The New Apple M1 iMac: A Breakthrough in Performance and Design

Apple's latest addition to its lineup, the new M1 iMac, is set to revolutionize the all-in-one desktop experience. With its sleek and slim design, this device promises to deliver exceptional performance while maintaining its iconic status as a premium offering from Apple. The M1 chip, being optimized for efficiency, makes significant improvements in terms of performance compared to its predecessor.

One of the standout features of the new iMac is its impressive rendering capabilities. When put through rigorous testing, the M1 iMac demonstrated remarkable speed, far surpassing even the previous 27-inch iMac with a core i9 processor. This marked a significant improvement over the original M1 launch, where the device's performance was more incremental rather than revolutionary.

While the new iMac is undoubtedly powerful, its performance does not quite rival that of high-end desktop configurations. The lack of raw processing power means it won't compete directly with top-of-the-line systems. However, this limitation may not be a major concern for many users, as the M1 chip has already proven itself to be effective in various applications.

The iMac's design is another area where Apple has made significant strides. Unlike its predecessors, which often featured thicker profiles and more pronounced bezels, the new model is remarkably thin and slim. The side profile reveals a striking design that promises to turn heads. Furthermore, this iMac was designed from the ground up with the efficiency of the M1 in mind, marking a first for Apple.

The new iMac's port limitations may be a concern for some users. While it does come equipped with two Thunderbolt 4 ports and a Lightning adapter, these options are fewer compared to its predecessors. This might not be an issue for those primarily using Apple's own software ecosystem, but it could pose a problem for power users and creative professionals who rely on a wide range of peripherals.

Despite some minor drawbacks, the new M1 iMac is poised to excel in various applications, particularly within Apple's own software ecosystem. The chip's performance has been consistently impressive in Xcode, Final Cut Pro, Photoshop, and Lightroom, making it an attractive option for professionals relying on these programs. However, the industry still hasn't fully adapted to the capabilities of M1 chips, and the lines between high-end devices remain blurry.

For many users, including those who rely on Apple's own software, the new iMac promises exceptional performance without compromising on design. While some may have lingering concerns about its limitations, these can be easily overlooked in favor of its numerous benefits. As the market continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how Apple addresses these shortcomings and pushes the boundaries of what is possible with M1 chips.

The new iMac's prospects are particularly exciting for those who value a premium all-in-one desktop experience without breaking the bank. Its sleek design, combined with its impressive performance, makes it an attractive option for consumers seeking a powerful yet compact computer. While it may not be the best choice for every user, especially those requiring raw processing power, this iMac is sure to delight those who value Apple's commitment to innovation and design.

