Who Is the iMac for in 2025? A Student’s Perspective

The iMac has always had a particular appeal—an all-in-one machine that looks great on a desk and works right out of the box. I’ve been using the M4 iMac for the better part of a month, and while it has its place, it’s definitely not for everyone.

The iMac in the Context of Apple’s 2025 Mac Lineup

The iMac is competing with more Apple devices than ever. MacBooks have only gotten more powerful, with the latest M4 chips bringing serious performance and efficiency into a computer I consider to be one of the best I’ve ever tried. For students and professionals, a MacBook Pro or even the MacBook Air is often the default choice, and for me, it was the definitive choice when I bought my MacBook three years ago.

Meanwhile, the iPad has more-or-less become a viable laptop alternative for many users, especially students. While you can argue that iPadOS lags behind the iPad’s current hardware, there’s no denying that for many day-to-day computing tasks, an iPad paired with a Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil can go a long way for many workflows, especially for students.

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Then there’s the Mac Mini, which delivers the same performance as the iMac but at a lower price that allows users to pair it with their own display and peripherals. I think for those who already own a great monitor or want a more modular setup, the Mac Mini makes a lot of financial sense, but there are some caveats, as I’ll discuss later on.

Given all of this, the iMac occupies a narrower space in Apple’s ecosystem. It’s no longer the go-to Mac for the average buyer but instead serves those who specifically want a desktop experience… Apple’s way. In this context, I think it has become increasingly difficult to pinpoint the strengths of having an all-in-one, but what I can share is how this particular Mac exists within my workflow and the benefits and drawbacks it has brought me within my own ecosystem of using a MacBook and iPad in tandem with the iMac.

Apple iMac (24-Inch, M4)

$1189 $1299 Save
$110

Powered by an impressive M4 chip, the 24-inch iMac starts with 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD, an 8-core CPU, and an 8-core GPU, available in a range of colors.

My Experience Using the iMac as a Computer Science Student

From a performance standpoint, the M4 iMac is exactly what I expected—fast, efficient, and nearly identical to my experience with the M4 MacBook Pro. It handles my coursework, development environments, and coding workflows exceptionally well.

Whether it’s compiling projects in CLion, IntelliJ or XCode, running virtual machines, or managing multiple browser tabs and applications, the iMac keeps up without breaking a sweat. In fact, through all of my time using it, I haven’t heard the fans turn on once. It has also been really nice to have a large 21.5-inch 4.5K panel to spread out all my different app windows, which can often feel crowded on my MacBook, and especially on my iPad.

But the issue isn’t performance—it’s portability. As a student, I need a machine that can move with me. A laptop lets me work from campus, or coffee shops, and anywhere in between, and this iMac just cannot do that. The iMac, by nature, is limited to where you set it up. It forces me to work at my desk, which can be both an inconvenience and a benefit. On the one hand, I can’t be as flexible with where I work, but on the other, it lets me have a dedicated space that makes it easier to separate my focus from one task to another.

It’s the kind of machine that keeps me from getting distracted in bed or hopping between different locations mid-task. Some can argue this can seem quite insignificant, but when you have devices that are as dynamic and high-utility as a MacBook or an iPad, entering a flow state can be difficult because these tools aren’t anchored to one environment.

This isn’t to say that you can’t use the iMac for entertainment—I’ve enjoyed watching movies and shows on this display and its incredible sound system—but to actively choose to sit at my desk to work has been something that the iMac enabled me to do that I couldn’t find with my MacBook or iPad alone. That said, if the iMac were my only computer, it wouldn’t work for me, simply because I need something portable for class, and if I had to pick one machine, it wouldn’t be one that is tethered at home.

The iMac vs. the Mac Mini

The excellent M4 Mac Mini is arguably the iMac’s biggest competition if you’re considering an Apple desktop. It offers the same performance at a lower price, and since it’s standalone, you can pair it with any monitor, keyboard, and mouse you want. If you already have a solid display setup, the Mac Mini makes more sense than the iMac.

But the iMac does have its advantages, mainly being that it’s plug-and-play as soon as you take it out of the box. You get all the accessories, including the Magic Mouse and Keyboard—though I highly recommend picking up a more ergonomic mouse for your machine—and you can choose from a variety of different color options, something you can’t really do on Apple’s other Macs.

The 4.5K Retina display is excellent and delivers a decent color-accurate panel that can be utilized for both productivity and content consumption; to get anything comparable for the Mac Mini, you’d need to spend significantly more on a high-resolution monitor.

Apple’s own Studio Display costs more than the base model iMac itself. If you opt for a third-party display, you’ll need to be cautious since many external monitors don’t match Apple’s Retina standard of around 218 PPI, which can lead to blurry text, shimmering edges, and poor UI scaling. There’s also the issue of macOS’ display scaling, which can introduce performance issues and higher power consumption.

Apple Studio Display

$1499 $1599 Save
$100

Apple’s Studio Display is a beautiful and well-rounded 5K monitor for your Mac. It offers superb color accuracy and has excellent brightness uniformity.

Assuming you find a 3rd-party monitor that works well with the Mac Mini, you’d still likely miss out on some of the iMac’s all-in-one benefits, like having a dedicated speaker system and a webcam.

All this to say, to get an equivalent experience through the Mac Mini, you will likely need to dish out a lot more cash than picking up the iMac alone, and for the right person, that’s fine, but for the average buyer who doesn’t already have a monitor and peripherals, I think you’re getting a better deal with the iMac.

Apple Mac Mini (M4)

$549 $599 Save
$50

Powered by an impressive M4 chip, the redesigned Mac Mini starts with 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD, a 10-core CPU, and a 10-core GPU.

Who Should Buy the iMac in 2025?

For the vast majority of people looking to pick up a Mac, I don’t think the iMac specifically is the best choice, and that’s more representative of the all-in-one market in 2025. For students like myself, the iMac isn’t the right choice—at least not as a primary computer.

Portability is very important, and unless you already have a laptop, the iMac’s limitations outweigh its benefits. But for those who want a secondary machine to use in a dedicated workspace, it makes for a great choice. Beyond students, the iMac is still a solid option for families or casual computing as it provides a reliable desktop Mac without the hassle of piecing together a setup. It’s not as universally appealing as it once was, but for the right user, it still has a place.

The ideal iMac buyer in 2025 is someone who values simplicity and integration over modularity and customization. If you want a machine that looks clean on a desk, works seamlessly within Apple’s ecosystem, and doesn’t require hunting for the perfect monitor or keyboard, the iMac delivers an experience that few competitors can replicate.

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It’s honestly the perfect computer for home offices, creative professionals who don’t need the horsepower of a Mac Studio, or anyone who just wants a great-looking desktop. That said, the iMac isn’t a future-proof powerhouse, and its biggest drawback remains the lack of customization.

If you pick an iMac, you’re committing to its form factor and performance for as long as you keep it unlike the Mac Mini which is modular by design, and lets you choose the display you want to have. Overall, it’s clear the iMac’s golden age might be behind it, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t fit into a workflow that still delivers an exceptional computing experience— albeit to a more specific audience.