Apple updates iMac with M1, slimmer design with two small fans, seven colors, 1080p webcam, six speakers, beamforming three-mic array, and 24-inch 4.5K display
MacRumorsHartley Charlton
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple had refreshed 21.5-inch and 27-inch iMacs with Intel processors, SSDs and a 1080p camera in 2020. The M1 model shifts the iMac’s emphasis to a slimmer 24-inch form factor, display, camera and audio upgrades rather than another conventional component refresh.
Apple gives iMac buyers a 24-inch desktop with M1, a 4.5K display, upgraded camera and integrated audio hardware, while making color a central configuration choice.
The M1 iMac’s $1,299 starting configuration directly positions Apple’s redesigned desktop against its own prior Intel iMac tiers, which began at the same price.
Second-order effects
The redesign makes display, videoconferencing and acoustics more prominent buying criteria for iMac customers, alongside processor and graphics specifications.
Apple’s later M4 update builds on the 24-inch platform while addressing capacity and connectivity with higher base memory and Thunderbolt 4, reinforcing an upgrade path based on successive chip-and-feature revisions.
Third-order effects
The iMac line is moving from periodic Intel CPU and discrete-GPU refreshes toward a stable all-in-one design whose differentiation is paced by Apple silicon and integrated hardware upgrades.
If Apple continues this cadence, desktop buyers will face a more tightly specified iMac platform, with fewer opportunities to treat memory, ports or graphics as independently refreshed choices.
The trend: Apple is turning the iMac into a long-lived integrated desktop platform, with Apple-silicon generations and built-in media hardware driving refresh cycles.
Touch ID comes to iMac with a secure processor on the keyboard. (There are non-touch ID keyboards too) — and one with a num pad, mice and TouchPads get color matching. https://twitter.com/...
Why did Apple make this new magnetic power plug for the new iMac? Oh maybe because the WHOLE desktop computer weighs less than 10 pounds?!?! And people will knock it over or trip on the cord and take the whole computer with it? https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
Here's the thing about the iMac color scheme, you really only view it from the front, so the light color is really what matters, not the vibrant color on the back.
The 24" colors look just like the iPhone 12. How much you wanna bet that the bigger one (whatever size it ends up being) comes in the steel colors of the iPhone 12 Pro?
Yes, this change is mind-blowing. But still, I'm keeping my 2014 iMac Retina 5K on my desk, waiting for iMac Pro which will give me a bigger screen and Face ID. Why oh why they went with Touch ID when they could have gone with Face ID? #AppleEvent https://twitter.com/...
There's some really nice design call-outs here to older Mac design language, like the iMac-like color palette, or putting a “turn off my computer” button right next to the delete key. https://twitter.com/...
5) New iMac M1 brings back colors. Time-tested Apple product playbook, add color to juice sales. First time iMac has added colors since its launch in 1998, a year after Jobs' return.
It was certainly a choice to call out the ‘improved 1080p FaceTime camera’ on the new iMac, and moments later show off an iPad with a 12MP wide-angle FaceTime sensor
That iMac design is *so close* to perfect; really striking form factor. That chin has got to go (you'd better find somewhere else for your Post-It notes) https://twitter.com/...