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expirednylarthotep posted Apr 23, 2023 02:03 PM
expirednylarthotep posted Apr 23, 2023 02:03 PM

Costco Members: Apple iMac 24", M1 Chip, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD (2021, various colors)

+ Free Shipping

$1,000

$1,450

31% off
Costco Wholesale
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Deal Details
Costco Wholesale has for Costco Members: Apple iMac 24", M1 Chip, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD (2021) on sale for $999.99. Shipping is free.

Thanks to community member nylarthotep for sharing this deal

Specs:
  • Apple M1 Octa-Core Processor (4x high-performance + 4x high-efficiency)
  • 24" 4480x2520 Retina Display
  • 8GB RAM (Unified Memory)
  • 256GB Solid State Drive
  • 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 + Bluetooth 5.0
  • 1080p FaceTime HD camera
  • Microphone (three-mic array)
  • High-fidelity six-speaker system with force-cancelling woofers
  • Magic Keyboard
  • Magic Mouse
  • Mac OS Monterey
    • Ports
      • 2x Thunderbolt / USB 4
      • 1x 3.5mm Headphone
      • 1x Ethernet
Available Colors:
  • Orange (MGPR3LL/A)
  • Yellow (MGPF3LL/A)
  • Purple (MGPP3LL/A)
  • Green (MGPH3LL/A)
  • Pink (MGPM3LL/A)

Editor's Notes

Written by qwikwit | Staff

Original Post

Written by nylarthotep
Community Notes
About the Poster
Deal Details
Community Notes
About the Poster
Costco Wholesale has for Costco Members: Apple iMac 24", M1 Chip, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD (2021) on sale for $999.99. Shipping is free.

Thanks to community member nylarthotep for sharing this deal

Specs:
  • Apple M1 Octa-Core Processor (4x high-performance + 4x high-efficiency)
  • 24" 4480x2520 Retina Display
  • 8GB RAM (Unified Memory)
  • 256GB Solid State Drive
  • 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 + Bluetooth 5.0
  • 1080p FaceTime HD camera
  • Microphone (three-mic array)
  • High-fidelity six-speaker system with force-cancelling woofers
  • Magic Keyboard
  • Magic Mouse
  • Mac OS Monterey
    • Ports
      • 2x Thunderbolt / USB 4
      • 1x 3.5mm Headphone
      • 1x Ethernet
Available Colors:
  • Orange (MGPR3LL/A)
  • Yellow (MGPF3LL/A)
  • Purple (MGPP3LL/A)
  • Green (MGPH3LL/A)
  • Pink (MGPM3LL/A)

Editor's Notes

Written by qwikwit | Staff

Original Post

Written by nylarthotep

Community Voting

Deal Score
+61
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Top Comments

PacoChed
262 Posts
84 Reputation
Depends on your needs. For this price it'd be hard to put together a comparable setup to this including a quality monitor, decent keyboard, mouse/track pad, respectable webcam and mic and speakers. This has it all in a very attractive package. Very slick.
Most likely this price is because M2 iMacs are imminent.
arpiggies
1359 Posts
173 Reputation
Hilarious to read through all the naysayer comments on the 2021 iMac.

Please, if you will, humor us all and put together a package for $1,000 that meets or beats this unit's 8 core CPU / GPU Passmark scores, SSD read/write speeds, 4.5k 100% P3 color space monitor at 218 ppi and 500 nits, WiFi speed of 760 MBit/s, two (2) Thunderbolt 3's at 40Gbps, two (2) USB 3.1 Gen 2's at 10Gbps, a 1080P webcam and microphones of this quality, and a six (6) speaker sound system that is equally as superb.

Also, don't forget the cost of a keyboard with fingerprint login and a mouse capable of multi touch input.

We will all be waiting for the cost of the i7 system or better it will take to beat this iMac at $1,000. You can try, but if you can't put the system together right here right now, well, then you simply live in a world where measurable objective criteria are meaningless.

Waiting endlessly for a link to something even marginally better in all of these metrics at $1,000 or less.

Oh, and don't worry, there will be no requirement that it be less than 10lbs or 1/2 inch thick like the iMac.

Good luck!
JustinL1
791 Posts
50 Reputation
I just feel like you're better off with a Mac mini M1 (or 2) and an external monitor (or 2).

192 Comments

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Apr 24, 2023 03:29 AM
3,410 Posts
Joined Aug 2004
trip1eXApr 24, 2023 03:29 AM
3,410 Posts
Quote from JustinL1 :
I just feel like you're better off with a Mac mini M1 (or 2) and an external monitor (or 2).
Better off cost wise.

