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Apple iMac M4: 3 reasons to buy and 2 reasons to skip

Sakege November 9, 2024

There’s a new iMac in stores now with cutting-edge technology Apple M4 Chipand I think it’s a great machine for Mac fans in the all-in-one PC market.

How will you read in my Apple iMac M4 reviewThis year’s iMac looks an awful lot like its predecessors, but there are some worthwhile upgrades, including an upgrade to the M4 chip under the hood, an improved 12MP camera for video calling, and an optional $200 anti-glare screen coating.

It’s enough to seem like a compelling upgrade for current Mac owners, especially people looking to move on from the old version. Mac M1.

After reviewing the iMac M4 and putting it through its paces, I think there are some good reasons to buy one yourself. However, there are also some good reasons to pass on this colorful new iMac, which is one of the best all in one on the market right now, even if it may not be the best for your specific needs.

Apple iMac M4: Reasons to buy

I like the iMac M4 and think it really shines as a PC used by multiple people in the house; here’s why.

Magnificent 24-inch screen

Apple iMac M4 review unit on desk

The iMac M4’s 24-inch 4.5K Retina display looks great even at a wide angle, meaning friends and family can crowd around the screen with ease. (Image credit: future)

I’ve defended the value of the iMac as a family PC for years because the screen is remarkably good for an all-in-one at this price and offers good brightness and color reproduction with excellent viewing angles.

If you just need a desktop Mac for your home office, it’s great to have this beautiful 24-inch 4.5K display tucked away in a convenient corner because it looks great and packs a pretty capable Mac inside.

But I think the iMac really shines when you place it in a place where everyone in the house can access it, like the living room or study. This is because the screen has nice wide viewing angles that ensure excellent image quality even when you’re sitting quite far to the side. If you regularly like to stream TV shows or watch YouTube videos with others, this all-in-one excels at that.

And the optional $200 nano-textured glass coating that’s new on the iMac M4 actually strengthens this value, because it really makes a difference if you place the iMac M4 near a window or other bright, direct light source. I think the nano-textured glass coating makes a bigger difference on the latest MacBooks, since they are used more frequently in sunlight to begin with, and they had more reflective screens than the iMac to begin with. But nano-textured glass is also a good option to have on this desk.

It’s a little less nice that the coating isn’t available on the base $1,299 iMac M4. In reality, you need to spend at least $400 extra ($1,499 iMac M4 upgrade + $200 nanotexture upgrade), which means if you want an iMac M4 with nanotexture glass, it costs $1,699 to start.

Amazing speakers (for an all-in-one)

Apple iMac M4 review unit on desk playing Twin Peaks

(Image credit: future)

Another big reason this iMac M4 is surprisingly good as a family PC isn’t immediately obvious: a 6-speaker integrated sound system with force-canceling woofers.

I’m not an audiophile so I can’t speak to the quality of said woofers, but what I can say is that music, movies and TV shows sound better on the iMac M4 than on any other all-in-one PC out there. acquaintance. never tried.

The sound quality increases a little when you listen to something with Dolby Atmos or Apple’s Spatial Audio technology, because the iMac M4 does a decent job of making audio sound like it’s coming from around you instead of in front of you.

It is not a substitute for a good pair of headphones and the best computer speakers It may give you better sound quality, but out of the box, this iMac sounds remarkably good, further cementing its place as the best Mac for the family room.

Fast performance

Apple iMac M4 review unit on desk

(Image credit: future)

Last but not least, the iMac M4 is a great buy if you want a sleek and slim all-in-one that’s more than fast enough for basic homework and tasks.

I know this because we put every PC we review through our test lab, where our team of experts put each machine through a battery of tests to see how well it performs.

And in the Geekbench 6 CPU benchmark test, which puts the system through a series of tests designed to evaluate and rate how well the chip performs in single-core and multi-core workloads, the iMac M4 performed remarkably well.

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iMac M4 performance tests
Row 0 – Cell 0	iMac M4	Mac M3	Mac M1
Geekbench 6 (single core)	3,646	2,235	1,739
Geekbench 6 (multicore)	14,724	10,745	7,684
Handbrake (minutes:seconds)	5:03	6:46	13:38

As you can see in the graph of our results, the M4 chip helps the iMac 2024 outperform its predecessors in single-core and multi-core workloads. That means you can count on pretty good performance when launching and running demanding applications, and you can count on this machine to feel fast and modern for years to come.

The M4 chip also has enough power to handle the kind of light video and audio editing you might do on a family PC, such as editing home movies or editing podcasts. As you can see in our Handbrake video editing test, which multiplies the time it takes the PC to transcode a 4K video file to 1080p using Handbrake, the iMac M4 is significantly faster at light video editing than the iMac M3 or M1.

