Apple iMac M1 review: A computer for everyone

Apple’s new M1 chipset has been making headlines in all its new products due to its great performance and battery life. We’ve seen the M1 in devices like the MacBook Pro and even the iPad Pro, which now outperforms all other “mobile” devices in benchmarks. So when Apple introduced this chip in the iMac, it made Apple’s flagship desktop instantly interesting. After using the M1 iMac for a few months, I can easily say it’s one of my favorite computers I’ve ever used.

Specifications

Goodness

Not very good

Design, hardware and what’s in the box

The M1 iMac has a very unconventional design for an all-in-one. The display assembly is ultra-thin, measuring just 11.5mm thick. The front is made entirely of glass and is mostly equipped with white frames and a chin that houses the logic board. The top has a 1080p FaceTime camera, which produces great video quality, a long-awaited move for Apple. The back has a connector for the non-removable stand, the power port, and 2 or 4 USB Type-C ports depending on your version.

Apple has a few versions of the M1 iMac. The base model iMac comes with two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports, an M1 port with 7 GPU cores and only one fan and heatsink. The 8-core GPU models have two fans and a heatpipe with two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports and two USB 3 ports. This, in theory, means you’ll get better CPU and GPU performance than the 8-core model because the thermal headroom on the M1 chip is greater .

The iMac comes in seven colors: blue, green, pink, silver, yellow, orange, and purple. Every iMac also includes color-matched accessories. This means your blue iMac will have a blue Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse/Trackpad. It is worth noting that these items are not available separately yet, so if you want a color-matched accessory, you will need to get it at the time of ordering. All the colors are great, but I still prefer the old silver.

The display on the iMac is great. It is a 24-inch 4.5K LCD panel with a resolution of 4480 x 2520 pixels. It gets bright with a peak rating of 500 nits, but it’s still hard to see in direct sunlight. Fortunately, this is desktop. Just don’t put it in direct sunlight. The display has a 10-bit wide color gamut, which means it can display up to a billion colors. This 10-bit panel also enables HDR10+ and Dolby Vision support. Apple chose to include True Tone, which matches the white balance of the screen to your surrounding lighting environment.

Apple includes in the box the iMac, magnetic charger, mouse, keyboard, and the usual manuals. There is nothing surprising here. I’m going to hack here… but All iMac models come with Apple stickers that match each color of iMac, for example, a blue iMac will come with a dark blue and light blue sticker. Unfortunately, the silver color only comes with a single silver Apple sticker instead of the silver and white sticker as one might expect. I want the second sticker, Apple.

Keyboard and trackpad

Unlike most all-in-one computers, the iMac has several different keyboard and mouse options, depending on which version you buy. The base model iMac only comes with a standard Magic Keyboard, but you can customize it to include a Magic Keyboard with TouchID or a Magic Keyboard with Numpad and TouchID. However, this keyboard feels cheap. Both the Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro and Magic Keyboard for MacBook Pro feel sturdier than the portable one that comes with the iMac.

Touch ID on the Magic Keyboard 2 is probably one of my favorite features. It makes logging into your computer easy and also lets you use your fingerprint to complete Apple Pay transactions or verify Autofill data. It’s much easier than typing a password and saves me a lot of time. The keyboard also makes it easy to lock your computer — just press the Touch ID button, and you can walk away without leaving your data exposed.

As for the mouse, each iMac model comes with a Magic Mouse 2 whose color matches the computer’s chassis. You can customize your iMac to come with a Magic Trackpad 2 for an extra $50 or buy it separately for $120. These seem expensive for an input device, but today’s macOS is designed for use with trackpads. All the gestures that make macOS feel fast are accessible with the trackpad. I only used the trackpad with my iMac because it wasn’t convenient to use the Magic Mouse anymore. It’s just an unnatural way to control macOS. The extra $50 or $120 is worth it if you want to enjoy the experience of using an iMac.

Both the mouse and keyboard charge using the Apple Lightning port. The battery on the trackpad lasts about two weeks or so for me and the mouse is about the same. The keyboard lasts longer, lasting about 3 or 4 weeks. The charging port on the mouse is one of the worst designs I’ve ever seen, with the port located at the bottom of the mouse. This means that you cannot use the mouse at the same time as it is charging. Fortunately, both the trackpad and keyboard will work while charging because the charging port is on the back instead of the bottom.

Software and performance

macOS Big Sur is, well, macOS. It has a beautiful, colorful UI that Apple has improved over the years, and I really like it. It’s a little cleaner and sleeker than Windows. I can’t think of any major issues or annoyances with macOS, which is something I can’t say about Windows. From Apple Pay to Siri, the macOS on the iMac supports all the usual Apple services, and they all work well. If you have an Apple Watch, your computer will automatically unlock if you wear it, no password needed. Siri supports “Hey Siri” so you can shout at your computer from across the room. There’s also full support for iMessage and FaceTime, and if your phone rings while connected to the same wireless network, so will your computer. Integration with other Apple software and hardware is unparalleled in personal computing. Although it may be difficult to move from Windows to macOS if you are not familiar with it.

Now we move on to the all-important M1 ARM chip. On the 16GB RAM version, I didn’t notice any lag or stuttering at all. It can run everything I need from Chrome, Minecraft, Microsoft Office, and Adobe applications. Most of these apps are compiled for ARM, which results in a 20% performance boost, whether plus or minus. Applications that are still compiled for x86 will run via Rosetta, which translates the application to ARM, and most applications work fine even when converted. The only time the M1 chip felt challenging was when I loaded an Excel file’s processing equations across about 500,000 cells. Even then, it only took about 300 seconds to process versus 120 seconds for my gaming PC with the Ryzen 5800X. This seems like a pretty big difference, but something like this would bring most other all-in-one PCs to their knees. The most impressive part is that the entire iMac uses 135 watts of power, while the CPU in my gaming rig only uses 105 watts.

Apple limits RAM to a maximum of 16GB, which is a shame. I would have liked to see 32GB or even 64GB of RAM. This is rumored to be coming with the launch of the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros later this year, but we can’t be sure of that.

Should you buy it? Rating 9/10

M1 iMac

YesThis is an amazing computer. I’ve never been a fan of all-in-ones, but this iMac has converted me. I’m shocked that Apple has managed to pack so much great technology into such a thin, beautiful chassis. I’m a huge fan of almost every aspect of it — performance, display, and design. It’s safe to say that this is one of my favorite devices right now.

However, you should look for new Apple computers. Apple is rumored to be working on an iMac Pro and an iMac with a better, bigger display, a newer chip, and more hardware options. It could come this year or next year, but we don’t know. If the M1 chip and iMac specs aren’t enough for you, it may be worth waiting for the new models. Or you could just pick up one of the rumored MacBook Pros coming later this year and add an external display.

Even with new hardware coming out soon, I love the M1 iMac and think it’s worth the purchase. It’s a bit pricey when you add in all the accessories and better spec options, sure, but it’s not a gaming PC. You won’t upgrade it every year to the latest version. Dropping from $1,300 to $2,500 may seem like a lot, but I think it’s a very fair price for what you’re getting.

Buy it if…

• You want a fast and reliable family computer.
• You have limited desktop space and want something that looks nice.

Don’t buy it if…

• You haven’t used macOS before and don’t want to learn a new operating system.
• You prefer the Google and Microsoft ecosystems.

Where to buy

• Amazon
• Best buy
• apple