Remix clone Hacker News

My friend is buying one so his kids can Facetime with their grandparents.

I asked him why not get a $500 Mac Mini and a webcam to save half the cost, and he said he thought his wife would like the color.

Raccoon coats, I guess.

▲

propter_hoc an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The guy actually answers his own question quite effectively:

> It really only makes sense if you’re buying a computer for a reception desk or lobby area

That's the market. Reception desks.

▲

walterbell 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> TouchID is great, and it’s frustrating that Apple put it on the keyboard instead of the power button

Or the trackpad. TouchID works well on iPad Air power button.

▲

ogou 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Places that have a need for work stations, like offices and academic environments. Creative workers that have dedicated work areas and favor an uncluttered environment. It might not make as much sense for individual consumers, but I still see offices full of iMacs out in the world. Not every company wants to issue personal laptops for workers.

▲

Hamuko 2 hours ago | parent [-]

But the iMac is not a workstation. It's even less of a workstation that the Mac Mini, which is available with a faster processor, more RAM, bigger SSD and faster networking.

It's basically the lower-tier Mac Mini that's permanently attached to a (relatively small) monitor that cannot be repurposed, and you'd probably be better off getting a separate monitor for a Mini to allow upgrading those separately.

	▲	stoobs an hour ago \| parent \| next [-]
		It's not your definition of a workstation, but for many businesses/locations, it is. They're deployed by the hundreds, in one or two configurations, then are replaced after 3/5/7 years. They never get repurposed, they just get recycled/refurbished when they reach end of life or the value has been depreciated to zero.
	▲	brianjking an hour ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		This. Especially true with the Mac Studio being available too.

▲

LittleTimothy 2 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Such a silly framing for a review. The iMac is for someone who just wants a good simple desktop computer. Ah but what if you want customize? Don't. That's not what it's for. Sure, if you're a tech reviewer and you're all jazzed about HDR and mechanical keyboards then this product isn't for you. But then... your job as a tech reviewer is kind of to understand what different customers will want and "I just want a computer" I would say is literally the most obvious market.

Who is this for? Someone who wants a computer. Ah, but take away the people who want multi-monitor, take away the people who want mechanical keyboards, a bigger fancy monitor, and what are you left with? Still basically everyone!

And it's not like this is the only computer Apple makes. They have 1 basic hardware platform based on the M4, they give you the laptops for portability, the iMac as the basic desktop, the mini for if you want to do all the things that the iMac isn't configured for, and they have the Mac Pro to taunt professionals. It's an incredibly coherent product line up. No one is confused about which one they want.

Oh and by the way, it works really well for Apple too, because they are literally just taking the guts from their other products and sticking it in the same design desktop they've had for years. Do you really think that'll be improved by redesigning it and therefore charging 50% extra due to all the bespoke costs?

▲

RandomThoughts3 an hour ago | parent | next [-]

> Still basically everyone!

I will hasard that the amount of people who would like a desktop computer with no customisability whatsoever and wouldn't be better served by actually pluging a laptop to a monitor is basically zero.

And well, that's what the article is pointing. That and the uter irrelevance of the base model and how extremely marked up the actually useful model is, all par for the course with Apple.

	▲	LittleTimothy 2 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		I think you're massively over-estimating what the average consumer wants from their computer. I need a computer but you're saying I shouldn't buy a computer I should buy a laptop and then a separate monitor? Why!? What a weird thing to do. Call me crazy, but people will just buy a computer when they need a computer. I know, I know, we could get them a laptop and a fancy display and a mechanical keyboard and we could load Ubuntu onto it for them too while we're at it so that they aren't locked in to Apple's walled garden. That's just not what an average consumer is going to do, they're going to need a computer and buy one.

▲

wqaatwt 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> Still basically everyone!

Desktop is pretty niche these days. Most of those people would buy a laptop and it’s likely that a significant proportion of people buying desktop have specific needs

▲

Spooky23 2 hours ago | parent [-]

That’s the genius of the iMac. It’s a MacBook with a nice screen. They deliver the form factor while simultaneously taking advantage of the massive economies of scale brought by their laptops.

Because they ship so few models, Apples individual SKUs are typically #1 or #2 in a category despite smaller share. Dell sells 10x computers with 50x SKUs.

	▲	stephencanon 29 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Nah, Dell sells less than 2x as many computers as Apple does (40 million in 2023 vs 22 million for Apple).

▲

drclegg 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Imagine your job being a "tech reviewer" and not being able to fathom the clear (albeit comparatively small) market for a product like this