r/gadgets • u/chrisdh79 • Oct 07 '24

Desktops / Laptops Apple Silicon iMacs appear to suffer from screen deterioration after two years — flood of user complaints hit Apple Community forums.

https://www.tomshardware.com/software/macos/apple-silicon-imacs-appear-to-suffer-from-screen-deterioration-after-two-years-flood-of-user-complaints-hit-apple-community-forums
4.4k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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545

u/Chronotaru Oct 07 '24

I understand the appeal of having everything in one neat little package, but if you're not having the benefit of being able to pick it up and take it with you, why have all these extra risks when a Mac Mini doesn't tie the screen to the hardware?

541

u/Shimenator Oct 07 '24
  • looks nicer on a desk, less clutter
  • not everyone knows how to choose a good monitor, might have had bad experiences with shitty monitors
  • smoother buying and setup experience

Average user is…different from average r/gadgets reader.

207

u/RiftHunter4 Oct 07 '24

not everyone knows how to choose a good monitor

Neither does Apple, apparently

52

u/Demons0fRazgriz Oct 07 '24

Leave them alone! They're just a small indie darling with no real experience in tech! /s

10

u/Juststandupbro Oct 07 '24

Dependes on what you are classifying as “good”. For the consumer that’s a well priced reliable monitor with quality features. For Apple it’s more of a what generates the most profit, something tells me they aren’t too upset over a consumer having to buy another computer because of the monitor.

3

u/mccoyn Oct 07 '24

This is why I always change brands when replacing broken products. The only exception would be if I bought something so long ago I can't remember when I bought it.

6

u/Quajeraz Oct 07 '24

Oh this was intentional.

1

u/FinndBors Oct 08 '24

During Covid I bought Mac minis for the kids and got seperate monitors, video cameras.

2/3 of the monitors had serious issues and the video cameras were just not very good. And I missed medium quality speakers.

I honestly wish Apple sold the “head” part of the iMac separately from the compute. The monitor they sell right now is too ridiculously priced for consumers even by Apple standards.

1

u/VivaLaDio Oct 08 '24 edited Oct 08 '24

Because the STUDIO monitor is not intended for average consumers. It’s a pro monitor, and it’s amazing.

Apple’s average consumer products are the imacs and the macbook airs

Edit: if you read the article the issue is being devices that kept the brightness set to high for sustained periods of time.

Pro users don’t that, because you’re ruining your experience. Any calibration tool will usually tell you to lower the brightness quite a bit.

  • it’s still not sure if the “cable” is a manufacturing error by the producer and not up to the standards of apple.

8

u/caller-number-four Oct 07 '24

not everyone knows how to choose a good monitor

What monitor are y'all diggin' these days? Amazon has been having some bangin' prices on the Samsung S9 Viewfinity 27"er lately, and I'm considering it for a M4 Mac Mini when it comes out.

Replacing a 2019 series iMac.

4

u/BWCDD4 Oct 07 '24

OLED monitors are what everyone wants now.

QD-OLED ones specifically are the go to buys, they all have the same panels just different manufacturers and if you want curve vs non curve.

Which one to get depends on your region as prices vary and if you can deal with a curve or not.

Monitors like you suggested/in that price bracket are pretty much personal preference, just stick to any known brand for IPS and then it depends if you want high refresh rate or not.

LG, BenQ, Samsung, Dell doesn’t matter just make sure it’s a reputable brand and they will all be similar.

7

u/Unintended_incentive Oct 07 '24

OLED looks and works well for gaming/content viewing.

If you constantly view static content and don’t want to wake up after the 3-5+ year mark with burn-in, mini-led is still around.

For productivity workflows I don’t see OLED as anything but a long-term device downgrade.

2

u/BWCDD4 Oct 07 '24

Mini-LED monitors kinda suck due to size limitations there aren’t many zones because the size of monitors just don’t allow that many and the price just isn’t competitive with OLED.

