Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

New iMac with M4

apple.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

221–230 of 1001 posts

Re: New iMac with M4

#221

Post by andrewmcwatters »

simonw wrote: post #144

As someone who mucks around with running LLMs and other large models on my computer the 32GB maximum RAM is a show-stopper for me. I'm on a M2 with 64GB at the moment and I'm already regretting not going for 96 or even 128. I want to be able to run a large model AND other apps at the same time.

I own a MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2021) Apple M1 Max 64 GB. I'm just adding to this that at the time of purchase, this was Apple's top-of-the-line MacBook Pro model, and it's just not that great, in my opinion.

Apple's new hardware pales in comparison to the relative abilities of what features existed on a 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K Display 10 years ago.

All of the power of modern computers come primarily from their GPUs, and Apple's aren't very good, and have been chronically underpowered compared to the competition for years now.

I'm considering relegating Apple devices to being good for just design work.

Edit: I agree with Der_Einzige's sentiments. It's beyond time for us to move past Apple hardware.

Re: New iMac with M4

#222

Post by skybrian »

I have a more than a decade-old iMac with a 27” display that I’m stil using as a monitor (though it’s seen better days), so that worked out well, but a Mac mini and an external monitor seems better in every way.

Which monitor to get, though? Maybe Apple should sell a Mac mini bundled with a nice external monitor instead of iMacs.

Re: New iMac with M4

#223

Post by lisper »

simonw wrote: post #191
klodolph wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but to be honest, I don’t think you should be shipping a high-spec computer with a built-in screen. Anything high-spec should be broken into at least a separate screen and computer. The screen is such a major point of failure. I’ve seen so many iMacs and MacBooks with broken screens where the end solution is to replace the entire device, which is a waste. It’s that much more of a waste if you are getting a high…

Yeah, that's my biggest complaint with iMacs: I want to be 100% certain I can repurpose them as monitors later in their lives. I have a ten year old iMac at the moment that would make an amazing second monitor... but it doesn't quite have the features I need to use it like that. An HDMI input would be great.

> An HDMI input would be great.

There is a reason that is difficult to do: the licensing terms for HDMI require manufacturers to put DRM in place to make it impossible (or at least not straightforward) to record from an HDMI source. It's nearly impossible to meet that requirement on a computer.

Re: New iMac with M4

#224

Post by angoragoats »

cube2222 wrote: post #127
DeathArrow wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 16GB base RAM, they finally did it. I've paid €200 for 128GB RAM in my PC. How much does Apple charge for 128GB of memory?

I get your point, and Apple doesn't price RAM cheap, but it's worth noting that any RAM doesn't equal any other RAM. There's a ton of ram types with varying performance levels, and in apple's case it's RAM with direct and performant access from the graphics card (unified memory).

Every M-series Mac has shipped with completely standard LPDDR4 or LPDDR5(X) memory chips. While these can be a bit more expensive than socketed non-LP DDR DIMMS, we're talking maybe 10% more expensive, not 1000% more expensive (which is what Apple charges for upgrades vs standard retail price for DIMMs).

Apple's marketing department would be happy for you to think otherwise, but the "secret sauce" of their high memory bandwidth is completely due to having more memory channels built into the SoC than a standard x86 CPU.

Re: New iMac with M4

#225

Post by Wytwwww »

samatman wrote: post #198
mmastrac wrote: post #10

If 32GB is the max, why not just make that the one and only model and get rid of this weird segmentation. That's a ridiculously low minimum and only just barely adequate. 8GB was practically criminal. Or -- and I know this is crazy -- slottable RAM on a device that is designed for things other than portability. Wild, I know.

On the one hand, sure, Apple loves to get that extra margin for more RAM and SSD, no doubt. On the other hand, the MacBook Air ships with 8GiB RAM standard, and it's robustly popular. One could suppose that all those customers are suffering from the lack of RAM, or one could suppose that for many use cases, it's an adequate amount. The latter is more likely. macOS manages memory well, and a fast SSD means that swappi…

I'm not sure how can we tell. The Mac revenue has peaked back in 2022 and has been declining since. But assure, I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people use their Macs as they would an iPad (i.e. at most a single app and/or browser and 8GB might be enough for that).

