Apple has introduced the new M3 chip to the 24-inch iMac, and they'd very much like you to buy one... but could you save money by buying the older M1 iMac on the used or refurbished market? Is the 2021 M1 iMac worth buying in 2023? What are the differences between the two machines, and which specification should you consider?
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The base M1 is already more power than most people need
Agreed. My MacBook Air hasn’t lagged once yet and I have a base. The screen, battery and build are my favorite parts. Really amazing for the $900 + tax I paid in 2021.
OK, OK…since nobody is bringing it up….a 27 inch IMac would be spectacular and Apple should reconsider and do it!
Fun fact, with the Mac mini setup you also need to buy a microphone to complete the iMac all-in-one experience and even than it would never look that clean like an iMac. Nice video as always.
Thanks very much. You've saved me a considerable amount of money !
The only one conscious and thorough review nowadays about the new and ‘old’ iMacs. Thanks!
I really really enjoyed your video the timing was absolutely perfect and very interesting, or now love my iMac M1 again , I have no plans in changing it .. 🏆
The most important remark „if the software is optimised“! And that’s the biggest problem from my point of view, usually the software isn’t. We can see it for example in importing images to a RAW developer, when the preview images get rendered. This would in theory be an ideal situation for multicore machines and scale really well, but the reality more often than not is different.
Great Video as always, thank you. I use a 16GB iMac M1 at home and the same in the office to do my grafix stuff and some small video ads. And it is still a very capable mashine. The design is timeless and everything fits on a small space. Here in Germany I like to call it the "Volks Computer" Like you said, power users buy a Mac Studio or this way to big and useless new Mac Pro 😀
Some great deals to be had on a 16GB/512GB M1 iMac right now.
Great video, thanks! When I transitioned to the Apple ecosystem with the M1 Mac mini a few years ago I already had good peripherals so I couldn't justify an iMac. Darn it. Re: M1 vs M3, the M1s more than meet my needs. I also have a reconditioned M1 MBP Pro 14 (16GB/1TB) now, and it's a beast.
Great video! I’m glad to have found this channel.
Loved your video - exceptionally down to earth & refreshing.
Thank you 😊
Great video...I have the M1 and still haven't decided if I will buy the M3...I may keep the M1 for the guest room and buy the M3 for myself...both in that great orange color...or maybe get the M3 in yellow...My M1 has performed flawlessly since it came out...I can only imagine how great the M3 is...
Great video man, thank you so much. Since I watched your video about Macbook air 15, I subscribed to your great channel
Thank you 😁
Thank you for giving the 8GB models a chance to contribute to the team.
I spent a lot of time considering whether to choose an iMac or a MacBook Air, and ultimately, I decided on the MacBook Air. I'm still using the M1 model, but I plan to upgrade to the M6 in the future. Interestingly, I transitioned from a 2013 Mac Pro to a hackintosh, and then to an M1 MacBook Air and an M1 Max MacBook Pro. Additionally, I upgraded from a 2017 MacBook Pro to a Mac Studio M2. It may sound absurd, but I've never been this satisfied after an upgrade.
The best way to go about buying a Mac desktop is to 1st buy a good display monitor and then plug it to a Mac mini. Upgrading the Mac mini every two year is not heavy on the pocket considering the lower price tag and better resale value.
Excellent very informative review, I like your presenting style and the cut of your jib .😮 Just got the base model M1 from JL in the UK for £849, it’s all I need in a family PC and looks ravishing in all it’s metallic blue ❤ thanks for the heads up on price reductions….
Very interesting, great video, thanks
Great video. Great commentary!
Glad you liked it!
Great video! I really appreciate your matter-of-fact perspective - it's a welcome, refreshing change from most tech-KZhead. Is the M3 iMac faster than the original M1 version? Yes. Is that additional really speed going to be perceived (much less utilised) by the majority of users. No, probably not. Keep up the good work, putting out pragmatic, well-written content!
Thank you 😊
With a Mac mini, you’ll need a very good display such as the Dell Ultra Sharp. Thunderbolt displays cost a lot more.
Yeah, I have stacked MBP for next 8~10 years, cause I bought it in 2022 summer, but I just keep looking at iMac for some kind of a media center. Good screen, good speakers, and it’s a whole computer, makes me keep considering to get one. I already have iPad and Mac for my productivity and creativity, so I just can’t stop thinking about having whole new Mac for a media player.
Hello, interesting videos. I have an M1 version, which has worked great for the last 2 years, no need to upgrade as far as I can see. Just asking, how many people are "video editors" out there? LOL. Must be in the millions based on youtube reviewers.