In conclusion, the new M1 iMac offers a unique blend of performance, efficiency, and design that sets it apart from its predecessors. While some limitations remain, these can be easily overlooked in favor of its numerous benefits. As the market continues to evolve, it will be fascinating to see how this device plays out and whether it truly lives up to expectations.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwell it's a big day here in the studio because we've got the brand new 24 inch imac and ours just happens to be orange which i really thought i wouldn't like but man some things have to be seen in person to be truly appreciated this is luke with digital trends and before we get into this review i just have to address some of the comments we got on our initial video when the 24 inch imac was first announced sticky notes apparently people love to put sticky notes on that big old chin of their imac or monitor do people really do this and are people really happy that the new imac has a place for your sticky notes i guess leave me a comment down below if you do and while you're there make sure to hit like on this video subscribe to the channel and as always there is a link down below if you want to buy one of these new imacs which always helps us out let's start out this review with a bit of honesty i was really unsure about the design of the new imac when i first saw it at apple's presentation not only was i not a huge fan of the bottom chin i was also unsure about the color options quick review there are seven different color options orange yellow green blue purple red and silver but there's more to it than that because each of these has a front and a back color and they don't match now the front side i liked but my first impression of the back colors wasn't positive to me they looked flat and a bit childish and in the photos that apple showed especially in those 3d renderings i just was not into it but i gotta say my mind has really changed based on what i've seen in person in the photos they looked too bold to me and they really felt out of place in the context of the office bedroom or kitchen or wherever apple wants you to put one of these things but there's something about the finish of this aluminum the way light interacts with it it just feels a lot more natural and interesting than i thought it would be i feel like i have a much better feel for what apple is going for here and while i can't speak for all the different color options because i haven't seen them in person the orange one here really has changed my opinion now it's probably not gonna make you feel any different about white bezels but that wasn't ever a big hang up for me i don't mind them as much and i also think that black bezels wouldn't have matched with these colors that they chose as well and don't worry i'm sure when the pro level imac eventually does come out it'll still have black bezels so you'll have to wait for that one if you really just aren't into this look with this imac the 24 inch model there is a sense of whimsy here it's playful and i know that sounds kind of like marketing garbage but apple really has outdone itself with the packaging and unboxing experience to really bring that home and i know that's not why people buy products but man this is like next level packaging there's a spot for everything every little cord and accessory clearly apple had a vision for what you were supposed to feel when you opened the box and set it up for the first time and i gotta admit i felt it and then i started to realize that apple had gone through and made every single angle and every curve match throughout the entire package from the slightly tweaked new magic trackpad and keyboard to the curve of the screen itself and then even within mac os with the angles of the windows and the icons in the dock and of course this stuff is all color matched too the power cable alone is really pretty in this color but check this out it goes way beyond this the accent colors in the operating system have been adjusted to match whatever color imac you bought out of the box meaning that color is not only bleeding through from the custom wallpaper but also in places like the color of text when it's selected it's wild and someone clearly went to town to make sure every aspect of this experience felt cohesive and it really does but all that would be pretty much all for nothing if it wasn't for the technical capabilities of this new imac the m1 really sits at the heart of this machine and it touches far more than just the raw processor and graphics performance apple has access to every component of the system now including the webcam the speakers the microphones the touch id which is now available in the keyboard the m1 is now controlling all of this and letting apple make tweaks and optimizations in places that it just wasn't able to before let's start with the webcam it's now 1080p which is good and is technically an improvement over the 21.5 inch imac actually it's the exact same camera that's in the 27 inch imac and the now extinct imac pro it handles low light performance and skin tones really well and it basically ensures that you'll never need to consider getting an external webcam it's really killer i have similar comments about the speakers now these are technically a new audio system a six speaker setup all along the bottom of the screen still they're using the force cancelling subs that were originally put in the 16-inch macbook pro and that's what allows the system to drive this much air volume from these tiny little speakers side by side with the 27-inch imac it's close but i think these are actually better they're loud crisp and the stair separation feels immersive and there's even plenty of bass in the mix honestly whether you're listening to music or watching a movie this is a great audio solution that doesn't require external speakers or headphones it's these features which include that super sharp 4.5 k resolution screen which is the exact same pixels per inch as the 27 inch model it all makes the base configuration of the imac in particular really attractive you're paying 600 in difference between the mac mini and this 24-inch imac when you consider what that's buying you it's a pretty solid deal apple could easily sell this monitor alone for at least 600 but of course you also get the speakers and the webcam and all the rest of the hardware that makes this a complete package i'm not saying it's cheap but man the days of max being the overpriced luxury pcs just doesn't really add up anymore and when you look at