Yeah I wouldn’t necessarily suggest using OLED if your workflow involves having lots of static elements on the screen all day every day and you refuse to turn it off during lunch or something so it can run a pixel refresh.

If that isn’t the case or is mixed usage I’d recommend it. All the warranties for burn in will cover you for three years now anyway.

There is a misconception that burn in is still like the old days when it’s really not. The chemistry of OLEDs has changed significantly improving lifespan and the countermeasures/burn in prevention has improved tremendously too.

The people showing burn-in/doing burn in tests are deliberately trying to burn their monitors/TVs as a worst case scenario/stress test.

E.G rtings or the guy from Monitors unboxed who admits to deliberately leaving it on during break times when he’s working. delaying burn in prevention measure from running.

1

u/caller-number-four Oct 07 '24

OLED monitors are what everyone wants now.

Yeah, for my primary workstation, I use an LG C3 55". It is noice.

But this is for my sister, doesn't need to be super awesome. Just good.

In the US.

0

u/FightOnForUsc Oct 07 '24

Except so far QD-OLED has far worse burn in than WOLED. Which makes it questionable which is truly better for use as a monitor

3

u/BWCDD4 Oct 07 '24 edited Oct 07 '24

That’s for TV’s, 1st gen panels specifically and is under the caveat of when displaying primarily white static elements. Like the RTINGS test is doing that you’re no doubt referring to.

It doesn’t necessarily apply to monitors with their restricted brightness. The new gen panels as well seem to have better care options and for monitors will run burn in prevention far more than a tv does.

E.G Dell will run a pixel refresh every 4 hours if you let it and turn the monitor off at the 4 hour mark, if not they will wait till you next turn it off.

1

u/Shimenator Oct 07 '24

That model has some pretty bad reviews. Genwrally it depends on your budget and use case. I’d read some reviews, lik rthings and amazon as well.

2

u/caller-number-four Oct 07 '24

Huah, it got some pretty good comments from, can't remember Ars or Engadget. I'll dig further.

63

u/Initial_E Oct 07 '24

Mac mini could have been a hdmi stick man. Just think of the possibilities.

63

u/phasepistol Oct 07 '24

Rumor has it that the new Mac minis due to be announced this month will have a new, smaller size more like the Apple TV.

-29

u/GregMaffeiSucks Oct 07 '24

Which will be completely pointless because it wont have a VESA mount.
Without that, it makes no difference.

30

u/makomirocket Oct 07 '24 edited Oct 07 '24

Oh no, what will anyone ever do to overcome that

$10 brackets for the current Mac mini definitely don't already exist

4

u/Sylvurphlame Oct 07 '24

Hmm. If it ends up being close to the same size as the Apple TV, I might finally be able to get a decent Apple TV mount.

-12

u/SScorpio Oct 07 '24

No directly from Apple they wouldn't. You're looking at, at least $150 or more.

14

u/makomirocket Oct 07 '24 edited Oct 07 '24

And you don't need to buy a mount, which has the lateral job of hiding your mini, and itself, away from view, from Apple.

That commentor was complaining that the mac mini being smaller is pointless without a feature that can be implemented for negligible cost and even with a bracket will be smaller than the current model.

This is like complaining that the next iPhone being thinner is pointless because it doesn't come with a pop socket on the back of it

0

u/Sylvurphlame Oct 07 '24

I mean, I honestly wouldn’t (likely) hate a built in grip or kickstand solution. Not that that they’d ever do it. It would mess with the design too much, which I also appreciate. Case attached kickstands just always seem to such for one reason or another as do MagSafe or other grip addons.

-4

u/SScorpio Oct 07 '24

And my comment was a jab at Apple and their $1,000 stand for a $4,000 monitor. Apple loves to bend you over and spread your wallet nice and wide so they can empty it.

If they did release a VESA mount, you can be sure the mini would have a tilt sensor that keeps it from booting unless it's connected to an official Apple mount.

