New 24" iMac

[eytonxav]

The WWDC21 is coming up soon, so perhaps they might say a little bit more about a larger iMac and its config options.

[Midpack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mpeirce And if you want to see those same files on your iPhone or iPad or even via a web browser on some other device, you store them in iCloud. It's easy and very handy to set things up that way. DW and I also have a shared iCloud folder were we keep all items we both want access to - receipts, tax records, etc. Also very handy.

Or OneDrive I assume?

DW insists “we” have the Office Suite, and Microsoft 365 comes with 6TB of cloud space (1TB x 6 users), so I might as well use it. I’ll probably leave our contacts, reminders, calendar, notes and select mobile files on the iCloud free 5GB.

[Midpack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DFW_M5 The WWDC21 is coming up soon, so perhaps they might say a little bit more about a larger iMac and its config options.

You never know. On the hardware side, most of the YT experts are guessing they’ll announce a new 14” and 16” MacBook Pro laptops with a better SOC than the M1 (M2, M1X, etc.), but could be a Mac Mini Pro and/or iMac Pro (30-32” iMac) too. DW is waiting on a new MacBook Pro (from her crummy Dell laptop), we’ll know more soon if the experts are right.

[eytonxav]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midpack You never know. On the hardware side, most of the YT experts are guessing they’ll announce a new 14” and 16” MacBook Pro laptops with a better SOC than the M1 (M2, M1X, etc.), but could be a Mac Mini Pro and/or iMac Pro (30-32” iMac) too. DW is waiting on a new MacBook Pro (from her crummy Dell laptop), we’ll know more soon if the experts are right.

I did not get my Mac until I retired in 2013, but have absolutely no regrets. You are in for a treat.

[Ready]

We have a blue IMac on order. 8GB RAM and 256GB hard drive because that’s all DH needs. We could get it right away at Best Buy but he wanted a trackpad instead of the mouse, which requires a custom order from Apple. So we wait six weeks for it.

[stephenson]

Cannot see a reason for the combined Mac'n'Screen - cool idea for 2000, but I have found peace and happiness in our MacBook Pro laptops - and curved 35" Sceptre screens.

Best of all worlds - plenty fast, have HD backup drive, 1TB of internal SSD memory, transportability and quick disconnect.

[Ready]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stephenson Cannot see a reason for the combined Mac'n'Screen - cool idea for 2000, but I have found peace and happiness in our MacBook Pro laptops - and curved 35" Sceptre screens. Best of all worlds - plenty fast, have HD backup drive, 1TB of internal SSD memory, transportability and quick disconnect.

We have always gone with MacBook Pros but with the recent change from Intel to Apple chips, things have changed. A low end MacBook Air with an Apple M1 chip outperforms the top of the line MacBook Pro 16” laptop that sells for more than twice the price. Eventually they will update the 16” MacBook Pro with Apple chips and things will balance out.

But for our next computer we wanted a larger screen than 16”. I have not researched monitors for a while so things may have changed, but the last time I looked at monitors for Macs they could not display true 4K resolution like the IMacs, with the exception of the very expensive LG monitors that Apple sells. If that has changed, it may be time for me to buy a monitor for my MacBook Air.

[Midpack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by stephenson Cannot see a reason for the combined Mac'n'Screen - cool idea for 2000, but I have found peace and happiness in our MacBook Pro laptops - and curved 35" Sceptre screens. Best of all worlds - plenty fast, have HD backup drive, 1TB of internal SSD memory, transportability and quick disconnect.

If you need transportability and price isn’t a consideration then by all means. But you can’t buy a M1 MacBook Pro and a 35” (or even 24”) monitor for anywhere near the cost of a 24” M1 iMac - to use on apples to apples comparison. If I’m at home with a monitor, why would I ever use a 13”-16” laptop screen?

For us an iPad and an iMac is a much better solution than a MacBook Pro and a big external monitor. Or now that you can buy an M1 iPad, you could use AirPlay to project the iPad to a 75” TV if you want to, and skip the dedicated monitor. “Best of all worlds?”

[Ronstar]

Or maybe go the “Blow that dough” route with a Mac Pro and 49” monitor. Mac Pro not MacBook Pro.

[Jerry1]

It may not look as cool, but the Mac mini seems to have about the same specs as the new iMac and you can get whatever monitor you want.

