Apple’s all-in-one iMac may suit many users, however, what if you like the convenience of an all-in-one, but don’t like the choices Apple ask you to make with the iMac. Well, now you have a choice thanks to the YouTube Channel Created Tech. We have the details…
In reality, the M1 Mac mini specs and the M1 iMac are very similar on the computer side. However, you are stuck with the form factor and component choices with an M1 iMac. What if you would like a different screen, keyboard, mouse or speakers.
In this video from the Created Tech channel, the core of the solution is to fit an M1 Mac mini on the back of your chosen screen, in this case, a Dell U2720Q 4K screen, which when set to 1920x1080 in the macOS Display Preferences tab, gives a very good retina-display experience as Mike found out when one of his screens failed and he chose to replace them with two LG 4K screens.
To fit the Mac mini, Created Tech used a Mac mini mount from Sabrent and some velcro strips, so that the Mac mini is completely out of the way. The way they mounted the Mac mini with the connectors at the top made it much easier to access the ports than is the case on a conventional iMac.
You can then choose your own keyboard and mouse, in this case, they selected Logic tech wireless keyboard and mouse to minimize the trailing cables and keep the desktop clear and tidy.
Although he uses headphones, you can choose your own speakers or as would be more likely in our applications, choose your own interface and use your studio monitors. But again with the solution, you aren’t paying for internal speakers in an iMac that you are never going to use.
Another advantage they point out is that if a component fails, or you would like to upgrade a component, you can just swap out the appropriate element of the rig, rather than have to get the full iMac repaired or replaced.