The iMac: A Comprehensive Review of its Specifications and Performance

Just a tiny bit bigger than 4K, but that's not the case with the iMac, which boasts a resolution of 4480 x 2520, representing 11,289,600 pixels. This is significantly more than UHD 4K display, which has approximately 8.29 million pixels. So, when we say the iMac has 1.5 times the pixel density of UHD 4K, it's actually a full 36% more resolution. This means that if you're looking for an iMac with improved display quality, this one is definitely worth considering.

In fact, when you compare the specifications of the iMac to other displays, it's clear that the iMac offers a superior viewing experience. The higher pixel density and color accuracy make it ideal for tasks such as video editing, graphic design, and photo editing. And with its advanced display technology, you'll be able to enjoy crystal-clear visuals and vibrant colors.

But what about performance? How does the M1 chip inside the iMac hold up compared to other machines in its class? The answer is that it's incredibly capable, even by today's standards. With 16 gigs of RAM and a 512 SSD, this machine can handle a wide range of tasks with ease. Whether you're working on a video script, designing graphics, or editing photos, the iMac will provide more than enough power to get the job done.

One thing to keep in mind is that there are two models of iMacs available: the base model and the more expensive one. The cheaper model has only two Thunderbolt ports on the back, whereas the pricier model comes with an additional two USB-C ports and gigabit Ethernet built into the power brick. This makes it a much more versatile machine that can handle a wide range of tasks and peripherals.

When it comes to storage, most iMacs come with 256 or 512 GB SSDs. However, if you're planning to use your iMac for heavy-duty creative work, such as video editing or photo editing, it's worth investing in the more expensive model with 512GB or more. This will provide future-proofing and improved performance.

But what about peripherals? Can you buy a matching keyboard, mouse, and trackpad from Apple if they're not included with your iMac purchase? The answer is yes! While it may require some additional effort, it's possible to get replacement parts directly from Apple. In fact, I was able to buy a yellow trackpad directly from Apple as a replacement part, which arrived in under 24 hours and cost less than the standard options on the Apple Store.

Finally, when it comes to pricing, the iMac is definitely an investment piece. However, if you can get a decent discount over the new model price, it may be worth considering. And even with its higher price point, the iMac still offers a wealth of value for most users, including improved performance, advanced display technology, and a wide range of peripherals.

Overall, I'm thoroughly impressed with my M1 iMac purchase, which I bought on eBay just a few months ago. With its impressive specs, vibrant display, and sleek design, it's been a game-changer for my work and video production needs. And as someone who's already invested in the Apple ecosystem, I can attest to the fact that this machine is an excellent addition to any home or office setup.

If you're considering buying an M1 iMac, there are a few things to keep in mind. First, make sure you get the slightly more expensive model with two Thunderbolt ports on the back and gigabit Ethernet built into the power brick. This will provide the most versatility and connectivity options. Second, consider investing in 16 gigs of RAM if you plan to do heavy-duty creative work, such as video editing or photo editing.

