New design matters. New design inspires. New design drives purchases. And now there's
finally a new design in the flesh for the iMac. It's been a long time since we've
seen something this new, fresh, and exciting for the desk. Apple, a company famed for
its industrial design, really did let its iMac languish. The very computer that blazed
the trail from the company's brush with death. So let's really take a look at this new one
and find out if it's been worth the wait, and if it's worth the $1500.
I didn't think this would happen. I didn't want it to happen, but I'm smitten. I've
fallen in love with the computer, and what we have here is a personal computer that you
can truly make personal right when you order it. Channeling the original colored iMac G3,
it's available in a whole seven colors. And I think for the average person, it's the most
interesting question worth asking. What color would you take? Probably the purple, yellow,
probably silver. Purple or blue. This is a big commitment. Purple. The green. You know what?
I'm loving this green. Blue. It's amazing how you give people an option to express their
personalities, and they'll show you just how vibrant they are. Me? It was between the warm tones,
orange and yellow. They really jumped out at me quite simply because they're not what you'd
find on any PC these days. And after going with the yellow, I don't regret it at all,
but I'm sure I'd feel the same way with orange too. The pictures online, and perhaps even this
video, don't quite capture how the iMac reflects the lighting conditions. This yellow one is just
so cheerful yet golden. It literally and figuratively brightens my mood when I look at it. It's like
the warm rising sun. A lot of people have been also harping on about these white bezels, and I
don't get it. This is supposed to be a bright, friendly computer. The screen is supposed to be
obvious. And if you think about how white the interfaces of Big Sur are, it doesn't really
strike me as odd that the bezels are white too. Other computers look like black mirrors,
but this actually looks like a computer that's being designed.
As this is Apple's first ARM-based all-in-one, I think it's important to analyze just how much
that dictated the design of this computer. It's impossibly thin. Too thin for a headphone jack
too thin even for an old USB-A port. It's so thin that it doesn't really have a side profile.
It's a case of, now you see it, now you don't. And that thinness is really the story of the
computer. It's why this chin remains for one. The logic board, and most of the things we think of
as a computer, are contained in this controversial section. I support the move as it maintains
the look of previous iMacs while avoiding making the whole computer thicker, wasting space. And
they clearly wanted to depart from the curved back of the outgoing iMac in favor of a symmetrical,
flat design. It also means that the power supply is external and under the desk, along with the
Ethernet port. And since that means there's only one color-matched cable visible at the top of the
desk, I don't mind that as much as I thought I would. The performance of the M1 chip contained
in this iMac has been talked about for months since their debut in the fall. Benchmark-wise,
this mid-range model performs about the same as other fan-cooled M1 models. Though recent reports
show that the base tier is slightly less performant due to there being only one fan for cooling,
compared to the two in this model. That, with the pricing, leads to a strange choice. The mid-range
iMac is the one that gets you all the latest iMac innovations. Touch ID on the keyboard,
which is wonderful, all the color options, and all four USB-C ports at $1,500. That doesn't sound so
bad. Right. But a MacBook Pro with the same M1 performance, a touch ID sensor, 8 gigabytes of
RAM, 256 gigabytes of SSD storage, and 20 hours of battery life costs $1,300. $200 less. Now,
I don't know about you, but I know a lot of people like laptops. So why would they buy that?
If you're a laptop person, I'm going to have difficulty explaining why. But there are a few
things this iMac still does better. One, the screen is just bigger and nicer. It's a 23.5 inch retina,
sporting 4.5K pixels across a 16 by 9 aspect ratio. At default scaling, you're going to just fit
so much more on the screen while maintaining big, easy to read interface elements. And that also
means making things bigger for aging eyes is less of a compromise. Two, while the speakers on the
MacBook Pro are good, these are better. They're downward firing and support spatial audio, but
that's not what's impressive about them. Good speakers need air to move about, and Apple has
created these incredibly thin chambers, but then made them take up most of the area behind the
screen. So it really punches above its weight. Three, this webcam is 1080p with some image signal
processing added to the mix. It's much, much better than any MacBook webcam, which is about
as potatoes Apple dare let them get. It's perfect for what's left of this pandemic. And four, well,
just look at it. So if you're pining to put this on your desk, or the desk of a family member,
which one should you get? The base $1,300 model will probably find itself in schools and with
seniors. Though, I mean, if you're a light user and a lot of people are, you're probably not
going to notice the performance differences between it and this double fan model. So you can safely
go for that. Just remember, it doesn't have touch ID, that's $50, Ethernet, or all the colors
available. Plus, there's only two Thunderbolt ports. So if you want to save money and get that,
I recommend at least paying $30 for the Ethernet option. The next big upgrade worth considering
is 16 gigabytes of RAM for $200, especially since you can't upgrade memory later. This will probably
help your computer feel fast for a few extra years. And RAM is certainly more worthwhile
than upgrading storage because it's $800 to have two terabytes inside the iMac. It's less than $100
for two terabytes in this yellow enclosure. Yes, a spinning drive is slower, but most people are
storing documents, photos, videos, and music for playback. And a drive like this is fast enough.
And since this computer isn't going anywhere, it's easy to just leave it plugged in so you have
access to that data whenever you need it. Knowing how I use my desktop computer these days,
I think I'd be fine just getting a $1,500 mid-tier model in orange and then calling it a decade.
I really like this computer. It harkens back to a very brief time when computers were fun and
flavorful pieces of design. I really hope it inspires colorful peripheral designs that will
match the iMac you've put on your desk. Remember the impact the original one had?
This new iMac really does make a case for itself as a computer made for families and individuals
in the home. If it were to be placed on that four-quadrant model lineup of 1998, it would
sit firmly in the consumer desktop space. A space I'm happy to see clearly defined again.
Thanks for checking in on this Mac Address. If you thought this was a good video, give it a
like and if you want to see more when they come out, feel free to subscribe. Now, that
we're done with this video. I am so excited to put this on my desk and replace that awful monitor
that Riley ruined last week. It's going to be good to have a splash of color up there.