As I am typing this, I am doing so using a new iMac from Apple which I have purchased the day before. I have a perfectly good Macbook Air, which I love and I will keep for its portability, the only thing about it is that I have that because of the size of the available screen, I am finding it harder to read things on it. I need a larger screen and I started to look around at the options to get one. I could have gotten a seperate monitor and attached it the Macbook Air, then that would have taken up more room on my desk that I really don't have. I could have gone for a Mac Mini and then added the display, keyboard and mouse as required. Thinking about it I realised that as good as it is and it is really good, it was perhaps more than I wanted or needed. Having gone through all the options, I felt the most suitable thing for me was iMac, because of the display and it came with everything I need in the box, mouse, keyboard, power cable, enough storage and processor speed, so I went for it.
Above is the size of the box that the iMac comes in. It is made of cardboard, with a material handle to carry it, and it is quite heavy as well. This makes unboxing quite hard to do, however, Apple make it easier as there are arrows showing you how to get into the various compartments which I found helpful. There is very little, only necessary non- cardboard in the package, which means it should be recycled easily, when you are happy to do so.
According to the official Apple website these are the dimensions
Height46.1 cm (18.1 inches)
Height5.0 cm (2.0 inches)
Width54.7 cm (21.5 inches)
14.7 cm (5.8 inches)
Depth14.7 cm (5.8 inches)
Depth
Weight4.48 kg (9.87 pounds
This is for the M3 one and there is a slight change with the other iMacs.
I did find it a bit of a "pain" to fit the power cable as it is hidden behind the stand and connecting the keyboard wasn't that easy either, not hard, once you realised what you had to do, some might need help with this. It is not likely you are going to have to do it again and if you have to do so, you will know what to do that time. I did like the fact that the screen had a cover on it to protect it while everything is being set up.
The above image shows the set up completed and yes it is pink as that was the only colour that my retailer had in and I like it.
Setting up starts with logging in, which is done using your Apple ID which you should have a record of from your other Apple things. Once you have done this, you will be prompted to set a password for logging in, I set a temporary one as I wanted to continue with my trusted and known one. While your other devices will be known and connected, if you wish to transfer your settings etc, to the iMac, the easiest way to do this is using the Migration Assistant as it means that you will not loose anything. PLEASE NOTE - YOU WILL HAVE TO FULLY UPDATE THE IMAC BEFORE YOU CAN USE THE M.A. this is a bit of a pain while waiting to do the updates, none of us like the updates times do we.
Once the updates are done you can use the migration assistant, it really is easy to do, as it almost tells you what to do. The only thing you have to remember is that you have to set it up on both, the device you are setting from and the device that you are migrating to. Depending on how much you have to migrate across it can take sometime for it to complete. I was surprised at how little time it took as the estimated time was greater than the actual time. Once completed, just follow the instructions and remember you can choose to use the new log in or keep your old one and remove the new one so you are back to what you know. I was able to use some social media sites right away, however, as passwords are not migrated it means that you will have put them in on the new device. As this is just a "one off" and you will only be doing it once, it is worth saving them in the password manager.
After that it is just a matter of adding things that might not have come across and updating others and setting things up as you wish to have them, at the time of my typing I am still completing this. I will take my time to complete this and make sure I do it correctly. So far the only real problem that I have had has been with Outlook mail which I have managed to sort out.
I find the keyboard, very familiar to use and it did not take me long to be touch typing again as I had with the MacBook Air. I suppose that is because I am used to the way it is set out which I find suits me, it is the same QWERTY set out that all keyboards and the individual keys are the some size. I like the ability to use the password identification button, or Touch ID as it is known even to start up. For me the way Apple does the keyboards is logical which makes the small size of this one not matter at all.
The screen is just at the right height and while you can tilt and turn it, there is not much more you can do, nor do you really need to do once you have placed it as you like.
The sound quality from the speakers, which are built in, is very good and I have no complaints about it at all.
The picture quality is excellent, I do watercolour paintings and post them so I have a record of my progress and while I was pleased with the previous MacBook Air results, I am really delighted with seeing them on here.
Further to the above, being able to see clearly all of the wording on the websites is great, as it is when I am using LibreOffice and not having to zoom in makes life a lot easier for me doing as I hoped it would do, lessening eyestrain.
I am not sure what the picture quality would be like if you play games, I only play Solitaire and it is okay with that.
Although it is the same OS as the Air I have noticed subtle differences between the two. It seems to work better, that could just be that I never fully used it on the Air, I really don't know, it just seems that way.
As with the Air there is no noise coming from it at all, the loudest noise is the tapping of the keyboard keys. I personally think it is amazing what Apple has done with the design and engineering of iMac.
I know some people might be thinking that as it looks big it would take up more space on the desk than the laptop, it really doesn't, the opposite is true. The only additional item is the power connection which need not really be on the desk anyway.
Just a quick bit about the price, the iMac price can vary and you can shop around to get the best price, while on their website Apple promotes the latest models, there are still older types available as I managed to get this one from my local Apple retailer. I would just advise going for the Apple M chips rather than the Intel ones. The other bit about price, it really isn't more expensive that the iPhones and perhaps less then the iPhone Pros.
CONCLUSION
I really do like the iMac and am really happy using it and that is all that matters really. I am really not bothered about all the specifactions which some will be, as long as it does what I want it to do that is all I need to know and this really does. Even at this early stage of my using it, I know that as with the MacBook Air I really won't change anything apart from as stated above adding social media and LibreOffice.
I have been telling others that Windows is something you have to use, OS is something you enjoy using and the a Windows PC is something you have to use Apple Devices is something you love to use. This is very, very true of the iMac.
Would I recommend it? Yes I would every day of the week in truth my wife was so impressed that she wants one, so the bank balance in the savings will go down again 😊
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