I am in no way trying to be combative, but I'd love to hear a counterpoint that makes sense for these machines.
Spending ~$150-$300/year for them to have an easy to use & fast computer feels very worth it for me.
All that said - I would love for the machine to be upgradeable as well! Just explaining why it’s not a dealbreaker.
A few years later the m2pro/max's came out (i think technically in 14"). I picked one up and just handed my m1 down to family. Huge upgrade over their old intel air that had already lasted them like 10 years.
My main bitch is the soldered in storage. It's a shitty optimization that has to punish apple as much as it punishes users. To have a machine that I can't just go buy a harddrive and slot in when i want more storage or when the drive fails is a total fucking nightmare.
And for most people who dont want to open their computer, they’ll probably use these iMacs until their ancient, and replacing the whole thing makes more sense anyway
Because opening and upgrading computers is a 21st century thing and not a 20th century thing? I'd say it's the other way around!
And as someone who works with computers all day long, I never ever want to open one up unless I build one from scratch and want a personal project.
That said, the 24" iMac screen is not in the slightest bit compelling to me
I personally appreciate not having to do both at the same time, but at least for me it has reduced that particular criticism against all-in-ones.
I have plenty of space next to my desk for a mini-tower computer - something like a Micro ATX. Since trading it for an ultra small form factor that's the size of a paperback book, I wouldn't go back to the larger one. The smaller one is just less janky, and I sometimes remove the computer from the desk entirely to convert the room to another use. The smaller computer is easier to throw into a box.
Sure I could do all of this with the micro ATX, but since the upgradeability did nothing for me, I might as well take the smaller size.
They do make excellent laptops, but I absolutely loathe the suits and ties that run the place.
One of the reasons I don’t buy into Apple’s marketing gimmicks especially when it comes to the “carbon neutral” initiative.
> especially with a price premium attached. I just don't get it.
Apple is a public company. Investors expect them to churn out profit so stonk goes up. As long as users are trapped in their Apple ecosystem/wall, then they will keep buying. If the devices were open and upgradable then the company will not be able to charge a stupid high markup for RAM or storage.
If products were easily upgradable, consumers would buy the base model configurable SKUs then take their business to repair shop and get ram and storage upgraded at a fraction of the cost Apple would provide out the door.
> but I'd love to hear a counterpoint that makes sense for these machines.
There is no counterpoint. Most people (ie, not fanboys) would agree with you. There is absolutely zero reason for devices to not be upgradable or easily serviceable. You don’t become a trillion dollar company by playing nice with your users.
I can see why Apple does it.
Now the storage… nope, can’t see a reason for that except profit.