[chucker]

• up to 96GB of unified memory (up from 64)
• Wi-Fi 6E
• M2 Pro/Max: multithreaded CPU performance up 20%
• price unchanged at $2000 for the 14 and $2500 for the 16

[chucker]

Better HDMI:

Support for one display with up to 8K resolution at 60Hz or 4K resolution at 240Hz

Previously:

Support for one display with up to 4K resolution at 60Hz

[chucker]

Importantly, the MagSafe cables are now color-matched.

[Ryan]

That's a proper mobile workstation. AI/ML engineers are gonna snap these up immediately.

[turtle]

You know, I was going to get one until I realized I actually need a desktop, not a laptop. I want one, don't get me wrong. If my budget had the zeros at the end of it that Tim does I would buy one...

[PB PM]

Originally Posted by turtle You know, I was going to get one until I realized I actually need a desktop, not a laptop. I want one, don't get me wrong. If my budget had the zeros at the end of it that Tim does I would buy one...

Let’s be honest, if we had Tim’s pay we’d get one of each, just so there was a computer in every room.

[turtle]

So true

[PBMB]

I am still on Intel iMac from 2019. Certainly an impressive machine with its 5K display, quiet enough with the Core i5 at 3.7 GHz, but the Geekbench scores were a surprise. The new M2 MBPs have like 70-75% higher single-core scores ! Even more surprising is that the single-core score of my iPad mini 5 is at the same level as this iMac . Now I understand that this does not mean much under sustained load, but it explains the responsiveness of the little mini in simple, everyday tasks.

Now, if only my employer would agree to buy me one of the new M2 MBPs ... By the way, and since I have never used such a machine, does anyone has programming experience with the Neural Engine? There are 16-cores but for what exactly? I have seen vague references to ML but I don't have a clear picture of the possibilities.

[chucker]

Originally Posted by PBMB I am still on Intel iMac from 2019. Certainly an impressive machine with its 5K display, quiet enough with the Core i5 at 3.7 GHz, but the Geekbench scores were a surprise. The new M2 MBPs have like 70-75% higher single-core scores ! Even more surprising is that the single-core score of my iPad mini 5 is at the same level as this iMac .

Yeah, Skylake++++++ was a dark era of Intel. They did 10% year over year while Apple exceeded 20%. With Ice Lake, things changed, although Apple is still ahead in terms of efficiency. Something like the 24-inch iMac would still be less powerful (or noisier) with an Intel CPU.

[psmith2.0]

The neat thing about these M2 rollouts is that they made the still super powerful/capable M1-based models even cheaper as refurbs.

The original M1 14" (16GB RAM/512GB SSD) was $1,999 new, as we all know. It showed up last summer in the refurb section for $1,799, a great price for what it was. Sometime this past fall, I saw where they somehow got knocked down to $1,709, out of nowhere. Now with the release of the new M2-based models, the M1-based 14" (8-core CPU, 14-core GPU with the base 16/512 RAM/SSD) is now $1,539!

If I'm working this calculator right, that's $460 off what it would've cost new...just three weeks ago. Ain't nothing bad about that.

Refurb is all I look at/consider anymore. If you pay attention and time things right (and just aren't a complete spec-whore, top to bottom), you get a lot of Mac for a price of what they should cost to begin with in a sane world. Those M2-based Airs are great deals now as well. Mid-$1,600's for a 24/512 model (8-core CPU/8-core GPU). For $1,709, you get the 8/10 core config).

Lots of options out there now...M1, M2 (and all their variants/core configurations), across two model lines, three screen sizes and new vs. refurb. Almost anyone can find some sort of MacBook for their needs and budget.

[turtle]

Man I've missed you!

[psmith2.0]

Awww. Just been super busy, and also just kinda smelling the roses I guess. 2022 was an interesting year, on about a half-dozen fronts. Mostly good, with a few things I'd change/prefer different. I follow the Apple stuff a bit, but nothing like before. But it's neat to see them well into the second-generation of the M-stuff. Rolling right along, as we'd all hoped.

Still no AS-based pro tower, I see. They missed that call a bit! I can only imagine what goofy thing they'll trot out for $7,999 in the coming months(?).