When it comes to peripherals, don't be afraid to buy replacement parts directly from Apple if they're not included with your purchase. And finally, be prepared for the price point – while it may seem steep at first, the iMac still offers a wealth of value and will provide years of reliable service.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthis is an iMac and specifically it's an M1 iMac and not the new version with the M3 chip not that you would have known if I didn't tell you because Apple hasn't really changed much about this version of the iMac some folks were expecting a larger 27 in or perhaps even 32in version maybe with the M3 Pro chip but it seems that Apple has put an end to those rumors in an interview they did with the Verge so if you want an iMac it's the 24in version or nothing Apple never made an iMac with the M2 Chip so we've got this jump from M1 to M3 which represents a significant performance upgrade to the iMac and perhaps it means that there'll be options to buy the previous M1 model at a discount and that there'll be a wider Choice available in the used market and that does lead us to a question this M1 iMac is about 2 and A2 years old at time of recording so does it make sense to buy an older iMac in 2023 or 2024 there is a quick answer to that question and it's yes because the M1 iMac is still a great machine but you do need to buy at the right price and it might not be appropriate to all users but to explore this we need to look at the differences between the performance of the M1 and M3 chips talk about what makes an iMac an iMac and look at which spec you should buy so let's start with some simple Benchmark comparisons in the geekbench 6 CPU test the M1 has a single core score of 2336 whereas the M3 scores 3,100 an increase of about 32.7% that's impressive when it comes to the multicore score the Gap widens M1 has 8,322 points but M3 pushes on to 11,775 and that's an increase of 41.5% even more impressive so it does seem that the M3 iMac is a substantial upgrade over the M1 iMac but there are some caveats to that firstly we need to remember that that this is one Benchmark it's a set of tests that are designed to represent a typical workflow but not necessarily a test designed to represent your workflow so you can't conclude that everything you do will be 30 to 40% faster because other things will have a bearing on that SSD performance the amount of memory you've got and indeed your own performance M3 isn't going to make you type any faster we do also need to look at these numbers in perspective for example apps and browser tabs open in incredibly quickly on M1 so even if an M3 machine can do it 30 to 40% faster it may not actually make a meaningful difference to you it's a bit like saying one hyper car is faster than another hyper car now don't get me wrong here if you put an M3 IMAX side by side with the M1 version it will be noticeably quicker but it's noticeably quicker than something that is already very quick and we don't tend to use machines side by side the simple truth is that even now an M1 iMac feels very Snappy and performant there is an area though where the difference between the chips is very noticeable and that is graphics performance again let's use the numbers from the geekbench 6 Benchmark specifically the metal compute test here the average M1 scores 3,46 but M3 is hitting 47,5 and that's an improvement of 54.8% this probably doesn't paint the complete picture of those performance upgrades though because the M3 uses Apple's new GPU architecture and it introduces support for Hardware Ray tracing and mesh shaders M3 also offers a better media engine that's the video encoders and decoders built into the chip so those along with its improved GPU would make the M3 iMac a more capable video editing machine now it's not going to keep up with the likes of the M3 Pro Max chips in that area but for standard 4K editing with consumer video codex it'll be great providing you spec at least 16 gigs of RAM I'll come back to that the M3 also has a significantly improved neural engine so any on device machine learning tasks will be faster so for example if you're using AI Tools in your graphic design package you might see some improvements over M1 if the software is properly optimized and all of this helps us to draw a conclusion if Cutting Edge performance is important to your workflow or if you regularly use applications that push these machines to their maximum capability then it probably makes sense to buy the M3 model because it's at those upper performance limits that you'll really notice the difference between the chips but and this is a big but most users don't push their machines to the max on a consistent basis and if you are someone who needs top tier performance is the iMac the right machine for you the first iMac that I owned was one of the original G3 iMacs a blue one with a slot loading drive on the front it was great for the time offering an all-in-one computer with a fun design aesthetic and within months of the iMac being released there was a huge market for translucent colored PC cases it may look dated now but at the time it was a design Revelation loved by home users and by businesses that wanted to look modern and creative and then Apple knocked it out of the park with the G4 iMac with its unique angle Poise display those bright colors made way for a more grownup look but the design was still fun there were three different sizes available but for me this is the one that got away it's the only iMac I somehow managed to never buy the G5 iMac led the way for the designs that we see today but arguably it lost some of that fun element and it didn't last long either before Apple transitioned into Intel chips using that same design but then later the first aluminium models came and this kind of aluminium design stuck for many generations with minor modifications along the way it's an elegant design with premium materials but I always felt it was some lacking the feel of the original iMac but enter the 24in version that we have today today with its variety of colors and its color matched peripherals in my opinion it catches the spirit of the original and