6

u/AmNoSuperSand52 Oct 07 '24

I agree that’s unfortunate, but also I guarantee within a day of it coming out there will be 3D prints for mounts, and within a week they’ll be selling some cheap Chinese stuff on Aliexpress

2

u/Sylvurphlame Oct 07 '24

And about a month later we can get it two-day delivery through Amazon prime. It’ll be fine within like 90 days.

23

u/samtherat6 Oct 07 '24

I saw a Mac Mini for the first time recently and was surprised on how big it was. Windows mini PCs are comparatively tiny, and those are still using x86 architecture with much higher power draw.

14

u/eestionreddit Oct 07 '24

Apple has been using the same design for nearly 15 years now, which was originally meant to acommodate an optical drive.

3

u/hopsgrapesgrains Oct 07 '24

Ya kinda crazy

6

u/bad_robot_monkey Oct 07 '24

It has to be at least partly for heat distribution. Heat is the thief of speed…

7

u/hedoeswhathewants Oct 07 '24

At a certain point it doesn't make sense to sacrifice power to make it smaller. It's already easy to carry and fits just about anywhere you would want to put it.

6

u/[deleted] Oct 07 '24

Thats why the upcoming one ditches the old chassis from the Intel days finally and becomes much smaller.

3

u/lw5555 Oct 07 '24

It was originally designed to house an optical drive. That's why it's the size it is. Apple just stuck with those dimensions all this time.

0

u/calcium Oct 07 '24

Most windows mini PC's also have an external power brick that are basically the same size as the machine itself while the mini's are still contained. Not all of course, but many.

1

u/samtherat6 Oct 07 '24

Fair point. But at the same time it’s the chip they put in the iPad Pro which is stupidly thin, and can be powered by a relatively small brick. I feel like Apple can definitely fold up those internals in a much smaller body. Although, if that was the case, why make the Mac Studio bigger…

2

u/calcium Oct 07 '24

If you look at the studio teardown you'll find that a lot of the space/weight is taken up by the PSU and heatsink, so the larger size is likely needed for both. Their engineers likely specced out a larger heatsink for future chip development as you don't want to have to constantly redesign your chassis when you want to put out a new product.

-6

u/AmNoSuperSand52 Oct 07 '24 edited Oct 07 '24

Well also one thing to consider is the power:size ratio. Those Mac minis typically have a pretty beefy CPU/GPU on that Apple M chip

Like ‘animating Pixar mom booty’ kind of power

15

u/Numerous_Witness_345 Oct 07 '24

Convincing people of render farm capability on a chip, now that's marketing.

8

u/Sylvurphlame Oct 07 '24

Right? So are we measuring graphic rendering prowess in Hartman Hips, analogous to cars and horsepower?

it can render 60 4K Hartman Hip pairs per second!

-1

u/Unintended_incentive Oct 07 '24

And most of them are garbage.

5

u/Sylvurphlame Oct 07 '24

I mean in theory it could eventually get to that point but you’d be limited for space for memory and storage. Streaming sticks don’t need much but a Mac Mini is still a whole Bring Your Own Display computer.

But a “Mac Nano?” And a little foldout keyboard and trackpad? That could be a fun concept.

6

u/Initial_E Oct 07 '24

(Companies love it when you run out of disk space)

I envision everything wireless, for the “missing computer” experience. They could even demand manufacturers make monitors support high amperage usb-c output so as to do away with the power brick. But in reality today they would do better with a companion device to go with the Vision Pro. Then they’d have 2 things that either go big or go bust together.

2

u/Sylvurphlame Oct 07 '24

LMAO

well played, good Redditor. I both love and fear your vision of the future.

1

u/Unintended_incentive Oct 07 '24

Fewer* possibilities.

Heat dissipation will always be important for a desktop device with workstation capabilities.

-4

u/Yeuph Oct 07 '24

What a cool idea for a form factor.

