Hasta La Gadget!

On the surface, Apple’s new iMac is easy to evaluate. It’s almost identical to the 2021 iMac, with its lovely 24-inch screen and multicolor exterior. In fact, the only difference between the new iMac and the old one is a new chip, the M3 processor. 

As such, everything that we liked about the iMac in 2021 holds true here. It’s an extremely well-designed machine, the screen looks lovely, and But the issues we had with it — particularly the specs of the lower-end model — are harder to ignore.

First, the good news. The M3 chip inside the new iMac (paired with 24GB of RAM and 1TB of storage in the model I tested) provides more than enough power for my daily workflow. Of course, as a journalist my needs are moderate. I don’t edit 4K movies or run intense music-creation software, and most things I do can be accomplished in a browser. But a ton of Safari tabs coupled with my usual apps like Messages, Photos, Slack, Bear, Apple Music and Trello never slowed it down. More power-hungry apps like Lightroom or Photomater never stuttered either, as I edited and exported RAW photos. I’m particularly glad that the M3 iMac supports up to 24GB of RAM this time around, up from 16GB on the M1 model.

The M3 iMac is also capable of running modern games, at least those that are available for it. In a tale as old as time, game options on the Mac lag far behind what you’ll find on Windows, but the situation is improving. Titles like Baldur’s Gate 3 and Lies of P are the kinds of games you usually wouldn’t expect to see on a Mac. That’s part of an overall trend this year, with other big blockbuster games like the Resident Evil 4 remake, Resident Evil Village and Death Stranding either available now or coming soon.

Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

Both Baldur’s Gate 3 and Lies of P ran well on the iMac. They weren’t running at the highest resolution, but they were still totally playable. And other games from the Mac App Store like NBA 2K24 Arcade Edition and Skate City from Apple Arcade worked without a hiccup — but given those games have to run across a huge variety of lower-powered devices, good performance is basically a given. While no one is going out there buying a Mac with cutting-edge gaming in mind, I am still glad that there are more options than there were a few years ago.

Benchmarks show the M3 is a modest improvement over the M2, which is not a big surprise. The M3 is also almost identical in single-core performance to the M3 Max, which we tested on the new 16-inch MacBook Pro. Of course, that computer blows past the iMac in multi-core performance. But given the iMac’s intended purpose as a family computer, the M3 should be more than enough for most people. Apple Silicon is so performant that people who bought the M1 iMac two and a half years ago likely won’t have much reason to upgrade.

What hasn’t changed

Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

As for literally everything else: if you’ve seen a 24-inch iMac before, you’ve seen this one. Mine came in a lovely shade of blue — dark and metallic on the back and a more pastel shade on the front. There are six other colors available, all the same as what Apple offered before, and they all make me wish Apple used these bold shades on more of its products. (Seriously, this year’s iPhone 15 colors are terrible.) The display has a 4.5k resolution, splitting the difference between the old Intel-based 21.5- and 27-inch models. I generally find that to be enough, though I do miss the expansive canvas you got on a 27-inch iMac. I’m not alone, but Apple has made it clear that that computer isn’t coming back. If you want a bigger screen, you’re better off checking out a Mac mini or Mac Studio and pairing it with the monitor of your choice.

Despite occasionally wishing it was larger, this panel remains great, with 500 nits of brightness, Apple’s TrueTone technology for adjusting color temperature to your environment and support for the Wide P3 color gamut. It’s not the most advanced display ever since it uses a time-tested LED panel but, once again, the people that Apple is targeting with this computer won’t mind.

The iMac is still extraordinarily thin at 11.5mm and weighs less than 10 pounds. I actually wouldn’t mind if it was just a little heavier. It’s easy to accidentally move the whole computer when I adjust the tilt of the display. And feline owners beware: my cats liked to jump on the desk and nuzzle the iMac, sliding it across my desk. But its minimal weight also makes it easy to move around the house. 

It mostly sat on my desk, but I also brought it down to the bedroom to watch a movie when I was feeling under the weather. My colleague Devindra Hardawar (who reviewed the M1 model in 2021) also sang the iMac’s praises as a computer you can drop in your kitchen, which is not something I could do with my relatively limited counter space. But the point is that this remains the most portable iMac ever, and that opens up some interesting uses.

