Thoughts on the M4 iMac and peace with the death of the 27-inch model

Memories of a former iMac person

Apple never stopped selling an entry-level iMac to fill the niche that the original Bondi Blue plastic version filled, but during the Intel era it gradually became Apple’s main workhorse desktop computer for creative professionals. This period spanned from the early 2010s (when Apple lost track of the Mac Pro) to the release of the last Intel iMac in mid-2020, and overlaps with the period when I used the iMac as my primary desktop (roughly 2011 to) . 2018).

These were the days when Intel’s CPU core count was steadily increasing, making a high-end iMac a realistic replacement for what would have been a two-socket desktop tower just a few years ago. The 27-inch 5K iMac pushed the boundaries of what was available in desktop monitors at the time. The GPUs, if not top-notch, were at least capable of mid-range gaming when booted into Windows via Boot Camp. It was one of Apple’s last desktops that still allowed users to upgrade their own RAM.

This era of the iMac even gave us the first and only iMac Pro in 2017 – Apple’s overture to those who felt neglected by the long dry spell of the Mac Pro (and, for that matter, the oldest Mac currently supported by macOS Sequoia).

And then came the era of Apple Silicon. The 24-inch M1 iMac was pretty, but it also didn’t suit my needs, with its smaller screen, limitation to just one external monitor, and inability to run Windows – a conscious return to what the iMac was once intended for Year 1999. Apple turned to the Mac Studio and increasingly the Mac mini to fill this enthusiast/power user desktop niche. The 27-inch iMac is dead – apparently for good, despite vague rumors that Apple has been testing larger Apple Silicon iMacs internally – and the iMac is once again the accessible, elegant Internet machine.