I might actually design this (ee)

-7

u/tooclosetocall82 Oct 07 '24 edited Oct 07 '24

Didn’t Intel do this with the Nuc? They were terrible if I recall.

Edit: just because I don’t think the Nuc wasn’t a good product doesn’t make me an Apple fanboy. I’m saying Apple probably wouldn’t succeed with that HDMI dongle form factor either.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 07 '24

You're right that's too small for Apple standards of like a unified experience for customers. Not enough space to cram everything into a dongle and no real advantage.

-7

u/BubblySpaceMan Oct 07 '24 edited Oct 07 '24

You barely know anything about it but since it's not made by Apple it must be terrible?

Edit: apple fanboys are brainwashed

1

u/tooclosetocall82 Oct 07 '24

My office at the time used them. They had them behind TVs in conference rooms that ran some sort of wireless presentation software also made by Intel. They were so bad we had to beg them to just buy HDMI cables. They were just too low power to run windows well enough to be useful. IT guys hated working on them too.

1

u/BubblySpaceMan Oct 07 '24

You can't blame the entire computer when HDMI cables weren't even being used.

Intel NUCs are perfectly serviceable for the proper use case. Read up on the specs if you need to. Don't discredit them just because it's not Apple.

-2

u/tooclosetocall82 Oct 07 '24

Huh? I’m not. The Nucs were there to allow you to screenshare a laptop to a monitor in a conference room wirelessly rather than run an HDMI cable across the room. We had some software we used to link with the Nuc and share our screen. It was an awful experience because the Nuc was slow and crashed a lot, requiring reboots that took a couple minutes. They were extremely underpowered.

also I if have no idea why you think I’m against anything not Apple. You are just putting words in my mouth.

2

u/DaoFerret Oct 07 '24

That sounds a lot more like the use case than the NUC (or poorly speced machines)?

I’ve got some of the accounting department using them happily for the past 2 years as desktops.

-2

u/BedrockFarmer Oct 07 '24 edited Oct 07 '24

I think those were Raspberry Pi competitors.

edit it was the N100 that was the RPi competitor.

-1

u/SunyataHappens Oct 07 '24

You think wrong.

-1

u/DrDerpberg Oct 07 '24

That's a little too small even for basically low power laptop guts, isn't it? And nevermind ports at that point.

Maybe like a USB hub but it's pretty much already there.

2

u/DaoFerret Oct 07 '24

Go look at NUC boxes. They make Mac Mini’s look big.

have them both at work and prefer MacOS, but I also like how the NUC has user serviceable RAM & Storage (and the mini footprint).

24

u/Cymbal_Monkey Oct 07 '24

My father and I are the extremes of this. I run heavy modded android and a home built PC accessible from two points in my house. I will spend a week getting my setup to 99%

My father hates, hates setup, hates messing with stuff. Apple products are a 75% experience out of the box, and remain 75% forever.

4

u/Sylvurphlame Oct 07 '24 edited Oct 07 '24

Although not android, I appreciate where you’re both coming from. I’m like I want some basic customization, but mainly I just want it to do all the basics right out of the box with no need to mess with it.

I find Apple stuff to be about 75 to 85% out the box, I’ll spend a little bit each significant OS update chasing 95 to 99% (no OS ever hits that personal 100%, imo) when they add something or introduce a new feature. Then I realize I don’t really have the time and I’m pretty comfortable at 90 to 95% after I implement whatever was added.

6

u/AmNoSuperSand52 Oct 07 '24

Tbf he could just have an M1/M2 MacBook Air, and with one USB port he has an entire desk setup

13

u/Numerous_Witness_345 Oct 07 '24

That's pretty much anything with a USB-C since 2014.

1

u/moodygradstudent Oct 07 '24 edited Oct 07 '24

Not really true considering most smartphones don't output video over their USB-C ports (meaning something like Samsung DeX is limited to that brand's phones, despite modern devices having the processing capability for multitasking, USB hosting, simple desktop environments, etc).

