Is the Apple M1 iMac Better in 2021

The most popular desktop Apple makes actually, the new M1 iMac.

I’ve been using M1 iMac computer and it’s been fun. you know, testing is a lot of hard work and everything.

But the more I do, the more I’m realizing that the typical performance testing is not as necessary. With M1 iMac.

This new M1 iMac is a far better computer than the baseline 21 and a half inch iMac it replaces like that machine was starting to show its age.

Every performance metric imaginable from CPU to GPU storage capacity and speed.

It uses less power is more efficient, it is a surprisingly capable and impressive machine for something that’s just a baseline model.

The only thing that got worse is the port situation, which I’ll go over in a bit.

But I mean, it’s essentially the same computer as the other one iMacs.

It’ll perform just like them give or take a little bit because of thermals having a fan versus not having a fan but like if I took an M1 iMac Mini and glued it to the back of a nice display, it would perform just like this one.

what I’m showing you here is an M1 iMac in a new outfit.

New, colorful, really thin outfit, but this is going to be a design what we think of the M1 iMac inside this new design of the 2021 iMac that’s why all probably already saw my initial reactions to the unveiling on Twitter, I had plenty of thoughts, and I still have a lot of those thoughts, but wanted to start with this.

This is a retro throwback to that original colorful M1 iMac when they came out in the 90s.

Back in a time when most other computers were more of plastic and beige white towers.

This represented a more approachable, accessible new computer seems like a fun time right now this nostalgia didn’t hit me because I wasn’t old enough back then to be thinking very hard about computer design.

But that’s what this again, represents. It’s an even more friendly, accessible computer design.

It’s what it’s supposed to be even in the way Apple presents it, you can see it in their materials, they’re trying to expand even more on that. So this is like the family Computer that’s not just tucked away in an office somewhere but in a family room, or a den or living room or something.

And so to pull that off, it’s got to be friendly and accessible, and most importantly to look like it would belong in any of those rooms. So not just like a metal box.

But a friendly piece of tech.

It’s the same challenge that things like the Google Home and the home pod have had now all that being said it’s a mixed bag.

That’s a bit of a mixed bag for me I honestly just don’t like the way it looks. it’s also clearly not for me.

Maybe it doesn’t even really matter if I like the way it looks or not but let me just show you let me walk you through all the things that are new about this design and then you can decide for yourself if you’re into it or not.

M1 iMac Screen Size

First of all the screen, the screen is bigger and it comes much closer to the edges than that old iMac design.

It’s a 23 and a half inch 4.5k display here 500 nits LCD p3 color, it is a very nice display.

Honestly, if you just start with that like trying to price out something else like a Mac Mini instead, with another nice 24-inch display to try match this.

You’re probably going to lose on price like this is a great screen.

You also notice quickly this is a very glossy I see reflective display, there’s no matte version.

You also have white bezels and a huge glossy chin.

If you want a computer that doesn’t have those things, maybe you’re in a bright environment with a lot of window light, or maybe you’re just not into white bezels and big chins, then you don’t get this M1 iMac should probably look at another monitor.

Nevertheless, the one thing I will say that I’ve come around on is at least understanding why they went with a white bezel specifically.

It comes back again to that like friendly face thing.

If you’re trying to put this in houses, and in people’s rooms, a lot of which are in rooms with white walls, and this computer is going to sit in front of a white wall behind it, theoretically, the white bezels sort of melt away into the background actually more than black bezels would have.

I see it, I’m not saying I like it like I personally still take black bezels every single day of the week, but at least we can see what they were thinking it’s kind of the same as the nest hub, or a nest thermostat even, it’s trying to be a piece of tech that can fit into any room.

Moreover, people would rather have something that looks friendlier than a metal box, fine of a chin.

On the other hand, this is probably we’re going to start to disagree, I get that it’s iconic to the M1 iMac to have this chin even though they got rid of the actual icon, the logo, but I just think it would have looked so much better without the chin so most of the computer is down there in the bottom.

If you look at Apple’s videos, you can see their basic setup, the logic board, and all that most of the computer down in that chin that is just mostly cooling and speakers throughout the rest.

So by shoving the computer down there, it let them make this whole computer razor-thin 11 and a half millimeters thin for the whole thing. It’s thinner than a MacBook Pro, it’s thinner than an Apple Watch, this entire computer is thinner than the depth of a headphone jack.

They had to put the headphone jack on the side of the computer; otherwise, it wouldn’t fit at all. M1 iMac is stunningly Razor-thin.

It’s kind of amazing that the entire computer fits inside this sleek case, thinner than pretty much every other 24-inch monitor.

That’s all amazing. it took a lot of work to make it this thin.

After I get it out of the box and decide where I want to put it and lock it in place.

I’m confident that nearly 100% of the people buying this machine would have been cool with it being like 20 millimeters thick, and being able to fit a lot of that computer stuff behind the display so that it doesn’t have a chin and it would have looked way better and it still would have been impressively thin.

