M3 iMac Review - Don't Make This Mistake!

I have never owned an Apple computer. I am in the Apple family with phone, watch and two sets of air pods. I wear glasses and when using my laptop, I have to remove my bifocal glasses. I am considering the 4 port iMac with 24 gb ram and 1 tb ssd. I do photo editing and at times 16 gb ram with dedicated 4 gb video card is not enuf power on that hp all in one spectre. Something unknown happened and the bottom has warped and destroyed my sound and maybe reduced other things. I would most likely add the numeric keyboard with track pad, although the track pad on my hp laptop rarely ever gets used. Thanks for your review.

Liking ur videos. Deffintely subscribing!

excellent, no nonsense rundown. thank you.

Very useful review. I’m still using my late 2015, Intel based, 27 inch iMac, and will probably wait until 2025 before I replace it. I’m sure the upgrade will make a dramatic difference, but I hold onto Apple products as long as I can in order to afford the price of being in the Apple ecosystem.

While I agree that 8 GB Unified Memory (please don't say RAM) is too little for anyone trying to do video, audio, photo, or graphics editing, home users doing school work, email correspondence, web browsing, FaceTime/Zoom/Skype calling, using Microsoft 365, and doing other everyday tasks will find 8GB sufficient. But for those of us who do ANY heavy lifting, 16 GB should be considered a minimum. Personally, I don't think it's worth the bad press about 8GB for Apple to not just eliminate the 8GB model and narrow their choices. Base storage should just be 512 GB. Realistically, I consider 1 TB to be a practical minimum. Apple makes a lot of money with their pricing games, though, and as an Apple investor, I can't disagree that it seems to work! The full size keyboard is a bit better. And the mouse is frustrating! It's worth plugging it in when you're not using the machine. OTOH, many folks just buy a cheap wired mouse.

This question is for anyone, not just Manny Rataul: I'm not really "computer literate". I've been using the same "21.5-inch, Late 2009" iMac; running macOS Sierra Version 10.12.6 (won't upgrade any higher); a 3.08 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor (whatever that means); an 8 GB 1067 MHz DDR3 Memory (ditto); and NVIDIA GeForce 9400 256 MB Graphics (ditto). I keep getting notices that my memory is almost full, and some of my browsers won't upgrade to the latest versions.
My question: If I purchase a new model, will I have to download (or upload) everything, including things I've either forgotten about or didn't like, from my current 14 year-old model into the new one, which, I'm guessing, will effectively take up space in the new model with all the old crap I longer use? Thank you.

It all depend on what you use it for right. High tech people have high requirements which is not really use for ordinary use like internet, email, word ect. I have had an apple since 1999 and not 1 time have I been hach, spam, horses and so on. Apple is easy to use. I have had an laptop for god knows how long. My first died when it was not possible to put in a new battery. So I was forced to buy a new one. Ofcause My new mackbook air can not just of the bat be opdatede to the newest, but i can live with that. ✌🏻♥️

Why not just buy an 1 TB external SSD for less than the price difference for upgrading to 512 g?

I have a 2015 27" 5K iMac I7 with 3TB SSD, 24GB RAM and have yet to feel excited about Apple's latest iMacs...now thinking of replacing it with a Mac Studio M3 Ultra with a Studio Display. It's insane to think I have kept using this iMac for 8 years when I used to swap Windows PCs every year or couple of years before that.

Cannot believe the Magic Mouse still has the port underneath! Infuriating.

You can get a second hand windows pc with better configuration for $500.

if apple wants to actually get into the gaming segment, it has to be easier to develop for. right now it's way too expensive and basically not worth it for most game devs to even try working on MacOS, so most games are basically either virtualize windows or run through apple game porting toolkit which is basically wine/crossover, which is running the windows version anyways

Not sure I like the colours, makes these look like they are made for children

This is why the Intel I-Mac with a 27-inch screen will always be better than the M3. At least exporting videos from After Effects and Adobe Premiere Pro is still faster than the M3 processor. It's a shame you can't upgrade the memory on the new iMac. Apple loves to scam their customers.

I bought an iMac M3 with the extra ports, plus 24GB RAM and 1TB SSD and I love it! Excellent machine and I agree with you about the Apple mouse.

Great review! This helped me a lot :)

Anyone here using the new iMac M3 for music production?

You can use keyboard while charging

This is not directed at you, but mostly at the large channels who do this.
Complaining about the low specs of the base models and proceed to buy the base model, every frelling time, does not help teach Apple a lesson.
They would be fools to change them since there is such promotion for the base models. And no, saying great product for 99% of the video and for 1% saying about how little the RAM/SSD is, is not enough. Most people who watch this and consider getting one, all they keep is the positive things which reinforce their desire to get the product. So they too get the base model and the cycle never ends.
Again, NOT directed at you, this is the first video of yours I watch and you seem like a nice channel/guy and this is a good video.
Thank you for sharing.

I am not going to buy one, I am poor. I have a mac mini, late 2012, and it's going to stay like this for the foreseeable future, or till it breaks down.
When the M1 iMac was released and still had some money, I was considering getting one, but the limit on the base model and the colors that annoy me more than they should, made me not buy one. About the colors I mean how the front is a pastel color and not the very good color of the back. I know it's silly, but it seriously annoys me when they clearly had a good idea of what a good color looks like and decided to put that on the front.

There is zero benefit in having a USB-C connection on a mouse, ffs.

