Don’t know why you’re worrying about it. You know you will.
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That is quite true about Lux - the old interface was superbly rich but I had a hard time to fully understand what the settings really technically affected.
For Octane looking maybe at Westworld, you don’t have an average user working with Octane - you have a render specialist sitting there. For that person all the settings are probably spot-on fantastic - the person also would not do much else besides taking care of materials lighting or rendering.
Although this is only a speculative article, once again there’s no prediction of a larger and more powerful iMac. 
If Apple releases a more affordable 32” 6K display around the same time as the redesigned Mini, then you may want to go that route.
It would allow you to be a lot more flexible on future purchases, maybe.
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Thanks. Yeah, that could be a viable alternative, but I love the all-in-one form factor of the iMac. 
Meanwhile I still cannot believe that this is reality
It seems so bizzare
Became long, tldr, solid yes to this.
Long comment:
On this boat, I have an iMac 2013 (“obsolete” by now and used in the living room for utility things, not in a bin as e-waste like lots suggest) and an iMac 2020 (work one).
For both of them, there’s just something about plugging one cable and have a fully working computer with a top class 5K monitor (that I didn’t have to calibrate), speakers, webcam, Bluetooth and WiFi that work (especially compared to windows), etc that maybe needs to be experienced to fully get it. SSDs and whatnot can be connected Thunderbolt on the back.
It really is “turn on → select transfer from another Mac or from time machine → resume work”. No drivers installs to make the camera or bluetooth or WiFi or 5700XT card (in my case) do something. The no cables obsession now I understand, the keyboard/trackpad/mouse wireless everything makes for an ultra clean desk. I like working with this machine everyday.
Sadly, that magic mouse sucks imo so I use a wired one… but compared that to a typical custom build approach, where every single element might be wired (or a dongle) including webcam, WiFi and Co.
Nothing against the MacMini though, it’s close to the same experience just without the screen.
I guess after close to a decade today something similar could be custom built but that’s not what I see people around me doing, else the savings start disappearing quick and gotta deal with more things that don’t work or can get damaged (and ask for repair refunds in separate small steps).
Enter the M1X rumors, if accurate, then it will rock. I won’t buy it just yet since I don’t need it but I hope adoption is hefty in any of its forms (Mac Mini, iMac etc). Hopefully the more users joining will translate in more support software wise.
Extra:
That said, I also have a couple of TB displays from 2011 still going strong, bright as the first day, nothing to say about colors, all the USBs and thunderbolt port still going strong.
So a replacement for this I’ll trust it to be a solid choice for those going the MacMini/MP route or expanding more screens to their iMacs.
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Fully seconded. Nothing to add, except that your post made me long for that upcoming souped-up iMac even more. 
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Well, if I bought an iMac, I’d definitely want to install some external speakers, so it’d be more than just one plug for me.
It’d be three.
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Yeah, I’ve also got some nice PC speakers I’d like to transfer to my future iMac setup, although I wonder if the new iMac will feature some super-duper new sound that will supersede my speakers. I’m always amazed by the sound dynamism Apple can squeeze out of an iPhone, and a large iMac will have much more room for dynamic sound hardware and acoustics.
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…it’s not entirely impossible. I’m always amazed at the sound quality the little speakers in my iPhone are able to output, both with treble, and some decent mids. The iMacs should be that much better, given how much more room Apple has to play with.
Though if you want bass, there will never be any substitute for a good sub.
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Hahaha, I had just added just about the same as you wrote. Great minds think alike. 
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Now you owe me a coke!
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I don’t know if this has been discussed here already, but just to make sure:
…and this works with the M1 Macs as well? The Github page claims it works with all TB equipped Macs, but I’d assume that the M1s would be an exception, since they don’t officially offer eGPU support in any way, nor have any 3rd party drivers available for it.
I am curious if this will or will not also have an impact on Apple
Also for car companies - a recent article talked about how old the chip are cad makers use
Those designs are tested and stable but just old tech and new foundries are not interested in building fab labs that build old designs
Crazy part about the Apple SOC is that there are 16 Neural cores just sitting idle in almost all 3d apps.
And with Blender’s low developer power I don’t expect to see Blender coding their app to take full advantage of Apple’s future SOCs.
With all the praise Apple is getting with their entry into PC Silicon, parts of the SOC aren’t even being taken advantage of yet. 
I’m assuming that there could be so many other tasked performed on the Neural cores in 3D apps, like simulations or denoising for example.
I think Adobe is one of the first DCC to make use of the M1’s Neural Engine (rumors) and that, along with native ARM support, is why we are seeing up to 80% improvements in performance VS Intel chips, with their apps.
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OpenImageDenoise is using the neural cores via CoreML.
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Oh, Wow!
Really surprised that this is happening, but I’m also really excited to find that out. I knew BF is actively supporting the ARM versions for MacOS, but I was just assuming BF was just doing enough to have it run on M1 systems.
Glad to hear they are digging into it!
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