imac 24 lcd panel factory

Accessibility features help people with disabilities get the most out of their new iMac. With built-in support for vision, hearing, mobility, and learning, you can create and do amazing things. Learn more about Accessibility

Configure your iMac with these options at apple.com:. Looking for an iMac you can mount on a wall or an adjustable arm? Choose an iMac with a Built-in VESA Mount Adapter

Magic Keyboard with Touch ID is included with the 24‑inch iMac systems with Apple M1 chip and 8‑core GPU and is available as an option on systems with 7‑core GPU

To drive the backlight, all that is needed is the 24V from the original supply, and the gray & white wire from the aftermarket video board. The gray & white are properly wired in the connector for the backlight; the other end of the 24V connector (the 4 red/4 black) are not used, where the original cable from the PS to the backlight supplies the 24v. Pins 1-5 are 24V, 6-10 is GND, and 11 is P_DIM, 12 is BL_ON (Back Light ON). Thus, the gray & white can be spliced into the factory harness - White to 12 and Gray to 13. (See my pics on the link posted above for detailed pinouts)

When power is plugged into the Delta PS, 24V is always on, as is 12V on pin 5 of the large connector. Thus, the PS can drive both the video card and backlight. The original MB enables other pins such as the 12V on 9, 10, 11 on the large conn (3 to gnd), they are not needed.

Apple 661-4989 LCD Display Panel, 24 inch for 24 inch 2.66-2.93-3.06GHz iMac 09 – A1225 – Apple LCD Displays 661-4989 – iMac (24-inch Early 2009) LCD Display Panel, 24 inch

First, the elephant in the room: the redesigned 24-inch iMac was not created for photographers and video editors. It"s a family-friendly Mac that"s much more concerned with aesthetic sensibility than Adobe Premiere Pro performance. Despite this, it"s arguably the best starter Mac for anybody who is interested in exploring their creative side.

In terms of photo and video editing performance, the new iMac is on par with every other M1 Mac, meaning: excellent. And Apple has combined that performance with a color-accurate 4.5K Retina display and crammed it all inside an impossibly thin and playfully designed package.

Like very other M1 Mac, it has its frustrating limitations – some of Apple"s design choices have left professionals scratching their heads. But if you view the new 24-inch iMac through the lens of Apple"s intentions for this product, the creative potential of this machine comes into focus and you begin to understand who should (and who shouldn"t) buy this new machine.

The M1 iMac we received for review sits near the top of the configuration spectrum. It features the 8-core CPU/8-core GPU variant of the M1, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage and all of the extra ports and cooling that come along with the higher-end configs.

You canget the 24-inch iMac for as little as $1,300, but this involves a lot of sacrifices. The entry-level price point includes the 8-core CPU/7-core GPU variant of the M1, only 8GB of RAM, a measly 256GB of built-in storage, no ethernet port on the power brick, one cooling fan instead of two and only two ports on the whole machine.

For creative work, we"d recommend stepping up to at least 512GB of storage and 16GB of RAM, like our review unit, or possibly going a step further by upgrading the storage to 1TB. That configuration will cost you $2,100, or approximately $800 more than an identical M1 Mac mini. Given the quality and resolution of the iMac"s display, $800 seems like a reasonable price to pay if you"re happy with a 24-inch display.

The first thing I noticed when I unboxed and set the redesigned 24-inch iMac on my desk was just how small it is. Not just thin and lightweight – it genuinely looks like a huge iPad Pro on an aluminum stand – but the screen size itself. I can"t remember the last time I used a display that was smaller than 27 inches, opting for 32 whenever I can, and the downgrade to 24 inches was jarring.

The second and third things I noticed were the white bezels and the classic iMac chin, two characteristics that prompted much mockery on announcement day.

While the 24-inch screen size continued to bother me long after day one, the bezels and chin faded from consciousness almost immediately. Maybe it"s just me, but the idea that white bezels somehow disqualify this computer from being used for photo and video editing seems ridiculous on the face of it. The bezels, especially when placed against a white wall, simply fade into the background as you focus on the content at hand.

As for the chin, it has been an integral part of the iMac"s design language from the very start. I may not love it, but I"m not surprised that Apple has chosen to keep it.

Thanks to the huge chin, the entire space behind the screen was reserved for large air chambers that fill out the sound coming from the iMac"s five speakers. This helps the iMac produce more and better-quality sound than you would expect given its size. At full volume, it can compete with some high-quality Bluetooth speakers.

Speaking of the power brick, in order to keep the iMac as thin as possible Apple has removed the power supply from inside the iMac"s chassis and stuck it inside of an external brick, just like a laptop. The brick connects to the iMac using a color-matched braided cable that ends in a proprietary magnetic connector, which twists into the right orientation all on its own and snaps into place with a satisfying chonk.

Note that it"s not a MagSafe connector. Given the strength of these magnets and the lightweight design of the iMac, you can easily pull the computer off a table using the power cable. Its purpose is to maintain the clean, furniture-like aesthetic of the iMac and to provide one more port (if you go with the high-end configuration).

In order to achieve such a thin design, Apple had to put the iMac"s power supply inside of an external power brick. On the plus side, some configurations use the brick to add a Gigabit ethernet port.

