Apple iMac (24-inch) – Review
The release of the latest Apple 24-inch iMac brought a big improvement over the older version. The old iMac was starting to look outdated, but the new one has a beautiful and modern design.
The size of the screen is the best part of this new look. The 21.5-inch screen has been replaced by a bigger 24-inch one, but you can still get the 27-inch desktop Mac. Even though the screen is much bigger, the Apple iMac 24-inch is just a little bigger than its predecessor. It measures 54.7 x 46.1 cm and is 14.7 cm deep, while the 21.5-inch model measures 52.8 x 45 cm and is 17.5 cm deep. This computer’s screen is only 11.5mm thick, which is unbelievable.
So, this model gives you much more screen space without taking up much more space on your desk. It is also thinner and lighter than its predecessor. The 24-inch model weighs 4.48kg, while its predecessor weighed 5.68kg. This makes it an even more portable and flexible all-in-one computer.
Pick a Color
Color is the most important thing about the new Apple 24-inch iMac. The new PC comes in seven colors and reminds us of the first iMac designed by Jonathan Ive, which was also colorful and made of candy-colored plastics that were see-through. In the late 1990s, desktop Mac came in 13 different colors, like Blue Dalmatian and Flower Power, and their keyboards and mice were the same colors.
The seven color choices now are easier to understand than the original ones. The 24-inch desktop computer can be ordered in green, yellow, orange, pink, or blue. There's even a purple version, which is very in style now that the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Mini also come in purple. You can also get this desktop Mac in basic silver if you'd rather not have a bright color on the outside.
All of this is a big change from the look of the 21.5-inch desktop Mac from the last generation, which only comes in a silver finish. No matter what color you choose, the new desktop Mac has a lot of color to look at. The back of the device is made of aluminum that matches the color of the front.
The reason for having many colors is because the company wants you to use the new desktop computer anywhere in your house, from the kitchen to the bedroom. That's different from the last version of the desktop Mac, which the company says was mostly used in places like offices for work.
The color goes all the way to the front of the computer below the screen, which you can call the lip or chin. The Apple mark is stamped on the back of the device, so it's strange that it's not here. Instead, it's just a big area of color. No matter what color you choose, the edges of the 24-inch screen are white.
You can also choose the color of the wires and other parts. The sides and surfaces of the Magic Mouse, the Magic Keyboard, and the extra Magic Trackpad are all made of aluminum that matches the color of the new desktop Mac. Even the power line for the PC and the USB-C-to-Lightning cable used to charge the wireless accessories are made of a weaving material that matches the color of the desktop PC. The last time I saw another all-in-one PC with such constant color schemes was in the last few years. This is the most extreme version of Steve Jobs's story about fixing a fence. Even if it won't be seen, the design must match the rest of the device.
Design, Build, and Usability
The first thing you will notice when you take the new 24-inch iMac out of its box and put it on your desk is how small it is. Not just how thin and light it is, but also how big the screen is. It looks like a huge iPad Pro on an aluminum stand. The white borders and the standard desktop Mac chin were the second and third things you will notice. Both things were made fun of when the desktop computer was announced.
The 24-inch screen size may bother you on the first day, but you will immediately get used to the borders and chin. When the TV is up against a white wall, the edges fade into the background so you can focus on what's on the screen.
Apple made the iMac slimmer by moving the power source from inside the system to an external brick, similar to what they do with laptops. This brick connects to the computer with a matching colored braided cable. The braided cable has a magnetic end that automatically aligns itself correctly and makes a satisfying click sound when it connects. If you choose the basic model, you'll only get two USB-C ports and a headphone jack.
Note that it is not a MagSafe connection. Given how strong these magnets are and how light this desktop device is, you can easily use the power cord to pull the PC off a table. Its job is to keep the computer looking clean and like a piece of furniture, and if you choose the high-end version, it also adds one more port.
How you feel about the 24-inch desktop Mac style depends greatly on what you expect. This is different if you want a powerful Mac for office work. Apple is giving a lot of attention to how their products look, but this is making them more expensive. Some of the most obvious are the lack of ports, the thick white borders, the big chin, and the external power brick.
