https://sixcolors.com/post/2021/04/notes-on-the-m1-imac/

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The original iMac was all about colors. The first one was blindingly Bondi blue, and the follow-ups all came in various shades and designs. It was a computer you didn’t just buy to use, but to see.

When the G3 iMac left the scene, so did color. The iPod had taken the iMac’s lead and there were colorful iPod models for years, but the next generations of iMac were pale white plastic before shifting to silver aluminum. The Mac was drained of color, with an occasional darker gray or even more rarely, gold.

It’s been two decades since Apple rolled out a line of iMacs in an array of colors, but here we are: The new 24-inch M1 iMac has been announced, and it comes in what my Upgrade podcast pal Myke Hurley called “six colors and not a color.” Green, Yellow, Orange, Pink, Purple, Blue—all colors—and the supreme Apple not-a-color, Silver. One iMac, seven color options. What an embarrassment of riches.

Judging by her shoes, Colleen Novielli’s favorite iMac color is yellow.

Let’s do the accessory math:

• The $1299 base model is available in three colors and not a color—Blue, Green, Pink, and Silver. Those ship by default with a color-matched Magic Keyboard without Touch ID.
• The more expensive models are available in those six colors and not a color, and ship by default with a color-matched Magic Keyboard with Touch ID. (Buyers of the $1299 model can pay extra for this keyboard.)
• Buyers of either model can pay extra for the color-matched Magic Keyboard with Touch ID and Numeric Keyboard.
• Buyers of any model can get a color-matched Magic Mouse or, if they change their order, a color-matched Magic Trackpad.

Put it all together and that’s not just seven new iMac colors, it’s 18 keyboard variations and 14 pointing-device variations. While at launch Apple will only be providing the color-matched accessories with an iMac purchase, if history is any indication they will eventually be available for anyone to purchase. Given how many Apple Watch bands there are, Apple seems to have gotten very good at managing product inventory with a whole lot of variations. Good thing!

The new color-matched Magic Keyboards with Touch ID will work with any M1 Mac—but you can only get them with an iMac, for now.

One hint that these accessories will ultimately be available for separate purchase: They work with other Macs. Specifically, the new Magic Keyboard models with Touch ID will work with any M1 Mac, not just the iMac. I suspect these devices will be with us for quite some time—and also I’d probably lay odds that these colors will be available on other Macs sometime soon. (Which, as someone who has been proposing more colorful Macs for years now, I’m really excited about! Bring on the orange MacBook Air.)

Speaking of color-matched accessories, let’s not forget the iMac’s new magnetic-attached power plug. While I don’t think this is validation for any rumors about a future return of MagSafe to Apple’s laptops, it does show that Apple has doubled down on magnets. First the back of the iPad Pro, then the MagSafe magnets on the iPhone 12, and now this.

In practical terms, the force required to yank the magnetic power cable off the iMac is the same force required to yank the current iMac’s plastic power plug out of its socket. So it seems unlikely that there will be a spate of disastrous iMac unpluggings laid at the feet of the choice to use magnets.