How you react to the design of the 24-inch iMac is largely down to your expectations. If you"re looking for a high-powered creator Mac, this isn"t it. Apple"s focus on aesthetics comes at a cost: too few ports, the relatively thick white bezels, the huge chin and the external power brick, to name the most obvious.

When it comes to performance, the 24-inch iMac is pretty much identical to every other M1 Mac that features active cooling (i.e. an internal fan). You can expect it to perform similarly to the M1 MacBook Pro and the M1 Mac mini.

For this review, we compared the M1 iMac against an Intel MacBook Pro, an Intel-based Razer Blade 15 Advanced and an AMD-based ASUS G14. You can see the specifications of our test machines below:

We also tested an M1 Mac mini with identical specs to the iMac and, as expected, their performance was essentially identical. As such, we"re not including the Mac mini results in the tables and charts below.

This same pattern does not play out in Capture One 21. Unlike Adobe Lightroom, Capture One takes much better advantage of GPU acceleration, giving the ASUS G14 and Blade 15 a significant boost in export performance thanks to the NVIDIA RTX 30-series GPUs packed inside. The iMac held its own when importing and generating previews, but it lost to both PCs in every export test, with the gap widening as resolution/file size increased.

CPU speed and RAM still play a role, which is how the iMac is able to keep up at all, but the benefits of a full-featured PC are much more obvious in a program that"s well-optimized to take advantage of a discrete GPU.

In Photoshop, the speed of the M1 CPU and the Unified Memory once again give the iMac a big boost in performance. Since most Photoshop filters and tools are not optimized to take full advantage of a discrete GPU, the Mac steals the show by winning the Overall, General and PhotoMerge categories.

The iMac"s PhotoMerge score in particular is just staggering. Where the Blade 15 takes about 97 seconds to merge six 45MP Nikon raw files into a panorama, the M1 iMac does this same task in just 69 seconds, which is why its category score is so much higher. No surprise: that task is heavily RAM and CPU dependent.

The iMac is exceptionally fast in Apple"s own Final Cut Pro – no surprise there – but it"s also impressively fast in Premiere. Using the ARM-optimized Beta of Premiere Pro, we clocked render and export times that are within spitting distance of both the Razer Blade 15 and the ASUS G14, both of which feature beefy NVIDIA GPUs that can take full advantage of CUDA hardware acceleration.

For Final Cut, we could only compare the iMac against the Intel-based 13-inch MacBook Pro, since the program is not available on Windows. It won"t surprise you to learn that the iMac is nearly twice as fast overall as its Intel-based sibling:

Interestingly, despite the fact that Warp Stabilize is a GPU accelerated effect, it"s the only category where the iMac was the fastest of the bunch. In rendering and export tasks it fell short of our Intel- and AMD-based PC: approximately 12% slower at rendering and 18% slower when encoding H.264 and HEVC files.

The M1 iMac doesn"t sit at the pinnacle of performance. Of the four computers tested here, the AMD-based ASUS G14 earns that distinction by topping most of our tests, and the Intel-based Razer Blade 15 Advanced has a great showing as well. What"s frankly shocking though is that this consumer-focused iMac can keep up at all.

Remember, this computer features half the RAM, an "entry-level" CPU and an integrated GPU. We should really be comparing it against the 21.5-inch iMac that it replaced, which featured a measly 8th generation 6-core Intel Core i7 processor. Instead, we see it keeping up with high-end gaming laptops that boast flagship laptop CPUs and the latest NVIDIA graphics cards.

In our opinion, the M1 iMac is the best "starter" Mac for aspiring creatives who are looking for a do-everything device that"s just as fashionable as it is functional.

Given its RAM, storage, screen size and port limitations, the M1 iMac will be a no-go for the most demanding professionals, but it"s a very compelling options for beginners and enthusiasts. That"s why we"re calling it the best "starter" Mac for creatives. Thanks to the power of its M1 chip, the quality of its 4.5K display and a price-to-performance sweet spot around $2,000, the M1 iMac is a great all-in-one desktop for fans of the Apple ecosystem.

Savvy buyers will want to consider their priorities first. If you need portability, you may choose the M1 MacBook Pro. If you want a larger screen and more ports, the smarter purchase is an M1 Mac mini and a color accurate 27- or 32-inch display. And of course, if you"re not enamored of the Apple ecosystem, a high-end Windows machine with a dedicated GPU is hard to beat. But if you"re looking for a do-everything device that"s just as fashionable as it is functional, the M1 iMac does not disappoint.

The original flat-screen iMac has been around for so long that it"s easy to forget the impact that its sleek, all-in-one (AIO) design made on the industry, with every subsequent AIO system released by rival PC manufacturers inevitably compared to Apple"s category-defining design. That design hasn"t changed much in recent years -- until the arrival of the first M1-based iMac.

The overall effect is that the screen does feel more spacious and easy on the eye when browsing through web pages or opening documents in software such as Word or Excel. I would never have considered the cramped screen of the old 21.5-inch iMac for office work, but the new 24-inch model is a much better option for business users who are working from home and may not have room for the sheer bulk of the 27-inch version of the iMac. And, with its coat-of-many-colours -- four or seven colours are available, depending on the configuration you choose -- you can bet that the new iMac will find its way into plenty of reception areas and showrooms too.