But you don't get the all in one and super nice monitor etc. which is of course the point of the iMac.
Apr 24, 2023 03:33 AM
258 Posts
Joined Nov 2014
KeyL3475Apr 24, 2023 03:33 AM
258 Posts
Quote from StevenJ8494 :
Super tempting, but it's a hard pass for me since the specs ain't as rad compared to non-Apple alternatives. Plus, this model can only hook up one external monitor, which is a total bummer. Miss the good ol' days when I could tweak Apple devices with cheaper options on my own. Had a 256GB MacBook before, and man, I'd never doing that again! Such a drag when the storage ran out.

Exactly what I thought. I am a Mac user at home (windows and linux at work) since 2014 and like its OS being stable. But boy, this IMac should not have been made at all. It goes to landfill sooner and bad for the environment. 256Gig, eventually you need to get an external ssd sticking out at the back. 8 gig of memory is getting by but not a $1K worth.
2
Apr 24, 2023 04:16 AM
48 Posts
Joined Sep 2020
LivelyPen175Apr 24, 2023 04:16 AM
48 Posts
I have never owned a Mac so have minimal experience with MacOS but how is it possible that 8gb RAM is acceptable in this day and age? Does MacOS somehow use RAM differently? Can it play video games well? I'm just genuinely curious.
1
Apr 24, 2023 04:29 AM
249 Posts
Joined Nov 2020
MellowShoe8104Apr 24, 2023 04:29 AM
249 Posts
Quote from LivelyPen175 :
I have never owned a Mac so have minimal experience with MacOS but how is it possible that 8gb RAM is acceptable in this day and age? Does MacOS somehow use RAM differently? Can it play video games well? I'm just genuinely curious.
Yes - it uses unified RAM or memory.

Very different approach. Equivalent to 16GB of DDR5 in a windows unit.
Apr 24, 2023 04:34 AM
249 Posts
Joined Nov 2020
MellowShoe8104Apr 24, 2023 04:34 AM
249 Posts
Quote from KeyL3475 :
Exactly what I thought. I am a Mac user at home (windows and linux at work) since 2014 and like its OS being stable. But boy, this IMac should not have been made at all. It goes to landfill sooner and bad for the environment. 256Gig, eventually you need to get an external ssd sticking out at the back. 8 gig of memory is getting by but not a $1K worth.
See comment #27 and #30.

If you simply refuse to use the Cloud, or reside in a remote area, then simply get yourself a short flush mounted USB C cable and one of these babies:

https://www.amazon.com/Twelve-Sou...B09QRZ2DF3

Also, Apple 100% completely recycles their own products at zero cost to you.

Be informed.
Last edited by MellowShoe8104 April 23, 2023 at 10:58 PM.
Apr 24, 2023 05:07 AM
4,113 Posts
Joined Feb 2011
SlickTheFlipApr 24, 2023 05:07 AM
4,113 Posts
Quote from MellowShoe8104 :
That's because they are non-Apple phones with a slug of an SOC (usually Android based), and require boat loads of RAM to stay even remotely competitive with Apple processor wise.

Top tier Apple iPhone = 6GB RAM - runs circles around anything else.

IPad Pro = 8GB RAM - dominates every tablet containing more RAM. Even the lower specked iPads with 3-6GB RAM simply throttle any non-Apple tablet.

Same for iMac = 8GB RAM - beats the daylights out of most systems. You're in the $2k range on anything else to top this $999 iMac, and even then the 3rd party monitor, sound system, and camera can't compete unless you jack up to $2,500.
For video editing 8gb of ram can get a little slow, also with OS updates as the years go by it will slow down the computer. I have a 2014 Mac mini with 8gb of ram, 9 years later to buy a $1000 Mac with 8gb of ram doesn't make sense to me. I get the whole android vs apple with the ram management being better on apple devices, still, I would not buy a $1000 Mac with 8gb of ram in 2023.
1
Apr 24, 2023 05:22 AM
249 Posts
Joined Nov 2020
MellowShoe8104Apr 24, 2023 05:22 AM
249 Posts
Quote from SlickTheFlip :
For video editing 8gb of ram can get a little slow, also with OS updates as the years go by it will slow down the computer. I have a 2014 Mac mini with 8gb of ram, 9 years later to buy a $1000 Mac with 8gb of ram doesn't make sense to me. I get the whole android vs apple with the ram management being better on apple devices, still, I would not buy a $1000 Mac with 8gb of ram in 2023.
The RAM is not the bottleneck on software updates; the CPU/GPU is.

Note the 2021 M1 iMac chip decimates the Intel chips found in the $6,000 Mac Pro's.

And, the newest MacOS Ventura is blazingly faster than the prior MacOS Monterey, so, the latest software update actually dramatically improves performance.

I agree that software updates slowed down prior Intel based systems, but the ARM based SOC that is the M1 is a completely different architecture.
Last edited by MellowShoe8104 April 23, 2023 at 11:53 PM.