Kinda wondering what the iMac story is, as everything else (minus the Mac Pro, of course) has been through two generations now of Apple Silicon, and the 24" M1 iMac will be two years old in April. I assume it'll get some sort of update this year. You can tell which Macs are selling and where they choose to put their time/resources...the notebooks! The once-mighty, company defining/representing iMac has slid from its lofty perch over the years. huh? Kinda makes me sad, having always been a big iMac kinda guy, having owned/loved the three distinct, major designs of each since 2000: the colorful see-thru jellybean, the chrome arm G4 and the "flat screen on a curved aluminum leg" variations.

[chucker]

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 The neat thing about these M2 rollouts is that they made the still super powerful/capable M1-based models even cheaper as refurbs. The original M1 14" (16GB RAM/512GB SSD) was $1,999 new, as we all know. It showed up last summer in the refurb section for $1,799, a great price for what it was. Sometime this past fall, I saw where they somehow got knocked down to $1,709, out of nowhere. Now with the release of the new M2-based models, the M1-based 14" (8-core CPU, 14-core GPU with the base 16/512 RAM/SSD) is now $1,539! If I'm working this calculator right, that's $460 off what it would've cost new...just three weeks ago. Ain't nothing bad about that.

And it's a damn fine Mac. I'm typing this on that thing (well, with more cores, RAM, and SSD)!

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 You can tell which Macs are selling and where they choose to put their time/resources...the notebooks!

Yeah. I wish we'd have some more predictability like with the iPhone (there's a new iPhone every fall, and a new iPhone SE every few years in spring), but… it kind of is that simple: they update what they can update, prioritized by for what models it makes the most sense. That could mean that the 2021 iMac isn't the hit they were hoping it might be, or that they looked at their priorities, and said, "y'know, we can skip the M2 generation on this one and it'll be fine".

[psmith2.0]

There was an article at MacRumors a few months back about that very thing, about how the iMac would indeed go to the M3. If so, that's something that may not be out until toward the end of this year, making the iMac two-and-a-half years between updates. Not unheard of (that original Mac mini went about 118 years before it got updated), but I'd have a hard time shelling out top dollar ($1,699, to get the 16GB RAM, which is the minimum I'd ever go for at this point). Even the 16/256 refurbs are $1,439.

Fine machines, but I'm sure they'll be getting an M-something else before 2023 is over. They might tweak the colors too. I think that's a pretty gaudy array, and the novelty has worn off after nearly two years (for me, anyway). The original jellybeans started out bright and vibrant, then settled down a bit. I still think that's a lot of manufacturing/shipping/stocking hassle, doing all those colors. I could see them taking a cue from the notebooks (the Airs, especially) and going with Silver, Space Grey, Midnight and Starlight. But those might look weird with the white bezel (which I think should be changed back to black anyway).

[chucker]

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 But those might look weird with the white bezel (which I think should be changed back to black anyway).

Yeah, I've also never liked white-bezeled iPhones (like the white iPhone 4, say). The bezel needs to disappear into the distance.

I was… fairly close, mid-2021, to getting that iMac, probably in teal (which apparently someone drunk at Apple calls "green" ), except for the max RAM…

[psmith2.0]

If Apple made the 24" iMac bezel black and swapped out the current rainbow colors for the four M2 MacBook Air ones, even in one solid shade (vs. the two-tone look of the current iMacs), I think that could be a very handsome computer. Too tired to mock it up, but it's easy to imagine.

Then again, they could simplify their lives greatly by just making it in silver with a black bezel. I seem to recall that look going over nicely for well over a decade... I don't think anyone would mind that one bit. Hell, offer Space Grey too. Why not.

Something about that white bezel, combined with those colors, puts it in Fisher-Price territory for me. And it stands out weirdly from the entire lineup, as a) nothing else has such bright, vivid colors and b) white bezels. It almost looks like a "here's a future ~2020 iMac concept!" prototype from 22 years ago (when iMacs did have bright colors/white around the displays) vs. something comfortably sitting in the 2021-2023 Apple lineup.

I, naively, assumed that any new MacBook Air redesign coming in 2022 would've taken on those design cues, but it didn't. The Airs look every bit as sedate and "professional" as the actual MacBook Pro line. So now that 24" M1 iMac is just an odd mismatch that doesn't look like it belongs with all the other Macs Apple offers. But that's just my opinion.

I liked the new 24" iMac look for about five-and-a-half days way back in April 2021, then kinda came back to my senses after a week.

[chucker]

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 Then again, they could simplify their lives greatly by just making it in silver with a black bezel. I seem to recall that look going over nicely for well over a decade... I don't think anyone would mind that one bit. Hell, offer Space Grey too. Why not.

