I do think there is a niche for this machine, although it would be nice if it could go up to 32 gigs of RAM.
I’m considering buying one, just because it is a solid desktop machine. It may not do all what a M2 Pro Mac Mini or a Mac Studio can, CPU-wise, but an AIO machine with a good screen (and Apple is excellent at making screens), it is good enough for almost anything, including using Vagrant and Docker for some coding.
I just wish Apple added some minor upgrades, for example:
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Bumping the NIC to 2.5 Gbps or even 10 gigE, like what is offered with the Mac Mini.
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Qi/MagSafe charging for the keyboard and mouse, so accessories/charging stands can be made for those.
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Adding a USB-C port to the power supply, by the Ethernet port.
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Allowing the Thunderbolt port to work for video in, so the iMac could function as a “dumb” screen for another machine, like a target mode.
However, overall, it isn’t a bad machine, and probably the best desktop for people starting off.
A few things, mainly with security:
A “master switch” so I can ensure the camera, microphone, GPS, and other things are turned off, where no app can access them, period.
Some anti-mugging features like a duress code, ability to PIN protect access to account and family info on the phone (the screen time thing sort of works, but not really), where one can enter in a fake PIN, let the attacker adjust whatever settings they want, but all their changes are automatically reverted in 1-2 hours.
It would be nice if an attacker didn’t just need your device PIN and your device to seize your account and family stuff.
Ability to geofence, so a phone will prompt for a PIN and not just FaceID/TouchID if taken out of the usual commute corridors. This way, if the phone is stolen, it is harder for a would-be thief to decode it.
A self erase feature, where if the phone doesn’t get an Internet connection in “x” amount of time, it will erase itself.
Partial backups. I’d love to be able to save off games and other stuff off the device and later on, load them, load the app and play it. Backups are all or nothing… it would be nice to have something like Titanium Backup where individual apps can be backed up or even archived off with their data.