But the most remarkable aspect of this new design only becomes evident if you look at it from the sides. The highly integrated design of the M1 SoC has allowed Apple to reduce the size of the iMac"s main motherboard and cooling system, so that the screen panel now measures just 11.5mm thick. There"s even room for a new speaker system below the screen that manages to squeeze in six separate drivers -- with a group of two woofers and a tweeter located on each corner for the left and right stereo channels.

Also for video calls and working from home, the iMac"s webcam has been upgraded to 1080p resolution, with an enhanced light sensor for low-light conditions, and a new directional three-microphone array that can focus on the speaker and reduce background noise.

But if the 24-inch iMac reminds us of Apple"s design skills, it also brings the company"s weaknesses back into focus, too. Apple may be also to design a desktop computer that"s 11.5mm thick, but it doesn"t allow you to adjust the height of the screen, or even rotate the stand to adjust the viewing angle. These basic ergonomic requirements are sacrificed, presumably, because Apple didn"t want any unsightly nuts and bolts spoiling that wafer-thin profile.

The new Magic Keyboard is wafer-thin, too. It"s available in a variety of colours to match the iMac itself, and -- on the more expensive configurations -- also includes a TouchID sensor for additional security. However, the lifeless, low-profile keys still feel like a prop designed for a photo-shoot rather than a tool for actually getting some work done. Connectivity suffers too, with the base configuration including just two Thunderbolt 3/USB4 ports. The base model doesn"t even include an Ethernet interface any more. This has now been relocated onto the external power unit and costs £30/$30 extra, or is included as standard with the two more expensive configurations available on Apple"s website.

Additional upgrade options are limited and pretty expensive. The 27-inch Intel iMac still allows users to upgrade the memory themselves, but that"s not an option with the M1-based 24-inch iMac. The M1 processor only allows 8GB or 16GB, so if you want to upgrade to 16GB then you"ll have to pay a hefty £200/$200 at the time of purchase. As mentioned, Ethernet is a £30/$30 upgrade for the base configuration, while 512GB storage costs an extra £200/$200, or you can pay £400/$400 for 1TB, or £800/$800 for 2TB.

The design of the 2021 iMac is outstanding, but it"s still pretty expensive for what"s essentially an entry-level AIO system. The M1-based Mac Mini is less expensive, of course, but its price doesn"t include a display. Even so, the base configuration of the Mac Mini costs just £699/$699 so you could probably still buy a decent monitor to use with it and have some change from £/$1,000. The Mac Mini also has an 8-core GPU in all configurations, and better connectivity too, so you really are paying a premium for the M1 iMac"s eye-catching design.

Unsurprisingly, the new iMac provides very similar performance to its M1-based brethren. In fact, its Geekbench 5 CPU scores of 1,745 (single core) and 7,700 (multi-core) in native M1 mode are virtually identical to those of the Mac Mini. Geekbench can also test performance with the Rosetta 2 translation software that allows you to run older Intel-based software, recording very respectable scores of 1,340 (single core) and 6,040 (multi core).

The iMac wasn"t able to run the Intel-based Cinebench R15 test for graphics performance, or the Unigine Valley test either, suggesting that Rosetta 2 isn"t quite 100% compatible with all Intel software. However, the iMac was able to run the Intel version of Tomb Raider, rendering Lara Croft"s adventures at the same 25fps as the Mac Mini, when running at 2560x1440 resolution with the game"s highest graphics settings. The issue of Intel compatibility isn"t too worrisome, as key apps such as Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft Office are already available in M1-native versions.

The M1 iMac can"t exactly be described as a gaming rig, but it"s more than powerful enough to handle productivity software such as Microsoft Office, and even some photo- or video-editing workloads.

The striking design of the 24-inch M1-based iMac will undoubtedly earn it a place in many homes and offices, and the performance of the M1 SoC continues to impress. Even so, the limitations of the design are irksome, given the high price of even the new iMac"s entry-level configuration. My bank manager would probably tell me to buy the Mac Mini instead. But if Apple"s aim was simply to make a splash and prove that it can still out-design its PC rivals, then the company has certainly made its point.

Apple revealed the redesigned iMac in 2021. This overhauled Mac comes in a wide variety of colors and features a futuristic design. More importantly, though, it packs the M1 chipset -- Apple"s in-house Silicon. If you"re planning to get your hands on this 24-inch iMac, especially with a multi-monitor setup, we’ve got some notes for you. Firstly, this iMac supports only one external monitor with up to 6K resolution and a 60Hz refresh rate. If you attempt to use more than one external screen, it"ll just mirror the display. The same applies if you use an adapter/dock. This means that you"re limited to a dual-monitor setup. The iMac also comes with only two Thunderbolt ports. This means that you"ll lose a Thunderbolt port if you plan on connecting a second display. If you"re fine with just one additional display, then here are some of the best monitors for the M1 iMac.