the performance of this thing that becomes even more clear look it's the same exact chip that shows up in the mac mini and the macbook pro and the macbook air and now even in the ipad pro if you're familiar with how good the m1 already is though in those devices there's not anything here that's going to surprise you but the 24 inch imag is the most powerful implementation of the m1 so far at least the configuration i tested was but it's not by a lot we're talking about a three percent increase in multi-core performance in cinebench over the macbook pro and mac mini it's hardly noticeable the 8 core cpu is actually the same across all the configurations but the place for upgrades is in the graphics the spec'd up configuration that i tested out which you do have to get if you want the orange yellow or purple colors came with an eight core gpu along with 16 gigabytes of ram and a one terabyte ssd with this particular gpu though apple includes a beefed up cooling solution as well with two fans instead of just one not that you can ever really hear them spin up it's basically silent throughout usage except when you're running really heavy tasks specifically ones that stress the cpu all that hot air is exhausted through the vents that sit below the screen next to those speakers but to see what the 24 inch imac could do in more real life tests i used two benchmarks here the blender benchmark which is a popular 3d modeling application and the puget bench adobe premiere pro benchmark now remember premiere pro is still running in rosetta 2 emulation it's not a native universal app yet and still this thing flew through the benchmark its gpu score was 23 higher than the mac mini we reviewed earlier this year despite having that same eight core gpu and that's what the improved cooling and airflow will do for you the playback score in particular was really impressive with the ability to manage multiple 4k streams simultaneously without skipping a frame but you'll still find yourself waiting for exports the core i9 27-inch imac in case you're wondering is a whopping 77 faster at exporting video than the m1 so that should give you an idea of what kind of performance we're talking about here now that could change quite a bit once premiere and other applications get fully optimized for the m1 and we know that's in the works and it should make a big difference in terms of performance but we'll have to wait and see exactly how that plays out again the m1 imac is not going to be anywhere near as fast as the core i9 27-inch imac or any other high-wattage desktops it took more than twice as long to render these same 3d images and some of the tests was upwards of 66 slower now obviously if you compare this against the performance of the previous 21 and a half inch imac that this is kind of replacing it's going to run circles around it i didn't have one in the office to do a side-by-side comparison with but i mean the base configuration of that was still running a dual core processor and had options for a fusion drive and what about gaming i mean obviously it isn't exactly the strength of the imac outside of ios games and what you get with apple arcade though that doesn't mean you can't play games at all you can play games like fortnite and civilization 6 at medium settings in 1080p of course and get frame rates of around 50 frames per second or so which is pretty close to what you get on the other m1 max with that a core gpu but overall the performance doesn't feel like a breakthrough in the same way that the initial m1 launch did putting that much performance in that exact same laptop form factor was what made people stand up and pay attention but with this one we were already used to imac's being powerful apple already had one of the only all-in-ones with a full desktop ship inside i mean that last update to the 27-inch model came with a desktop core i9 processor 8 cores and discreet graphics and everything in terms of raw performance this imac isn't ever gonna compete with it at least not with that high end configuration and i don't think it was ever meant to at least not directly i mean you can only configure it with up to 16 gigabytes of ram and it barely has any ports the base configuration only comes with two thunderbolt 4 ports though fortunately they do throw in a lightning adapter in the box at least but my point is this is a new form factor for apple while it's true that you don't notice how thin it is from the front every time i caught a look of the side profile man it really is a beautiful design more importantly it's the first real product that's been designed from the ground up with the efficiency of the m1 in mind they've never made an imac this thin and like it or not they're doing something entirely new here does that make it less of an obvious buy than the macbook air or mac mini maybe a bit it has the same problem that the macbook pro has right now in that a lot of power users and creative professionals can't wait to get their hands on it right now and upgrade from their old systems but this might not be the right choice for you right now if that's you i mean i think it could actually work purely from a performance level alone depending on what you're doing but the screen is probably a bit too small the port limitations could be a problem and the graphics are a bit of a hang up for certain tasks in very specific applications then again that line gets blurry if you primarily live in apple's own software ecosystem it's tough to deny how fast this thing is at xcode in final cut and if you do sit in front of photoshop or lightroom all day i mean those are already running native on the m1 and i don't think you're going to be complaining about the performance the problem is the industry hasn't really adjusted yet to what these m1 chips can do the lines between something like this and a pro level device are really blurry right now and i think they will probably remain that way until apple actually puts out their true pro level max and we see just how powerful they are and how expensive they are until then i think a lot of people myself included are really gonna love using this new imac doesn't mean i don't have my complaints i mean i wish i never had to see this mouse again and i sort of wish there was some height adjustment with the stand small things like that but in general this imac is really really good at being the imac for everyone unless of course you still hate those white bezels i can't help you with that hey thanks for checking out this video let me know what you think of this new imac whether