Last year’s addition to the iMac family is generally seen as a solid step forward for the company’s smallest all-in-one. In fact, in our 24-inch iMac review, we gave the computer a solid four-and-a-half star rating praising its superior screen and speedy performance.
But some people aren’t fans of the thick chin along the bottom of the iMac below the screen, which breaks its symmetry. For most people, this criticism will only amount to grumbling in the comments sections down the line, but some – Such engineers in China (Opens in a new tab) They’ll do everything they can to make the iMac think Apple should have made it all along. Behold: the iMac without its chin!
The chin is there for a reason, of course: It’s where the Mac’s actual internals are hidden, so you can’t remove it and still have a working computer.
As such, Modern has instead ported it around – attaching it to the back of the computer, neatly concealing it and giving you an identical screen from the front, as you can see in the image below.
The process was complex and time consuming as you would expect. First, the chin area had to be removed, with the edges made into the same shape as the top. The all new back shell was then 3D printed for testing before being machined from aluminum and anodized, before components were placed inside with a few extra precautions to reduce the risk of overheating.
It’s undoubtedly an impressive feat of engineering, but I find myself looking at it and missing the old paradigm. If I saw both in a showroom and had to buy one, I think I’d go for Apple’s original design.
Change the way you think
This has nothing to do with practical concerns. People have suggested that moving the internal components behind the screen can reduce their lifespan thanks to the inevitable heat dissipation, but for the purposes of this I assume both work identically.
The main problem I have is that it lacks personality. In simple terms, it’s no longer just an iMac — it could be any (admittedly elegant-looking) display from any manufacturer from Samsung to Dell. And to me, Apple products have a distinctive style that effectively screams different.
For the iMac, that seems to be the chin. Apart from everything else, it is where the splash of color is also added, and the teal pattern is, in my opinion, just beautiful.
Although it is mainly aesthetic, I have some practical interests as well. First, the chin hold is how the screen is tilted back for comfortable viewing. If you have to use the new version – well, just make sure you have a microfiber cloth handy to remove fingerprints. It’s also a handy place to stick sticky notes, for those of us who aren’t quite ready to trust their digital equivalent.
Maybe that’s the direction Apple will eventually move in, but on a personal level, I hope it doesn’t. The iMac’s chin can be just as iconic as the iPod’s click wheel or indeed the classic curved iMac. I hope Apple stays on track with the 2023 iMac Pro.
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