24 inch imac review

The 24 inch imac blurs the line between a stylish home system and a compact workstation. With its large display and equally large price, this is apple’s attempt at a powerful prosumer system. Is it worth it?

Let’s start with the screen. It’s huge. I thought Apple was nuts when they made their 20 inch imac a year ago, but this system absolutely dwarfs it. The extra screen real-estate comes at a high cost, with the base model clocking in at 2249$ CAD. The model I tested had a 2.33 ghz processor, 2 gigs of ram, a 256 mb Geforce 7600 GT video card, and a 250 gig hard disk and cost a hefty 2,849.00 CAD (not including tax or 3 year apple care plan). For those penny pinchers who question the purpose of Apple selling such an expensive imac, remember that their 23 inch cinema display is about 1100$ CAD (that’s the same price as the lowest end 17 inch imac!). The resolution is 1920 x 1200 which is a bit higher than 1080p resolution as the ratio is 16:10 instead of 16:9. Unfortunately there is no easy way to view HD content on the system yet, although Apple is expected to begin shipping systems with blu-ray drives next year (2007).

There are many reasons why one large monitor can be more convenient than several small ones; anyone who does music, video, or image editing will benefit from the large resolution of this screen. You can fit more tracks of audio or video at the same time without having to pan between multiple monitors. You can also have several programs open at once, all directly in your field of vision. You can easily see and edit longer sequences of video or audio without having to scroll. If you need even more space though, don’t fret, you can use the mini-dvi output to span to another screen (up to 1900 x 1200) or a television set.

I did a quick test to see how effective the display on this system was for working with multimedia programs. Reason is a popular music program which is praised for its easy interface and powerful features. It is composed of two sections: a rack of synthesizers and effects and a sequencer of notes and automation data. When I use this program I typically have the rack on one display and the sequencer on the other (I normally use 2 displays). On the imac’s high resolution screen, you can easily fit both aspects of this program on the display at once. Check out the video review above to see this in action. Other programs such as final cut pro or logic audio will also benefit from the 24 inch screen. Having all the information right in front of your face makes the work flow a lot easier.

The features of the 24 inch imac are very similar to those of the 20 inch imac. In fact, they are almost exactly the same. Aside from the screen, the only difference between the two systems is that the 24 inch has a firewire 800 port. For power users, this is a big deal. Firewire 800 enables you to attach a high performance external hard disk (or array of drives). While firewire 400 is plenty fast for most users, audio/visual users will benefit from the added performance of a firewire 800 hard disk. This is especially important if you are editing high-definition video (which the 24 inch imac would be quite apt at). Clearly apple is aiming this system at the power user as opposed to the typical home user. The addition of firewire 800 is also important because the imac only has room for one internal hard disk. The 24 inch imac ships with up to a 750 gig hard disk, but it is an expensive option. I would advise those who are interested in this system to get it with the stock hard disk (250 gigs), because the premium you’d pay getting the 500 gig or 750 gig hard disk could more wisely be spent on a high performance external firewire 800 hard disk from a company such as Lacie. Finally, to nitpick, apple could have gone one step further and added an eSATA port for connecting external drives.

The stock video card is a geforce 7300 GT with 128mb of ram. Get the upgrade to the 7600GT with 256mb; it’s worth the low cost of that option (90$ CAD). If you are going to be playing games on this system you will definitely need the 7600. It’s not the fastest card on the planet, but it can handle modern games pretty well. I was able to play quake 4 at 1600 x 1200 with 4x anti-aliasing and the performance was quite acceptable. I wouldn’t buy this system for gaming though; you’d be better off with a custom made high performance PC.

I do have a few issues with this machine. First of all, it is expensive. While it is a powerful computer at the moment, in a few years technology will undoubtedly have jumped way ahead and you may end up with a great display stuck to a dated system. Also, while this is a powerful computer, it still does not address a segment of the market apple is sorely missing: users who want cheap, expandable systems. While the Mac pro is great, many of us cannot afford it. I beg apple to make a core 2 duo based desktop system for under 2000$. The 24 inch imac is the closest thing Apple offers to a mac pro lite, but it does not have the expandability of a standard desktop system. Personally, I’d rather have all the features of this system and the option to purchase my own display. There are no pci express slots, so you are stuck with USB or firewire to add peripherals. I have heard rumors the video card might be upgradeable in the future, but currently there are no companies that offer an upgrade kit.

In some ways, I’m kind of baffled by this system. While I definitely want one on my desk, I am a bit confused at what consumer segment apple is aiming at. The best imac deal right now seems to be the 20 inch model, and you could spend the price difference between it and this model on a pretty nice secondary lcd display. The addition of firewire 800 is great for multimedia producers such as myself, but I’d still rather have a stripped down mac pro system than a high end imac. However, at the moment, such a system does not exist. This system is also in the same price range as the macbook pro laptops, which while not offering as much screen space and performance, are more expandable (with a cardbus slot) and they are portable. When the price of this system drops, it will be worth checking out; in the meantime, the 20 inch imac seems to be a more reasonable choice if you need an all-in-one system. However, for the power user, this is a very good option if you can’t afford the mac pro.

What’s good: Great screen, great design, quiet, firewire 800.
What’s not good: Not very expandable, very expensive.
Who needs it: People who need the combination of a large screen and a powerful mac.