The ASUS ProArt PA279CV is a solid display if you plan on using your new iMac for creative tasks like photo or video editing. It comes with a 27-inch 4K resolution IPS panel that offers 100% sRGB coverage, factory calibrated for Delta E Affiliate Links

The 38-inch LG 38WN95C-W is one of the best ultra-wide monitors on the market. It features Thunderbolt 3 connectivity, so it"s easy to hook up and the panel itself is pretty impressive with VESA DisplayHDR 600 certification, and 98% coverage of DCI-P3. It also comes with a 144Hz refresh rate with 1ms response time for a smooth experience.

The ZenScreen portable monitor from ASUS should be a great companion for the new iMac. Having a compact, portable design, it can be easily installed and moved away from your desk effortlessly. It offers a 15.6-inch IPS panel while a USB-C port ensures a single port connectivity solution.

For its price, the 27-inch LG Ultragear 27GN650-B is a winner if you"re looking for the best 1080p performance. The monitor comes with an IPS panel with support for basic HDR, 144Hz refresh rate, and support for FreeSync and G-SYNC.

Samsung’s latest Business series monitors are actually pretty good for the asking price. The SH850 has a 24-inch panel which makes it symmetrical to the display on the iMac, and while it cannot match up to the resolution, it is still one of the best QHD monitors at this budget. As a bonus, it comes with USB-C connectivity and a 3-year warranty.

The Apple Pro Display XDR is going to be the premier choice with the 24-inch M1 iMac, but it is also one of the more expensive options. If you are a content creator, you would be served decently with the ASUS ProArt Display as well. Alternatively, if you just need a secondary display to throw some chat apps on, then the Samsung Business series will also get the job done just fine.

If you are planning on adding an external monitor to your new iMac, we suggest that you use a Thunderbolt dock so you don"t lose out on a precious Thunderbolt port. We recently listed some of thebest Thunderbolt docks on the market today. Additionally, if you"re interested, we also have a list of some of the best Thunderbolt 3 laptops.

The external design of the iMac had not changed much in 13 years, with minor alterations to screen size or aspect ratio being the most noticeable updates. The new 24-inch iMac breaks that cycle with a new thin and vibrant lineup.

The redesigned iMac replaces the 21.5-inch iMac 4K that ran Intel processors. A few versions of the original iMac are still available for legacy users and education markets looking for low entry prices.

Apple announced it would transition its entire Mac lineup to Apple Silicon within two years during its 2020 WWDC. The design changes for the new iMac were possible only because of Apple"s use of the M1 processor.

The 24-inch iMac is 11.5mm thick — about the same thickness as the original iPhone. It no longer has a prominent chin with an Apple logo, and gone are the thick black bezels surrounding the display. The 2021 iMac is a slim and light desktop PC with seven color options and powerful Apple Silicon.

The desktop stand is the same muted color as the faceplate and can be traded for a VESA mount at purchase. It doesn"t have an adjustable height, but the entire iMac can be tilted for better viewing angles.

The colorful design bleeds over to its peripherals as well. The magnetic power cable is color-matched to the vibrant back panel, and the keyboard and mouse have colored highlights to match.

At less than 10 pounds, this desktop is easy to move around. Apple anticipated this with a new magnetic power connector. Users aren"t exactly expected to pop one of these iMacs out at a cafe, but the plug-and-play nature of its power cable means carrying an iMac to and from the office is not only feasible but easy.

Apple increased the resolution to match the size of the new display. Moving from 21.5 inches to 24 inches necessitated an increase from 4K to 4.5K to maintain Retina resolution. It is 4480 by 2520 pixels with a 218 PPI.

Users can enjoy their 4K iTunes content with color-accurate reproduction and excellent sound. Apple has packed six dynamic speakers into the 24-inch iMac monitor. Two pairs of force-canceling woofers are balanced with a high-performance tweeter, which works together to create room-filling sound.

Apple says the new iMac supports spatial audio when playing video with Dolby Atmos. This means that all audio will sound like it"s coming from a specific direction around you, and when you turn your head, you"ll still perceive audio from the correct direction.

Apple hasn"t explained exactly how this will work with the iMac considering all of the speakers are in front of the user. Spatial audio is a feature in AirPods Pro and AirPods Max that creates a 3D sound space within the listening environment. As the user turns their head, it sounds like the audio is still coming from the iPhone or iPad speakers.

Native ARM-based apps and translated Intel apps aren"t the only software users can run either. Thanks to the M1, users can run iPhone and iPad apps natively on the iMac.

There are two versions of the 24-inch iMac — a cheaper one with fewer ports and fewer color options and a more expensive one with slightly better performance. The M1 on the cheaper model has an 8-core CPU and a 7-core GPU and can be configured with up to 1TB of storage and 16GB of RAM. The more expensive model has an 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU and can be configured with 2TB of storage and 16GB of RAM.

The 24-inch iMac scored 1729 on the single-core metric and 7459 on the multi-core metric. This was achieved with the base 8-core CPU and 7-core GPU M1 processor.

When compared to the 2019 21.5-inch iMac running Intel with an Intel Core i7 processor, the M1 runs 56% faster when compared to single-core performance. The M1 is 24% faster when compared to multi-core.