Just bought a M1 on ebay for $1,000. 1TB a 1Y warranty.
same! I love mine, and for what I use for it it's perfect! :)
Great video as always & a common sense summary. 'Greater than the sum of its parts' nails not only the enclosure but the SoC as we only measure individual components. Whilst that's lacking, I would have liked to see a graphics performance comparison beyond GB compute. An M1/M3 comparison slide with Cinebench 2024 GPU, GFXBench or 3DMark Wildlife + Solar Bay would have shown the significant differences.
Thanks 😊 I don't have a standard M3 to test against yet (only M3 Pro so far), but when we get one, I may do another comparison video.
Thanks!
Great video! So tired of people totally missing the point of the iMac and bemoaning it’s not bleeding edge specs. The M1 iMac brought back the line to the fun practical and competent the iMac was always intended to be. I remember when the G3 launched. It was my dream computer and such a landmark. Younger people will never understand
Doug Demuro opening hahaha
I get your point on the cost but with a Mac Mini I can buy a better keyboard such as a Keychron Q1 and a better monitor such as a 27” 5k display. I currently own a 27” iMac and the keyboard has never been used.
All i need 1 for is light video editing on imovie which i already do on a ipad air, which is faster than my pc. It will be replacing a already 8 year old pc, pretty sure M1 will be enough with huge store discount
10:19 I wish Apple would’ve offered the same Ethernet solution on Mac Books as well.
Me too. That would be very useful!
I think you've helped me make a decision. I recently bought the 2020 MacBook Air with the M1 chip and I have been really pleased with this laptop. I was thinking about the M3 chip as I like to keep up with technology but I have to say, I think the iMac with the M1 chip is going to be really good for me. I believe I could buy a refurbished one from Apple that would do me well. I'm not a power user by any means. I read emails, watch streaming apps, KZhead and do shopping and banking as well. I have a VPN on my network and I have a decent antivirus and internet safe program on my devices. I have a 16" Chromebook. I think that an iMac with the M1 will greatly satisfy my needs for a long time. A refurbished one should be more reasonable and I should get the 8 GPU although I haven't noticed anything missing on my MacBook Air where I watch my videos on the smaller screen. My 16" Chromebook has just gotten bumped up to Chromebook Plus and it has good video watching as well but the 24" screen with 4K must be really great. Thanks for sharing, I will subscribe too!
What I've found is that the M1/M3 iMac is one of the easiest computers to use for a non technical person. It's easy to setup being an all in one, has a nice clear screen - and combine that with Mac OS which feels pretty stable right now. Not everyone will see value in that, but I love that it allows more people to use technology
There is great value in that ease-of-use. The majority of users aren’t techies like us.
Really enjoyed your video as I’ve just bought an M1 iMac myself, and have similar thoughts to you regarding M3. I’m also looking into getting a matching trackpad and was just wondering when you contacted Apple Support did you tell them you’d lost the original, or that it stopped working? Thanks
Thank you 😊 I think they'll accept either explanation. So long as you have the serial number, they should be cool with shipping you one.
Having the Ethernet socket on the power brick is indeed a smart design: stops having that ugly cable trailing out the back of your oh-so-cool designer screen (somehow, Apple product photography always omits cables ...). But why not go further and put all the connectors, except a single USB-C, on the power brick, wouldn't that be even neater? And maybe move some of the electronics into the power brick to make the screen slimmer and thermal management work better? Oh, wait, did I just re-invent the Mac Mini?
Wow. So sorry to hear you missed the AWESOME iMac UFO. Absolute design masterpiece and my favorite desktop Mac ever.
It was beautiful. I’ve been tempted to buy one on eBay, but they say you should never meet your heroes!
Good video Dave If only Apple had up to 120HZ refresh rate, they would sell a lot more of them.
Thank you 😊
I bought an M3 model purely for the "better buy the new model" factor, I never owned an iMac before. 16 GB 1 TB, I also dislike the idea of getting 8 gigs of RAM. My old Lenovo was stuttering while using Word lol
I’d love to have a 16GB ram one in any storage. These have fantastic screens and speakers.. like well above average. All self-contained and the keyboard and mouse it comes with would cost $150 bought on their own. They are a good machine but I’d never get the 8GB ram one.. these sit on a desk for a decade so you’re gonna need that extra RAM.
Average lifespan for Macs getting OS updates is around 7 years. What is going to happen to M1 Macs being sold today ? Until when will they get updates ? For me this is something worth considering.
Yes, how long or until when will new M1 iMacs being sold today in 2024 have OS renewals and Security updates for? Will buying a cheaper used M1 today or getting a "deal" on a new M1 in 2024 be a false economy if the M1 iMacs will only get another 3? years of OS renewals?
It will get two years less of MacOS updates, so cost needs to reflect that as well.
My M1 mac mini is fast enough for everything I do, apple have painted themselves into a corner by giving us an acceptable performace, few users need more performace tbh.
