Apple just gave the iMac its the first major redesign since 2012, and I’ve been testing one out for a week.

It’s insanely thin. Like the 1999 iMac, it ships in a bunch of colors. But most notably, this the first time Apple’s all-in-one desktop computer is using the same M1 chip as the iPad, following the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac Mini, which received the processor last year.

It’s a heck of a time to launch a new Mac. Apple’s Mac sales have continued to grow through the pandemic and were up 70% year over year in its fiscal Q2 as people worked, learned and played at home. That growth may slow as people continue to get vaccinated and head back to our commutes (and our clunky work-issued computers), but the iMac is so nice it may help push Mac sales for people who still need a computer at home.

What’s good

Source: Apple Inc.
The iMac is just crazy, crazy thin. It’s sort of like a giant iPad with a big bottom chin sitting on a metal stand. It’s also surprisingly light, which means you can easily move it from room to room if you need to, so long as there’s an outlet nearby.

I love the variety of colors. Apple sent me the blue model, which has a deeper hue on the back than the sort of sky blue below the display on the front. It really looks and feels as if Apple is trying to make this the Mac that people show off around their house again, and I think some people actually will.

The screen is another highlight. It’s now 24 inches diagonally, a notable improvement from the 21.5-inch display on the model it replaces. It’s also nice and sharp with a 4.5K resolution and support for HDR content, which more clearly shows the deep darks and bright parts of a movie or TV show. I used the iMac as a computer in my office and also as a TV in my bedroom. I liked that the screen was big enough that I could watch stuff from bed as I would on a TV.