it lives up to your expectations or not or what you would actually use it for and if you like this video make sure to hit the like button and subscribe to the channel for more videos from digital trends youwell it's a big day here in the studio because we've got the brand new 24 inch imac and ours just happens to be orange which i really thought i wouldn't like but man some things have to be seen in person to be truly appreciated this is luke with digital trends and before we get into this review i just have to address some of the comments we got on our initial video when the 24 inch imac was first announced sticky notes apparently people love to put sticky notes on that big old chin of their imac or monitor do people really do this and are people really happy that the new imac has a place for your sticky notes i guess leave me a comment down below if you do and while you're there make sure to hit like on this video subscribe to the channel and as always there is a link down below if you want to buy one of these new imacs which always helps us out let's start out this review with a bit of honesty i was really unsure about the design of the new imac when i first saw it at apple's presentation not only was i not a huge fan of the bottom chin i was also unsure about the color options quick review there are seven different color options orange yellow green blue purple red and silver but there's more to it than that because each of these has a front and a back color and they don't match now the front side i liked but my first impression of the back colors wasn't positive to me they looked flat and a bit childish and in the photos that apple showed especially in those 3d renderings i just was not into it but i gotta say my mind has really changed based on what i've seen in person in the photos they looked too bold to me and they really felt out of place in the context of the office bedroom or kitchen or wherever apple wants you to put one of these things but there's something about the finish of this aluminum the way light interacts with it it just feels a lot more natural and interesting than i thought it would be i feel like i have a much better feel for what apple is going for here and while i can't speak for all the different color options because i haven't seen them in person the orange one here really has changed my opinion now it's probably not gonna make you feel any different about white bezels but that wasn't ever a big hang up for me i don't mind them as much and i also think that black bezels wouldn't have matched with these colors that they chose as well and don't worry i'm sure when the pro level imac eventually does come out it'll still have black bezels so you'll have to wait for that one if you really just aren't into this look with this imac the 24 inch model there is a sense of whimsy here it's playful and i know that sounds kind of like marketing garbage but apple really has outdone itself with the packaging and unboxing experience to really bring that home and i know that's not why people buy products but man this is like next level packaging there's a spot for everything every little cord and accessory clearly apple had a vision for what you were supposed to feel when you opened the box and set it up for the first time and i gotta admit i felt it and then i started to realize that apple had gone through and made every single angle and every curve match throughout the entire package from the slightly tweaked new magic trackpad and keyboard to the curve of the screen itself and then even within mac os with the angles of the windows and the icons in the dock and of course this stuff is all color matched too the power cable alone is really pretty in this color but check this out it goes way beyond this the accent colors in the operating system have been adjusted to match whatever color imac you bought out of the box meaning that color is not only bleeding through from the custom wallpaper but also in places like the color of text when it's selected it's wild and someone clearly went to town to make sure every aspect of this experience felt cohesive and it really does but all that would be pretty much all for nothing if it wasn't for the technical capabilities of this new imac the m1 really sits at the heart of this machine and it touches far more than just the raw processor and graphics performance apple has access to every component of the system now including the webcam the speakers the microphones the touch id which is now available in the keyboard the m1 is now controlling all of this and letting apple make tweaks and optimizations in places that it just wasn't able to before let's start with the webcam it's now 1080p which is good and is technically an improvement over the 21.5 inch imac actually it's the exact same camera that's in the 27 inch imac and the now extinct imac pro it handles low light performance and skin tones really well and it basically ensures that you'll never need to consider getting an external webcam it's really killer i have similar comments about the speakers now these are technically a new audio system a six speaker setup all along the bottom of the screen still they're using the force cancelling subs that were originally put in the 16-inch macbook pro and that's what allows the system to drive this much air volume from these tiny little speakers side by side with the 27-inch imac it's close but i think these are actually better they're loud crisp and the stair separation feels immersive and there's even plenty of bass in the mix honestly whether you're listening to music or watching a movie this is a great audio solution that doesn't require external speakers or headphones it's these features which include that super sharp 4.5 k resolution screen which is the exact same pixels per inch as the 27 inch model it all makes the base configuration of the imac in particular really attractive you're paying 600 in difference between the mac mini and this 24-inch imac when you consider what that's buying you it's a pretty solid deal apple could easily sell this monitor alone for at least 600 but of course you also get the speakers and the webcam and all the rest of the hardware that makes this a complete package i'm not saying it's cheap but man the days of max being the overpriced luxury pcs just doesn't really add up anymore and when you look at the performance of this thing that becomes even more clear look it's the same exact chip that shows up in the mac mini and the macbook pro and the macbook air and now even in the ipad pro if you're familiar with