Apple shows thinner 24-inch iMac with M1 SoC and four USB-C ports

Apple revealed some new hardware yesterday, but the company is still leaving us waiting for a more powerful version of the Apple Silicon. The company did roll out a new iMac, the first new Apple product that features both a new design and the M1 SoC.

The iMac has an aluminum shell and the Cupertino-based firm is bringing back color. The new iMac is offered in a silver version as well as six vibrant color options. Thanks to the adoption of the M1 SoC, Apple was able to make the iMac a lot thinner. The new all-in-one Mac is just 11.5mm thick -- the total volume has been reduced by 50 percent!

Only a 24" edition is offered, the screen has a 4480 x 2520 pixel resolution, 500 nits brightness, and TrueTone support. The device has an integrated 1080p Full HD webcam, three microphones with directional beamforming, and six speakers.

Just like the M1-based laptops, the iMac M1 doesn't have a lot of ports and both storage and RAM are pretty limited too. The $1,299 base model has a 256GB SSD and 8GB unified memory, and you get only two USB4 Type-C ports with Thunderbolt support plus a headphone jack. This model uses the same 8-core CPU and 7-core GPU configuration as the cheapest MacBook Air.

A $200 upgrade bumps the GPU to 8 cores and gives you an additional two USB 3 Type-C ports plus Gigabit Ethernet. If you want a 512GB SSD, you will need to cough up $1,699. Ethernet is not offered on the cheapest model, this will require the $1,499 model. Interestingly, Apple integrated the Ethernet port in the power brick. Another minor difference is that the Magic Keyboard that ships with the $1,299 base model doesn't have the Touch ID fingerprint scanner.

Overall, another interesting product offering from Apple but with various compromises. Power users will want to wait for the upcoming iMac Pro -- which should get a more powerful SoC.