

Check out our full hands-on M1 iMac (2021) review where we examine this exceptional computer in more detail. The 24-inch 2021 iMac is one of the best graphic design computers ever made, though of course, all this computing power does come at a cost. As we noted in our full review, it also offers a generous amount of built-in storage, something you can chew through surprisingly quickly if you're working with high-resolution image files. It's also worth noting that the 2021 iMac has a neural processor, meaning it can take full advantage of apps that use machine learning, like the best AI photo editing software. Plus the overall design is sleeker and more sophisticated – a welcome update to the ageing looks of the previous iMac. While it doesn't have the discrete graphics card of the 2020 iMac, and sports a slightly lower-res display, its M1 processing chips deliver absolutely blistering performance. Well, we've hyped it up plenty already, so let's take a closer look at the 2021 24-inch iMac. See our in-depth iMac 2020 review for more details. But as we said in our full review, it's still one of the smartest buys creatives can make, with powerful functionality, easy setup and that aforementioned excellent display.

It's not got the super-powered M1 chip, and runs hotter and louder than the 2021 iMac (which you'll be meeting shortly). In turn, this makes the 2020 iMac the superior choice for graphic designers who need as much graphical power as they can get, making the most of the gorgeous 5K display that is built in. This means that the 2020 iMac's graphics run off separate memory and power to its central processors, which means it is capable of superior graphical performance. The reason is that the 2020 version sports a discrete graphics card, as opposed to an integrated one on the 2021 release, meaning the AMD Radeon Pro 5000 graphics card is separate from the CPU. However, it may surprise you to see that this iMac is not the newest one there is – in fact, it's a couple of years old, with a newer model having been released in 2021. Graphic designers and iMacs go together like peanut butter and chocolate, so you probably won't be surprised to see an iMac at the top of this list.
