I’d be very interested to see if they bring back ‘target display’ with the M1 iMac - I’d love to use it as a display for my M1 Mac Mini or even my intel MBP 
Edit: it seems this theory has been squished 
Also hoping that center stage is a vast improvement. I basically won’t use video on Zoom calls when working on iPad because the angle is so poor.
I’m not sure why a 24” screen size would preclude fast Ethernet needs.
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Which imac had a “wall wart?” My 2011 had neither. The external power supply is a step back. This solution to the bulimic obsession with desktop thickness is in conflict with apple’s other (and more effective) obsession with clutter. Having one simple wire of any kind was such a clean and modern response to the standard “behind the scenes” rat’s nest. It fit in nicely with the spartan, Scandinavian work area design. It’s quite easy to route and hide a single unencumbered wire. The “wire wart” doesn’t help, and arguably adds a couple more points of failure where the wire flexes against the brick, not to mention a hiding spot to keep it out of sight. Sure, Bricks and “warts” have their place — for lightening laptops.
But, since I have overall been pleased with my imac experience, and my current reliable workhorse 27” has reached its limit of updatability, I will be shopping the as-of-yet unreleased replacement for the 27” and dealing with the brick, assuming it follows the design language / brand identity of its little sibling, though not without a bit of disappointment.
Me personally, of course.
Absolutely this. They almost said as much during the keynote: if these computers have colors, it’s because “in many rooms, the first thing you see is their backs”.
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Even if you are NOT on a budget, the new M1 Mac Mini with 16 GB might be a better option if you have to work with it for many hours per day. I do not want to to do without my external display that can be adjusted in every angle and even up and down. Ergonomics is important.
I went the “cheap” route with a nice LG display. But then again, Apple’s Pro Display XDR works with a Mac Mini, too. 
That’s true, but how much computer do you need to run a browser and an email client? Entry level 21.5 iMacs was all our sales and customer support teams needed to do their jobs. In fact a ChromeBox attached to a 24 in Dell monitor performed the job just as well.
The only people who really needed a powerful Mac were our graphic artists. Even our number crunchers who worked in Excel all day rarely used 20% of the capacity of their 27" iMacs. They just needed/wanted a big screen.
And I learned a long time ago to take care of those that approve purchase orders and those that pay the bills. 
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I get that the small iMac has always been more limited. Which is kind of a shame, as anything that doesn’t require more internal space or a different design (I wouldn’t think 10Gb Ethernet would need much more space / cost for the chipset?) would make it a much more general-purpose machine.
It’s obviously not a limitation of the M1, as the Mini allows for it.
At least they’ve limited it to Gigabit across the entire lower end of the line and not just tucked 10Gb away into the more expensive one - although to get the adapter with Ethernet bundled in you currently do have to either buy the more expensive one or upgrade at checkout, apparently.
That seems to be part of Apple’s thinking for putting the brick at the end of the cable and putting Ethernet on the brick. It’s one less wire to route to the computer itself, which is what you see on a day-to-day basis. I’m having a hard time imagining how the little brick will make cable management that much more difficult.
And in particular, I’m questioning whether the wear on the cable at the brick will be a big deal as the issue with other cables of the type seems to be due to it moving in and out of bags all the time. So unless you’re constantly packing up and moving your iMac, is it really a big issue?
Agree 100%. I have a 2018 Mini with 32GB of RAM and 1 TB, and I use it with my 40" display. My 2012 Mini with 16GB of RAM and 1 TB (SSD, upgraded by me) is right next to it on the desk - and I can effectively navigate both using Screen Sharing with very little desktop footprint.
If I got an iMac I’d get the variant with a VESA mount. Still wouldn’t be exactly what I’d want, but that would at least allow for the different mounting.
And the 24" is still available with VESA, although seemingly at a bit of a premium:
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Guys, there is a very simple reason with the Ethernet connector is on the power brick. It’s sold as an innovation (and why not) but the true reason is, it’s simply too deep to be fitted on a 1cm thick computer. 
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Just admit it already. You’re Pat Gelsinger.
Maybe when you’re in a tiny kitchen or something like that? Certain places can be cramped.
Not even compatible with Macs that have the T1 chip or the T2 chip? Bummer!
I’m not sure. We will have to wait and see.
Why does the average consumer (the target market of the 24" iMac) need that?
The average home user doesn’t need ten whole gigabits. Anything over a single gigabit is overkill for most people.
Hmmm… 
Hey, at least Safari is snappier now!
To me, it feels more like they designed the new iMac, then try to figure out what they can strip out to push people to the higher priced model later.
I want to believe that a company that released two years ago the “trucks” iMac Pro and insanely expandable (and expensive) Mac Pro, with a public apology that they took their eyes off the ball, has learned that lesson. We have only seen consumer devices. I think they know high-end iMacs are also used in pro environments and that’s a different set of needs.
This is a computer for open space offices working on browsers + Office, front desks, my doctor, students and families… Plenty of use cases. The very name of that forum, though, makes us by definition outside of them.
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And this is exactly why I do not listen to ATP.
This is family computer. This is a computer for my Mom and Dad, for instance. Not for me, not for us. And it’s fine.
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Well this didn’t age well… 
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Do I have to shave my eyebrows?
On an unrelated note, the iMac is definitely geared towards home users. The marketing made that pretty clear.
I agree 100%.
Personally, I have nitpicky preferences about keyboards, screen size, and lots of other things where this iMac doesn’t necessarily hit the sweet spot.
But if my dad, who currently uses a Mac Mini and a cheapo Best Buy keyboard/mouse, wanted a new computer because his Mini just dropped off the edge for software updates? If he were potentially interested in “all in one” I’d just about recommend the new iMac.
Everything about it is leagues ahead of what he already has.
About my only hesitation would be that I think he has a couple of USB A peripherals that might require an adapter and/or dock to work.
But other than that one thing, I can’t imagine not recommending this.
The thing that I think will probably hurt sales of the new iMac doesn’t have anything to do with the quality / usability of the computer. I just think that the average person is more interested in portability, so they’d be far more likely to grab something like the Macbook Air.
The “I’m okay with sitting at a desk to do my work” crowd is diminishing more and more, especially now that we’re working from home more than we used to. And I think demand / sales will reflect that.
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Oh, come on. There are thousands of open spaces and welcome desks in offices that will absolutely love this.