Apple has done a good job of putting surprisingly solid speakers into its laptops, and it’s also worked out an impressive speaker system to go in the svelte iMac. It has six speakers total with two force-canceling woofers, and this results in clear and relatively loud audio. I prefer using dedicated speakers as I’m a bit of a music nerd, but for casual listening or watching YouTube, this system is far better than you’d expect from such a thin device. The speakers also support Dolby Atmos Spatial Audio for Apple Music, movies and shows via the Apple TV app. Those effects aren’t the most obvious on this system; songs sound different, though not necessarily better, but I’ve found that to be the case no matter what device you’re using to play Spatial Audio.

Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

As before, the iMac comes with a color-matched keyboard and mouse (and/or trackpad, your choice), a subtle but really nice touch. Mechanical keyboard enthusiasts will scoff, but I continue to find the Magic Keyboard extremely comfortable to type on for extended periods of time, and I love that you can get Touch ID built in now. The Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad are the same ones Apple has been selling for years, and they’re very reliable (though plenty of people are not fans of the mouse’s shape). 

However, Apple really missed a good opportunity to redesign these accessories to use USB-C for charging. Instead, they use the same old Lightning connector that has been on iPhones and other devices for years now. With Lightning’s days clearly numbered, this would have been a perfect time to move to USB-C. At least the included Lightning cable is also color-matched.

Base specs are a big downside

Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

Most of the things Apple didn’t change with the new iMac don’t bother me — the design and screen all make sense, even if some people wish things were a little different. What doesn’t make sense are the corners Apple is cutting to offer the iMac at a starting price of $1,299. That configuration comes with a paltry 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, which was stingy two and a half years ago and now is completely unacceptable. I can’t in good conscience recommend anyone spend more than $1,000 on a computer with only 8GB of RAM in 2023.

There are other cuts to the entry model that aren’t quite as egregious but are still disappointing. Apple doesn’t include the power adaptor with a gigabit ethernet port, the Magic Keyboard doesn’t have Touch ID, the GPU has eight cores (compared to 10 in the $1,499 model), it only has two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports (the more expensive iMac also has two more USB-C ports) and it only comes in four colors rather than seven. The base iMac might exist mostly as a more affordable model for education, but there’s no reason to handicap yourself with only 8GB of RAM if you’re buying this computer for yourself or your family.

That means you’re spending at least $1,499 to get a computer with 16GB of RAM and all the aforementioned compromises. That’s the same price as the middle-tier iMac, which includes the gigabit ethernet adapter, Touch ID and so on — but it also only comes with 8GB of RAM. Stepping that computer up to 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, the minimum specs I’d consider for a desktop, comes to a whopping $1,899.

This isn’t a new problem. The company’s entry models often feel artificially limited to push you toward a more expensive option. Just look at the $1,099 MacBook Air, which is also hamstrung by 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, but it feels slightly more forgivable on a laptop. With the iMac, you don’t get improved portability in exchange for poorer specs. In fact, in many ways (except the screen), the iMac is a more limited and more expensive computer than the MacBook Air.

Fortunately, Apple also sells the Mac mini. You can pick up that tiny desktop with an M2 chip, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage for $999, add a nice 4K monitor and you’re good to go for less than $1,500. Of course you lose the niceties of an all-in-one, which aren’t insignificant — I’ve really enjoyed the complete lack of cord clutter on my desk while using the iMac.

Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget

Wrap-up

Thanks to Apple Silicon, Apple’s desktop computer lineup is in stronger shape than it’s been in years. For a while, the iMac had to be both a simple all-in-one for those with basic needs as well as a more powerful, pro-focused machine (remember the iMac Pro?). But now, the Mac mini and Mac Studio are compelling options for people who want better performance, leaving the iMac to serve a smaller audience. And it does it well — the screen is great, the M3 is powerful, and the whole thing is shockingly compact. If you want the simplest and easiest Mac experience, the iMac is still the way to go. Just make sure you bump up the RAM.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/apple-imac-review-2023-nothings-changed-except-the-m3-013032286.html?src=rss

I am, primarily, a guitarist. Dabbling in keys and synths has always felt a bit unnatural from a physical standpoint. A keyboard doesn’t respond the way a fretted instrument does. This isn’t surprising, nor is it a bad thing. It’s just not what I’m used to. The better part of a decade into my journey with synthesizers, I still find myself wiggling my fingers as if it’s going to create vibrato, or trying to “bend” one note while keeping the other rooted to create shifting harmonies.

