I’m an iMac guy. Sure, I’ve had the odd detour. Once, I even convinced myself that I absolutely needed a gigantic metal tower with four hard drives all humming away inside, making WHOOOMM WHOMMMMMMMM vibrations that emanated through the entire house, as if it was paying host to an evil TARDIS. But I always loved the iMac, even when I didn’t own one myself. And now I have owned various models for years, I’m loath to give up the iMac’s mix of convenience, elegance and all-in-one-desktopience.
This puts me in a minority. Macs are a minority of Apple’s sales – albeit a minority that still makes the company billions every year. Desktops are a minority of that minority. And iMacs are a minority of that minority of that minority. Or something. [Stop writing ‘minority’ or a non-minority of the editorial team will start throwing Apple Bandai Pippins at your head – Ed.] But I really was smitten with the original Bondi Blue number. I also remain convinced that the Pixar-like G4 iMac was the best Mac Apple ever designed – a rare piece of hardware with an actual personality. And while the iMac’s subsequent initial ‘years of chin’ were decidedly less sleek, the iMac’s in a better place today.
But where will it be tomorrow? I’ve been holding off buying a new iMac for some time. Mostly, that’s because my M1 iMac surpassed all reasonable expectations in terms of longevity. Sure, Photoshop now often brings the thing to its knees, but that’s on Adobe, not Apple. For pretty much everything else, my purple iMac (yes, purple is the correct choice of colour) soldiers on, barely grumbling. (Unlike, say, its owner.) That’s not to say it’s perfect, though. (Much like, say, its owner.) So here’s what I’d like to see in its successor, the upcoming Apple iMac M6.
Mac it up
A superior stand: Apple designers appear to think it’s pretty neat to have a screen that tilts on a hinge. Having bought a clampy portable monitor stand to play retro games in TATE mode, I’d suggest a little more G4 iMac flexibility (Rotating! Moving up-and-downing!) would be better.
No chin: Not because I don’t like the chin. Apple bravely removed the logo long ago, leaving a subtle strip of colour. It looks good. But if I get that spinny display, the chin’s going to look strange in portrait.
A 120Hz display: Because all other 120Hz screens have ruined me for 60Hz ones, the latter now feeling juddery and old. Natch, this is Apple’s fault for making iPhone, iPad Pro and MacBook Pro screens increasingly lovely.
More connectivity: This one’s possibly a me problem, but I have four cables plugged into my iMac’s four ports – and two of those lead to docks. I’m not suggesting the iMac M6 have eight ports (although, if anyone at Apple’s listening, I wouldn’t say no) – just enough to match the M chip’s new number.
Silence: I mean this in the sense of fans, which barely spin up on my current iMac, remaining blissfully off almost all of the time. This means I can, without distraction, quietly contemplate life, the universe and everything while desperately thinking of an idea for a weekend column.
At least three of the above wants are wishful thinking. Even the last might be a stretch, since even modern Mac minis never entirely pipe down when the unit is ostensibly idling.
So what will we get? Almost certainly an identical iMac to what’s available today, in almost every way, but with a chip upgrade. Oh, and no purple option, just to spite me. But, yeah, I’m still going to buy one.
