10 cool things to love about the new iMac

Apple’s new 24-inch iMac rethinks the role a computer could play in your home.

It shouldn’t be a work and homework machine, it should also be a hub for games, movies, and keeping in touch with those you love. And it doesn’t need to stay hidden in the office, or basement. It can fit beautifully into the living room, bedroom, or even kitchen.

Here are the 10 coolest things to love about the new iMac.

Style

This thing is eye-catching. It’s tough to say what will shock you most when you see it in person: the rich colour, or how thin it is. The new iMac is available in seven playfully fun colours. The front of the display has a subdued version of the colour with a light grey, near-white, outline around the screen. The back is a richly saturated colour that looks even better in person than any photo or video can capture.

Size

The new iMac is shockingly thin. At 11.5 mm (thinner than the piece of toast I am munching while writing this), it is incredible to think that all the stuff that makes a computer work so well fits inside this thing. It’s all thanks to the ground-up build around Apple’s M1 chip (more on that later).

Between the incredibly thin display, the relatively tiny footprint of its base, and the expansive real-estate of the 24-inch screen, you will find lots of appealing places to set up the new iMac in your home. Possibly in spots you would never have considered putting a computer before.

Display

Aside from the aesthetics of the new iMac, the display could end up being your favourite screen in the house to look at. Which is good, because between work/homework, movies, shows, games, how-to videos, etc., you will spend a lot of time looking at this screen.

The screen has a huge colour range (it can display 1 billion colours). It’s 4.5K (even more pixels than your 4K TV for sharper detail). And it automatically adjusts to the lighting of your room so whatever you see on screen looks natural. All of which is viewed through an anti-reflective coating to be easy on your eyes.

Camera

The camera in the new iMac is the best camera Apple has ever put in a Mac. Since video calls have become an everyday need for work, school, and catching up with socially-distanced family members, this is a great feature.

The real hero of the camera on the new iMac actually comes from the device’s “image signal processor.” Long story short, your iMac will analyze each pixel it sees at over a trillion operations per second, so you always look your best, even in low light, when you’re on camera.

Microphone

The microphone in the new iMac is the best microphone Apple has ever put in a Mac (there is a theme going on here). It uses three built-in microphones to detect your voice, the background noise in the room, and the sounds coming out of your computer speakers and processes it all for the best audio quality possible.

The result is more natural conversations, less feedback (in my experience NO feedback), and no need to awkwardly lean in toward your screen because you’re worried people can’t hear you properly.

Speakers

The speakers in the new iMac are (you guessed it) the best speakers Apple has ever put in a Mac. We are talking room-filling sound from six speakers that are totally hidden from view and somehow fit within that thin 11.5 mm display.

The speakers support Dolby Atmos, which creates a cool surround sound-style effect when watching supported videos.

Versatility

This is an extremely capable computer for handling the everyday tasks that most people would use it for. While it’s not a pro-tier Apple product (like the actual Mac Pro, Macbook Pro, or even the new iPad Pro), it does let you do stuff that you may expect only a pro-level machine could handle. So, if you get roped into editing a friend’s wedding video because “you’re good at that kinda stuff,” or if you are a budding photographer and decide you want to start shooting and editing RAW photos in Photoshop, you can use the new iMac for these process-hungry tasks and it will power through them without breaking a sweat.

This (and many of the other things mentioned earlier, like the amazing image signal processing or the incredibly thin design of this machine) is made possible by Apple’s M1 chip. This M1 chip and all of its benefits are outside of the scope of this article. But know the M1 chip shows off the amazing state of consumer technology that lets us effortlessly do pretty incredible things on the new iMac.

Movies, Games, and More

Watching movies and playing video games on the new iMac is an amazing experience. Since this display looks so good from the front or the back, it makes it appealing to set up in a place where you may not normally have had a screen (kitchen counter, bedroom, etc.). As you get used to the versatility of the iMac and the ways it could change the room it’s in, you may find yourself working your way through the Star Wars saga while prepping dinner. Or following along with a morning Yoga class in your bedroom. Or hitting the Oregon Trail on Apple Arcade during your break while working from home.

It’s easy to pair your preferred Bluetooth-enabled gaming controller to your iMac (I used a PS5 controller and it worked great). Thanks to the 4.5K display with more than 11 million pixels and the 500 nits of brightness your games and movies will look great. And the Dolby Atmos support means they’ll sound amazing on the iMac’s speakers, too.

Matching Accessories

There is something so incredibly satisfying when you see your new iMac and everything matches. The iMac ships with a colour-matched keyboard, mouse, braided power cable, and charging/accessory cable. It just makes you happy! You can add a colour-matched trackpad as well (though I suspect the mouse and keyboard are enough for most people).

As for that Magic keyboard, there are three versions. The included standard Magic keyboard with dedicated emoji, spotlight, and dictation keys. The Magic Keyboard with Touch ID (fingerprint sensor for making purchases and unlocking the device in the top right corner). And The Magic Keyboard with Touch ID and a numeric keypad.

Configurations

There are two versions of the 24-inch iMac with 4.5K Retina display, each with a little bit of wiggle room for you to customize for your needs.

When ordering the iMac, you can choose either a 7-core or 8-core GPU version of the M1 chip. If you are going to be doing a lot of photography, video editing, advance coding/app design on the iMac, then you may want to go with the 8-core GPU. The 8-core GPU version of the new iMac also lets you expand to an even larger, 2TB hard drive option (the 7-core version can go up to 1TB). Both versions support either 8 or 16 GB of RAM.

The 7-core GPU version iMac comes with two USB 4 ports (you can plug in thunderbolt or USB 3 accessories into the same port). If you think you will attach a lot of accessories (an extra display, an external hard drive, an SD card reader, etc.), you can also expand that to have two additional USB 3 ports. However, since most accessories would only be plugged in on an as-needed basis, two ports is probably enough.

Summary

There is so much to like about the new 24-inch iMac. It is a truly beautiful-looking computer (seriously, every time I see mine I just start smiling because it looks so great). The new iMac would be really well-suited to a household in need of a very versatile computer for doing everyday work but also fun stuff, too.

The power of the M1 chip allows this iMac to do some impressive processing, that while many people won’t need to use (like editing five streams of video in 4K), it is pretty cool that you have that available if there ever is a time you need it.

If you’re in the market for a new computer that can handle the normal day-to-day tasks but also doubles as an entertainment hub for gaming, movies, or even workouts, all while looking stylish in any room in your home, the 24-inch iMac with 4.5K Retina display will not dissapoint.