I’ve tried my share of MPE (MIDI Polyphonic Expression) controllers, which can capture some of that nuance. But the Roli Seaboard Rise 2 is the first I’ve played that manages to deliver all of that expressiveness without also being an unmitigated headache in some way. It’s probably my new favorite MIDI controller. But, I still have a hard time recommending it to most people.

The immediately obvious issue is the price. $1,399 is a lot of money for a MIDI controller. There are some MIDI controllers that come close, but they generally have more generous software bundles; more extensive controls (including faders, knobs and pads); transport controls for your DAW; built-in arpeggiators or sequencers; and screens for viewing parameters and browsing presets.

Of course, what those controllers usually lack is MPE functionality. And it’s not like the Seaboard Rise 2 isn’t a premium device. It’s constructed almost entirely from metal, save for the silicone keybed and the small selection of controls to its left. It feels extremely durable, and I’m pretty sure I’d have to go out of my way to do any significant damage to it. Despite that, it’s also surprisingly thin and light. At roughly 33 inches, it’s slightly longer than your average 49-key controller, but it’s less than an inch thick and only a hair over 12 pounds. And that’s despite having a battery that can last eight hours when connected over Bluetooth. For comparison, Arturia’s batteryless Keylab 49 MKII is nearly 3 inches thick and tips the scales at 14 pounds.

Terrence O’Brien / Engadget

I’d stop shy of calling it portable, but it’s certainly luggable. I’ve moved it around my home studio quite a bit and it seems easy enough to drag to a gig, especially if you pick up the $100 soft case.

You’re not buying the Seaboard Rise 2 for the portability, though. You’re here for the continuous “Keywave2” surface. And let me tell you, once you get over how strange it feels it’s pretty incredible.

It’s important to note that I’ve never played the original Seaboard Rise. But I have used many other MPE controllers, including Roli’s Blocks lineup. They’ve all had some sort of significant shortcoming, and the Roli Blocks were borderline unusable. Almost everything I’ve tried has felt either like a novelty or a prototype, rather than a consumer-ready product. (The two exceptions to this being the latest Ableton Push and the Expressive E Osmose, though they’re very different devices with drawbacks of their own.) So, while I’m fascinated with MPE and think there’s a lot of potential in the technology, I came into this review with pretty low expectations.

Terrence O’Brien / Engadget

But, the Seaboard Rise 2 feels like the first time a company has gotten almost everything right in a standalone MPE MIDI controller. The subtle “Precision Frets” make feeling your way around the keyboard much easier. I am not a skilled pianist or keyboard player who’s doing lightning-quick scale runs based entirely on muscle memory. Still, I welcomed their addition. They made it a lot more obvious when I should stop a slide and helped me make sure my strikes were centered on the keys so I didn’t end up sounding out of tune.

The squishy silicone keybed also provides excellent feedback. Most other MPE devices I’ve used have very little travel, if any at all. You might as well be trying to play on a coffee table. Not the Seaboard. The “keys” (if you can really call them that) jut up, giving you a sense for where to put your fingers. The surface gently resists and bunches up under your finger when you’re performing slides, delivering much needed tactile feedback. There’s a lot of depth to the surface, too; this isn’t just a thin silicone skin laid over the top of some sensors. It’s not quite as satisfying as feeling a key bottom out beneath your fingers, but it’s actually easier to coax nuance out of the velocity and aftertouch than on more traditional controllers.