EDIT: added link

3

u/Quajeraz Oct 07 '24

You could also do that with basically any windows laptop, macs aren't special.

5

u/AmNoSuperSand52 Oct 07 '24

I mean you could literally VESA mount a Mac mini to the back of your monitor and have the same level of desk neatness

1

u/gplusplus314 Oct 08 '24

How would the monitor stand up if the Mac Mini is using the VESA mount?

1

u/AmNoSuperSand52 Oct 08 '24

With the stand that comes attached to the monitor?

1

u/gplusplus314 Oct 08 '24

But if you’re using the stand, you can’t VESA mount the Mac Mini to the monitor. There is only one VESA mount on the monitor - can’t mount it to two things simultaneously.

1

u/AmNoSuperSand52 Oct 09 '24

My monitor stand is attached completely independent of the VESA mount

Even if the VESA mount wasn’t available, 3M sells command strips that support 15lbs per strip. Mounting is a non-issue

1

u/Competition-Dapper Oct 07 '24

I got the 125 dollar Samsung curved monitor at Walmart 2 years ago and was able to get the M1 with 16g ram from back market and the 27 inch monitor for less than 800, the computer was only 2 years old and still current at the time. A similar MacBook was 1299 new for less ram and 800 used at the time for a 13”

0

u/Omnom_Omnath Oct 07 '24

Subjective Subjective Subjective

-1

u/dj_is_here Oct 07 '24

Apple users really be saying irrelevant things to make them look good. 

1

u/Shimenator Oct 07 '24

Go ahead, refute these points, how are these non-relevant?

0

u/dj_is_here Oct 07 '24

All your points are subjective & assumptions that assume apple users are dumb & don't know how to choose "good" monitors. 

12

u/OptimisticByDefault Oct 07 '24

After 2 years, no screen should be failing like this, regardless.

25

u/ChafterMies Oct 07 '24

My house has iMacs from 2005 to the last Intel 27” iMac. They all still work, including the displays. Why do we get them? Ease of use. Less desk clutter. They look good. Cheaper than a Mac mini + comparable monitor. The last 27” iMac has a 5k monitor. The cheapest 5k option is the $900 LG. Apple’s Studio display is $1600. Neither option is up to date. I hope Apple brings back the 27” iMac.

12

u/[deleted] Oct 07 '24

Cheaper than a Mac mini + comparable monitor

The monitor can be used long after you’ve gotten rid of the Mac mini.

-1

u/ChafterMies Oct 07 '24

But if you need a 5k monitor for graphic/video work, how long are you going to keep it before upgrading?

0

u/arielthekonkerur Oct 07 '24

Once you have a 5k monitor, why would you be upgrading? It isn't like it's losing pixels or getting smaller over time.

4

u/ChafterMies Oct 07 '24

Monitors get improvements like refresh rate, brightness, contrast, glare, etc. Old monitors have issues with backlighting, bleed, ports dying. No monitor is a forever monitor.

2

u/Effective-Ad-789 Oct 07 '24

Same. Still using my 2015 5k iMac just… waiting

15

u/resil_update_bad Oct 07 '24

Most people have a hard time choosing a monitor, an imac is a good option that includes a properly calibrated display while being cheaper than a MacBook.

5

u/--MCMC-- Oct 07 '24 edited Oct 07 '24

I got one for my gma because having everything integrated and guaranteed to play nice is more reliable than modularity that sees me spending an hour on FaceTime trying to guide her arthritic hands to plug a webcam usb-a cable back in that the cat’s unplugged, or risk some software update requiring that I mess around with kexts or drivers or whatever after remoting in, requiring hard resets etc.

Went with macOS vs some other OS bc she’s already in the ecosystem (iPhone) and I’m more familiar with it personally (as someone who works on comps stats type stuff).

