AUGUST 2021 MACWORLD 27Still, this is taking what Apple did with
the original iMac to a whole new level.
There’s not one colorful keyboard model,
but three! The $1,299 iMac comes in only
four colors and has a basic Magic
Keyboard. Beyond that,
though, there are seven
different color options for the
Touch ID keyboard, seven
Magic Trackpads, and
seven Magic Mouses. Throw in
international keyboard layouts
and things get very
complicated very quickly!
It gets even more
complicated. The 24-inch iMac
ships with a USB-C-to-
Lightning cable for pairing
peripherals to the iMac. That
cable, which has a braided cover—
making it the nicest Lightning cable Apple
has ever made—also comes in seven
colors. And the magnetic power
attachment on the back of the iMac is
similarly braided and colored, meaning
that there are seven versions of that
cable. (It’s actually 11 versions, because
the $1,299 model ships with a power
brick that lacks an ethernet port and there
are four colors of that one.)
While I’m discussing peripherals and
cables, it’s worth noting a huge similarity
between the two iMacs. The original iMac
marked a clean break from previous Mac
peripherals by dumping all old ports and
replacing them with a shiny new port type,
USB. Since then, every iMac has had at
least one of those blocky, nonreversible
USB-A ports—until the new 24-inch iMac.The original iMac mouse (right) doesn’t have
a lot in common with the new model, but
they’re both colored to match their iMacs.
You can attach the original iMac mouse to the new 24-inch
model, but now you’ll need an adapter.