Spoiler alert: It will be the fastest iMac ever.
https://www.macrumors.com/2021/03/19/imac-pro-officially-dis...
With a bezel less display you need somewhere to attach post-it notes.
Also, I'd imagine with this design the motherboard, cooling and speakers don't overlap the screen. I wouldn't be surprised if it's just much cheaper to manufacture them this way, or if since this is supposed to have a beefier sound system and an M1 configured to run hotter, there were other considerations with having screen and logic overlap that would've added thickness beyond just that of the stacked components.
At the end of the day Apple is one to choose thinness over all other things, and to leave room for future upgrades haha.
but seriously, the cooling system and speakers are built around it. Speakers in particular obey the laws of physics, so they either need to go behind it or under, and someone made that call.
Having to add a flaky USB hub to your desktop just to plug in your keyboard is actually ridiculous. It makes sense on a laptop, but these desktops have _a lot_ of surface area on which they could put a few USB-A ports.
EDIT: Though, Apple removing the USB-A ports from everything might be what the industry needs to push peripherals to use USB-C for everything? If that's the case, then that might be a win for everyone, except for people who buy these new iMacs.
Yes, most of the decent new ones charge via USB-C.
Before I stopped counting, I found 8 wireless keyboards using bluetooth, 9 wireless keyboards using a USB-A receiver, and 10 wired keyboards using a USB-A cable. It seems like USB-A is still alive and well in the peripheral ecosystem.
Here's a link to the search results page I used: https://www.komplett.no/category/10264/datautstyr/pc-tilbeho...
It's a website which is commonly used by gamers, so wired keyboards may be over-represented compared to the general population. But it clearly shows that actually, USB-A is still really commonly used in new peripherals sold today.
I think Apple (correctly) determined that these folks will tolerate whatever they put out, buy adapters to use their beloved special keyboard, etc. And for the ones who won't tolerate it: they're probably not buying Apple hardware anyway.
EDIT: Just to respond to the "gamers and people who code are in a different class" thing: I went to a different store which is more general, went through the most sold keyboards, and skipped all "gaming" keyboards (so everything from Razer, everything branded Logitech G, everything with RGB), and counted to 14 bluetooth keyboards and 19 keyboards which require USB-A (7 wired, 12 with the USB receiver dongle). People just use USB-A peripherals a whole lot. (Store URL: https://www.elkjop.no/INTERSHOP/web/WFS/store-elkjop-Site/no...)
I am surprised that most peripherals do still use USB-A to charge, and my argument did change to reflect that new information.
The only keyboards I counted as requiring USB-A are ones which are wired with a USB-A cable, and ones which are wireless but only have the ability to use an RF receiver dongle such as the logitech unifying receiver. Your mouse would be counted in the "Bluetooth" category.
A lot of USB-A to USB-C data cables sold on Amazon are still only USB 2.0 standard (480 mbps). Not all C to C cables can be used for high watt power delivery, etc. Some cables only charge. And then there's those USB-C and/or Thunderbolt docks whose video ports may or may not work depending on what your PC's capabilities are.
I think the creators of USB-C should have come up with some type of lettering or numbering system to reduce the confusion. At least there would be a chart that "normals" could refer to in terms of whether they're buying the right cable.
No. More. Frigging. Dongles. For anything - you can plug both modern USB-C docks AND keyboards and USB sticks easily. Crazy.
Under "Connections and Expansion" [1] https://www.apple.com/mac-mini/specs/
Plenty of devices don't benefit from an "improved version with USB C" and in a computer this size it shouldn't be a problem to include at least one
Most people are still on USB-A, especially those who are not tech savvy.
- 2x USB ports
- 2x Thunderbolt ports
- 1x HDMI
"Half a decade" is not that long considering that the external mic I purchased in 2020 for WFH requires USB-A.
Why on earth would I want to switch to newer models that require a dongle for everything?
As for USB-A, there are tons of peripherals still in existence out there. Maybe you're fucking loaded and you don't care about just buying everything USB-C, but that's definitely not the case for everyone. Suppose I have a nice USB-A optical mouse and mechanical keyboard that I like for example, or a really nice $200 audio interface. I guess I need to buy yet more dongles, or throw them away and replace everything with USB-C peripherals because some 20yo on HN says that USB-A is legacy. Thanks Apple. You definitely value user experience above all else.
The concern about dongles is so overblown. Let's take your examples each in turn.
>Suppose I have a nice USB-A optical mouse
You buy a USB-C to USB-A adapter and it lives on the mouse's USB-A connector, never being taken off, forever. And then... it's one piece. Are you taking the mouse with you? The dongle comes with it. You don't gotta think about it.
>mechanical keyboard
Same deal. Lots of keyboards even have USB-A ports on them -- which means you only need 1 dongle. One for the keyboard. That lives on the end of the USB-A connector. You have now converted your legacy USB-A device to USB-C and can forget about it forever, for the cost of $5 from Monoprice.
>a really nice $200 audio interface
If you really, for some reason just cannot stand to add a $5 add-on piece to get the latest gear from Apple, many of these devices have detactable cables. So, you can just.. buy a different cable. Let's take the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, which matches your use case at $200. A replacement cable from MonoPrice is... $5.29. And you can put away the old cable and just... have this one.
At the very, very worst case, you're talking about a $1200 machine and an additional cash outlay of approximately $15. For adapters which attach to the thing you want to use, forever, and don't have to be thought of again.
And somehow this is a travesty against the user? Worth of a scrap-and-redesign of the $1200+ machine?
No, it's not. It's a consumer-grade machine. And clearly aimed at that market.
I wrote about this further up in this thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26883718
It's too thin to support a standard RJ45 port in the back like previous Macs.
macOS has supported Thunderbolt Ethernet/USB-A dongles for years if you want to go that route instead of using the Ethernet built-in to the power adapter.
This is not helpful
Logic board and speakers have to go somewhere, they can either go behind the display and make things thicker or they can go in the chin bar area.
I was surprised they did that too - I expected a look that was more like the pro display. Other than that though I'm pretty impressed with the design, and it is quite thin. It looks like how I'd imagine a 'future' computer to look.
Besides being iconic: To make the 16:9 aspect ratio less apparent. There may also be thermal benefits from separating the logic board from the panel.
Even without the logo, it makes the design more recognizable as a iMac from the front. Apple doesn't want people to mistake it for a regular old monitor.
Especially when iMacs end up in movies and tv shows.
So I think they prioritized thinness, which meant there was not enough room for screen+board+ports stacked, and they had to offset them. It's probable that the whole SoC and board are in the chin, given how small they are in the MacBook Air/Pro:
https://www.ifixit.com/News/46884/m1-macbook-teardowns-somet...
It's really thin, so to fit the motherboard etc. Also to fit the six speaker sound system.
There are lots of legitimate complaints about the iMac, and indeed the entire Apple ecosystem nowadays, but this isn't one of them.
https://www.amazon.com/Syntech-Adapter-Thunderbolt-Compatibl...