Beige sheet metal also went over nice for a decade. "It's fine" isn't really Apple's ethos in product design, or so I thought.

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 nothing else has such bright, vivid colors

Yeah, and I can see the second revision having more muted colors, like the 2020 iPad Air.

The MacBook Air is honestly a bit of a disappointment for me in that disregard. Midnight does look good; a colleague got one. But it's hard to square Apple's "the iMac has so many colors! It's great!" messaging with "…oh, but pay no attention to us not doing that for any other product now". I realize SKUs are tricky and the MBA has way higher volume than the iMac, but I wish their coloring were more consistent.

[kieran]

I was holding out for the M2 Air strictly because I thought it would get some of the same colors that the iMac has.

Of course, it didn't, and I went with the midnight M2 Air, which is still a great looking computer, but definitely not as fun as my orange iMac.

[psmith2.0]

Yeah, some of the things they do are odd/funny. Every time you think "ah, I see where they're going...", they zag. I was surprised to see redesigned Airs not looking like little brothers of the iMac, the way things were back in the jellybean iMac/toilet seat iBook days (such fun, innocent times...we had blue, orange, green, pink, etc. see-through computers!! ).

But nope.

At this point, the iMac stands apart both in its appearance and guts/specs from all the others, so I figure something has to be on the way in the coming months. But other than a processor upgrade (M2 or ?), I have no idea what to expect anymore.

[chucker]

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 Yeah, some of the things they do are odd/funny. Every time you think "ah, I see where they're going...", they zag. I was surprised to see redesigned Airs not looking like little brothers of the iMac, the way things were back in the jellybean iMac/toilet seat iBook days (such fun, innocent times...we had blue, orange, green, pink, etc. see-through computers!! ).

Exactly. It's puzzling.

Like… let's say SKUs/volume is the problem. In that case, why not do a minor update to the iMac that, I dunno, removes Purple and Red but adds Midnight and Starlight. So you have Blue, "Green" (really, teal), Yellow, Orange, Silver, Midnight, Starlight. That's still a lot of colors. Then, the same day, introduce the M2 MacBook Air is introduced with Midnight, Starlight, Silver, and ONE FUN COLOR. Pick any one of them. OK, how about Blue?

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 At this point, the iMac stands apart both in its appearance and guts/specs from all the others, so I figure something has to be on the way in the coming months. But other than a processor upgrade (M2 or ?), I have no idea what to expect anymore.

I don't see them changing the design this quickly. They might indeed reduce or change up the color options. The iMac got the M1 six months after the Air, so going on that alone, an M2 iMac would've been out by December. I think they'll just skip that generation and give us an M3 iMac later this year or early next year.

(But, due to the pandemic, Apple's schedules have been extra-weird.)

[psmith2.0]

Re: iMac redesign: oh, definitely. They'll keep this overall design for some time, I'm betting. Can't really get any thinner or stripped-down. But, yeah...they can certainly change up the color offerings or change the bezel color, etc. Those are just cosmetic tweaks. I love the 24" iMac's look/design overall, just not bonkers about the colors beyond the silver.

The more I think about it, just that silver model with the black bezel would look nice next to a 21.5" Intel iMac from a couple of years ago, just to show that evolution.

If they weren't skittish about all the SKUs and logistics of it all, they could even split the line in half? Offer three "fun" colors (they have data on which ones are strong sellers) with the white bezel...bright, colorful and a nice nod to the original jellybean models. And then offer three "serious" models in silver, Space Grey and, say, Midnight, with a black bezel. Kinda harkens back to when they rolled out a graphite iMac DV as an alternative to the five fruit flavors. I'd be cool with that. Satisfies both sides of the aisle. They also did something similar years ago, offering that black plastic MacBook for about 27 minutes as an alternative to the white model. So there's precedent, offering the same model line in two distinct "vibes"/looks. I also think they sold those crazy "pattern" iMacs (Flower Power and Blue Dalmatian) alongside Graphite and Indigo models, knowing not everyone would dig the patterns. 2023 24" iMac M2 (or ??): - Blue, Orange or Green, with a white bezel...even tweak the colors a bit for a change after two years...more vibrant (evoking Blueberry, Tangerine and Lime) or go the other direction and be more Indigo, Ruby and Sage. Still colorful and "fun", either way. alongide - Silver, Space Grey or Midnight, with a black bezel Take your pic...six total to choose from, three fun colors/three serious hues. The marketing opportunities alone write themselves. Same specs, performance, pricing, features, etc. Just two distinct looks? It's no more complex or "too much" than they're currently doing. Personal preferences aside, there's just no way some of those colors are strong sellers; whittle it down to the strongest 2-3, tweak them a bit for 2023, and there you go.