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jerry1 It may not look as cool, but the Mac mini seems to have about the same specs as the new iMac and you can get whatever monitor you want.

For some of us that would be an excellent idea. The mini even supports two monitors if you want.

[Midpack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jerry1 It may not look as cool, but the Mac mini seems to have about the same specs as the new iMac and you can get whatever monitor you want. Quote: Originally Posted by braumeister For some of us that would be an excellent idea. The mini even supports two monitors if you want.

You could if you’re willing to settle for lesser displays as many/some will be. But an M1 Mac Mini, with an equivalent 4.5K 24” monitor, keyboard, mouse and speakers will cost you (way) more than the M1 iMac with comparable RAM, SSD, etc. And the iMac will support a second monitor. FWIW.

[audreyh1]

We really like having the iMac with the computer built into the monitor and just keyboard and trackpad or mouse needed in addition. Very space efficient.

We both have the 5K monitors which are just a dream for photo or video editing. I inherited DH’s first one.

They are several years old now.

[Ready]

The new IMac has a 4.5K display, so almost as good as the 27” IMac 5K display. Once you get used to a display with such a high resolution, third party monitors look blurry. If you have never used a true 4K+ display you may not notice, but there is a big difference. That is why the new IMac with the 4.5K display starting at $1299 is such a good deal.

[eytonxav]

Are there other reasons for wanting something larger than 24", other than the need to do video/photo editing or having multiple screens open? While I am curious how the 27" replacement will spec and price out, I am just not sure why I would need that bigger monitor other than maybe watching movies.

[Midpack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DFW_M5 Are there other reasons for wanting something larger than 24", other than the need to do video/photo editing or having multiple screens open? While I am curious how the 27" replacement will spec and price out, I am just not sure why I would need that bigger monitor other than maybe watching movies.

In addition to video/photo editing as you mention, if you want to watch video/streaming TV you might want it bigger. Or if you often work with multiple windows open, a larger monitor would make them all more readable. All the online rumors I’ve seen say the new bigger iMac will be 30-32.” We have an old 32” TV and there’s no way I want a desktop computer with a screen that large (if you have something similar around or cut out a piece of cardboard 20” x 28” and see if you want that size - about what a 32” monitor would be). The bigger iMac will be (quite a bit) more expensive with a bigger faster M1X/M2 CPU/GPU and more RAM and the larger display - I didn’t need faster or bigger so I ordered a loaded M1 iMac.

[audreyh1]

We don’t use our 5K iMacs to watch movies/shows. We have a much larger wall mounted OLED TV for that, with appropriate audio system and seating.

I occasionally watch something on an iPad.

[homestead]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jerry1 It may not look as cool, but the Mac mini seems to have about the same specs as the new iMac and you can get whatever monitor you want.

I replaced a 2012 mac mini with a M1 Mini a few months ago. It works ok except for one problem. The monitor won't sync up until you get to point where you login. So if there were any errors on boot up you would see them unless you logged in and looked at log files. The same monitor works fine with the old mac mini.
Apple knows about the problem and hints it may be fixed some day in the future.
But they have stopped replying to my status requests on the problem.
I have had it a few months and haven't decided if I going to return it.
Or I could buy a new monitor and that might fix it too or just continue to use it as is.

[Cat-tirement]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ready I have not researched monitors for a while so things may have changed, but the last time I looked at monitors for Macs they could not display true 4K resolution like the IMacs, with the exception of the very expensive LG monitors that Apple sells. If that has changed, it may be time for me to buy a monitor for my MacBook Air.

A couple of years ago I bought a 32” LG 4K HDR monitor to go with my 13” 2018 MacBook Pro. Been quite happy with it. You can use it to charge the computer if connected with USB-C, though I use a CalDigit dock for that and connect from there to the monitor with DisplayPort.

[Jerry1]

I’m definitely intrigued by the new iMac, but the things that give me pause are the software I’d need to buy and figure out how to use like Turbo Tax and Office (Excel and Word). I’m also curious if it has a fan. My current PC is fanless. Lastly, my current PC works fine, even though it is old. Even though I drool a bit when I read about the new iMac and the high resolution monitor, it’s just a bit hard to spend the dough given that my current system is working just fine. Maybe next year.