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GAME-CHANGER - NEW iMac Review (M1)

2021-05-18 · Long video (solo, talking head or whiteboard) · Ali · recording, 16:22 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Tools, apps and tech · mode: Review and recommendation · tags: He changed his mind

Ali reviews the base blue M1 iMac after a few days: its 4.5K screen is the best he has used, it performs like his other M1 Macs except in World of Warcraft, its two ports call for a dock, and he recommends it, with the RAM and storage upgrades, unless you are a student on a budget who already has a MacBook.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — The blue M1 iMac replaces his 49-inch ultrawide setup

  • ★★ For the last few days Ali has been using the new M1 iMac in blue, his first desktop iMac; it has replaced his 49-inch ultrawide desk setup. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ The design is basically the main reason Ali wanted an iMac: it looks so pretty, and once he saw it in blue he wanted it for a simpler desk setup. — 00:00:00

00:00:28 — Design

  • ★★ The iMac is an all-in-one desktop, essentially just a screen, so there is no separate box on the desk and none of its cables. — 00:00:46
  • ★★ The base M1 iMac has only two Thunderbolt/USB-C ports besides the power port; the fully specced model, which Ali has ordered and expects in about six weeks, has four. — 00:01:41
  • ★★★ Ali calls the M1 iMac's screen the best screen he has ever used. — 00:01:41

00:02:06 — Screen

  • ★★ The M1 iMac has a 4.5K Retina display with a resolution of about 4,480 by 2,520. (hedged) — 00:02:11
  • ★★★ After his 49-inch ultrawide, where he could see the pixels, Ali does not think he could ever go back to a non-Retina display as his main monitor. — 00:02:11
  • ★★ The M1 iMac's screen goes up to 500 nits of brightness. — 00:02:11
  • ★★ Ali finds the M1 iMac's reflective screen kind of annoying: in broad daylight the windows reflect in it; it lacks the matte finish of the Pro Display XDR. — 00:02:11
  • ★★ After four years of 34-, 39- and 49-inch ultrawides, Ali feared the 24-inch iMac would feel small, but within about 20 minutes his eyes adjusted and he does not miss the screen space. — 00:03:25
  • ★★ For gaming and streaming, or a Zoom presentation with screen recording, Ali might want a second screen and is considering the Pro Display XDR; for most of his computer use the iMac's 24-inch screen is completely fine. (hedged) — 00:03:25 · Zoom

00:03:57 — Performance: Geekbench and World of Warcraft

  • ★★ In Ali's Geekbench 5 test the base M1 iMac scored 1728 single-core, a little higher than other M1 models but within the margin of uncertainty, and 7708 multi-core. — 00:04:12
  • ★★ Ali does not care about Geekbench numbers: they make no difference to his life or most people's; real-world performance is what he cares about. — 00:04:12
  • ★★ Ali has never once noticed any slowness on his M1 devices: the MacBook Air, the MacBook Pro, the Mac mini and now the iMac. — 00:04:40 · MacBook, Mac mini
  • ★★ The base M1 iMac has seven GPU cores rather than eight and one fan rather than two. — 00:05:04
  • ★★ At 25 to 30 frames per second rather than 60, World of Warcraft was basically unplayable for Ali on the base M1 iMac, while it was very playable on his M1 Mac mini. — 00:05:27 · World of Warcraft, Mac mini
  • ★★ Ali thinks the poor World of Warcraft performance is just because his iMac is the base model. (hedged) — 00:05:27 · World of Warcraft
  • ★★★ Unless you are trying to play games, Ali says you will not be disappointed with the M1 iMac's performance. — 00:05:27

00:05:56 — Sound: webcam, microphones and speakers

  • ★★ The 2021 iMac's webcam is upgraded to a 1080p FaceTime HD camera, and its microphones are said to be upgraded too. (hedged) — 00:05:56
  • ★★ Ali finds the M1 iMac's built-in camera and microphones entirely reasonable for Zoom calls. — 00:05:56 · Zoom
  • ★★ Because his Shure SM7B is a pain to set up with the preamp, Ali will rely on the M1 iMac's built-in microphones and webcam for most things and use the SM7B only for podcasts and videos. — 00:06:25
  • ★★ The M1 iMac's upgraded built-in speakers sound pretty good to Ali; his $300 speakers win side by side, but at first he could not tell which were playing. — 00:06:25

00:07:18 — Ports and the dock

  • ★★★ Two ports are not enough for whatever you use an iMac for, Ali says, so anyone getting one will almost certainly need a dock; he uses the CalDigit TS3 Thunderbolt dock. — 00:07:18
  • ★ Through the CalDigit dock Ali connects ethernet, his speakers, his audio interface and an Elgato Cam Link for his camera, and uses its SD card reader. — 00:07:39
  • ★★ Ali likes that Apple colour-matched the accessories to the new iMac: he has the blue Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse. — 00:08:08 · Apple

00:08:17 — Accessories: Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse, Magic Trackpad