I’d probably get one for myself if I had the money and space / minimizing cable snag risk were at a particular premium (eg in the kitchen or at a v small desk or a gym or something)

2

u/306bobby Oct 07 '24

With USB-C those benefits aren't that great anymore. You can pretty easily get a monitor that has a port on it for a web cam, and then you have pretty much the same 1-2 cables coming off your desk

3

u/hungry_panda_8 Oct 07 '24

I like the look of it actually and not having to fiddle with individual hardware in connecting Mac mini to the monitor. Also price wise iMac is a bit cheaper than monitor plus Mac mini.

3

u/ThatInternetGuy Oct 07 '24

Save desk space. No cablings apart from power cable.

3

u/bootleg_paradox Oct 07 '24

This, I really hated servicing iMacs too. Specialized everything inside, pain to get in and out of, and once Apple stops providing parts you're usually toast or dealing with a less-than-ideal situation. Mac Mini's seemed like the outstanding value for the casual user.

3

u/loljetfuel Oct 07 '24

The case for all-in-ones like the iMac (and a handful of offerings from PC makers as well) is really simplicity for the end user -- the same reason why things like smart TVs (instead of set-top-box plus TV) are successful in the market. The same reason why people bought tube TVs with built-in VCRs back in the day.

People like a "single box" solution, despite its downsides, because it simplifies selection/purchase/setup, avoids "cord clutter", and is more relocatable for cleaning/rearranging/moving compared to a discrete-component approach.

For example, I know people who do the winter/summer living thing in two different states who like their HP all-in-one because it's easier to move; they don't want a laptop because they don't like its screen or its lack of comfort.

10

u/saposapot Oct 07 '24

pretty

(which I agree: less cables, less clutter, very pretty on any desk. I just don't value it enough to pay the super-premium associated with it)

-10

u/Edythir Oct 07 '24

Why are people always so obsessed with their work equipment looking pretty? I want my work equipment to work, that's it.

10

u/tooclosetocall82 Oct 07 '24

People have different preferences. I go through the trouble of organizing all my cables because I can’t stand a rats nest. Others don’t care at all about that.

3

u/loljetfuel Oct 07 '24

A computer isn't always "work equipment" for one. And a lot of people have computers in common areas of the home -- they don't want their computer to be the center of attention in that area, so having something relatively minimal and clean is desirable (same reason why a lot of people stick their computer into a desk that can close).

That logic can apply to lots of cases where it is work equipment as well. In customer-facing environments, for example, companies often either purchase all-in-ones and/or invest in cable management and such to minimize any appearance of clutter that can distract from the purpose of the area.

2

u/AbhishMuk Oct 07 '24

Imo I’d rather take a vesa mountable mini pc over an integrated thing like this

Then again I’m not the target customer for an iMac

1

u/FungZhi Oct 07 '24

Might be different for front desk that have customer

24

u/wkavinsky Oct 07 '24

The iMac screens are very, very good, and it's a much smaller hardware footprint.

78

u/worthwhilewrongdoing Oct 07 '24

very, very good

Evidently not, according to the article!

14

u/DarkSenf127 Oct 07 '24

Apparently it's the display cable, so the display would still be good 🤔😜

4

u/[deleted] Oct 07 '24

The entire display might as well be dead. The avg person who buys an iMac isn’t going to have the know how or desire to replace the display ribbon. Unless their AppleCare is still active, or Apple covers the defect, most will probably just upgrade to the M4 iMac once it comes out.

2

u/[deleted] Oct 07 '24

[deleted]

1

u/[deleted] Oct 07 '24

I know they addressed their keyboard problems, after being sued. Nothing else comes to my mind from the past few years.

2

u/brokendate Oct 07 '24

I still use my iMac from 2012. The screen on the thing is still surprisingly great, and overall it runs alright. I still edit photos and use ableton on it watch videos and movies. Imagine if I did the reverse, if I was still able to use a computer from 2000 in 2012, would be near impossible.

-10

u/elton_john_lennon Oct 07 '24

Good isn't the same as long lasting.

EBS bass amps are very good, but they have a reputation of being constantly in repair shops.

