Remix clone Hacker News

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 3 hours 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 hours ago | parent | next [-]

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.

▲

RandomThoughts3 an hour ago | parent | next [-]

> Why?

Because you then also have a laptop for the same price and as a bonus you can upgrade the monitore and computer separately.

It's so obvious I don't understand what you are missing there. Why do you think the market for desktop literaly cratered outside of the gaming segment?

I don't understand your rambling about mechanical keyboards and Ubuntu. You can simply buy a Macbook Pro (or god forbid a Mac mini) and an Apple screen for a cost which is roughly equivalent to this iMac and a net gain of functionality.

Average consumers stopped buying desktop two decades ago by the way.

	▲	dagmx an hour ago \| parent [-]
		I think you’re the one missing the “obvious” part as you call it. The other person even spelled it out. The market for these doesn’t care about any of the stuff you mentioned. It’s really that simple. They don’t care about the portability because they have their phone or tablet. They don’t care about upgrading because they’ll keep their device for a decade+, or they don’t own it themselves. They don’t want to buy a separate computer and display because they don’t want that hassle. The desktop market has cratered, sure, but that’s largely because the less complex devices have won out. This is one such device. Try stepping outside of your own shoes before you start telling other people they’re missing obvious things.

▲

EricE an hour ago | parent | prev [-]

No kidding. I got my mom to buy a laptop and external display since it wasn't much more than a mini/monitor but for some reason she hates the laptop. It's not rational, she just wants the "simplicity" of a desktop.

▲

JumpCrisscross 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> the amount of people who would like a desktop computer with no customisability whatsoever

You’re massively overestimating both general computer literacy and shits given. Not having to customise anything is a sales pitch for many consumers.

> pluging a laptop to a monitor

You’re selling me on this iMac. “My computer is broken.” No, the monitor cable popped out when you moved the screen.

▲

RandomThoughts3 an hour ago | parent [-]

The most important part of my comment is "and wouldn't be better served by actually pluging a laptop to a monitor" and your reply about cable unplugging (really?) lets me think you know it is.

I am not even commenting about the ecological disaster than gluing all this together is because, well, it's Apple and Apple never cared anyway. Still disappointing.

	▲	JumpCrisscross 41 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		> wouldn't be better served by actually pluging a laptop to a monitor Yes. Lots of people don’t need nor want this. Getting two things to work together is more complicated than one.

▲

wqaatwt 4 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 4 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 3 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Nah, Dell sells less than 2x as many computers as Apple does (40 million in 2023 vs 22 million for Apple).