has everything that the iMac has come to represent an all-in-one computer with an aspirational design and high quality Hardware the most obvious component of which being the display iMac has introduced some lovely displays over the years and this 4.5k version is no exception high resolution great contrast and vibrant color it's a delight to use really the iMac has never been about Cutting Edge performance now sure there have been some high performing models and those have been much loved by creative professionals but the majority of iMac sold had more pedestrian specifications the thing is despite that an iMac always feels greater than the sum of its parts and so comparisons based purely on tech specs just don't seem to make much sense and if you've used one you'll know what I'm talking about of course some would argue that the iMac is too expensive but I don't age agree with this the M3 iMac with the full 10 core gpus starts at $1,500 let's compare that to the Mac Mini of course the Mac Mini doesn't have M3 at time of recording but let's assume it will stay at the 599 price point when it does get it so yes that is a $900 difference to the iMac and that is a big difference but the iMac is an all-in-one computer and the Mac Mini doesn't even come with a keyboard and mouse so you'll need to budget $149 for a keyboard with Touch ID and $99 for the mouse and that pushes us up to $847 of course the iMac also has some very impressive speakers and it has a webcam so we need to add that into our Mac Mini budget which maybe takes us up to $950 and that leaves us with $549 to get a display and true you can get a perfectly decent 4K display for that kind of money but if you want something with great color accuracy out of the box you could easily spend all of that $549 difference and more besides and what you'll have most likely won't be boasting a beautiful machined aluminium finish and it also won't be 4.5k it's easy to think that 4.5k is just a tiny bit bigger than 4K but that's not the case the iMac has a resolution of 4,480 by 2520 and that represents 11,289 600 pixels a UHD 4K display has 8.29 million pixels so that 0.5 actually means you're getting a display with 36% more resolution than UHD 4K so actually then the iMac is fairly priced provided that you need a keyboard mouse speakers webcam and display if you already have those things then a Mac Mini might work out better but if you want an iMac it's because you want the overall package that an iMac delivers and plenty of folks will know that at this point head to the comments section to point out that when your iMac dies you also lose a perect L good display and that is true but it won't matter if what you want is an iMac and folks who want an iMac they want it because they want the overall package and they probably just don't care as much about specs and that is sort of the point here I bought this M1 iMac on eBay a few months ago it's the M1 model with 16 gigs of RAM and a 512 SSD I love this yellow color I thought it would fit nicely within our new studio aesthetic also love the uh gold colored keyboard mouse that it came with and I even managed to buy a matching trackpad to complete the set this isn't just a desk ornament for our video set though since I've got the iMac I've been using it for my research and typing up video scripts I've done some design work even some photo editing on it and it's been brilliant it's an M1 still by any measure a very capable chip for a wide variety of work so if you're after an M1 iMac what should you look for well first of all bear in mind that there are two models the cheap cheapest model of the iMac has two Thunderbolt ports on the back and fewer color choices inside the chip has one less GPU core it's still a competent machine but I'd favor the slightly more expensive model in addition to the two Thunderbolt ports you'll get another two USB type c ports and there's gigabit Ethernet built into the power brick which is very useful and a very neat design the M1 model was only available with 8 or 16 GB of unified memory and most of these iMacs will have 8 gigs and that is completely fine if you're using your iMac for General day-to-day Computing office email browsing the web watching YouTube making video calls in fact it will even be fine for like creative tasks as well photo editing design and even basic video editing but if you plan to push the machine with more of those creative tasks then 16 gigs is the way to go I'm talking here about editing larger Raw photos or working with big Adobe Illustrator files that have lots of components or perhaps video editing with more advanced codecs effects and layers for all of these things you will notice an improvement if you have 16 gigs of RAM when it comes to storage most of these IMAX will have 256 or 512 gig ssds but unlike the M3 generation that 256 entry model will have two Nan chips so it's still pretty quick in terms of storage though 256 is a little bit light you be better off with 512 or more because that'll give you some future proofing and you'll enjoy slightly better performance what if the iMac you want to buy doesn't come with the peripherals you want or perhaps they're not color matching it is actually possible to buy them but it's not as simple as going to the Apple Store you need to call Apple support and request a replacement part they'll want the serial number of your iMac and you might have to speak to a couple of reps before you get to one who knows what to do but it is possible I bought this uh yellow trackpad directly from Apple as a replacement part it was delivered in under 24 hours and it actually costs less than the standard options on the Apple Store now finally price is going to be a big factor in whether you choose to buy an M1 iMac at this point in time you do need to get a decent discount over the new model to make it worthwhile but certainly when it comes to Performance the M1 iMac has plenty to offer for the vast majority of people who are in the target market for an iMac even two or three years more down the road this isn't going to be considered a slow computer is an iMac is greater than the sum of its part thanks for spending some time with me