New iMac with M4 • Hacker News Board

Re: New iMac with M4

#451

Post by munificent » Mon, Oct 28, 2024, 5:47 PM UTC

emadabdulrahim wrote: post #62

Curious who uses iMac over a MBP with an external monitor? Is it mainly for front desk, businesses, and perhaps people with large homes and need stationary mac?

I'm a typical software engineer nerd who uses a MacBook Pro for work.

My last two home computers have been 27" iMacs. Each one has lasted me about 8 years and I've been happy with both of them. Nice big display, good specs, not a lot of clutter. Really good bang for the buck.

At home, I use them for making music (Ableton Live), video production (DaVinci Resolve), photo processing (Photoshop and Lightroom), and programming (various IDEs and editors). I much prefer one good display over a pair of them.

Long-term, maybe it would be more cost effective to get a Mac Mini so that I don't end up paying to replace the display when I replace the machine. But display technology seems to advance about as fast as other hardware specs do, so I suspect I'd want a new monitor at about that rate anyway.

Going forward, though, I probably won't buy another iMac. That's largely because now that I make music with Ableton Live, I want a laptop that I can (aspirationally!) take to shows to play live on.

But for well over a decade, I've been a happy iMac user. I don't care about upgradeability. I buy a machine that has the specs I want when I buy it.

Re: New iMac with M4

#452

Post by mrweasel » Mon, Oct 28, 2024, 5:50 PM UTC

ttul wrote: post #134

Note: The 24” iMac is never going to be the platform of choice for HackerNews readers.

I could do my work on one, but yeah, the screen size would be annoying long term. The sad part is that it's the exact form factor my dad wants. It's absolutely perfect for his needs, except it's wildly overpowered and overpriced.

The 4K monitor is going to push up the price, and I'm all for giving everyone a high quality monitor, but I'd argue that the iMac is 30-40% over budget for those who'd like that type of computer. I think you could get away with having it be a $1000 computer, but not $1600, for the lowest spec'ed model.

Re: New iMac with M4

#453

Post by bmicraft » Mon, Oct 28, 2024, 5:52 PM UTC

jwells89 wrote: post #334

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…

Low number of cables has also been one of the points of appeal for the iMac, to the point that it was a focal point of marketing for the original model. For the average person's setup the current model only needs a power cable.

> For the average person's setup the current model only needs a power cable.

Even if you use wireless input devices you'll need to charge them occasionally

Re: New iMac with M4

#454

Post by ellisv » Mon, Oct 28, 2024, 5:53 PM UTC

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #192

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…

> The screen is such a major point of failure. The screen of an iMac (at least the 5K 27" one) is the part that still has value, so its annoying when you can't use it on new hardware.

It's really a shame that Apple discontinued target display mode.

Re: New iMac with M4

#455

Post by fourfour3 » Mon, Oct 28, 2024, 5:53 PM UTC

bhouston wrote: post #261

I guess it is just me, but I cannot stand working on small screens on the desktop. I will accept a small screen on a laptop because it is inconvenient carrying around something larger, but on a desktop, there is no reason to compromise. I use a 48" OLED with my MacBook Air M3 and for me that is a near ultimate web development experience both on desktop and when travelling: https://bsky.app/profile/benhouston3d.bsky.s…

I'm not sure I could do this - I think it would do horrible things to my neck! But I am curious:

Do you run that at 3840x2160 without high-dpi support? How do you find text clarity?

Re: New iMac with M4

#456

Post by bmicraft » Mon, Oct 28, 2024, 5:53 PM UTC

msisk6 wrote: post #440

xyst wrote: post #421

Earlier quoted context omitted.

glorified e-mail client for $1200. Nice.

For a decade. That works out to $10 a month. Not a bad deal.

It's still a bad deal.

Re: New iMac with M4

#457

Post by giobox » Mon, Oct 28, 2024, 5:53 PM UTC

jjcm wrote: post #448

Since this thread seems to be about niche asks for pro users, despite the product being targeted towards casual users who want an easy out of the box experience, I'll add my own to the mix. I'd love a bigger/better screen on these, specifically an ultrawide variety. An iMac Pro with an 8k ultrawide would be a near-instant purchase for me. I find the ultrawide form factor so good for productivity. I love the apple "it…

I also use and love the exact same 49" CRG9, but if you do the 2x retina math, to deliver the pixel pitch Apple customers expect on desktop in the 32:9 display form, that would realistically have to be a 10240x2880 display at a minimum of 60fps. Not sure if there are bandwidth considerations over displayport or similar as this is essentially two 5k Studio Displays (5120x2880) side by side at that point.

I love my CRG9 with MacOS, but there's no escaping the text rendering is significantly poorer than on Apple's own 2x retina stuff.

Re: New iMac with M4

#458

Post by phillco » Mon, Oct 28, 2024, 5:54 PM UTC

jjcm wrote: post #448

Since this thread seems to be about niche asks for pro users, despite the product being targeted towards casual users who want an easy out of the box experience, I'll add my own to the mix. I'd love a bigger/better screen on these, specifically an ultrawide variety. An iMac Pro with an 8k ultrawide would be a near-instant purchase for me. I find the ultrawide form factor so good for productivity. I love the apple "it…

Incidentally, it was observed that the new iMac can support an external 8K 120Hz display: https://x.com/vadimyuryev/status/1850929080281321899

Re: New iMac with M4

#459

Post by r00fus » Mon, Oct 28, 2024, 5:55 PM UTC

dlevine wrote: post #348

I'm surprised they are still shipping these with 256GB of storage base. I had a Macbook with a ~500GB SSD in 2012 (I installed it), and a 500GB spinning disk in like 2008 (also user installed). A 500GB SSD can be had for <$50 these days, and a 1TB for <$100. Still plenty of profit for Apple, even if they bump up the base storage to 512GB and make 1TB a $200 upgrade...

This is a desktop so I think the assumption is that the savvy can attach a USB3/4 device with appropriate storage (e.g. for your massive photo library - it's easy to change the location).

Re: New iMac with M4

#460

Post by HeckFeck » Mon, Oct 28, 2024, 5:59 PM UTC

jfoster wrote: post #76

I could never justify getting an iMac. All the downsides of a laptop & desktop in one; not upgradeable and not portable. Leaves me wondering how many of these Apple actually sell. A Mac Mini with a separate screen feels like it makes far more sense.

You’re completely right and yet the sight of one fills me with desire.

Possibly because it has a direct line right back to the original Macintosh. Such that when I showed my 11yo cousin my Macintosh SE, he called it an ‘iMac’.