders OP.

I'm not at all surprised at the colours, imitating the original colourful iMacs whilst being very thin, possibly too thin? The power brick feels like a regression, but thinness wins I guess.

These aren't for professionals, not that they aren't capable, these are very much an iMac 'for all'.

Pro models will almost certainly come in the darker shades with black bezels. Black accents/colour-ways have almost always been reserved for the higher-end models (remember the black MacBook that had no other features than the colour that was an optioned cost.)

Spec/Ports are very modern Apple, the Pro models will almost certainly be more as expected. 

[v_kyr]

Well when it comes to the new iMacs, I have a similar opinion as VectorVonDoom here. - These are consumer models and thus more the entry line into the renewed nowadays iMac range (aka more a replacement for the older 21" iMacs). Hardware wise they will have the same SoC as the other so far available M1 based hardware, though better 4.5K TFT-panel, speakers/mic and frontcam as previous 21" iMacs. Their optical looks & design is of course a matter of taste, but I would have prefered here too a more towards XDR display oriented design.

Price wise these got again more expensive, even for an entry level iMac model and when a little better equipped (max RAM, big SSD, more ports) get's expensive. So I can imagine what the next in line 30"-32" iMac will cost here then, when equipped in a way a developer feels more at home with (M2 chip, 32-64 GB RAM, 1-2 TB SSD ... etc).

[VectorVonDoom]

The 21" it replaces had a 6 year old cpu and spinning drive, so at least that is an improvement. Anyway I'd go for a mini with screen, keyboard and mouse (one thing Apple have never got right) of my choice over this. As a guess the replacement for the 27" will start at £1999 same as the mid model, can't see it being lower with a 30"+ screen but going over £2k would put a lot of people off. Although it seems whatever Apple charge people still buy so who knows. Not sure 64GB will be an option, some say it will be others say 32GB.

[v_kyr]

39 minutes ago, VectorVonDoom said:

Not sure 64GB will be an option, some say it will be others say 32GB.

Probably depends on the availability of 16 GB 4266 MHz LPDDR4X RAM-chip packages, which are integrated/soldered on the M1-SoC then. - For 32 GB RAM you would need 2x 16 GB of such 4266 MHz LPDDR4X RAM-chip packages to fit on a M1-SoC of actual size. And for 64 GB then 2x 32 GB of such 4266 MHz LPDDR4X RAM-chip packages (... not sure if the later 32 GB single sized ones already do exist).

[VectorVonDoom]

1 hour ago, v_kyr said:

Probably depends on the availability of 16 GB 4266 MHz LPDDR4X RAM-chip packages, which are integrated/soldered on the M1-SoC then. - For 32 GB RAM you would need 2x 16 GB of such 4266 MHz LPDDR4X RAM-chip packages to fit on a M1-SoC of actual size. And for 64 GB then 2x 32 GB of such 4266 MHz LPDDR4X RAM-chip packages (... not sure if the later 32 GB single sized ones already do exist).

The RAM is part of the SoC, hence it's a SoC not just a CPU, so it's not down to availability just space to squeeze it in. It's not integrated as such, like integrating someone else's RAM in to it, it's part of the chip design. But the RAM doesn't take up much space on the die. The 16"/27" replacements sound as though they'll get another 4 performance cores but Apple are also working on a discreet GPU. If the GPU is ready they'll have a good amount of room for RAM. But assuming the die stays the same size then it's hard to say if there's enough room for 64GB from the image, looks more like 32GB. But I'm just guessing.

They have to do something with the GPU as although the M1 is good compared to other integrated GPU's it's not against discreet ones.

 

[v_kyr]

11 minutes ago, VectorVonDoom said:

The RAM is part of the SoC, hence it's a SoC not just a CPU, so it's not down to availability just space to squeeze it in. It's not integrated as such, like integrating someone else's RAM in to it, it's part of the chip design.

That's what I said, the M1 architecture-SoC, aka the 2x RAM package chip are soldered on that SoC module beneath the CPU chip ...

[VectorVonDoom]

No, look at the pic. It's part of the design, not soldered in as an add-on.

[v_kyr]

12 minutes ago, VectorVonDoom said:

No, look at the pic. 

Look here at 2:20 --> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHx3NJPE_RA

If you mean they are part of the M1, then yes they are soldered beneath on that, the GPU part. (That's what I meant too though I called the M1 module SoC here too).

Quote

But the RAM doesn't take up much space on the die. The 16"/27" replacements sound as though they'll get another 4 performance cores but Apple are also working on a discreet GPU. If the GPU is ready they'll have a good amount of room for RAM. But assuming the die stays the same size then it's hard to say if there's enough room for 64GB from the image, looks more like 32GB. But I'm just guessing.

If as you say they are building a discrete GPU, which is then smaller in size and thus then taking less space on that die, then there are chances for placing on more RAM chips to increase the RAM memory. Otherwise they have to see if there are yet also higher memory capacity RAM chips available on the market, so that they can include those then in order to increase the overall RAM size on a M1 die.

[StudioJason]

On an iPad Pro 12.9, v.3 currently... and most likely go for another with an M1 Chip (or later version than than the new), but am of a bit different mindset I guess, as I like the new design of the iMac overall. Would wait for 2nd versions at least to see if any modifications and such, but given the ample power and versatility of iPad Pro even now, for the many creative apps and such I use would still be my go to with the M1 Chip added.