That ability to get subtle shifts in timbre, tone and pitch are what make MPE, and the Seaboard in particular, special. With the right combination of hardware or software, each note played can have its own unique expression. A basic example of this being controlling the filter cutoff of a synth patch with the slide parameter on the Seaboard. That means as you move your finger from the bottom of the control surface to the top, the filter opens up to create a brighter sound. But in this case you can raise the cutoff on the higher notes only to emphasize the melody, while keeping the lower register muted and droning.

Terrence O’Brien / Engadget

Giving each note its own unique velocity, cutoff, et cetera can add incredible depth to even the most simplistic performance. In a more advanced example of how this might work, imagine a software instrument based on orchestral strings. On something like the Seaboard Rise 2, quickly tapping the keys and immediately pulling off could be used to play pizzicato for stabbing chords. But lightly pressing into the silicone surface would produce a slower attack, allowing you to play languid melodies over the top of sharp harmonies. Sliding your finger up to the top could add gentle vibrato to emphasize particular notes, and dragging it left or right would produce realistic glides that are normally only possible on an unfretted, stringed instrument, not a keyboard.

I highlight that example because the Seaboard seems especially suited to scoring work. While it’s fine for playing your typical lead and bass patches, it separates itself from the pack once you start exploring sounds that are slower and have more evolution. The slight dissonance I could introduce by moving one finger just slightly off the center of a key created this spooky atmosphere that I kept getting lost in. Maybe it was just the season I was doing most of my testing during, but all I kept thinking about was how much I wanted to score a horror movie.

Terrence O’Brien / Engadget

Clearly Roli knows this is a strength, because a lot of the presets in its Equator 2 softsynth seem geared toward soundtrack work. Normally, the plugin costs $249, but thankfully it’s included for free with the Seaboard Rise 2. It easily does the best job of showcasing the controller’s various powers. The unfortunate thing is, only a little over a third of the presets are MPE-compatible. And while it’s certainly a powerful instrument, Equator 2 has a number of quirks that keep it from feeling fully polished.

Perhaps the biggest of those issues is that, when you first install it, many of the factory presets are completely broken and nonfunctional. That’s because there are two additional libraries you need to install. But these are in a drop-down list, and there is zero indication that anything else is needed until you actually open the app and it repeatedly tells you that files are missing. I uninstalled and reinstalled Equator and all its preset packs, hoping that would fix the issue. It was only after some Googling that I discovered there were more required downloads hiding right inside the Roli Connect app.

The Roli Dashboard at least feels a little less slapdash, and it’s arguably a more essential part of the experience. This is where you’ll do all the necessary configuring, like choosing whether the Seaboard is in MPE mode or standard MIDI, selecting what MIDI CCs the XY pad controls and setting the sensitivity levels of things like glide and slide. You’ll basically always want to have the Dashboard open because, the unfortunate truth is, MPE is still kind of messy. Non-MPE-compatible instruments and plugins might not work right if you don’t switch the Rise to single channel mode. I’ve found getting MPE-enabled plugins to work properly in Ableton Live 11 a little tricky.

Even when you do get an MPE-enabled instrument (hardware or software) paired up with a controller like the Seaboard Rise, you’ll probably need to do some finetuning to get them completely in sync. For example, you’ll have to make sure the pitch bend range in both the Dashboard and whatever you’re controlling match up. If the Seaboard is set for a 48-note range, but, let’s say, Pigments is set for only two, slides will never land where you expect them and even narrowly missing the deadcenter of a key will result in chords that are painfully out of tune.

When everything works, though, it’s pretty special. The Seaboard Rise 2 is easier to play and more versatile than any other MPE MIDI controller I’ve tried. It’s probably the most successful showcase of what is possible with the technology.

Sure, it’s expensive, can be finicky to configure, and there are limited options for instruments that take advantage of its full expressive capabilities. But MPE-capable softsynths are likely only going to grow in popularity over the next few years. Most people should probably hold out and see what the consensus from reviewers is on the more affordable Seaboard Block M. But if you just want the best MPE MIDI controller you can currently buy and don’t mind shelling out for a premium device, the Roli Seaboard Rise 2 is it.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/roli-seaboard-rise-2-review-i-wish-i-had-a-horror-movie-to-score-150028305.html?src=rss

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