A key question for 27" imac users is, how much is that extra 3" of screen worth to you? Using the memory/storage options I need (16GB/1TB), configuring an M3 imac 4-port 8/10 cores, versus a mac mini M2 8/10 cores with Studio Display, it turns out that the mac mini/Studio Display system is $700 more.

U right & exact...my same thoughts about it the M3 needs more for starters..

Thank you for the review. I currently have a 21.5 iMac (2012) and I know I need an upgrade. I don't do gaming or video editing but just basic stuff, like surfing, email, etc. I plan on getting a usb c hub along with the basic 8 core cpu and 8 core gpu. I also have a 4TB external hard drive which, I think, should take care of my needs. Do you think I'm going in the right direction? I'm a couple of weeks away from ordering but I want to make sure I'll get some good time with this machine. Thanks for your input.

Just got my first one. And I got red. Love it. Beautiful computer. I just wish they came in 27’

The parsimonious 8GB of RAM and just 2 ports rules this out for long term use.
It is possible to decant data to an external SSD but that low memory bandwidth will shorten the life of the storage NVMe -- even a big one -- because of the physics of swap file usage.
It might be possible to offset this using partitions but there will most likely be booting problems if the NVMe primary controller fails.
Apple RAM prices are exploitative and the absence of maintenance options have led to legal action in the EU, UK and Commonwealth countries which have state education based on taxes.
When schools and colleges require renewal of IT equipment they have traditionally bulk purchased some years in advance and will not choose machines which their IT technicians cannot service -- even accepting the periodic necessity for mainboard replacement. Given that Apple's 'return to base' policy is inimical to education (and in some cases state health systems) fast turnaround of parts and 'ownership' neat models such as iMac will not be purchased. Similar formats will be and, as Microsoft learned the hard way in the UK and India, alternative operating systems are abounding.
Can the US IT giants afford to lose billions of users? China and other former cheap labor suppliers to the US companies have the capacity to change things in favor of customers and the rapid decline of the former monopolies.

Great information and well presented. Thank you.

I'll Stick With My M2Pro Mac Mini With 16GB Ram, & 1TB SSD, Using A 27" Thunderbolt Display For The Main Monitor, As Well As A 42" Vizio 1080P Old TV As The Extended Monitor 🙂

Great review. Mine came in a couple of days ago, will unbox tomorrow on my day off, busy week. Teal I think is the most attractive color, but I just wish Starlight would have been available. We should have a “Worst Apple Product” award. The Magic Mouse sure takes the cherry on top. Be well

Great review. Thks. Can help check when m3 imac 24 USB C arriving?

Apple is rotten.....pure and simple......

My first hard drive size 40 megabytes. Want faster speeds? Just double stack the drive.

Great overview!👍🏼👍🏼

I still think you still are better of with a mac mini + expensive 4k non apple monitor.

Apple, in a couple of decades, turned into such a shitty company... it's hard to believe, but they are really waful.

A thorough review , thank you.

Thank you, for this nice review of the updated colorful 24-inch M-3 processor iMac desktop system. I agree with you 100 percent that, if you already own an IMac computer with the M-1 processor then, there is really no need to upgrade. While, I am more of a "mac mini" person now. However if, I was buying a new iMac it would be the "yellow" version and a top of the line model (24GB/2TB SSD) ordered off of Apple's Veteran's web site with a 10 percent discount to save about $300 US (smile...smile).

The mouse should be an optional extra saving us $79 we can use any other mouse but the apple one. The Apple mouse is only fit for the trash.

I have Geekbench 6 and chose not to buy the Pro version. That is an option for possible consideration.

Here’s why Apple only gives you 8gb of ram. The machine will be obsolete in 4-5 years and you will be forced to purchase a new machine. Upgrade to 16gb and it will last a decade. As for the mouse, buy a second one so that you will not be inconvenienced when charging. As usual for Apple their great products are cheapened by their greed. Nothing new there. 😢

Mac mini m2 pro or i mac m3 ( for graphic designer - video editor ) !! Suggestions please

Great video, as always.

Hey! Thanks a ton for this - a great “real life” perspective the techies look over.

I do have a question for you:

I want to upgrade my 2014 MacBook Pro, it’s got the 2.2GHz Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM and 256GB. It’s been almost (10) years and while it really has no problems - outside of space on the hard drive - it works great. I suppose it does feel a bit slow at times, but nothing that feels like I’m losing time. That said, I live abroad and will be in the US in January, I figure I should upgrade just to be sure I’m not left high and dry internationally.

I’ve watched a million videos in these new M3 chips, but have specifically been trying to figure out if I need to upgrade to 16GB of memory. While you make the same comment everybody else does - pathetic Apple is still offering only 8GB for their base models - you purchased one and it seems to be just fine! I understand the M3 makes up for it a bit, but it’s unclear to me if it’s sufficient. I also hear the famous “future proof” argument come up.

My current daily usage is:

(30-40) Tabs Chrome
WhatsApp
Slack
Office (Word and Excel)
Google Drive

My question is: Is 8GB enough? And will it age well? As you can see, I’ve used my current MacBook Pro for (10) years, I’m not swapping every 3-5 years.

Your opinion would be greatly valued!

Wanna spring for a green, 24GB of RAM, 1TB SSD, full Magic Keyboard, Mouse and Trackpad. It’s gonna cost about $2,600 though…😫

I’m just wondering if that would be enough for music production.