  • ★★ The fully specced M1 iMac comes with the Magic Keyboard with Touch ID; the base model's keyboard has none. — 00:08:37
  • ★★★ Ali calls the Apple Magic Keyboard the single best keyboard he has ever used; it gave him his record typing speed of 157 words per minute. — 00:08:37
  • ★★ Ali has never been a fan of the Magic Mouse, which felt non-ergonomic next to the Logitech MX Master 3 or the Razer Pro Click, but after a few days its gestures have grown on him. — 00:09:07
  • ★★ Ali has not decided whether to keep the Magic Mouse or go back to the Razer Pro Click, which is more comfortable in the hand. (unsure) — 00:09:07
  • ★ Ali usually keeps a trackpad on his left and a mouse on his right, using the trackpad for scrolling and gestures; the Magic Trackpad for the iMac is on order. — 00:09:32

00:09:57 — Specs: GPU cores, RAM and storage

  • ★★ Since his eight-GPU-core M1 Mac mini runs World of Warcraft nicely and the seven-core base iMac does not, Ali suspects the upgraded iMac will make a noticeable difference for graphics. (hedged) — 00:10:01 · Mac mini, World of Warcraft
  • ★★★ Upgrading the M1 iMac from 8 GB to 16 GB of RAM costs only about $200, which Ali thinks is worth it on a $2,000-plus device; he ordered 16 GB. (hedged) — 00:10:30
  • ★★ The M1 iMac's default 256 GB SSD is not much storage, Ali says, but probably enough for a light user or a student who does little gaming or video editing. (hedged) — 00:10:30
  • ★★ As a video editor Ali needs a 2 TB drive, so he ordered his iMac with the 2 TB storage upgrade. — 00:11:17
  • ★★ Without huge video files, Ali says, an iMac with 512 GB or 1 TB will probably do, and storage can be expanded with Samsung T5 SSDs over Thunderbolt. (hedged) — 00:11:17

00:11:46 — Conclusion: a desktop beside the laptop, a single screen, the verdict

  • ★★ Since switching to Apple around 2012, Ali always had a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro connected to an external display, which suited him as a medical student taking it to lectures. — 00:11:46 · Apple, MacBook
  • ★★ In November 2020, when the M1 Mac mini came out, Ali moved his whole desk setup to it and kept his MacBook Pro in his bag as his travelling device. — 00:12:12 · Mac mini, MacBook
  • ★★ Having both a desktop and a laptop costs more, but for Ali it was a big quality-of-life improvement: he can upload video to his editor at home and keep the laptop always packed. — 00:12:12
  • ★★★ Before the iMac, Ali thought he was the sort of person who needs a 49-inch monitor and more than one screen; he has found working on a single screen surprisingly good. — 00:13:11
  • ★★★ A single screen encourages Ali to focus on one thing at a time; on his 49-inch monitor he kept multitasking between Slack, Safari, notes, Notion and Spotify. — 00:13:43 · deep work (concept), Slack, Safari, Notion, Spotify
  • ★★ Ali is sure he will add a second screen at some point for edge cases such as streaming or Zoom presentations for his Part-Time YouTuber Academy course. — 00:14:10 · Part-Time YouTuber Academy, Zoom
  • ★★ Going forward, Ali wants his personal desk setups to always have an iMac, for work and for play. — 00:14:39
  • ★★ With one cable to the iMac and one to the dock, Ali sees no cables on his desk: a single screen with a wireless keyboard and mouse is a breath of fresh air and makes him feel calmer and more focused. — 00:15:14

  • ★★★ Ali recommends the new M1 iMac absolutely, without hesitation, unless you are a student on a budget who already has a MacBook. — 00:15:43 · MacBook

    “Yes, absolutely, without hesitation”

  • ★★ Ali finds it really nice to have a desktop separate from the laptop: the laptop for on the go, the desktop for focused work at home. — 00:15:43

In the description and comments

  • ★★ The iMac Ali reviews is the base model: 256 GB SSD, 8 GB RAM and the 8-core M1 chip with a 7-core GPU. — video description
  • ★ Ali Abdaal (channel): Asked which LUT the video uses, the channel answers that it has no colour grade. — creator comment
  • ★★ Ali Abdaal (channel): Asked whether Ali ran the native M1 World of Warcraft client rather than one under Rosetta, the channel confirms he did. — creator comment · World of Warcraft

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Apple M1 · Apple Magic Keyboard · iMac

Also: Projects: Part-Time YouTuber Academy

Organizations: Apple

Concepts: deep work (concept)

Products: Apple Magic Trackpad · CalDigit Thunderbolt Dock · Elgato Cam Link 4K · Geekbench · LG 49WL95C · Logitech MX Master · Mac mini · MacBook · Magic Mouse · Notion · Pro Display XDR · Razer Pro Click · Safari · Samsung T5 · Shure SM7B · Slack · Spotify · Touch ID · World of Warcraft · Zoom

Also centred on Apple M1: Perfection - M1 MacBook Air (2020) Review · My New Daily Driver - M1 Macbook Pro (2020) Review · Tough Choice - M1 Macbook Air vs Macbook Pro

Also centred on Apple Magic Keyboard: How I Type INSANELY Fast (160 WPM) - The Best Keyboards for Fast Typing

Also centred on iMac: My iMac Productivity Desk Setup

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