Monday, December 9, 2024
MacOpinions

Apple makes another what-were-they-thinking decision in its options for ordering accessories with the M4 iMac

Apple makes another what-were-they-thinking decision in its options for ordering accessories with the M4 iMac.

Apple’s M4 iMac is available for pre-order ahead of its arrival this Friday, and with accessories with USB-C rather than Lightning ports for charging. However, Apple has made a dumb decision when it comes to purchase options for buyers. 

With the M4-equipped all-in-one, you can no longer get both the Magic Trackpad and Magic Mouse. You have to choose one or the other. As 9to5Mac notes, here’s why this matters: 

Apple does sell each accessory as standalone purchases, but importantly, not in the color-matched variants that the iMacs include.

This means that if you want a trio of color-matched Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse, and Magic Trackpad, you’re simply out of luck.

Buying a Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad separately will limit you to the standard black and white color options. Thus, your accessories won’t match.

It’s unclear why Apple made this change, aside from just trying to simplify the iMac purchase process. But it’s an unfortunate move for users who enjoy switching between a trackpad and mouse in their daily computing.

This is a dumb move by Apple. If I were purchasing a M4 iMac (I’m not, I’m going with a 16-inch M4 MacBook Pro), I’d spring for all three accessories — the Magic Mouse, Magic Trackpad, and Magic Keyboard. And I’d want all in the same hue as the colorway of my iMac.

Usually, Apple makes clever, logical changes to its product line. This isn’t one of them; instead, it’s another what-were-they-thinking move like leaving the charging port on the bottom of the Magic Mouse.

The new iMac is available to pre-order today, with availability beginning Friday, November 8. Pricing starts at US$1,299 and $1,249 for education.

The new iMac features an 8-core CPU, an 8-core GPU, 16GB of unified memory configurable up to 24GB, 256GB SSD configurable up to 1TB, two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports, Magic Keyboard, and Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad.

An iMac with a 10-core CPU and 10-core GPU starts at US$1,499 and $1,399 for education. It features 16GB of unified memory configurable up to 32GB, 256GB SSD configurable up to 2TB, four Thunderbolt 4 ports, Magic Keyboard with Touch ID, and Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad.

Additional technical specifications — including the nano-texture display option, configure-to-order options, and accessories — are available at apple.com/mac. With Apple Trade In, customers can trade in their current computer and get credit toward a new Mac. Customers can visit apple.com/shop/trade-in to see what their device is worth.

Dennis Sellers
the authorDennis Sellers
Dennis Sellers is the editor/publisher of Apple World Today. He’s been an “Apple journalist” since 1995 (starting with the first big Apple news site, MacCentral). He loves to read, run, play sports, and watch movies.