how good the m1 already is though in those devices there's not anything here that's going to surprise you but the 24 inch imag is the most powerful implementation of the m1 so far at least the configuration i tested was but it's not by a lot we're talking about a three percent increase in multi-core performance in cinebench over the macbook pro and mac mini it's hardly noticeable the 8 core cpu is actually the same across all the configurations but the place for upgrades is in the graphics the spec'd up configuration that i tested out which you do have to get if you want the orange yellow or purple colors came with an eight core gpu along with 16 gigabytes of ram and a one terabyte ssd with this particular gpu though apple includes a beefed up cooling solution as well with two fans instead of just one not that you can ever really hear them spin up it's basically silent throughout usage except when you're running really heavy tasks specifically ones that stress the cpu all that hot air is exhausted through the vents that sit below the screen next to those speakers but to see what the 24 inch imac could do in more real life tests i used two benchmarks here the blender benchmark which is a popular 3d modeling application and the puget bench adobe premiere pro benchmark now remember premiere pro is still running in rosetta 2 emulation it's not a native universal app yet and still this thing flew through the benchmark its gpu score was 23 higher than the mac mini we reviewed earlier this year despite having that same eight core gpu and that's what the improved cooling and airflow will do for you the playback score in particular was really impressive with the ability to manage multiple 4k streams simultaneously without skipping a frame but you'll still find yourself waiting for exports the core i9 27-inch imac in case you're wondering is a whopping 77 faster at exporting video than the m1 so that should give you an idea of what kind of performance we're talking about here now that could change quite a bit once premiere and other applications get fully optimized for the m1 and we know that's in the works and it should make a big difference in terms of performance but we'll have to wait and see exactly how that plays out again the m1 imac is not going to be anywhere near as fast as the core i9 27-inch imac or any other high-wattage desktops it took more than twice as long to render these same 3d images and some of the tests was upwards of 66 slower now obviously if you compare this against the performance of the previous 21 and a half inch imac that this is kind of replacing it's going to run circles around it i didn't have one in the office to do a side-by-side comparison with but i mean the base configuration of that was still running a dual core processor and had options for a fusion drive and what about gaming i mean obviously it isn't exactly the strength of the imac outside of ios games and what you get with apple arcade though that doesn't mean you can't play games at all you can play games like fortnite and civilization 6 at medium settings in 1080p of course and get frame rates of around 50 frames per second or so which is pretty close to what you get on the other m1 max with that a core gpu but overall the performance doesn't feel like a breakthrough in the same way that the initial m1 launch did putting that much performance in that exact same laptop form factor was what made people stand up and pay attention but with this one we were already used to imac's being powerful apple already had one of the only all-in-ones with a full desktop ship inside i mean that last update to the 27-inch model came with a desktop core i9 processor 8 cores and discreet graphics and everything in terms of raw performance this imac isn't ever gonna compete with it at least not with that high end configuration and i don't think it was ever meant to at least not directly i mean you can only configure it with up to 16 gigabytes of ram and it barely has any ports the base configuration only comes with two thunderbolt 4 ports though fortunately they do throw in a lightning adapter in the box at least but my point is this is a new form factor for apple while it's true that you don't notice how thin it is from the front every time i caught a look of the side profile man it really is a beautiful design more importantly it's the first real product that's been designed from the ground up with the efficiency of the m1 in mind they've never made an imac this thin and like it or not they're doing something entirely new here does that make it less of an obvious buy than the macbook air or mac mini maybe a bit it has the same problem that the macbook pro has right now in that a lot of power users and creative professionals can't wait to get their hands on it right now and upgrade from their old systems but this might not be the right choice for you right now if that's you i mean i think it could actually work purely from a performance level alone depending on what you're doing but the screen is probably a bit too small the port limitations could be a problem and the graphics are a bit of a hang up for certain tasks in very specific applications then again that line gets blurry if you primarily live in apple's own software ecosystem it's tough to deny how fast this thing is at xcode in final cut and if you do sit in front of photoshop or lightroom all day i mean those are already running native on the m1 and i don't think you're going to be complaining about the performance the problem is the industry hasn't really adjusted yet to what these m1 chips can do the lines between something like this and a pro level device are really blurry right now and i think they will probably remain that way until apple actually puts out their true pro level max and we see just how powerful they are and how expensive they are until then i think a lot of people myself included are really gonna love using this new imac doesn't mean i don't have my complaints i mean i wish i never had to see this mouse again and i sort of wish there was some height adjustment with the stand small things like that but in general this imac is really really good at being the imac for everyone unless of course you still hate those white bezels i can't help you with that hey thanks for checking out this video let me know what you think of this new imac whether it lives up to your expectations or not or what you would actually use it for and if you like this video make sure to hit the like button and subscribe to the channel for more videos from digital trends you\n"