The ports included with the 24-inch iMac differ depending on which model customers choose. Both models have two USB 4/Thunderbolt ports, but only the more expensive model has two additional USB 3 ports.

There is a headphone jack on the left side of the iMac because there wasn"t enough depth to place it in the back. A headphone jack needs 14mm of space, where the 24-inch iMac has only 11.5mm of depth.

A color-matched Magic Keyboard comes with both iMacs, but only the more expensive model has integrated Touch ID in the keyboard. Customers can upgrade their keyboard or add a color-matched Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad at checkout.

Thanks to the efficiency of the M1 processor, Apple was arguably able to execute the most significant overhaul to its consumer-focused Mac in years. The 24-inch iMac ditches the aging design of its predecessor for a thin and colorful exterior reminiscent of the iPad Pro.

The screen increased from 21.5 inches to 24 inches with a 4.5K display. The entire computer rests in the chin while the rear of the display houses the speaker components.

The thin design doesn"t leave much room for ports, so the usual plethora of ports has been reduced to four USB type-C ports. The two USB 4/Thunderbolt ports are standard on every 24-inch iMac, but the additional two USB 3 ports are only included on higher configurations.

The iMac has a newly designed power cable that uses magnets to keep it in place. This cable runs to a power brick that has an Ethernet port built-in, but it is only included by default on higher-end iMacs. Moving Ethernet to the power brick enables a simplified port configuration on the machine and better cable management for cables that are rarely touched.

There are two variants of the M1 processor depending on which tier of iMac you choose. Both have 8-core CPUs, with the difference being 7-core or 8-core GPUs.

Our testing showed the M1 processor handily beat out the base model Intel-based iMacs in single and multi-core operations. The M1 could not compete against dedicated graphics in the 27-inch iMac, but the score reflects its ability to handle graphics well.

The 24-inch iMac enters the market as an un-upgradable appliance computer. It doesn"t replace a professional workstation like the 27-inch iMac or iMac Pro, but it didn"t need to. To us, it seems this is a desktop targeted at bringing iOS lovers to the Mac.

For most, there"s a lot to like with the first Apple Silicon iMac. At any level, it is an excellent machine that won"t appeal to the most power-hungry or the Intel-bound. For those folks, you probably need to wait it out for another generation or two, as the M-series chip is ultimately incremented, and your Intel-stuck software migrates to Apple Silicon.

And, for the devout, there"s a lot of call-backs to older Macs, like color, white bezels that started on the G4 iMac, and near-silent computing continuing to have a renaissance, after getting left behind more than 15 years ago with the G5 and Intel Macs.

The 24-inch iMac with a 4.5K display ships with a base configuration of an M1 with an 8-core CPU, 7-core GPU, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage for $1,299. Customers can increase the storage up to 1TB, double the RAM, or add a Touch ID Magic Keyboard at checkout.

We recently released TG Pro 2.57 which has full support for the new Apple Silicon based M1 iMacs. It includes a full list of temperatures sensors including specific ones to the iMac such as the LCD panel and power supply.

The original flat-screen iMac has been around for so long that it"s easy to forget the impact that its sleek, all-in-one (AIO) design made on the industry, with every subsequent AIO system released by rival PC manufacturers inevitably compared to Apple"s category-defining design. That design hasn"t changed much in recent years -- until the arrival of the first M1-based iMac.

The overall effect is that the screen does feel more spacious and easy on the eye when browsing through web pages or opening documents in software such as Word or Excel. I would never have considered the cramped screen of the old 21.5-inch iMac for office work, but the new 24-inch model is a much better option for business users who are working from home and may not have room for the sheer bulk of the 27-inch version of the iMac. And, with its coat-of-many-colours -- four or seven colours are available, depending on the configuration you choose -- you can bet that the new iMac will find its way into plenty of reception areas and showrooms too.

But the most remarkable aspect of this new design only becomes evident if you look at it from the sides. The highly integrated design of the M1 SoC has allowed Apple to reduce the size of the iMac"s main motherboard and cooling system, so that the screen panel now measures just 11.5mm thick. There"s even room for a new speaker system below the screen that manages to squeeze in six separate drivers -- with a group of two woofers and a tweeter located on each corner for the left and right stereo channels.

Also for video calls and working from home, the iMac"s webcam has been upgraded to 1080p resolution, with an enhanced light sensor for low-light conditions, and a new directional three-microphone array that can focus on the speaker and reduce background noise.

But if the 24-inch iMac reminds us of Apple"s design skills, it also brings the company"s weaknesses back into focus, too. Apple may be also to design a desktop computer that"s 11.5mm thick, but it doesn"t allow you to adjust the height of the screen, or even rotate the stand to adjust the viewing angle. These basic ergonomic requirements are sacrificed, presumably, because Apple didn"t want any unsightly nuts and bolts spoiling that wafer-thin profile.

