Not a soul in the universe is talking/complaining/crying about the iMac's design changing. It was certainly time, having had the same design since 2012 (the curved back, welded-shut revision). Or 2007 (the silver aluminum, black bezel) if you want to accurately mark when it changed from white plastic to silver aluminum.
But it looks pretty damn cool, IMO. It's a 24" iPad on a stick.
BTW, I do find it interesting that Apple chose to redesign the iMac when it went to the M1, but opted to leave the Mac mini, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro as is. Because of that, leading up to the Spring Forward event, I expected the first M1-based iMac to be the 21.5" model with the new guts. And then in the fall, or perhaps 2022, we'd start getting these redesigned, built-from-the-ground-up-around-the-Apple-Silicon Macs. Seeing a new design, new size, new power connector, etc. (along with the colors) was a genuine surprise, no doubt. I would've lost everything on that bet.
We're talking the hassle/need of colors here, and trickiness that surely introduces to the mix. That's it.
I think that silver 24" iMac with a black bezel (from that third party black bezel adhesive company
) looks great, and like the 2021 successor to the 2007 (or 2012, rather) iMac. I would've been completely happy had that been the new look. The white bezel is the only thing taking some getting used to, but it works much better on the colored models, for sure. I do kinda wish they'd left it black on the silver.
I personally have no problem with the appearance/design of the new iMac (see above). And I even like the colors, way more than I ever thought I would. But I don't think I'd drop $1,500+ to own one of the colored ones. And I wouldn't have greenlit that as a return to anything, no. But I'm just not into colors on stuff like this, so YMMV. I had my run/fun with that stuff 20 years ago; it's nothing I've felt "calling to me" since. That's all. I think it'll be interesting, six or so months from now, to get an idea about which of the colors are selling. I know Apple won't share that, but there will be someone, somewhere, tracking such a thing and it'll be known. I'm going to guess the blue, green and silver leading the pack. I'm betting the yellow, orange and pink don't exist a year from now. And the purple...is anyone's guess.
The "second half of May" is basically next week, so hopefully we start to get real-life pics, reviews, assessments, unboxings, impressions, etc. very soon. Any of you who live near an Apple Store, and have visited one in the past several days...do they have these new 24" iMacs sitting out as display/demo units yet?