Basics
- 27-inch, 5120×2880 Retina display
- 3.5GHz quad-core Intel Core i5
- 8GB of user-replaceable DDR3 RAM
- 1TB Fusion Drive
- AMD R9 M290X graphics with 2GB RAM
- 4x USB 3, 2x Thunderbolt 2, Headphone, Gigabit Ethernet, SDXC
- 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0
- MSRP: $2,499
- Product info page
- Best computer display ever
- Strong specs for all-in-one, display aside
- Cost
Design
Apple’s 5K iMac doesn’t look any different from the rest of the lineup on the outside – the tapered design it introduced in late 2012, which is thick in the middle of the back to house the bulkiest internals, and then tapers to a remarkably thin 5mm on the edge, is still in use here. The use of the existing design actually makes the design accomplishments of this computer more impressive, however – Apple was able to completely re-engineer their display without adding any thickness or bulk, after all.The industrial design still sings, too, even after two years of availability. Its edge-to-edge black bezel and minimal front-facing aluminum mean that the new Retina display almost floats on its own, and is free to show off its dazzling good looks without the presence of any extraneous visual distractions. The slimmer design also means that actually lifting and moving the iMac around isn’t all that strenuous of an activity, despite the display’s generous proportions.
While inputs around back isn’t ideal, Apple has gone to great lengths to make sure that this new iMac retains its user-accessible RAM slots, which means you can upgrade after the fact. That’s a huge advantage, given the cost of RAM via Apple’s custom configuration options, as compared to the cost of RAM purchased after the fact. It’s also an upgrade that most users won’t need right away, but one that can make a big difference to the usability and performance of a computer after a couple of years of ownership.
In the end Apple’s latest iMac design may be a carry-over from previous models, but showcasing the 5K display is the role it seems born to play.
Performance
The new iMac’s performance is impressive beyond just its ability to push pixels – though that’s nothing to sneeze at. In its base model configuration, the iMac with Retina 5K display comes with a 1TB Fusion Drive as the standard storage option, which offers a lot of performance advantages over a traditional spinning disk HDD on its own. The 8GB of RAM is a decent starting point, and the 3.5GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 CPU (which has Turbo Boost capabilities up to 3.9GHz) and AMD Radeo R9 M290X graphics processor will give most users ample muscle for even compute-intensive tasks like 4K video editing.The new iMac is also a powerful gaming machine, if that’s your thing. I played Civilization V on the machine at its max possible resolution (which is still just 3200×1800 in HiDPI mode, and therefore still scaled on the iMac’s Retina display) and the gameplay experience was smooth and fast, even in later stages of the game when the map gets a bit crowded with visual elements. Other action games, like last year’s Tomb Raider, also performed well.
I was able to get the iMac’s fan going, which is not something that normally happens in my average daily use, by running Civilization V, Photoshop and Final Cut Pro X at the same time, and switching between activities on each, but during most everyday use, you won’t hear a peep out of the all-in-one’s onboard cooling system.
Display
Let’s be honest – this computer is all about the screen, and the display is the factor upon which a buying decision from anyone considering it will rest. If you agree to that, then you must also agree that this computer is a must-buy for anyone for whom display quality is serious concern.If you switched from an existing Mac notebook to the Retina MacBook Pro when it launched, or at any time since, you’ll have some idea of the change between the existing iMac and the one with the new Retina 5K display. Somehow, though, this is a switch that has even more of an impact, especially if you do any work in any kind of visual field, from photography, to film-making, to design.
Apple’s display achievements here are something that have to be experienced to truly appreciate, but suffice it to say they’ve hit a home run. It took two years to adapt Retina display tech for the desktop, but now that it has arrived, there is most definitely no going back.
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