The iMac is the quintessential all-in-one desktop and one of the best Macs, its powerful internals wrapped up in a stunning glass and aluminum shell — and it’s got itself no shortage of pretenders. Samsung is the latest manufacturer to join the iMac hype train; this time, it’s even copied the keyboard.
Not the Magic Mouse though. Because no one would copy the Magic Mouse.
A big, flat, desktop slab
We should get one thing out of the way first: Don’t get your hopes up too early if you want to get one in the US, as it’s currently only slotted in the release calendar for South Korea. Buyers in the country will be able to grab one from the 22nd of April, however, so there’s not too long to wait for potential South Korean users to get one sitting on their desks.
The ‘Samsung All-in-One Pro’, as the firm has named it (I wonder where that name came from?), will cost 1.9 million Won, or around $1,400 US. That sounds about par for the course for a powerful all-in-one computer and actually comes in slightly higher than the base model iMac which retails for $1,299. There are some more powerful internals here to tempt you in, however.
At the heart of the machine is an Intel Core Ultra processor, which provides “more powerful performance” — than what, of course, Samsung doesn’t tell us. There’s a 27-inch 4K display dominating the front, as well as a Dolby Atmos speaker setup for 3D sound for watching movies and playing games. No news on RAM, although that will likely be customizable.
Interestingly, Samsung seems to have designed the ‘All-in-One Pro’ from the ground up for AI. There’s an emphasis on Microsoft’s Co-Pilot program throughout the press release, as well as a dedicated Co-Pilot key on the keyboard.
The keyboard looks suspiciously like the Magic Keyboard that comes packaged with the iMac — and the similarities design-wise don’t stop there. The stand for the all-in-one looks just like Apple's effort, and the large, mostly flat, aluminum chassis has more than a passing resemblance to the all-in-one from Cupertino. Even the ports at the back have an almost identical configuration, although Samsung doesn’t say what’s actually there. Expect USB-C ports, a power connector, and potentially a HDMI port for connecting up another monitor.
The only real difference is the two-button mouse, which looks like the kind of mouse you would expect to come from any big-box computer purchase. The color is reminiscent of the old iMac Pro, a kind of dark space gray.
There is, of course, only so much you can do with the design of an all-in-one desktop computer, although it is curious that Samsung has stepped so close to Apple this time round. If you prefer a Mac on your desk (as nice as this Windows machine looks), then WWDC 2024 is on the way with potentially more news about the latest version of macOS, macOS 15, to keep you faithful.
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