At the recent Apple ‘Spring Loaded’ event, several new products were announced, including new M1 iMac computers, adding to the Mac mini, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro that were released near the end of last year. Starting at just $200 more than the MacBook Pro, this all-in-one computer offers a big beautiful display, super slim design, and plenty of power to satisfy most users. Apple has also returned to the days of colorful computers by offering the new iMac in seven colors, spanning the rainbow.
The iMac was among the first of the all-in-one computers which incorporate the mainboard, storage, and expansion ports within the body of the display. Naturally, the keyboard and mouse still have to be external components. This design reduces cost and potentially offers a smaller footprint than a traditional tower computer. The downside is that more heat is generated since the display and computer share the same space. The new M1 iMac solves this problem through the use of its high-efficiency, Apple-designed system-on-a-chip. This allows fan size to be reduced and the profile to be slimmed considerably on the new iMac, which boasts an 11.5 mm screen thickness. Overall, the iMac takes up 50-percent less volume than the previous generation.
Apple's newest iMac contains the same powerful M1 chip that is used in the Mac mini, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. Its performance should be on par with the Mac mini since both of these desktop computers have fans. Apple claims the fans on the new iMac produce less than 10-decibels of sound, which is nearly silent, so there is no noise penalty for gaining the extra speed potential. While some rumors suggested the possibility of an M1X or M2 processor, the M1 is only a few months old and still among the best available in its class. With CPU performance up to 85-percent faster than the previous generation, and graphics that Apple claims are 50-percent faster than discrete AMD GPUs found in earlier 21.5-inch iMac computers, speed won’t be a problem for most users. Apple shared a real-world example for its growing user base of video editors, stating that the M1 iMac can edit five streams of 4K video, or one stream at 8K resolution without dropping a frame in Final Cut Pro. YouTube channel owners have already been praising the power of the M1 for 4K resolution video, so this isn’t a surprise, but still a welcomed addition to the all-in-one iMac with its large display.
iMac Display & Configurations
Each new M1 iMac computer features a larger 24-inch display with 4.5K resolution, which equates to 4480 by 2520 pixels. It’s nice that Apple didn’t just increase the pixel size to achieve the larger display, but actually increased resolution, which will offer a bit more room for toolbars while showing a full 4K resolution video. This is another bonus for video editors and 3D animators. Since the iMac is all display, this aspect of the computer has to shine. It features 500 nits of brightness, a wide color gamut known as P3, and True Tone technology that matches the white balance of the screen to the lighting in the room, so a sheet of white paper beside the iMac will have the same color temperature as the white seen on the screen. The webcam has also been upgraded to 1080p and the power supply has been updated to include an Ethernet plug, with the network connection bundled in with the power cord to reduce clutter at the back.
The new iMac is available in a full rainbow of seven colors, although three are only possible with the four-port version of the iMac which costs $200 more. The four-port model adds two USB 3 ports to the two USB 4 Thunderbolt ports that are standard. The more expensive model also has the option of 2-terabytes of internal storage versus a one-terabyte maximum for the two-port iMac. The keyboard and mouse have colors to match the iMac and there is now a Touch ID key, making logging into the iMac as easy as it is with a MacBook. Starting at $1,299, it matches the price of the M1 MacBook Pro while providing a much larger display. The M1 iMac is the newest member of the growing Apple Silicon Mac family and should offer great value to most desktop computer users.
Source: Apple