Can I ask what you do with your M1 mini that it handles well? Looking at potentially getting a Mac mini as a cheap desktop! :)
@@sodenwiththis6702 KZhead, web browsing, email, Video conferancing, document creation and a small amount of coding... Also it is currently fully suported with the latest OS. I went for the most basic second hand @ £380 at the time never regretted it.
@@sodenwiththis6702I have an M1 Mac mini. I use it for graphic design and web. Wonderful and fast enough.
Yes. Happy to use the M1 mac mini for another 3 or more years
@@sodenwiththis6702 I think you literally answered yourself. You said you want a cheap desktop so that is pretty much self explanatory. Personally, I would suggest to go with at least 512 GB storage and 16 GBRAM If you are planning to use it for more than five years. Also, if the price difference between M1 and M2 machine is not very significant in your area, then better to go for the M2 machine.
I subscribe! You helped me decide and stick to the M1 16gb and 1TB ssd
It’s nuts they won’t put out one with a pro chip
It would be great to have a Pro iMac. It would need a slightly different design as the Pro chip needs active cooling. They could fit one in the Studio Display chassis though… 😁
The 16-512 configuration is more important than the m1 or m3 chipset
Thank you for this great video. I am in this exact dilemma. Should I buy a used iMac M1 or a new M3? You mentioned getting it at a discount. For a iMac 2021 24 Inch M1 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD (4 Ports model) and with all the accessories (mouse, trackpad, and numeric keyboard). What would you consider a good price for all this? $1200? $900? I am unsure of how to determine what a good deal is for all this used. Please if you could respond that would be very helpful.
It’s difficult to answer because we all have different priorities and values when it comes to choosing a computer. I can only tell you what I would want from a used model, which is at least 40% off the new price, assuming it is in excellent condition.
The M1 iMac base model has a significantly faster SSD than the M3 iMac Base model. This is because whereas the base M3 iMac has a single 256 Gb flash module, the M1 iMac Base model has two 128 Gb flash modules. Of course if you buy a 512 Gb M3 iMac then it will be faster. Another consideration which is probably more important than how fast the SSD is is that for many applications 16 Gb of RAM is also essential. If I was buying a Mac then I would buy an M1 Mac Mini with a 512 Gb SSD and 16 Gb of RAM for £999. This is because Apple charge a lot for repair and I think that a Mac Mini looks more robust than a Mac with a built in screen.
This video was perfect medicine for what ails me. I returned my M3 base model 8gb/256 today that I purchased on Black Friday at Best Buy and am now back to writing this on my 2009 iMac. Here's why: My wife and I were putting together our 2023 Xmas card and had 4 windows opened (Snapfish, Shutterfly,KZhead & one other along with iPhoto. Before long the rotating beach ball showed up and stopped me dead in my tracks. So 3 internet windows along with iPhoto gobbled up the 8gb of memory. The main reason for the new computer is to digitize 30 years of analog video. I would love to save money and buy the M1 16gb refurbished from Apple or should I just bite the bullet and buy the new M3 16gb? Intel 27?.
16GB is a big step up over the 8GB. Either M1 or M3 would be a great upgrade. Unfortunately, the 16GB models are all custom orders, so the majority of used machines out there have 8GB. We are still have one 27" Intel iMac in our web studio being used by a designer/animator/video editor. It's the 8-core i9 with Vega 48 graphics. I asked him if he wanted to replace it, and he said no. It's still a quick machine. But, based on the fact you have a 2009 iMac, I'm guessing you want a long life from whatever you buy, so it's difficult to recommend buying an Intel Mac at this point. Apple Certified Refurbished is a good bet - we've bought a few of those and they've all been great.
Do you think the 2023 imac has good enough specs for smooth 4k video editing? I really want an all in one machine with a screen larger than a laptop, but Im not sure if 24gb ram is enough. My only point of reference is an intel macbook air with 16gb ram and it struggles.
Which codecs do you use and how complex will the timelines be?
h.264 from 8-bit HLG 3 footage, effects are limited to color correction, masking out dust spots, at times speeding up certain clips and dissolve sequences. If I got over the form factor, which similarly priced device has a longer lifespan and would allow me to grow to edit 10-bit or even raw footage- Imac 2023 M3 8/10 core 24 GB 1TB SSD, or Macbook pro 2021 M1 max 32/16 core 32GB 1TB SSD? @@ConstantGeekery
@@nedmacfadden2833 What you describe will run just fine on an M3 iMac with 16GB or more RAM, if you're using FCPx or Resolve. Rendering may not be the fastest, but it'll be significantly better than the Intel MBA. If the choice was between the M3 and M1 Max configs you describe, the M1 Max would be a much more capable video editing rig. I'm regularly using M1 Max for 6K BRAW editing and it does a great job. If you can find an M2 Max at the right price, that's even better!
@@ConstantGeekery thank you for your time!