But you can't argue with how simple and current the computer looks. Apple wanted the new look to be fun and easy to use, and they did a great job of that.
Great Experience
The M1 chip inside resembles the 13-inch MacBook Pro, Air, and Mac Mini. The desktop Mac, unlike the Air, has a fan to get rid of heat, so it can squeeze out and keep going with a little bit more power for heavy tasks. (The fan doesn't turn on very often, and when it does, it's very quiet.). The performance is right in the middle between the Air and the Pro. This makes sense since the M1 here runs a bigger screen with a higher resolution.
It has more power than most people need, including those who edit pictures in Photoshop and Lightroom or 4K movies in Adobe Premiere and other video-editing tools. Games like Arkham City and Transistor ran smoothly, and even though a lot of apps are now optimised for the M1, I have been fine with software made for Intel-based machines.
The LCD screen with 4,480 by 2,520 pixels, which you'll be looking at the most, looks great. It can get very bright, the colors look very real, and the focus is great. But I watched Snyder's (ridiculously long) cut of Justice League on both the iMac and the new iPad Pro, and I liked it better on the iPad Pro.
The nano-textured glass used in Apple's 27-inch desktop computer is something that some users will miss. If you place your desktop Mac near a window, you might notice glare on this model. Having the option to add the glare-free glass would have been a nice feature.
The fact that you can't change the screen's height is even more annoying. Pulling the bottom edge forward is the only way to tilt the screen up towards your eyes. That could be have been better. For good aesthetics, the top of your computer's screen should be at eye level, so it's important to be able to change the height. I have six books on the desktop computer to raise the screen to the right height. If you want to move the screen wherever you want, you can put the whole iMac on a movable arm. But you must buy the version that only comes with a VESA mount, not Apple's stand. It doesn’t seem right that you have to choose between these two options at the register.
The video is the same 1080p camera in the 27-inch Mac. Still, the company says the 24-inch iMac with Apple M1 chip image signal processor gives it better clarity, noise reduction, dynamic range, and smarter lighting. To finish these changes, getting a privacy screen would have been nice. It's better than any other Mac camera by a long shot. Even if you sit in a dark bedroom, your face will shine bright with the light of the screen, and the colors don't look dull. Still, it looks a bit low-res. The industry standard for a good camera could be higher, so I would have liked to see Apple go further and jump ahead of the competition.
The same thing can be said about the six speakers. Even though the bass isn't very good, movies and songs still sound great. But I had the noise too high too often, whether in a Zoom meeting or watching a show. It's loud enough to fill any bedroom, but if you add some background noise, like the hum of an air conditioner or the TV in the living room you would want the sound to be louder.
Ports
As with the older version of the desktop Mac, almost all of the ports on the new Apple iMac 24-inch are on the back of the screen, in the bottom right (or left, if you're looking at the back of the screen) area. It looks nice and can help hide your cords, but you'll have to squeeze behind your desk or turn your computer around if you want to mess with them.
The headphone jack has also been moved from the front to the lower left part of the screen. This is because the Apple iMac 24-inch screen is now 0.45 inches thick, less than a normal headphone jack's 0.55-inch width.
The number of ports could be better, especially on the basic 24-inch iMac, which only has 2 Thunderbolt 4 ports and a USB jack. Higher-end desktop Macs, like the one we tested, have two Thunderbolt 4 ports and two USB 3 ports on the back of the screen. They also have a headphone jack in the lower left corner of the screen and a Gigabit Ethernet port built into the power charger. The new 24-inch desktop Mac also works with 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 if you want to connect to the Internet wirelessly.
This Ethernet port is worth mentioning because having it on the power adapter keeps the Ethernet wire off your desk and gives you many options for moving it. This is a smart bit of design that you would wish more PC makers would copy. The desktop computer end of the power line is also magnetized to make it easy to plug in. This is another nice touch that helps when you reach around the back of the display to hook it up without bending your neck to see everything.