M1 iMac Speakers

Then that would have also given them more room for more impressive speakers.

it’s got some pretty great speakers already.

They’re downward-firing just like they were in previous IMAX and they’re much louder than you’d expect from this small of a frame, it can crank loud enough to fill a room.

It’s got Dolby Atoms support and this nice pretty wide stereo image when you’re sitting right in front of it, but there’s a distinct lack of deep bass, which makes perfect sense.

It’s just built-in speakers and an all-in-one.

It’s so thin. I bet if it was thicker, you would have had some more space for maybe some more basic speakers.

M1 iMac Power Adaptor

They also probably could have fit the power adapter inside the computer like with all the rest of their desktops, but they leaned into the external power brick situation with the M1 iMac here.

There is an external power brick here that’s pretty beefy.

But they’ve made the most of it they’ve got color matching cables, and there are magnetic pins into the back and they’ve also built in an Ethernet port into the brick and the higher end models which are super convenient since it saves you yet another cable sticking out of the computer itself all that being said, the way I feel is they should have made it a little thicker and next to the chin but that’s just me maybe let me know what you think in the comments below but they went with the chin.

It’s here keep using it for your posted notes keep using it as a little handle fear, not height adjustable stance just for pivoting. But it is what it is.

It’s here now is an all in one, the M1 iMac is pretty much the gold standard for built-in accessories and components.

M1 iMac Webcam & Mic

I was looking forward to the webcam and mic for this one.

They’re pretty good, actually better than I was expecting. It is 10 ADP, finally, which is awesome.

But more than that the colors and contrast are way better, actually better than I feel like they were in the many laptops and, the studio-quality microphones as you can hear best mics ever in an M1 iMac are pretty good.

They’re pretty useful. They focus on your voice.

So if you’re further away from the M1 iMac, you can still hear you like this.

Alright, but let’s talk about the port situation real quick.

This is probably the only little red flag or downside of this new generation.

The baseline M1 iMac starts at 1299 and that’s the baseline, it’s the cheapest one, but that particular one has almost no ports.

That desktop has a headphone jack and two Thunderbolt USB type & two TypC ports.

 No Ethernet on the power brick. No SD card slot like that is it, that’s a wired mouse and a keyboard and you’re already at ports.

But if you upgrade to the higher-spec models that start at 1499, then you have two more USB TypeC ports for a total of four.

No HDMI, no USB, a just USB typeC here, no matter which model you get, it’s just it’s worth noting.

If you’re if you know you’re going to be plugging in external storage, or one or two things right off the bat, a card reader, you’re going to be running out of ports pretty quick.

But then again, let’s be real, most of the people getting these machines are going to use Apple’s nice, beautiful, colorful new accessories that are all Bluetooth, and it was funny during the review.

Seeing matching piece after matching piece, it just kind of struck me how well thought out all this stuff is.

So with the blue M1 iMac, the power cable is blue, the lightning cable for charging anything lightning is blue, there’s a new trackpad and Magic Mouse, neither of which are redesigned at all.

Just blue now, instead of silver.

There are also even dual-tone blue stickers in here to match that computer.

Then there is a new magic keyboard with Touch ID which is super dope.

Very useful, especially if you’re used to other laptops they’ve made,

I’m pretty sure it’s just an old iPhones Touch ID button cut out into the center of a keyboard key because that’s exactly what it looks and feels like.

It works as advertised for logging in switching between users authorizing payments, all that.

One thing I’ve noticed is it is a little bit slow.

I figured maybe that’s because it’s sending information encrypted or Bluetooth to the M1 iMac and back.

This is a new keyboard with the base model doesn’t have a Touch ID.

That’s another cut for the base model M1 iMac along with one GPU core, an Ethernet port, and two USB C ports.

But overall, even though I am someone who’s obviously not in the target demographic of this baseline M1 iMac, I actually think it’s a great computer.

It is a really good computer, I just think you should be wary of the baseline situation because that’s almost guaranteed fewer ports than a computer you’re currently using.

Just make sure you have the right port situation if you upgrade you get Ethernet you get two more ports, you get another GPU core.

You can get more storage, but just as far as the computer that this is replacing, it’s miles ahead of that old 21.5 Inch iMac honestly the only reason you might go with iMac Mini and another monitor is if you really don’t like the design at all or if you just hate a glossy display or if you want some sort of a different style.

If you can’t stand why bezels if there’s something else to it, then you can shop around but again, you’re probably going to have a hard time finding a monitor this good in a package like this.

That’s the appeal of the M1 iMac but now I get to get even more excited about the next steps in the Apple silicon transition m one has been amazing so far, but I am so curious about what they’re going to do with the Big iMac Pro with the iMac pro maybe it won’t have a chin maybe they’ll go crazy with an Apple silicon iMac Pro.

I’m just I’m ready to see the rest of that lineup.

But until then, and once stuff is out.

Let me know what you think of this design in the comment section below.

I’m super curious to hear what you think.

But until the next one.

Thanks for reading