The iMac gets to be fun again and power users get a pro Mac they can afford.
The introduction of the Mac Studio this week got me thinking about how strange the final few years of the Intel-based 27-inch iMac were.
When the 27-inch iMac was refreshed in 2020 we all knew it was the end of the line. Apple silicon iMacs were coming, but just before Apple shut the door on the old iMac, it got a final revision out the door.
Consider the features of that iMac: An optional nano-texture display and a 3.6GHz 10-core Intel Core i9 processor. Macworld’s reviewed iMac configuration cost $4,499—clearly aimed at pro users. Now consider that the original iMac, when it was introduced in 1997, was underpowered and cost $1,299 for the general consumer. The evolution of the iMac took a strange turn. What happened?
No place to go
After the Intel transition in 2006, the new Mac Pro (formerly Power Mac) seemed to drift further and further away from most users. It eventually reached its apotheosis when it transformed from a holey metal slab into a cylinder, becoming an expensive objet d’art with trash-can looks and severe cooling problems. Its ultimate replacement–the current Mac Pro–starts at $6,000 and goes way, way up from there.
Read more at MacWorld.com