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Apr 24, 2023 05:25 AM
3 Posts
Joined Nov 2020
ochobeeguyApr 24, 2023 05:25 AM
3 Posts
Quote from StevenJ8494 :
Super tempting, but it's a hard pass for me since the specs ain't as rad compared to non-Apple alternatives. Plus, this model can only hook up one external monitor, which is a total bummer. Miss the good ol' days when I could tweak Apple devices with cheaper options on my own. Had a 256GB MacBook before, and man, I'd never doing that again! Such a drag when the storage ran out.
Just add a portable ssd drive for $100.
Apr 24, 2023 05:27 AM
4,113 Posts
Joined Feb 2011
SlickTheFlipApr 24, 2023 05:27 AM
4,113 Posts
Quote from MellowShoe8104 :
The RAM is not the bottleneck on software updates; the CPU/GPU is.
M1 Mac mini with 8gb of ram has been laggy according to a lot youtube videos/comments, and from what I understand the M1 processor is a really good processor, doesn't seem like an Mac with an M1 processor would be the bottleneck.
1
Apr 24, 2023 05:40 AM
249 Posts
Joined Nov 2020
MellowShoe8104Apr 24, 2023 05:40 AM
249 Posts
Quote from SlickTheFlip :
M1 Mac mini with 8gb of ram has been laggy according to a lot youtube videos/comments, and from what I understand the M1 processor is a really good processor, doesn't seem like an Mac with an M1 processor would be the bottleneck.
SSD read/write speeds are slower on M1 Mac mini than on M1 iMac 8 core CPU / GPU.

Plus MacOS Ventura is blazingly faster than MacOS Monterey, so, it also depends on if the latest system software update is present. These iMacs ship with Monterey. One must upgrade to Ventura to see peak performance.

YouTube comments are unreliable unless they are providing independently sourced and verifiable comparative data.
Last edited by MellowShoe8104 April 23, 2023 at 11:48 PM.
1
Apr 24, 2023 05:54 AM
131 Posts
Joined Mar 2023
Justdeals1aApr 24, 2023 05:54 AM
131 Posts
8 GB RAM and 256 GB hard disk?
Man these specs are like from 10 years ago! and it's on front page and people are buying it for $1000 !!!
No wonder there's hyper inflation.
2
Apr 24, 2023 06:01 AM
249 Posts
Joined Nov 2020
MellowShoe8104Apr 24, 2023 06:01 AM
249 Posts
Quote from Justdeals1a :
8 GB RAM and 256 GB hard disk?
Man these specs are like from 10 years ago! and it's on front page and people are buying it for $1000 !!!
No wonder there's hyper inflation.
Again, see comment #27 and #30 if you want to know why "Justdeals1a" just crawled out from under a rock.
Last edited by MellowShoe8104 April 24, 2023 at 12:13 AM.
1
Apr 24, 2023 08:21 AM
48 Posts
Joined Sep 2020
LivelyPen175Apr 24, 2023 08:21 AM
48 Posts
Quote from MellowShoe8104 :
Yes - it uses unified RAM or memory.

Very different approach. Equivalent to 16GB of DDR5 in a windows unit.
Ok so I've read that the system uses swap memory once you've used 8gb of RAM. Now this Mac only had 256gb. How does it manage/allocate swap memory? Does it reserve certain amount of memory for that use? How much? I used to have a Linux-based phone that we somehow sped up by reserving some of the external (microSD) memory for use as swap. That portion would not be available for use. It's it the same here? If so this really needs an immediate SSD upgrade...
Honestly I feel old talking about my past gadgets. Haha Nowadays I rarely think about this kinds of stuff.
Apr 24, 2023 08:42 AM
72 Posts
Joined May 2016
PCislifeApr 24, 2023 08:42 AM
72 Posts
While you're correct in your premise there may not be something necessarily better I think you're failing to understand a few basic ideas. One, despite apples insane advances in engineering 16gb ddr5 is still not a lot (although you didn't quote a source that it's equivalent but I'll trust you on this) and is quickly becoming outdated. 32gb is probably the norm for any respectable windows machine and even then if you're running multiple programs or VMs it gets tricky. As for pure processing power and performance most users will not really notice the difference in speed from a comparable 1000 dollar desktop with benchmarks being taken with a massive grain of salt as they don't always represent real life scenarios (anecdotal, yes, but M1 really shines in video editing and is not that much more efficient at other tasks than Intel with 12th gen chips actually being more powerful (than M2 specifically [assumign M2>M1]) just not as power efficient). As far as display and webcam and speakers those are nice but the webcam age is sort of over and I believe 95 percent of people would rather size then screen sharpness. Also 95 percent of people use headphones or earbuds so the argument is sort of moot.