today I hope you found this video useful and thanks in advance for your comments your subs your shares your likes even your dislikes see you again sooning for some more keingthis is an iMac and specifically it's an M1 iMac and not the new version with the M3 chip not that you would have known if I didn't tell you because Apple hasn't really changed much about this version of the iMac some folks were expecting a larger 27 in or perhaps even 32in version maybe with the M3 Pro chip but it seems that Apple has put an end to those rumors in an interview they did with the Verge so if you want an iMac it's the 24in version or nothing Apple never made an iMac with the M2 Chip so we've got this jump from M1 to M3 which represents a significant performance upgrade to the iMac and perhaps it means that there'll be options to buy the previous M1 model at a discount and that there'll be a wider Choice available in the used market and that does lead us to a question this M1 iMac is about 2 and A2 years old at time of recording so does it make sense to buy an older iMac in 2023 or 2024 there is a quick answer to that question and it's yes because the M1 iMac is still a great machine but you do need to buy at the right price and it might not be appropriate to all users but to explore this we need to look at the differences between the performance of the M1 and M3 chips talk about what makes an iMac an iMac and look at which spec you should buy so let's start with some simple Benchmark comparisons in the geekbench 6 CPU test the M1 has a single core score of 2336 whereas the M3 scores 3,100 an increase of about 32.7% that's impressive when it comes to the multicore score the Gap widens M1 has 8,322 points but M3 pushes on to 11,775 and that's an increase of 41.5% even more impressive so it does seem that the M3 iMac is a substantial upgrade over the M1 iMac but there are some caveats to that firstly we need to remember that that this is one Benchmark it's a set of tests that are designed to represent a typical workflow but not necessarily a test designed to represent your workflow so you can't conclude that everything you do will be 30 to 40% faster because other things will have a bearing on that SSD performance the amount of memory you've got and indeed your own performance M3 isn't going to make you type any faster we do also need to look at these numbers in perspective for example apps and browser tabs open in incredibly quickly on M1 so even if an M3 machine can do it 30 to 40% faster it may not actually make a meaningful difference to you it's a bit like saying one hyper car is faster than another hyper car now don't get me wrong here if you put an M3 IMAX side by side with the M1 version it will be noticeably quicker but it's noticeably quicker than something that is already very quick and we don't tend to use machines side by side the simple truth is that even now an M1 iMac feels very Snappy and performant there is an area though where the difference between the chips is very noticeable and that is graphics performance again let's use the numbers from the geekbench 6 Benchmark specifically the metal compute test here the average M1 scores 3,46 but M3 is hitting 47,5 and that's an improvement of 54.8% this probably doesn't paint the complete picture of those performance upgrades though because the M3 uses Apple's new GPU architecture and it introduces support for Hardware Ray tracing and mesh shaders M3 also offers a better media engine that's the video encoders and decoders built into the chip so those along with its improved GPU would make the M3 iMac a more capable video editing machine now it's not going to keep up with the likes of the M3 Pro Max chips in that area but for standard 4K editing with consumer video codex it'll be great providing you spec at least 16 gigs of RAM I'll come back to that the M3 also has a significantly improved neural engine so any on device machine learning tasks will be faster so for example if you're using AI Tools in your graphic design package you might see some improvements over M1 if the software is properly optimized and all of this helps us to draw a conclusion if Cutting Edge performance is important to your workflow or if you regularly use applications that push these machines to their maximum capability then it probably makes sense to buy the M3 model because it's at those upper performance limits that you'll really notice the difference between the chips but and this is a big but most users don't push their machines to the max on a consistent basis and if you are someone who needs top tier performance is the iMac the right machine for you the first iMac that I owned was one of the original G3 iMacs a blue one with a slot loading drive on the front it was great for the time offering an all-in-one computer with a fun design aesthetic and within months of the iMac being released there was a huge market for translucent colored PC cases it may look dated now but at the time it was a design Revelation loved by home users and by businesses that wanted to look modern and creative and then Apple knocked it out of the park with the G4 iMac with its unique angle Poise display those bright colors made way for a more grownup look but the design was still fun there were three different sizes available but for me this is the one that got away it's the only iMac I somehow managed to never buy the G5 iMac led the way for the designs that we see today but arguably it lost some of that fun element and it didn't last long either before Apple transitioned into Intel chips using that same design but then later the first aluminium models came and this kind of aluminium design stuck for many generations with minor modifications along the way it's an elegant design with premium materials but I always felt it was some lacking the feel of the original iMac but enter the 24in version that we have today today with its variety of colors and its color matched peripherals in my opinion it catches the spirit of the original and has everything that the iMac has come to represent an all-in-one computer with an aspirational design and high quality Hardware the most obvious component of which being the