The M1 Max is insane I don’t think anyone needs more
So how much would an M1 iMac sell for with 16 GB ram and 1TB hard drive? Mine has a VESA mount though that I special ordered, so it doesn’t come with a stand you just wall mount or buy a desktop aftermarket one. I’m just curious as I’m buying a new MacBook m3 Pro 14 inch laptop and not sure I need both .
Prices are changing all the time, and depending on your region. I usually take an average from similar models on eBay to get an idea of value in the used market.
@@ConstantGeekery ok thanks for the reply, much appreciated
Did you drop the plot?? The 27 inch Studio Monitor is available.
Yes I have one. It's not an iMac though. Not sure I understand your point.
One reason to get the M3 is that Apple is likely to support it with MacOS for 2 more years than the M1. Apple supports their Macs with new OS updates for 6 years normally (although they realistically last 8 years or more, as they still get security updates for 8 years+), so just divide the cost by 6 or 4 and see what it would cost you per year.
Given the similarities between the M series chips, we might see a change in behaviour here. Stopping support for M1 whilst continuing it for M2 or M3 would be purely arbitrary. It's also worth noting that the community keeps things going - there are solutions for running the latest OS on the Mac Pro 6,1 and 5,1 for example.
@@ConstantGeekery They really should change behaviour, but I’m afraid they won’t, as they exist to sell more Macs. They have a relatively very long support cycle for the industry anyway. The M1 would realistically last for a decade, it’s that good and snappy for most basic and advanced tasks.
I bought an M1 from Best Buy today. 8GB/512 SSD @ $999. The price was too good to pass. Am I correct? I sacrificed not getting a 16GB M3 😢as I wanted. I hope I do not regret the 8 GB. Use will be browsing, email, Microsoft Office.
For general browsing and office use, the 8GB model is absolutely fine.
Regarding buying a keyboard with touch ID. If you get the entry level iMac, it will not do touch ID.
Yes true. I needed to compare the higher model as the Mac Mini doesn’t have a binned chip option.
just bought a brand new 2021 m1 base model imac for £850 delivered, seems daft not to at that price
Yes, it does, M1 is a great machine…
M1 is good enough
M1 has faster SSD
Whatever is the drama with Apple iMac and their CPUs, all I need is a 32 inch and/or 40 inch iMacs with 5K or higher resolution MINI LED screens. Just dont buy the M3 chip Macs when you already have an M2 Pro or Ultra Macs.
I think that no matter how you put it, Apple did a great job skipping the M2 for the iMac. I do not holly agree with the way Apple is going with no 27 or 32-inch screen size for their iMac Pro or a version of some kind of pro. I understand, on the other hand, that it is hard to compete with the available monitors out there. For what it is worth, one can always put a Mac Mini with that. But like others will say: "What is next for the iMac?" and maybe Apple is killing the iMac silently. It won't go silently, but we will overcome. iMac was my first Apple machine and I still have awesome memories of my discovery into the new ecosystem. But times are changing. Maybe Apple marketing knows something we don't see, yet. For the longest time I scoffed at Windows, and guess what? It is not so bad, for what it is used for. What if Moore's law died with the inventor? Maybe we are in need of longer cycles and not be the three-year-old throwing tantrums that we want something new, as you say, the M1 is plenty enough for most users, and I agree. For new users, the M3 iMac will be plenty for another generation.
Owning an iMac would be nice but I just can't be productive with it. It's too gorgeous to do the serious work that I do. It's like asking my beautiful wife to go scrub the floor. No!
Really not interested in any iMac that isn't 27"!
the only reson for having M3 is more RAM!!! it sounds more like.a real worked computer compared to the M1 that was just to move on to new chip
Apple have to 'wow' people with outward appearances... purely aesthetic differences. For the 'home' computer can't get any better... it has reached a very long plateau phase. ( That Plateau of course, may change with new advancements in new internet technologies? ) Apple computers are built to last... and a lot of ( ordinary ) people hang onto their Macs for up to a decade. ( sometimes even longer ) This means that desktop Mac sales will always shrink... as there just aren't enough new users with money to burn to increase sales that drastically. Apple software redundancy is their solution. After six years or so... you lose access to software updates. And those important security updates. This is cruel, but how they decided to play their marketing strategy game. Build substantial, ergonomically beautiful machines... with inbuilt obsolescence through their priority software. Users feel like a donkey being relentlessly led by a carrot. A carrot they absolutely must own.
Can you give me a laptop as a gift? I really need a laptop 🥺. I am not able to afford it.
Go and beg elsewhere 🙄
@@davidjacobs6244 You don't have the capacity to give.
Apple is rotten to the core Apple is rotten from the core.... and RAM deep into Consumer's pockets! I have purchased my last Apple product, fool me once; shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me!