The new Magic Keyboard is wafer-thin, too. It"s available in a variety of colours to match the iMac itself, and -- on the more expensive configurations -- also includes a TouchID sensor for additional security. However, the lifeless, low-profile keys still feel like a prop designed for a photo-shoot rather than a tool for actually getting some work done. Connectivity suffers too, with the base configuration including just two Thunderbolt 3/USB4 ports. The base model doesn"t even include an Ethernet interface any more. This has now been relocated onto the external power unit and costs £30/$30 extra, or is included as standard with the two more expensive configurations available on Apple"s website.

Additional upgrade options are limited and pretty expensive. The 27-inch Intel iMac still allows users to upgrade the memory themselves, but that"s not an option with the M1-based 24-inch iMac. The M1 processor only allows 8GB or 16GB, so if you want to upgrade to 16GB then you"ll have to pay a hefty £200/$200 at the time of purchase. As mentioned, Ethernet is a £30/$30 upgrade for the base configuration, while 512GB storage costs an extra £200/$200, or you can pay £400/$400 for 1TB, or £800/$800 for 2TB.

The design of the 2021 iMac is outstanding, but it"s still pretty expensive for what"s essentially an entry-level AIO system. The M1-based Mac Mini is less expensive, of course, but its price doesn"t include a display. Even so, the base configuration of the Mac Mini costs just £699/$699 so you could probably still buy a decent monitor to use with it and have some change from £/$1,000. The Mac Mini also has an 8-core GPU in all configurations, and better connectivity too, so you really are paying a premium for the M1 iMac"s eye-catching design.

Unsurprisingly, the new iMac provides very similar performance to its M1-based brethren. In fact, its Geekbench 5 CPU scores of 1,745 (single core) and 7,700 (multi-core) in native M1 mode are virtually identical to those of the Mac Mini. Geekbench can also test performance with the Rosetta 2 translation software that allows you to run older Intel-based software, recording very respectable scores of 1,340 (single core) and 6,040 (multi core).

The iMac wasn"t able to run the Intel-based Cinebench R15 test for graphics performance, or the Unigine Valley test either, suggesting that Rosetta 2 isn"t quite 100% compatible with all Intel software. However, the iMac was able to run the Intel version of Tomb Raider, rendering Lara Croft"s adventures at the same 25fps as the Mac Mini, when running at 2560x1440 resolution with the game"s highest graphics settings. The issue of Intel compatibility isn"t too worrisome, as key apps such as Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft Office are already available in M1-native versions.

The M1 iMac can"t exactly be described as a gaming rig, but it"s more than powerful enough to handle productivity software such as Microsoft Office, and even some photo- or video-editing workloads.

The striking design of the 24-inch M1-based iMac will undoubtedly earn it a place in many homes and offices, and the performance of the M1 SoC continues to impress. Even so, the limitations of the design are irksome, given the high price of even the new iMac"s entry-level configuration. My bank manager would probably tell me to buy the Mac Mini instead. But if Apple"s aim was simply to make a splash and prove that it can still out-design its PC rivals, then the company has certainly made its point.

iMac is a family of all-in-one Mac desktop computers designed and built by Apple Inc. It has been the primary part of Apple"s consumer desktop offerings since its debut in August 1998, and has evolved through seven distinct forms.

In its original form, the iMac G3 had a gumdrop or egg-shaped look, with a CRT monitor, mainly enclosed by a colored, translucent plastic case, which was refreshed early on with a sleeker design notable for its slot-loaded optical drive. The second major revision, the iMac G4, moved the design to a hemispherical base containing all the main components and an LCD monitor on a freely moving arm attached to it. The third and fourth major revisions, the iMac G5 and the Intel iMac respectively, placed all the components immediately behind the display, creating a slim unified design that tilts only up and down on a simple metal base.

The fifth major revision (mid-2007) shared the same form as the previous model, but was thinner and used anodized aluminum and a glass panel over the entire front. The seventh major revision (late 2012) uses a different display unit, omits the SuperDrive, and uses different production techniques from the older unibody versions. This allows it to be thinner at the edge than older models, with an edge thickness of 5.9  mm (but the same maximum depth). It also includes a dual microphone setup and includes solid-state drive (SSD) or hard disk storage, or an Apple Fusion Drive, a hybrid of solid-state and hard disk drives. This version of the iMac was announced in October 2012, with the 21.5-inch (55 cm) version released in November and the 27-inch (69 cm) version in December; these were refreshed in September 2013, with new Haswell processors, faster graphics, faster and larger SSD options and 802.11ac Wi-Fi cards.

In October 2014, a major revision of the 27-inch (69 cm) iMac was announced, whose main feature is a "Retina 5K" display at a resolution of 5120 × 2880 pixels. The new model also includes a new processor, graphics chip, and IO, along with several new storage options.Retina 4K" display at a resolution of 4096 × 2304 pixels. It has the same new processor, graphics chip, and I/O as the 27-inch iMac, along with several new storage options.

On June 5, 2017, Apple announced a workstation-class version called the iMac Pro, which features Intel Xeon processors and standard SSD storage. It shares the design and screen of the 5K iMac but is colored in Space Gray rather than silver. Apple began shipping the iMac Pro in December 2017.