Keyboard, Mouse, and Trackpad
The desktop Mac comes with a Magic Keyboard and a Magic Mouse. You have options to upgrade the keyboard to one with Touch ID or a Number Keypad, which comes with the 8-core GPU model. You can also choose to replace the Magic Mouse with a Magic Trackpad, or you can buy both if you prefer.
All the options have been tried except for the Number Keypad, and the keyboard feels too small and doesn't quite fit well with the desktop computer without it. It has a very flat design and a slight tilt.
Overall, it's easy to type on, and the Touch ID reader is helpful for quickly logging in and making sure purchases are real. I'm not a huge fan of the Magic Mouse because I had to set the sensitivity to the maximum to move it around the screen at a decent speed. The charging port is still in a strange place on the bottom.
It's also a bit too small, but the touch-sensitive surface works well for vertical and horizontal scrolling, which can be very helpful in some situations.
Screen and Speakers
The 21.5- or 27-inch desktop Mac sizes have become familiar, but the 2021 Apple iMac M1 24-inch falls midway. It makes sense, however, that those used to a 27-inch desktop Mac may find it a little smaller.
Apple says in the fine print that the vertical size of the Retina display is 24 inches, but in actuality, it is 23.5 inches. Since the 21.5-inch model has been around for a long time, I don't know why the company didn't just call it that or make the screen the size they said it would be.
Putting aside the confusion, the screen is beautiful and has everything you'd expect from a current Apple iMac. It has a resolution of 4.5K, so everything is as clear as needed. The brightness, contrast, and colour are also great.
Using a SpyderX colorimeter, I estimated the screen's peak brightness to be 508 nits, which is just a little bit higher than the 500 nits that were promised. It can also make 100% of the sRGB and P3 colour spaces. Adobe is at 88%, which is still pretty good. The lighting on the panel is the only thing that isn't great, but it's still good enough that you might not even notice.
With Apple's True Tone technology, the screen can instantly change its brightness and color to match the lights around it. There is also a setting called "Night Shift," which makes the screen warmer in the evening. Both can be turned off, which is good if you're doing design work.
Even though the iMac looks like a big tablet on a stand, the screen is not touch-sensitive.
Recent iPads are great examples of Apple's ability to make very good sound in thin gadgets. Similarly, Apple calls the iMac 2021's "High-fidelity six-speaker system with force-canceling woofers".
Webcam
The camera on the iMac (24-inch, 2021) has also been improved. It has a 1080p FaceTime camera, a big step from the 720p camera on the 21.5-inch model. Along with a higher resolution, it has a larger camera that works better in low light, and the 24-inch iMac with the Apple M1 chip powerful image signal processor (ISP) improves picture quality even more. This means that the picture from the built-in video is usually very good, with great colors, high brightness, and very little lag.
The changes to the camera and mics are especially important now that so many people work from home and use video chatting for both work and social reasons. If you've been using Zoom or Skype more to talk to friends, family, or coworkers, the iMac's great camera and mics will be a big selling point.
Apple 24-inch iMac Price
The good news is that this attractive update and transition to the Apple M1 chip doesn't come with a price increase. The Apple 24-inch iMac with retina 4.5k display M1 Chip 8-Core 8GB Ram 256GB Storage costs Rs. 509,999/-.
Final Verdict
Even though I have a few problems with the new iMac, most are small and can be fixed with simple things like a stand or a USB-C dock. Even though I don't like the two-tone look, and the device tends to move around on my desk when I change the angle of the screen or plug something in, the design is beautiful.
Importantly, the display is beautiful, and the parts are strong, so the computer runs smoothly and reliably. I think Apple makes things too hard to understand with all the different models and improvements that can be added.
The Apple iMac 2021 24-inch is a highly appealing alternative for novices and enthusiasts. Still, it won't be an option for the pickiest professionals due to its RAM, storage, screen size, and port limits. We refer to it as the greatest "starter" Mac for creatives. Due to the strength of its M1 chip, 4.5K display quality, and price-to-performance, the Apple iMac 24-inch is an amazing all-in-one desktop for users of the Apple franchise. For those seeking a multipurpose computer that is both practical and stylish, the M1 iMac is the best option.
