After years of waiting, Apple has finally given the world a dramatic new iMac redesign, aimed at the company’s long-standing goal of “making the computer disappear.” That, of course, only applies to the the thin new design, because these things are eye-popping. Naturally, the latest version of the 24-inch all-in-one desktop is built around the company’s new proprietary M1 chips.

The screen sports a 4.5K Retina Display, coupled with a 1080p camera — a first for the Mac line, and a sign the company is taking both audio and video more seriously as these products are serving as a kind of life line for the work from home crowd. True Tone is, naturally, on board for better color balance, and sound have been improved with six-speaker setup.

The new devices are significantly thinner — with overall volume reduced by half, according to the company. The rear is also flat, instead of curved. In addition to allowing for a much thinner design, the new chip allows for far faster performance than previous models — a huge performance bump we’ve seen in our own testing of the most recent generation of Macs. All told, the company says it’s up to 85% faster than the last model, coupled with a GPU that’s up to twice as fast and 3x the machine learning.

Around back are two Thunderbolt ports and a new magnetic power adapter that also delivers Ethernet.

The system comes in seven colors. It starts at $1,299 (with four colors — you unlock all seven at $1,499). It goes up for pre-order April 30 and starts shipping in the second half of May.

Developing…

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