Over the years, I have switched back and forth between Windows and Mac, mainly because I prefer to use Mac at home and we are given HP laptops at work. This has enabled me to gain great insight into how both systems perform and what strengths and weaknesses they have. This article isn’t about that, but it is important for you to understand that I do have good experience with both before we get into this review. When Apple announced the new Macs with the M4 chips in, I knew that I wanted an iMac and a Mac mini, so I preordered both on launch day.

Let’s talk about the iMac first, which I ordered in the ‘new’ (very similar to last year) light blue color with a 512GB hard drive. The lineup starts at £1299, which gets you the basic iMac with a cut-down chip (reduced number of cores so performance will be worse) and a reduced number of USB-C (Thunderbolt) ports on the back. Even the base model now comes with 16GB of RAM, which is a big step up for Apple, as only a few months back, they were saying Apple memory architecture is so efficient, no more than 8GB is needed for most people. Having now backtracked, which I think is because of Apple AI as all their devices have received RAM upgrades recently. This can only be a good thing though, as you no longer need to spend £200 extra to upgrade just the RAM. Base storage for the hard drive is still at a lowly 256GB, which should be 512GB in this day and age and is very expensive to change.

The model I went for has the 512GB hard drive, costing £1699, which is a lot of money for an all-in-one desktop PC. If you look at Windows competitors, there are many more options available which have better specs for less money (but don’t look half as nice)! As soon as you open the box, you know you have purchased a premium product. All of the accessories are color-matched to the iMac you choose, even the power cord and USB-C cord. I think this is a really nice touch and something that gives Apple the edge on the design side over other manufacturers. The unit itself, once set up on the desk, feels beautifully crafted, and the aluminum stand is sturdy. The design is the same as the M1, 2 and 3 chip generation, but I am always amazed just how thin the computer is with all the M4 power in there. I like how the new colors are more subtle, but also they don’t just offer silver and black. I think an iMac deserves to be somewhere central in your house, as it looks so elegant.

4.5K Retina display:

The screen, which again hasn’t changed, is still a very lovely thing. It still offers only 24” and goes up to 4.5k, which some people think isn’t enough, in the days of large desktop monitors. I have to say, for a family computer, the screen is more than large enough, and because it offers so much quality and brightness, you don’t miss a larger size. The iMac also can be used with an external display up to 8K now, which shows how powerful this machine is. I suspect Apple expects users who need a larger screen to go for the Mac mini or just add on an external monitor, which I think is fine. I believe there is a market for a larger 27” or even 32” iMac Pro, but I doubt we will ever see this, or if we do, it won’t be anytime soon. The panel is still 60Hz, which isn't a major issue, but it would have been nice to get 120Hz or have it as an option for pro users.

You can also elect to pay £200 more and get the display coated with a nano-texture glass, which is fast becoming an option on all Apple’s devices. This basically turns the display from being a glossy finish to matte glass. The benefit is that if you put the Mac in a really bright room, it won’t reflect the light from the window, which I can see could be an issue for some users. I would only choose this option if you have problems currently with not being able to see your screen because of sunlight. I think it makes sense on the portable range of products Apple offers, like their iPad or the Mac Pro line up, because if you do a lot of work outside, it may help.

M4 Power!

As mentioned above, I also have bought a Mac mini with the M4 Pro chip in it. I expected the Mac mini M4 Pro to annihilate the iMac in terms of video editing, etc., but it doesn’t….I loaded up Adobe Premiere Pro and put some complex 4k 60 timelines together, thinking like my Mac Air M3, it would stutter, scrolling around. However, I was wrong, and it handles the editing fine, and I can’t seem to make it slow down, no matter what I do! This shows just how far Apple Silicone has come and the difference having a fan makes too. The M3 Mac Air, with no fan, struggles with editing because of the heat produced by the chip. It has the power to do it, but slows down when you have been working for more than half an hour or so, due to thermal throttling.

