Apple’s new 24” iMac is definitely a hit, with it’s brand new design, the incredible
M1 chip, the beautiful 4.5K display and the surprisingly thin and light chassis, but now
that we’ve spent a good amount of time with it, we’ve actually found 5 issues that we
didn’t really expect when Apple first revealed the new iMac at their Spring Loaded event.
In fact, there’s one very important thing that Apple kept secret until iFixit finally
opened it up and revealed what Apple honestly should’ve just told us before we ordered
it, but before I get into that issue, let’s start with the first one, which is the display
size.
We already knew for many years that the 21.5” iMac display was super small and definitely
not meant for tech enthusiasts or anyone trying to do productivity work like video editing,
photo editing or even simple multitasking.
So because of that, many people went for the 27” display because of that crazy 5K resolution
and of course, the large display size, and we’re actually currently using two of these
27” iMacs because the display’s are just so sharp and large, perfect for editing our
youtube videos.
So naturally, when Apple announced the new 24” iMac, we thought it wouldn’t be THAT
much smaller than the 27”, but now that we’ve got it in our office, the display
IS TINY!!!
It’s seriously so small compared to the 27” that it actually really bugs me. And
you can definitely see that huge difference in our speaker test from our last comparison
video which you should check out if you haven’t already.
Now part of the reason might be because in Apple’s fine print, they show that the display
is not actually 24 inches, it’s 23.5 inches, so it makes it even smaller than what all
of their advertising made it seem like, which is a bit disappointing because that half an
inch can definitely make a difference.
To be completely honest, we were thinking of replacing my iMac Pro with the new 24”
iMac since the M1 chip is so reliable and efficient, and not that much slower for editing
the footage that we edit on a daily basis.
But once I saw the display size in real life, I decided that there’s no way I’m switching
to the 24”, and we’re gonna be waiting until later this year for the larger 30”
model.
But Angelika, our editor, is actually gonna be testing out the 24” to see how the editing
experience really is, and she’s gonna let us know if it’s too small or just fine for
her, so if you’re not already subscribed, do so right now to help us reach our goal
of 1 million subs before the end of this year!
Now moving onto the 2nd issue that we didn’t expect to find on the 24” iMac, was the
webcam quality.
Apple said that the webcam on the 24” iMac is the best in any Mac EVER, which basically
makes it better than the 1080P webcam on the iMac Pro.. but in our experience.. It’s
not always that great.
In the recent iMac comparison video that we made, we did a webcam and microphone test,
and while the 24” iMac looks better than the regular 27” iMac’s webcam, the iMac
Pro actually looks the best in the situation, with the 24” iMac looking way oversharpened,
kinda like they cranked the HDR effect to the max.
So here’s another FaceTime clip I took with the 24” iMac’s webcam in a much more natural
and common lighting scenario.
So as you guys just saw, the webcam is pretty good, but there’s something with the software
tweaking that is just ruining the image quality.
On the plus side, this is something that Apple can address in the future with a software
update, but it’s just a little bit disappointing that everyone who already bought one has to
wait and hope that the webcam is gonna get fixed.
But at least, as you guys heard from that clip, the microphone quality is absolutely
incredible, so I’ve gotta give props to Apple for that!
Now getting into the 3rd issue, this is one that REALLY annoys me about Apple’s marketing,
specifically the part of their presentation where they said that the 24” iMac has the
BEST speakers out of any Mac ever.
On their spec sheet, they show off that the speaker system uses six speakers, which means
that it should have two tweeters for high-frequency sound, two mid-range speakers for the mids,
and two force-cancelling subwoofers for the bass.
On top of that, if you look at iFixit’s recent teardown, you’ll see what looks to
be two very large metal plates built into the 24” iMac, and upon closer inspection,
you’ll notice that those plates actually kind of point to the speakers on each side.
And looking at it from another angle, it’s clear that the speakers do actually port directly
into those metal enclosures, which is a method used in the audio world to amplify the volume
and bass of the speakers.
And if you look at the previous iMac teardowns, they include those same speaker enclosures,
which obviously were much thicker than the new ones on the 24” iMac.
But anyway, the point that I’m trying to make is that Apple marketed the new speakers
to sound like they’re way better than any Mac speakers ever made, but now that we’ve
had a chance to listen to them, that’s simply not true, just hear it for yourself.
As you’ve just heard, the volume on the 24” iMac is incredibly underwhelming, especially
compared to the iMac Pro.
Now I will admit that the sound quality is pretty good, especially with the vocals, but
the bass is seriously lacking on the 24”, even compared to the regular 27” iMac which
isn’t as good as the iMac Pro.
So in my opinion, the speakers on the new iMac are DEFINITELY not the best, and I would
100% take the iMac Pro speakers over the new ones time and time again.
And in my experience with the 24” iMac so far.. I noticed that I was trying to turn
the volume on the speakers higher even though they were already maxed out, which is something
that ALWAYS happens with Windows laptops because their speakers are always way too quiet..
and that’s something that shouldn’t be happening on an iMac, especially after Apple
said it packs the BEST speakers on any Mac.
But while I’m disappointed with them, they’re still great quality speakers that a lot of
people are gonna be very happy with, I just wish they had a little bit more volume.
Now getting into the 4th issue, this is actually the thing that Apple chose to keep secret..
A couple of days after everyone started receiving their 24” iMacs, Luke Miana mentioned on
twitter that the base model only has one cooling fan compared to 2 on the more expensive models.
This makes no sense at all, because Apple showed off two fans in their 24” iMac marketing
videos. They literally kept it a secret from everyone, even after people put in their orders.
But wait.. It gets even worse..
Brian Tong replied to Luke and mentioned that the more expensive models not only get two
fans, but they actually get a dedicated heat pipe design, which is obviously superior in
terms of cooling performance.
This literally changes everything for someone who was struggling to choose between the base
$1300 model and the $1500 model, because what if the more expensive 24” iMac actually
ends up performing much better thanks to the dual fan and heat pipe cooling system?
Well, we decided to answer that question by going out and picking up a base model $1300
iMac, and we’re gonna be doing a VERY detailed performance comparison between that model
and our current blue model to see if there’s actually any difference, so subscribe right
now so you don’t miss out on that!
Now let’s finally finish off the 5th issue, which isn’t that big of a deal, but I definitely
wasn’t expecting it.
In Apple’s promotional videos of the 24” iMac, the colors seem to be more on the subtle
side, especially the front, but now that we’ve got it in our office, the blue color for some
reason looks more bold compared to what the marketing videos showed.
Maybe it’s just the fact that Apple used renders or studio lighting, but in our office,
the colors look quite a bit darker than expected, and because of that, we honestly wish we just
ordered the silver instead which looks incredibly clean.
And thankfully, we did pick up the silver $1300 base model so we could test out the
single fan performance, and we’re probably gonna keep that one and return the blue one,
because the silver just looks so good!
So if you’re someone who prefers more neutral or subtle colors, you really can’t go wrong
with the silver, and it definitely makes it feel more like an iMac compared to the other
color options.
There you guys go, those were the top 5 issues with the 24” iMac that we didn’t expect!
IF you disagree with any of them, comment your thoughts down below, but if you enjoyed
the video, click that circle above to subscribe so you don’t miss that base vs high-end
iMac comparison video. Thanks for watching, and we’ll see you in the next one!