Sound quality of built-in speakers of 2017 27-inch iMac

[Dave Reiser]

So, HomePods grabbed all the attention for speakers at WWDC. And of the 10 iMac reviews I've read, no-one comments at all about the audio quality of Apple's "stereo speakers" built into the new iMacs. I've been using JBL Creature speakers with my home machines for several years. Could the new iMac let me clean up my desk clutter a bit by eliminating external speakers? I'm not really picky about sound (old ears miss a lot anyway), but the wretched sound quality of the Mac Mini internal speaker was too much even for me.

 

[Algus]

I would think so, unless you're a major audiophile. The sound system that Apple bakes into the iMacs (and the thunderbolt display when that was still available) is acceptable and a solid stereo sound. It doesn't have the depth that real music aficionados might like but it's fine for watching media and playing games.

There are some nice bluetooth speaker systems these days as well if you want to clean up some of the wires on your desk.

 

[Dave Reiser]

Thanks. I do almost no gaming, originally it was hard on the nerves in my mouse hand, and these days it takes way too much time and effort to get good at any of them. And I don't watch a lot of media. Netflix refuses to play on my system, possibly because my 12-year-old Apple Cinema display lacks some more recent anti-piracy gadgetry. So I'll probably start out assuming I can eliminate the external speakers. If that doesn't work, I'll switch to bluetooth. With a really good screen, I'll probably be more interested in media playback.

 

[Matty]

The reason you haven't heard people saying much about it is because everyone is more interested in the specs. So don't think because you not hearing anything it means the speakers are terrible. I personally haven't listened to the 2017 version but older models sounded 'fine' to me.

I wouldn't say they are anything spectacular. Would probably get better sound through some extremal speakers. (Even small ones). So keep your JBL Creature speakers handy just in case.