Additionally, the fact that the M4 chip shares a common lineage with the A-series chips in Apple iPhones means you can download and run apps from the Apple App Store directly on the iMac M4.

So if fast performance and access to your iPhone and iPad apps on your PC are important to you, the iMac M4 is a great buy.

Apple iMac M4: reasons to skip it

As much as I like the iMac M4, there are some key weaknesses you should be aware of that could deter you from purchasing one.

Poor gaming performance

Apple iMac M4 review unit on desktop with Baldur's Gate 3

You can play a modern game like Baldur’s Gate 3 on the iMac M4 with a decent frame rate, but the game won’t look its best. (Image credit: future)

The M4 chip inside the iMac 2024 makes it the best gaming iMac yet, but I have to say that I was more disappointed than impressed by the desktop gaming performance.

To be clear, you can have a lot of fun gaming on this PC. Apple supports Mac gaming with a level of expertise and fervor it hasn’t seen in decades, so you can count on good performance from Apple Silicon-optimized games like Death Stranding, Disco Elysium, Lies of P, and Resident Evil 4.

And of course you can play hundreds of old games on Steam very good, as well as all the games offered in the Apple App Store.

But playing mobile games on the iMac, which doesn’t offer a touchscreen, is awkward at best and painful at worst with a mouse and keyboard. And although games like Baldur’s Gate 3 and No Man’s Sky run at a decent frame rate on the iMac M4 (30+ FPS), more often than not I found that when I looked into the settings menus, those good frame rates They were achieved by running the game. at a significantly lower resolution than the screen’s native 4.5K.

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1080p gaming tests in frames per second
Row 0 – Cell 0	iMac M4	Mac M3	Mac M1
Civilization VI: Gathering Storm	49.6	35.9	28.7
The shadow of the Tomb Raider	39	34	DNR
Borderlands 3	23.6	21.4	DNR
Total War: Warhammer 3	22.9	20	DNR

As you can see from our gaming test results chart, the iMac M4 struggles to run even a five-year-old game like Borderlands 3 at 30 FPS in 1080p. That’s great for a Mac, but not for someone who likes to play Borderlands 3.

So if you want your all-in-one to be able to play modern games with decent frame rates and resolution, I recommend looking for a Windows machine, ideally with an integrated discrete graphics card. They are rare, but not impossible to find: the HP Envy 34 It is a great alternative, for example.

Not very adjustable or ergonomic.

Apple iMac M4 review unit on desk, rear camera

The iMac M4 has some nice design touches, such as a cutout in the stand to feed the power cable through, but it could use a more ergonomic and adjustable design. (Image credit: future)

I really like many elements of the iMac’s design. It’s amazing that you can get such a powerful Mac in such a slim, stylish package, and the bright colors and small footprint make it easy to fit into living rooms, bedrooms, and home offices.

But one thing that has been driving me crazy for years is the complete lack of height adjustment on this PC. Apple gives you some room to adjust the screen for your comfort by allowing you to tilt it back and forth a bit, but there’s no ability to rotate the screen from side to side or raise and lower it.

Maybe that’s not a big deal for most people, but for a tall person like me, it makes using the iMac physically painful unless you prop it up on books (uncomfortable) or buy the iMac M4 with VESA mounting adapter instead.

And frankly, I recommend you go for the VESA-mounted option or the version that comes with a stand if you’re particularly tall, short, or atypically sized. If I were buying an iMac for my home, I would almost certainly buy one without a stand because mounting it takes advantage of the iMac M4’s strengths (lots of power in a slim, attractive display) and makes it more accessible and convenient. to use.

But really, if Apple cared about customer health and happiness, it would design an iMac with an adjustable and removable stand so you wouldn’t have to choose between one or the other. Most Windows all-in-ones achieve this, so it’s disappointing that the iMac can’t do it.

Apple iMac M4: Outlook

Hopefully now you have a better idea of why I think the iMac M4 is one of the best computers you can buy for the home and why it’s a great buy for those looking to upgrade their iMac M1.

The iMac has always been a slim and attractive all-in-one, but Apple’s latest silicon gives it enough power to compete with desktop PCs that weigh three times as much. The great speakers and excellent 12MP webcam are also great for use at home or during remote learning, making it one of the best options. best computers for students to boot.

But I really don’t like how limited the support is, and while you can play most of the best Mac games at decent frame rates on this all-in-one, you won’t be impressed with the gaming performance.

If these are deal breakers for you, I recommend looking for another PC that suits your needs, or you can try purchasing one of the best mini pc and tie it to a monitor to build your own. My colleague Anthony Spadafora did exactly that last year and you can read how made your own all in one computer to see how you did for yourself.

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Apple iMac M4: 3 reasons to buy and 2 reasons to skip

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Apple iMac M4: 3 reasons to buy and 2 reasons to skip

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