On April 20, 2021, Apple announced a 24" iMac (actual diagonal screen size is 23.5 in.Apple M1 processor, its first as part of its transition to Apple silicon.Thunderbolt 3/USB 4 ports, and two USB Type-C 3.1 Gen 2 ports on the higher configurations.

The announcement of the iMac in 1998 was a source of controversy and anticipation among commentators, Mac fans, and detractors. Opinions were divided over Apple"s drastic changes to the Macintosh hardware. At the time, Apple had suffered a series of setbacks as consumers increasingly opted for Wintel (Windows PCs with Intel CPUs) machines instead of Apple"s Performa models. Many in the industry thought that "beleaguered" Apple would soon be forced to start selling computers with a custom interface built on top of one or more potential operating system bases, such as Taligent, Solaris, or Windows 98.

Ken Segall was an employee at an L.A. ad agency handling Apple"s account who came up with the name "iMac" and pitched it to Steve Jobs. After Jobs" death, Segall claimed Jobs preferred "MacMan" for the name of the computer, but after Segall pitched "iMac" to him twice, the name was accepted.Internet",adopted the "i" prefix across its consumer hardware and software lines, such as iPod, iBook (later MacBook), iPhone, iPad and various pieces of software such as the iLife, iCloud suite and iWork and the company"s media player/store, iTunes.

Attention was given to the out-of-box experience: the user needed to go through only two steps to set up and connect to the Internet. "There"s no step 3!" was the catch-phrase in a popular iMac commercial narrated by actor Jeff Goldblum.border collie Brodie, with an iMac, against Adam Taggart, a Stanford University MBA student, with an HP Pavilion 8250, in a race to set up their computers. Johann and Brodie finished in 8 minutes and 15 seconds,

By 2005, it had become more and more apparent that IBM"s development for the desktop implementation of PowerPC was grinding to a halt. Apple announced at the Worldwide Developers Conference that it would be switching the Macintosh to the x86 architecture and Intel"s line of Core processors. The first Intel-equipped Macs were unveiled on January 10, 2006: the Intel iMac and the introductory MacBook Pro. Within nine months, Apple had smoothly transitioned the entire Macintosh line to Intel. One of the highly touted side benefits of this switch was the ability to run Windows on Mac hardware.

The timeline of iMac from 1998 to 2021, comparing it with the original Macintosh 128K (1984). This chart shows the change in the physical characteristics and appearance of the product.

On July 27, 2010, Apple updated its line of iMacs to feature the new Intel Core "i-series" processors across the line. The 21.5" models now feature the Core i3 processor, but these are upgradable to the Core i5. The high-end 27" features a Quad-Core i5 processor, which is upgradable to a Quad-Core i7. On this date, Apple also announced its new "Apple Magic Trackpad" peripheral, a trackpad similar to that of the MacBook Pro for use with iMac or any other Apple computer. Apple also introduced a AA NiMH battery charger intended to simplify the use of batteries in these peripherals. Apple offers an option to use a solid-state drive instead of a large mechanical drive.

On May 3, 2011, Apple updated its iMac line with the introduction of Intel Thunderbolt technology and Intel Core i5 and i7 Sandy Bridge processors as well as a 1 mega pixel high definition FaceTime camera, features which were first introduced in the MacBook Pro line in February 2011.

On October 23, 2012, a new iMac was announced (for a November/December release) with a substantially thinner edge, new Apple Fusion Drive, faster processors (Intel Core i5 and i7 Ivy Bridge) and graphics along with updates to the ports, but with the same overall depth (stand depth: 8 inches (20.3  cm)). To reduce the edge, the SuperDrive was removed on these iMacs.

On October 16, 2014, a new version of the 27-inch (69  cm) iMac was announced, whose main feature is a "Retina 5K" display at a resolution of 5120 × 2880 pixels.processor, graphics chip, and I/O, along with several new storage options. This computer was designed with professional photographers and video editors in mind, with the 5K resolution allowing 4K video to be played at its native resolution in Final Cut Pro, with room for toolbars on the side.

On June 6, 2017, Apple’s 21.5-inch iMac, which has a "Retina 4K" display at a resolution of 4096 × 2304 pixels, and the latest Intel 7th generation i5 processor, was announced. The iMac has Turbo Boost up to 3.6 GHz supported, and a 1 TB hard drive. Apple’s iMac with 4K display has Intel Core i5 quad-core processor with 3 GHz or 3.4 GHz clock speed. The RAM on board is 8 GB, and it will support a Turbo boost of up to 3.8 GHz. This iMac has options of 1 TB hard drive or 1 TB Fusion Drive. This 21.5-inch iMac also has the option of Radeon Pro 555 with 2 GB of video RAM for graphics or a Radeon Pro 560 with 4 GB of video RAM. Apple’s 27-inch iMac with the 5K display comes with the quad-core Intel Core i5 processor, which is clocked at 3.4 GHz, 3.5 GHz, or 3.8 GHz. This iMac supports a Turbo boost of up to 4.2Ghz and comes with 8 GB RAM option.

