By Fraser Fleming
The new iMac 24 is an all-in-one computer that has a 24 inch screen, (well actually just under 24 inch). It comes in a range of funky colours and is the thinnest iMac that Apple have released to this date. This is due in no small part to the inclusion of the fantastic Apple M1 processor. The price for the iMac 24 starts at £1249 for the base model but rises drastically for more storage and memory. This can top out at over £2500 for the all singing and dancing model.
The iMac has always been a top of the range computer and has become the go to computer for video, audio, and photo editing. You get everything that you need to use the iMac straight out of the box including the magic keyboard, magic mouse and if you have chosen the magic touchpad too. These will all be colour matched to your iMac as well. You also get all the software that you would need to use for everyday computing such as safari for internet browsing, pages for word processing and a lot of other software too. You can also install games and apps from the Apple Mac Store. However, with the iMac you are not limited like on the iPad to the App Store you can choose to install app from another website too. However, caution must be used here to protect you own security. The iMac also comes with a fantastic range of accessibility features from screen enhancements and magnification to the amazing voiceover. The iMac is well known for its accessibility for low and no vision users as well as other disabilities.
The new iMac is run off the new Apple M1 system on a chip. This basically means that every thing is located on the M1 chip from the CPU and GPU to the system Ram and AI engine. This is what allows the chip to run so efficiently and fast. However, to implement this Apple had to change the form the x86 architecture of the old Intel chips to the ARM architecture now used by the M1. This means software developed for the previous intel Macs is no longer compatible with the M1 Macs. However, to help with this Apple has developed software which will run the X86 software on the new macs. It just might be a little slower of experience some unexpected issues. On the plus side this also means that apps that have been developed for the iPad can now be easily installed on the M1 Mac as they share the same ARM architecture. Also, the software is constantly being updated for the new iMac so over time this will become less of an issue. However, it is still something to bear in mind for the time being. The screen that comes with the iMac 24 is actually just under 24 inches in diameter and supports all the latest tech from a 4.5k display. This means that the image on is the screen is sharp and clear and works great when using the Zoom magnification. It also has a great audio set up with a 6-speaker array that can create spatial audio which I loved when watching a movie on it. The other advantage of the new M1 iMacs and the iMac 24 is that this computer is built to last. As with all Apple devices you can expect the computer itself to be supported for at least the next 5 years. In fact, my old MacMini that I purchased way back in 2014 is still being updated to this date, that’s over 7 years.
I love using the iMac computers since I bought my first one back in 2014. I love how accessible they are and the fact that the accessibility is there from the start you do not have to fork out for extra software. Windows computer have come on a long way over the last few years but still require some specialised software for some situations. The iMac 24 comes with everything you need to get started and you then have the option to only install what you need after. On the downside the price is as with all things Apple extremely high. The iMac can sometime struggle with business use and some software that is available on Window computers is not on the iMac. However, in terms of accessibility this is still top of its class. I would give the new iMac 24 4 TopTechTicks out of 5.
If you would like to find out more about devices for people with a visual impairment contact us at.
Triple Tap Tech
The Renfield Centre
260 Bath Street Glasgow G2 4JP
0141 353 1567
0780 5353 149
Info@TripleTapTech.org
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