[chucker]

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 If they weren't skittish about all the SKUs and logistics of it all, they could even split the line in half? Offer three "fun" colors (they have data on which ones are strong sellers) with the white bezel...bright, colorful and a nice nod to the original jellybean models. And then offer three "serious" models in silver, Space Grey and, say, Midnight, with a black bezel.

I thought they were going for that with the Mac mini (light silver for consumers, dark silver for pros) and then, with the M2 Pro… no. It's all back to light.

But, they might yet do that if they bring back a bigger iMac. Or an iMac with M2 Pro.

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 I also think they sold those crazy "pattern" iMacs (Flower Power and Blue Dalmatian) alongside Graphite and Indigo models, knowing not everyone would dig the patterns.

I'm still stunned those patterns got signed off on at all.

Originally Posted by psmith2.0 Personal preferences aside, there's just no way some of those colors are strong sellers; whittle it down to the strongest 2-3, tweak them a bit for 2023, and there you go.

Well, yellow, orange, and purple are already only available on the pricier models, so they either think those will sell less, or they cost more to produce, or be seen as more premium, or a combination of those.

[psmith2.0]

I gave them the direction, over a year ago (see link a few posts above). They just never listened. All they gotta do is call me, man. I can make all this stuff really straightforward/sensible!

[chucker]

Mr. Cook, I have Paul on line one… again…

[psmith2.0]

Exactly.

"Tim, what's your problem?!"

[Matsu]

What if Apple started doing their own branded covers/skins?

Something like these from Incase, but more "Apple-y"

Like some impossibly thin material, laser cut around the logo, ports, bevels, edges, etc... so it looks almost like a glued-on skin? Or even a series of actual adhesive skins at a lower cost. There are some pretty amazing films with all sorts of properties/textures, some printable. Could even be an in-store service, where you upload your design, bring in your laptop, and they print it off and apply it. Or, an end-user service, where they mail it out to you and you apply it yourself. You change it as many times as you like. So, maybe not covers, just an Apple take on decals?

[turtle]

Being realistic, they would be undercut and beaten to market. The only ones who would actually buy the Apple branded ones are those who didn't spend two seconds on Amazon looking for the same thing under a different brand.

[chucker]

Originally Posted by turtle Being realistic, they would be undercut and beaten to market. The only ones who would actually buy the Apple branded ones are those who didn't spend two seconds on Amazon looking for the same thing under a different brand.

But that's also true of iPhone cases and isn't stopping them. Or Apple Watch bands.

I'm just not sure the volume is there with laptop covers.

[psmith2.0]

I just don't know if colors truly matter on computers. I mean, they exist. But would anyone truly wig or despair if they didn't? The whole 24" iMac thing did feel like "going back". I never would've expected such vivid hues. Each of those have a more earthy, pastel variant that I could've more easily imagined in 2021-and-beyond. It's kinda jarring, honestly.

But even those will eventually play out and look dated on such a large, pricey product.

Phones, out and about in the world and needing protection, lend themselves to the case/cover market.

But I just think if Apple sold the iMac in silver and space grey, 99.2% of the planet would be totally cool with that. As "forward" and "cutting edge" of a company as they present themselves, how can that be so going two-plus years between updates when color trends change much quicker? They already look dated, which is the problem with colors baked in to the device. Every color, on something like this, will eventually look dated or passé or "of a particular year"/cycle, so bypassing it altogether seems to be the easiest way to avoid all that.

I just think of how much Apple could simply their manufacturing/logistical lives by not doing some of the things they do, and then going years and years between refreshes, which seems to negate the whole reason for doing them to start with. I'd never spend money on a skin/cover to "add color" to a computer. But I'm older now than I used to be and I don't believe a lot of things I once did, so that's probably a huge part of it.

[Matsu]

Color comes and goes. We think of Apple having in a way established “white” in home electronics, but it was there in home appliances before then, and before that there were colors too, which many of us who are old enough can identify by decade, who can forget the mustard, brown and avocado hues of moms old kitchen…? Silver/metal, glass, and black have been a part of the electronics aesthetic for a long time too..:

I tend to like the option of having home electronics available in white (Sonos) …