In March 2019, Apple updated the iMac to feature 9th-generation Intel Core i9 processors and Radeon Vega graphics. Unlike most other Apple releases, Apple opted not to announce the iMac at an event; instead, they updated the specs and released a press statement. For the first time, the iMac can support 6-core or 8-core Intel processors. Apple claims the 21.5-inch model is up to 60% faster than the previous model, and the 27-inch is up to 2.4 times faster. The exterior of the machine remained the same as the previous model.

On August 4, 2020, Apple refreshed the iMac models. The smaller 21.5-inch model was updated with SSDs standard. The 27-inch model received 10th generation Intel chips, a T2 Security chip, a 1080p camera, studio-quality microphone, an option for nano-textured glass, as well as SSDs standard. The 27-inch model now has SSDs soldered to the motherboard, which means the storage is no longer replaceable, and in order to replace a hard drive the entire motherboard must be replaced and any data on the drive will be wiped.

The original iMac was the first legacy-free PC.USB port but no floppy disk drive. Subsequently, all Macs have included USB. Via the USB port, hardware makers could make products compatible with both x86 PCs and Macs. Previously, Macintosh users had to seek out certain hardware, such as keyboards and mice specifically tailored for the "old world" Mac"s unique ADB interface and printers and modems with MiniDIN-8 serial ports. Only a limited number of models from certain manufacturers were made with these interfaces and often came at a premium price. USB, being cross-platform, has allowed Macintosh users to select from a large selection of devices marketed for the Wintel PC platform, such as hubs, scanners, storage devices, USB flash drives, and mice. After the iMac, Apple continued to remove older peripheral interfaces and floppy drives from the rest of its product line.

Borrowing from the 1997 Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh, the various LCD-based iMac designs continued the all-in-one concept first envisioned in Apple"s original Macintosh computer. The successful iMac allowed Apple to continue targeting the Power Macintosh line at the high-end of the market. This foreshadowed a similar strategy in the notebook market when the iMac-like iBook was released in 1999. Since then, the company has continued this strategy of differentiating the consumer versus professional product lines. Apple"s focus on design has allowed each of its subsequent products to create a distinctive identity. Apple avoided using the beige colors that were then common in the PC industry. The company would later drift from the multicolored designs of the late 1990s and early 2000s. The latter part of the decade saw Apple using anodized aluminum; glass; and white, black, and clear polycarbonate plastics among their build materials. Today many PCs are more design-conscious than before the iMac"s introduction, with multi-shaded design schemes being common, and some desktops and laptops available in colorful, decorative patterns.

iMac has received considerable critical acclaim, including praise from technology columnist Walt Mossberg as the "Gold Standard of desktop computing";Core 2 Duo iMac received CNET"s "Must-have desktop" in their 2006 Top 10 Holiday Gift Picks.

Apple faced a class-action lawsuit filed in 2008 for allegedly deceiving the public by promising millions of colors from the LCD screens of all Mac models while its 20-inch model only held 262,144 colors.Twisted nematic LCD screens. The case was dismissed on January 21, 2009.

While not a criticism of iMac per se, the integrated design has some inherent tradeoffs that have garnered criticism. In The Mythical Midrange Mac Minitower, Dan Frakes of Macworld suggests that with the iMac occupying the midrange of Apple"s product line, Apple has little to offer consumers who want some ability to expand or upgrade their computers, but do not need (or cannot afford) the Mac Pro.Mac mini"s introduction, there were rumors of a "headless iMac"Other World Computing provide upgrade kits that include specialized tools for working on iMacs.

Similarly, though the graphics chipset in some Intel models is on a removable MXM, neither Apple nor third parties have offered retail iMac GPU upgrades, with the exception of those for the original iMac G3"s "mezzanine" PCI slot. Models after iMac G5 (excluding the August 7, 2007 iMac updatemini-tower cannibalizing sales from the Mac Pro, Frakes argues there is enough frustration with iMac"s limitations to make such a proposition worthwhile. This disparity has become more pronounced after the G4 era since the bottom-end Power Mac G5 (with one brief exception) and Mac Pro models have all been priced in the US$1999–2499$ range, while base model Power Macs G4s and earlier were US$1299–1799. The current generation iMac has Intel 5th generation i5 and i7 processors, ranging from quad-core 2.7 GHz i5 to a quad-core 3.4 GHz i7 processor,

Olivarez-Giles, Nathan (May 3, 2011). "Apple updates iMac line with quicker processors, graphics and Thunderbolt I/O". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 29, 2012.

"Apple Confidential: The Day They Almost Decided To Put Windows On The Mac Instead Of OS X!". Archived from the original on June 24, 2013. Retrieved March 11, 2015. Hancock ordered her staff to consider Microsoft"s Windows, Sun Microsystems" Solaris, and even the ill-fated Taligent, which Apple had handed off to partner IBM in December 1995. Hancock was partial to Unix-based Solaris, while COO Marco Landi preferred cutting a deal for Windows NT.

Raletz, Alyson (June 7, 2012). "Man who came up with iMac name tells what the "i" stands for". Kansas City Business Journal. Retrieved March 30, 2013.

Rich DeMuro (November 22, 2006). Must-have desktop: Apple iMac Core 2 Duo (24-inch, 2.16 GHz). CNET (Internet). Archived from the original on August 19, 2007. Retrieved January 16, 2007.