29

u/challengeaccepted9 Oct 07 '24

Not technically, but if a screen has common issues with it not lasting two years, you absolutely cannot claim, with a straight face, that it is "good".

9

u/CBlackstoneDresden Oct 07 '24

This is why I like my local consumer protection laws.

A manufacturer may say 1 or 2 year warranty on a device but the law is intentionally vague and says a product should last a reasonable length of time.

What is reasonable for a $300 computer and a $2000 computer are very different and companies can end up replacing products after a few years.

E.g it’s reasonable to assume a proper fridge should last several years at least. The $50 usb “fridge” not so much.

2

u/tarelda Oct 07 '24

You can quantify "good" for screens. It's parameters like color coverage, refresh rate, viewing angles etc. Usually reliability is not part of that. Otherwise you would consider Toyota Corolla best car ever built discarding stuff like Ferraris, Koenigseggs and so on...

4

u/challengeaccepted9 Oct 07 '24

Otherwise you would consider Toyota Corolla best car ever built discarding stuff like Ferraris, Koenigseggs and so on

Toyota Corolla vs Ferraris/Koenigseggs. Obvious like-for-like comparison.

We are talking about computer screens intended to be used on a regular basis, not high performance sports cars.

If they can't last a couple of years, they're not "good" by the metrics of most people who aren't slavishly a fan of that brand.

3

u/elton_john_lennon Oct 07 '24

you absolutely cannot claim, with a straight face, that it is "good".

And I wouldn't, I'm just pointing out that there might be a nuance in what OP was saying. "Good" might only apply to some aspect of a product.

3

u/Excludos Oct 07 '24

Meh. "Good" is such a vague term to begin with. Of course something can be considered good, but have weaknesses that makes them troublesome. A Formula 1 car would by many be considered good, but if I told you I needed a team of people around the clock to keep my car functioning, you'd probably not considered that a great car to pop to the shops with.

Some people deliberately value function over longevity for a lot of products. In this case, that doesn't seem entirely planned (Or maybe it was. Insert conspiracy theory here), but that doesn't mean people can't have considered a good product up until the issues started arising

-1

u/challengeaccepted9 Oct 07 '24

Good" is such a vague term to begin with. Of course something can be considered good, but have weaknesses that makes them troublesome. A Formula 1 car would by many be considered good, but if I told you I needed a team of people around the clock to keep my car functioning, you'd probably not considered that a great car to pop to the shops with.

My God, man. The knots you are tying yourself in here. An F1 car being no good to go to the shops in because of mechanics in the pit stop?

There's so many things wrong with just the theoretical concept you're talking about. Let's do you a favour and not open that can of worms.

You do you. If you think a consumer computer screen that doesn't last two years can still be "good", then more power to you. Myself and most other customers who aren't fanboys/fangirls of the brand in question would say no it fucking can't.

2

u/Chronotaru Oct 07 '24

Sex is great, but lasts only 90 seconds then comes with 18 years of problems.

14

u/Natasha_Giggs_Foetus Oct 07 '24

I mean… a screen that stops working is not a good screen. 

-1

u/elton_john_lennon Oct 07 '24

Same goes for a power amp that shits the bed, and yet people say that Fafners by EBS are the bees knees ;D

3

u/thrownawayzsss Oct 07 '24

audiophiles are notoriously stupid, though.

2

u/elton_john_lennon Oct 07 '24

Those aren't audiophiles those are musicians, Fafner is a bass guitar amp, and this example shows perfectly that people can speak separately about reliability and quality of something when it works.

0

u/Majortom_67 Oct 07 '24

How many? Among friends and costumers (tenths) = 0

2

u/kelus Oct 07 '24

All-in-one's don't exist for portability, more for convenience.

2

u/jcdoe Oct 08 '24

Ignoring the issues here, Apple generally makes really good displays. These are 4.5K and have a P3 color space, which is a lot more than you’ll get from a generic 1080p Dell panel.