display iMac has introduced some lovely displays over the years and this 4.5k version is no exception high resolution great contrast and vibrant color it's a delight to use really the iMac has never been about Cutting Edge performance now sure there have been some high performing models and those have been much loved by creative professionals but the majority of iMac sold had more pedestrian specifications the thing is despite that an iMac always feels greater than the sum of its parts and so comparisons based purely on tech specs just don't seem to make much sense and if you've used one you'll know what I'm talking about of course some would argue that the iMac is too expensive but I don't age agree with this the M3 iMac with the full 10 core gpus starts at $1,500 let's compare that to the Mac Mini of course the Mac Mini doesn't have M3 at time of recording but let's assume it will stay at the 599 price point when it does get it so yes that is a $900 difference to the iMac and that is a big difference but the iMac is an all-in-one computer and the Mac Mini doesn't even come with a keyboard and mouse so you'll need to budget $149 for a keyboard with Touch ID and $99 for the mouse and that pushes us up to $847 of course the iMac also has some very impressive speakers and it has a webcam so we need to add that into our Mac Mini budget which maybe takes us up to $950 and that leaves us with $549 to get a display and true you can get a perfectly decent 4K display for that kind of money but if you want something with great color accuracy out of the box you could easily spend all of that $549 difference and more besides and what you'll have most likely won't be boasting a beautiful machined aluminium finish and it also won't be 4.5k it's easy to think that 4.5k is just a tiny bit bigger than 4K but that's not the case the iMac has a resolution of 4,480 by 2520 and that represents 11,289 600 pixels a UHD 4K display has 8.29 million pixels so that 0.5 actually means you're getting a display with 36% more resolution than UHD 4K so actually then the iMac is fairly priced provided that you need a keyboard mouse speakers webcam and display if you already have those things then a Mac Mini might work out better but if you want an iMac it's because you want the overall package that an iMac delivers and plenty of folks will know that at this point head to the comments section to point out that when your iMac dies you also lose a perect L good display and that is true but it won't matter if what you want is an iMac and folks who want an iMac they want it because they want the overall package and they probably just don't care as much about specs and that is sort of the point here I bought this M1 iMac on eBay a few months ago it's the M1 model with 16 gigs of RAM and a 512 SSD I love this yellow color I thought it would fit nicely within our new studio aesthetic also love the uh gold colored keyboard mouse that it came with and I even managed to buy a matching trackpad to complete the set this isn't just a desk ornament for our video set though since I've got the iMac I've been using it for my research and typing up video scripts I've done some design work even some photo editing on it and it's been brilliant it's an M1 still by any measure a very capable chip for a wide variety of work so if you're after an M1 iMac what should you look for well first of all bear in mind that there are two models the cheap cheapest model of the iMac has two Thunderbolt ports on the back and fewer color choices inside the chip has one less GPU core it's still a competent machine but I'd favor the slightly more expensive model in addition to the two Thunderbolt ports you'll get another two USB type c ports and there's gigabit Ethernet built into the power brick which is very useful and a very neat design the M1 model was only available with 8 or 16 GB of unified memory and most of these iMacs will have 8 gigs and that is completely fine if you're using your iMac for General day-to-day Computing office email browsing the web watching YouTube making video calls in fact it will even be fine for like creative tasks as well photo editing design and even basic video editing but if you plan to push the machine with more of those creative tasks then 16 gigs is the way to go I'm talking here about editing larger Raw photos or working with big Adobe Illustrator files that have lots of components or perhaps video editing with more advanced codecs effects and layers for all of these things you will notice an improvement if you have 16 gigs of RAM when it comes to storage most of these IMAX will have 256 or 512 gig ssds but unlike the M3 generation that 256 entry model will have two Nan chips so it's still pretty quick in terms of storage though 256 is a little bit light you be better off with 512 or more because that'll give you some future proofing and you'll enjoy slightly better performance what if the iMac you want to buy doesn't come with the peripherals you want or perhaps they're not color matching it is actually possible to buy them but it's not as simple as going to the Apple Store you need to call Apple support and request a replacement part they'll want the serial number of your iMac and you might have to speak to a couple of reps before you get to one who knows what to do but it is possible I bought this uh yellow trackpad directly from Apple as a replacement part it was delivered in under 24 hours and it actually costs less than the standard options on the Apple Store now finally price is going to be a big factor in whether you choose to buy an M1 iMac at this point in time you do need to get a decent discount over the new model to make it worthwhile but certainly when it comes to Performance the M1 iMac has plenty to offer for the vast majority of people who are in the target market for an iMac even two or three years more down the road this isn't going to be considered a slow computer is an iMac is greater than the sum of its part thanks for spending some time with me today I hope you found this video useful and thanks in advance for your comments your subs your shares your likes even your dislikes see you again sooning for some more keing\n"