iMac M4 review: Minor changes lead to perfection for Apple's all-in-one Mac

Rogue01 said:
"By the time you tack on a somewhat comparable monitor, you're higher than the price of the iMac. We say somewhat because it's next to impossible to find a 24-inch 4.5K display."

This doesn't make any sense.  The two port $1,299 iMac should never be recommended or considered.  The $1,499 iMac with four ports and 10/10 core M4 CPU is 16/256.  The Mac mini 10/10 core 16/512 is half the price at $799 with twice the storage, and you get more ports.  The iMac with 512GB storage to match jumps to $1,699.  Most people are not going to shop for a 24" display to match the iMac.  In fact, there are far better and larger 4K displays to match up with the mini and still be less than the price of an iMac.  Even if you bought a new keyboard and mouse, you can do it for less than the price of an equally configured iMac.

I think you may have forgotten the cost of the magic keyboard and magic mouse in your comparison.  Like the author pointed out, those 2 together run another $300.  There are definitely cheaper mouse keyboard combos out there though. The cost for the mini 10/10 core with 16/512 and a magic keyboard and mouse is $1097. That leaves you $600 to buy a monitor in 4k rez with an integrated webcam, mic, and speakers. You can get an LG MyView Smart monitor for about $500. You would get a bigger screen but only 4k Rez (which is worse and noticeably so stretched over a 32 inch screen) and a webcam that might be 1080p but not CenterStage or DeskView capable and speakers that are not Atmos capable.
All of that is to say, that you can definitely get lower than Apple's $1700 iMac with a mini, but only with compromises. Each user has to decide for themselves if the savings vs compromises balance out.  The lower than $1700 you pay, the more compromises you have to accept.
I often think on this very subject, because i have an M1 iMac. Changing a Mac mini for $600-800 is easier and can be done more frequently than trading up on the iMac, but I'm not willing to accept the compromises or pay even more for a Studio Display just to come off cheaper on the next mini upgrade. I wish Apple would come out with a monitor for $899-999. Alas, that will almost certainly never happen as the math would just tip too far in favor of the mini and kill the iMac.