Gear Up
Apple iMac 24–inch (2021)
The all–new iMac 24–inch is an incredible machine to behold, but it has some limitations
From $1,299 From Apple, apple.com
Features 23.5–inch Retina display (4480x2520), Apple M1 chip, 8GB unified memory (16GB available), 256GB storage (512GB, 1TB, and 2TB available), 802.11ax Wi–Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, 2x Thunderbolt 4/USB Type–C ports (4x on the upgrade model)
The Apple iMac 24–inch (M1, 2021) is all–new internally and externally. The characteristics of Apple’s M1 chip mean that the computer can be just 11.5mm thick, not including stand, but still pack in eight cores of potent processing power — and run silently.
The 4.5K resolution screen is larger than the 21.5–inch model it replaces, but the whole unit is only 2cm wider and 1cm taller — and much less voluminous. It is, simply, much more computer in a smaller space. Mostly.
There are a few changes in the iMac 24–inch that won’t be as welcome as the upgrades we’ve mentioned, and there’s one notable thing that hasn’t changed but really should have. But overall it’s maybe the most exciting Mac in years, and with its seven jaunty colors it feels less like a new electronic appliance and more like a computer from the days when getting a new Mac was cool and thrilling.
PRICE AND SPEC
The iMac 24–inch starts from $1,299, which gets you an M1 with an eight– core processor, seven–core GPU, 8GB RAM, 256GB storage, and two USB Type–C/Thunderbolt 4 ports; and it’s available in green, pink, blue and silver. However, this version doesn’t come with Touch ID fingerprint security on its keyboard, or an Ethernet port on its power brick.
If you step up to the $1,499 version you get the M1 with an eight–core GPU, two additional USB Type–C ports (making four total), keyboard with Touch ID, and an Ethernet port.
From here, you can customize the iMac 24–inch in two ways: RAM and storage. Neither can be upgraded in the future by the user, so you’ll need to buy smart. The RAM can be upgraded to 16GB, but that’s the maximum. The storage can be raised from 256GB up to a maximum of 2TB.
FEATURES AND WHAT’S NEW
What’s new in the 24–inch iMac compared to the 21.5–inch model it replaces? Literally everything. Not a single aspect remains unchanged.
Let’s start with the screen, which is a 23.5–inch, 4480x2520 display — Apple is calling this “4.5K,” which makes sense if you know that 4K just means “any screen around 4,000 pixels wide.” This one has slightly more pixels. Easy! Apple has done 24–inch screens before, but not since 2009, so this is a blast from the past.
The screen offers 500 nits of typical brightness and P3 wide color gamut support, both of which are big improvements on your average monitor, which is likely to be about half as bright and without such wide color support. You also get Apple’s True Tone system, which adjusts the colors based on the lighting in your room and makes a big difference to eye comfort, we think.