Apple iMac 21.5-inch (Late 2012) Pro Reviews

In some respects, the new iMac is too clever by half. When working on it, you’ll never know how slim it is, but it does impact in other ways, as it’s incredibly light to move around. Apple has been listening too, as the screen really is less reflective by an impressive margin. It even manages to pump out a decent sound while remaining deathly quiet in operation. The only real issue is the way the HDD storage impedes performance. It's just not as snappy as it could be, and swapping out the hard drive for an SSD is, at best, bloody difficult, at worst impossible. Indeed, if you’re looking for a growth industry in 2013, I’d look to heat guns and don’t be surprised to see hair dressing salons offering Genius Bar repair services. They could even wash your keyboard while you wait.

Apple's 27-inch iMac is an Editors' Choice award winner for its large, high-resolution display and its high performance system components. The 21.5-inch version is also a fine computer, but its comparatively lower price puts it in more competitive waters. You can get more performance, including Apple's hybrid solid-state Fusion hard-drive option, by paying more, but at that point you enter even more challenging Windows PC territory with the non-touch version of Dell XPS One 27 looming for a mere $1,399. Some need or some emotion-driven want may compel you to buy the 21.5-inch iMac, and if that happens you will own one of the best-designed computers available. If instead you're looking for the most functional capability hardware for the dollar, I would encourage you to comparison-shop, and weigh the Asus ET2300INTI in particular as an alternative.

Apple Macs are well known for their striking hardware designs, so it’s ironic that for the new iMac all-in-one PC its dazzling new design talking point isn’t even obvious while you’re actually using it. At first frontal glance, the new Apple iMac looks virtually identical to its predecessor. It’s only when you peek around the side that you notice the amazingly slim profile of this new model. See also: Group test: what's the best all-in-one PC?

An attractive new design and a host of small improvements combine to make a stunning all-in-one; it’s Apple’s best iMac so far

It's beautiful to look at, has a great screen and is very powerful, but it's expensive

During our time with the 21.5-inch iMac we did a number of daily tasks. Watched a movie, wrote this review, surfed the web, played some games, watch some more movies, and listened to music via Spotify. It's all good. Very good. The 21.5-inch iMac isn't without its faults though. We don't like the positioning of the SD card reader and for some, the lack of upgradability (at home) will be annoying. What is clear however is that the Apple has produced a lovely desktop machine that will look good wherever you put it in your home or your office. It will have people talking, and that's probably what you want. This is a computer that you won't want to put in the spare room, and a computer you will be happy to have on show.

Slimmer and faster, the Apple iMac 21.5-inch (Late 2012) is the desktop PC to buy if you're looking to avoid the whole touch-screen conundrum. The new iMac upgrades components, looks great, and has the power to do real work in a business or at home.

The new iMac steps into the future, with cutting-edge design (literally), updated processor and RAM, better sounding speakers, and reduced-glare (but still glossy!) screens. Unfortunately, the new iMac also follows Apple’s trend towards less repairable and upgradeable Macs and the elimination of useful features such as optical drives and FireWire 800 ports. I think it’s reasonable to drop the optical drive from laptops, where the benefit of reduced size and weight can be immediately appreciated when you walk around with a laptop in your bag. On a desktop computer like the iMac, it’s unclear what the benefits are of going without these conveniences in order to have a thinner and lighter iMac at your desk—unless you’re admiring the iMac from the side, of course.