I also tried opening Adobe After Effects at the same time as encoding a 4k 60 video, and the machine still carried on running fine. For those of you who don’t know what these applications are, they are very GPU and CPU intensive on the chip, so on lesser computers, you would see some slowdown. The fan did come on, and there was some heat on the back of the unit, but only for a few minutes, and it soon returned to normal. So far, I am very impressed with the new M4 chip, and I would say for me, this iMac feels like a good upgrade over the M3 model if you do anything intensive on the machine.

Surround Sound!

The iMac comes as standard with a six-speaker sound system as found in the MacBook Pro. I have to say, I am very impressed with how much volume these speakers can pump out, given the size of the chassis. There is plenty of bass, and it will easily fill a small-sized room for watching a film or videos on YouTube, etc. If you play a Dolby Atmos track, then you also get full spatial Audio, and it does feel like effects are coming from behind you, which is a real achievement, in such a compact package. This is good news, as you don’t need to invest in a separate speaker system and keeps the set up neat.

Height-adjustable stand…

Stand feels really solid but just wish It would adjust height wise!

As someone who has just had neck surgery, an adjustable stand would be ideal….however, Apple doesn’t currently offer anything apart from a tilt stand with the iMac line-up, even if you would be willing to pay for it. This seems a major omission to me, especially in this day and age, where everyone is concerned about their posture whilst using a computer. Now I could just add the Mac to my own stand, but this makes the setup look much less sleek, which is one of the whole selling points of an iMac in the first place. If you look elsewhere, at Windows-based desktop PCs, there seems to be a similar problem, as other manufacturers have copied the iMac design and stopped allowing their all-in-one devices to be height-adjusted.

New camera!

As well as a new chip this year, we also get a brand new 12-megapixel FaceTime camera, which, looking at it, should be an improvement as the lens appears bigger on the front than the M3 version. The camera also adds centre stage, which I am a big fan of, as the camera then follows your face around the room, so you don't need to move the device. I appreciate this is a small upgrade, but it does make a difference in everyday use. Video calls are now the main way to communicate, especially if you have family abroad, so I think it needed this upgrade.

Would I buy one and who should?

So I did buy one and yes, I am planning to keep it as I love it! The design is beautiful on my desk, and I may have been completely taken in by this, but the screen is also superb. I have a Samsung monitor 32” parked next to the iMac, and the difference in picture quality is quite pronounced. The colors are much better, and motion handling is also improved over the Samsung for video editing. You can also change the color mode on the monitor to different versions when photo editing, which is a nice-to-have feature.

I have also been using the iMac as an external monitor for my MacBook Air and Mac mini M4 Pro, and this integration works well, both wirelessly and over AirPlay. The connection seems rock solid, and it is easy to switch backwards and forwards between the two.

The M4 chip with 16GB of RAM, to me, seems like a perfect combination for what I need. I expected the iMac to be significantly slower than the Mac mini Pro M4, but this isn't the case at all. I was surprised how smoothly complex applications ran on the iMac M4, when compared to the Mac mini M4 Pro. There is one caveat, I still wouldn’t recommend the iMac if you are into gaming as it still doest offer as good a gaming performance as Windows machines.

I think this means the iMac is now more suitable than ever for people with more demanding workflows. We don't have an iMac ‘Pro’, but the M4 has given this new version a lease of life for more demanding tasks. You can increase the RAM if you need to for even more intensive work, and the hard drive, but that then takes you into MacBook Pro territory, so you might want to consider that. For the price of £ 1699, the screen quality with the performance on offer actually makes the iMac seem good value, I think, in the Apple line-up. Yes, the Mini is even better value, but you need a screen and keyboard, etc., which could eat into that saving.

Please go out and try one in your local Apple Store before thinking you might need a Mac mini Pro, as I think you will be surprised how powerful this new M4 chip is, from my experience!

iMac M4 Initial Impressions