Tldr: - M1 is not as god tiered as you're making it and Intel 12th gen certainly caught up in most real world categories and you absolutely can build one for under 1k that can match apples raw computing power with 32gb of ram that is certainly better at handling large tasks
- idk about GPU but if you're not video editing can't game or do anything else so I didn't include it in the comparison
- Ram absolutely needs to be future proofed and 8gb even on apple machines can run into issues (tabs and YouTube videos have little to nothing to do with pure computing power)
- all the other stuff nice to have but not really important for work (webcam eh speaker gorgeous but I'm not blasting music and would most likely get a pair of headphones)
- size matters not beauty idgaf that my iPhone has a beautiful screen I'm not working on it
-portability is also meh 99 percent of people can lift 10 15 lbs and moving things around and cables aren't that bothersome.
note* you also seem to be seriously praising tb which is hilarious as apple is notoriously terrible with ports on their machines but most MB have tb or you can literally but usb to pcie ports

Sources:

https://www.dealntech.com/apple-m...omparison/
Last edited by vec April 24, 2023 at 07:32 AM.
1

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Apr 24, 2023 09:28 AM
1,359 Posts
Joined Apr 2012
arpiggiesApr 24, 2023 09:28 AM
1,359 Posts
Quote from PCislife :
While you're correct in your premise there may not be something necessarily better I think you're failing to understand a few basic ideas. One, despite apples insane advances in engineering 16gb ddr5 is still not a lot (although you didn't quote a source that it's equivalent but I'll trust you on this) and is quickly becoming outdated. 32gb is probably the norm for any respectable windows machine and even then if you're running multiple programs or VMs it gets tricky. As for pure processing power and performance most users will not really notice the difference in speed from a comparable 1000 dollar desktop with benchmarks being taken with a massive grain of salt as they don't always represent real life scenarios (anecdotal, yes, but M1 really shines in video editing and is not that much more efficient at other tasks than Intel with 12th gen chips actually being more powerful (than M2 specifically [assumign M2>M1]) just not as power efficient). As far as display and webcam and speakers those are nice but the webcam age is sort of over and I believe 95 percent of people would rather size then screen sharpness. Also 95 percent of people use headphones or earbuds so the argument is sort of moot.

Tldr: - M1 is not as god tiered as you're making it and Intel 12th gen certainly caught up in most real world categories and you absolutely can build one for under 1k that can match apples raw computing power with 32gb of ram that is certainly better at handling large tasks
- idk about GPU but if you're not video editing can't game or do anything else so I didn't include it in the comparison
- Ram absolutely needs to be future proofed and 8gb even on apple machines can run into issues (tabs and YouTube videos have little to nothing to do with pure computing power)
- all the other stuff nice to have but not really important for work (webcam eh speaker gorgeous but I'm not blasting music and would most likely get a pair of headphones)
- size matters not beauty idgaf that my iPhone has a beautiful screen I'm not working on it
-portability is also meh 99 percent of people can lift 10 15 lbs and moving things around and cables aren't that bothersome.
note* you also seem to be seriously praising tb which is hilarious as apple is notoriously terrible with ports on their machines but most MB have tb or you can literally but usb to pcie ports

Sources:

https://www.dealntech.com/apple-m...omparison/
A lot of hits and very few misses. Nice detailed response.

The 12th gen i7 system stated for comparison has no monitor, no keyboard, no mouse. A monitor the quality of the iMac's will drive up the cost substantially above $1,000. As accurately stated earlier by another respondent, "There is no monitor close to $400 that matches the specs on this" iMac.

- 24-inch 4.5K Retina display
- 4480-by-2520 resolution at 218 pixels per inch with support for 1 billion colors
- 500 nits brightness
- Wide color (P3)

Also noted previously, and quite accurately,

"The RAM is not the bottleneck on software updates; the CPU/GPU is.

Note the 2021 M1 iMac chip decimates the Intel chips found in the $6,000 Mac Pro's.

And, the newest MacOS Ventura is blazingly faster than the prior MacOS Monterey, so, the latest software update actually dramatically improves performance.

I agree that software updates slowed down prior Intel based systems, but the ARM based SOC that is the M1 is a completely different architecture."

So, in short - this iMac deal is simply the best comprehensive bang for the buck for most every user. And, if you are an iPad or especially an iPhone user, their integration with this iMac is near seamless; Apple AirPlay, AirDrop, iMessage, Handoff, and Continuity to name just a few of the interdependent software goodies.

More on the Apple M1 chip in the link below. Happy shopping on the best computer deal of the year!

https://www.pro-tools-expert.com/...ps-so-fast
Last edited by arpiggies April 24, 2023 at 03:58 AM.

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