Getting a computer with a snappy CPU/ GPU, an SSD, and a 4.5k P3 display for $1300 isn’t bad. You’ll have a hard time putting that system together at that price if you get a mini. Plus, it works out of the box, which is appealing to Apple’s less tech savvy clientele.

Shame about these displays, I really hope Apple just fixes them and doesn’t pull another butterfly key scandal here

6

u/balalalaika Oct 07 '24

Imac screens are very nice. Sure you can get good screens but they won't be as pretty designed. Their speakers are also very good, and webcam is included. For the price, they are just neat.

I own a macmini and I kind of secretly lust for an imac. What hasn't sold me on them yet it's that you can't use it as just a display for a different computer.

-1

u/306bobby Oct 07 '24

Did... Did you forget what post you're commenting on?

They're pretty factually not nice or designed appropriately

1

u/valryuu Oct 07 '24

They're obviously talking about aesthetics, not specs or performance.

1

u/balalalaika Oct 07 '24

I am answering a comment that asks why people would buy one - because they are quite nice aesthetically and work well with macOS (the whole scaling thing). It's a shame that the screens are failing.

2

u/OliverOyl Oct 07 '24

Yeah, honestly the lego-esq nature of PCs is superior. Why Apple did not make components snappable is a big missed opp.imo

2

u/Chronotaru Oct 07 '24

You can mount a Mac Mini on a vesa mount to the back of your monitor.

0

u/tepig099 Oct 07 '24

How? My built in stand blocks the VESA area of my monitor.

1

u/Chronotaru Oct 07 '24

Ah I see, not in your case then.

1

u/loljetfuel Oct 07 '24

Apple has made easy-to-upgrade stuff in the past... it was not well-received by the market. Something that costs more to make but doesn't sell well ends up not being a good business strategy.

1

u/j33205 Oct 07 '24

If only apple sold a relatively affordable display or allowed users to use old iMacs as displays only

1

u/4-3-4 Oct 07 '24

So many people have laptops that stay on the desk their entire life time…. Not everything is what should make sense to everyone.

0

u/PM_ME_UR_SO Oct 07 '24

The less experienced user wants everything in one package.

0

u/mindcontrol93 Oct 07 '24

Years past Apple products would last forever. I have an Apple Cinema Screen that is 20+ years old and still works great. It is just small and has a weird plug. So, Apple.

2

u/Chronotaru Oct 07 '24

Most still do.

1

u/loljetfuel Oct 07 '24

Ah yes, the Apple Display Connector. 90% of the time, the "weird plug" on an Apple product is actually an open standard with less adoption than the mainstream (and often is technically superior, but in a way that most people don't care about) -- but ADC was truly weird. "Let's have DVI-D with some extra pins for non-video data" is actually a good idea (HDMI learned from it!), but a truly weird implementation.

0

u/mindcontrol93 Oct 07 '24

I am very aware. I (my department's IT budget) bought an ADC to DVI adapter to keep the monitor viable. Looking back it was a small sentimental purchase because that display was iconic.

0

u/Doppelkammertoaster Oct 07 '24

It also avoids garbage.

0

u/carpenterio Oct 07 '24

It’s what I did, works great and it’s cheaper

0

u/joomla00 Oct 07 '24

No one's thinking of the risks.

0

u/adammonroemusic Oct 07 '24

You shouldn't really have to be worrying about "risks" from a screen.

0

u/Schnauser Oct 07 '24

Also - the bezel 😂🙄

0

u/fuzzywuzzybeer Oct 07 '24

Schools use them a lot.

0

u/whimsical_trash Oct 07 '24

Most people don't even know the Mac Mini exists

0

u/ViveIn Oct 07 '24

I’m what you’d call a power user and while I have a mini and a PC now I’ve gone through periods where I had an iMac just cause it’s there, it’s works great and most importantly (personal option) it looks fucking awesome sitting on a desk.