Yesterday, Apple announced the awaited proliferation of its magnificent M1 chip to the iMac. However, it’s just not the one people like me are waiting for. Serving duty in the totally redesigned iMac is the same M1 chip in the 13-inch MacBook Pro and the Mac mini. An amazing chip in its own right, but us power-users are looking for something more worthy of a “pro” suffix.
This is just the beginning, of course: the new iMac announced yesterday is only the replacement for the entry level 21.5-inch. The 27-inch iMac we know and love soldiers on for awhile longer with the Intel chips, until more beefier Apple silicon is ready for the show. Apple have set the stage nicely for an iMac Pro lineup, whenever the more capable M1 chips arrive. I myself am waiting for that same chips to show up on a new 16-inch class MacBook Pro. Fingers crossed for later this year.
Nevertheless, the iMac gets a major design change in nearly a decade. It’s now essentially the biggest iPad imaginable (24-inch wide, this new entry-level iMac is) fixed on a display pedestal. That’s it: there’s no bulge, no curves, nothing extraneous. Due to the impossibly thinness, there’s now an external power-brick, which is something laptops users have been used to for the longest time. Finally there’s now a keyboard with Touch ID, again, something MacBook Pro users are familiar with, though it’s going to cost $50 dollars extra over the standard keyboard.
Very worth it to tick that option, I would say.
I think the new design looks fantastic, especially the return of colors that isn’t a shade of greyscale. If I were in the market for an M1 iMac, the blue would be the one. I do wonder if the forthcoming iMac Pro will keep such a colorful palette options. Probably not, because professionals are serious people, and only blacks and silvers will suffice!
The roundabout, confounding Americans since inception.