Re: New iMac with M4

#226

Post by dagmx »

alberth wrote: post #100
Eric_WVGG wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It makes a lot more sense if you look at the iFixit teardown. https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iMac+M1+24-Inch+Teardown/142...

Does it though? The iMac is basically the same as the M4 iPad Pro, and the iPad Pro doesn't have a chin.

iMac has active cooling, more ports and more power available to it to drive those ports (though the PSU is external, it’s still gotta have the internal circuitry to deliver that).

Those all do have to go somewhere.

Re: New iMac with M4

#227

Post by Suppafly »

ffsm8 wrote: post #126
ValentineC wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm surprised Apple didn't co-opt charging mousepad tech, like what Logitech uses: https://www.logitechg.com/en-us/innovation/powerplay.html

I'm pretty sure it's patented in some way considering Logitech is still the only option for that . The product is already several years old after all (release date 2017)

Just pay logitech $5/piece to license the patent and then sell them for $200, there is plenty of meat on the bone for everyone involved.

Or bypass the idea of the patent altogether by making their mouse charge wirelessly and then releasing a giant wireless charger that happens to work pretty well as a mouse pad later.

Re: New iMac with M4

#228

Post by nxobject »

presbyterian wrote: post #112
stevenAthompson wrote: post #74

Do they sell matching monitors to go with these all in one style iMac's? I'm not really an Apple person, but I can't imagine having a single monitor in this day and age and any other color would look silly next to a weird pastel pink device.

I don't use an iMac, but I do use a single display with a similar resolution, and I personally much prefer it to a multi-monitor setup

I agree... on the proviso that I can never afford 3 monitors, and I've never quite found 2-monitor setups comfortable because even with the very small bezels today I'm constantly shifting and turning away from the centre.

Re: New iMac with M4

#229

Post by whiplash451 »

traceroute66 wrote: post #188
simonw wrote: post #144

As someone who mucks around with running LLMs and other large models on my computer the 32GB maximum RAM is a show-stopper for me. I'm on a M2 with 64GB at the moment and I'm already regretting not going for 96 or even 128. I want to be able to run a large model AND other apps at the same time.

> As someone who mucks around with running LLMs and other large models on my computer the 32GB maximum RAM is a show-stopper for me. To be fair, I don't think people mucking around with large LLMs is the primary target market for the iMacs. The sort of people who muck around with LLMs almost certainly already have a monitor, keyboard and mouse. And so are more likely to pick up a Mac Studio which will no doubt be com…

Or separate concerns and shell out on a Studio display with the-mac-you-like on usb-c

Re: New iMac with M4

#230

Post by notatoad »

aphantastic wrote: post #209
graeme wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The iMacs very much aren't their main seller. A couple of key demographics use it though: * Families with a shared computer in a common room. Super simple to setup, no fiddling, low price. In the video Apple showcased this use case. My parents have an M3 imac and it works great. They had their last iMac for ten years. * Businesses buy these for reception areas and customers see the Apple logo on the back. Easy soluti…

My parents have had an iMac in their living room sitting quietly doing stuff (web apps, mainly) for 9 years now. Still works fine for all their use cases and the 5k screen remains a delight to behold.

i know a few people who have an iMac in their living room like that, with the same logic as the people who still have landlines - the laptops and cell phones get put away when you get home (or stay in the home office), so you can be present with your family. but sometimes you still need a computer for stuff, like controlling the music or quickly looking something up on google. but if it's not your computer, and it's not signed in to all your stuff, you're going to quickly do the thing you need doing and then get off it again.

iMac is perfect for that. it looks pretty, it's small enough that it can be put in a corner, and it's powerful enough that you can buy it, leave it there, and not think about having to upgrade it for a decade.

Post reply on HN