iMac refresh - new specs, more 5K

[Lord Sparklebottom]

Apple is refreshing the iMac line-up, with new specs and displays. All the 27" model now have a 5K compaired to only one model. That means that the starting price for a iMac with a 5K display now starts at $1,799, compaired to the old price $1,999. Apple is also stating that the new display can output 25% more colours.

To improve color reproduction, Apple is switching to a new display technology. The new display is made up of what it calls "red-green phosphor LEDs," which are designed to, as you can guess, improve reproduction of reds and greens. Typical LEDs have done a much better job with blues, and these new LEDs are meant to even out how well reds, greens, and blues can be represented. This new display tech is also coming to a 4K version of the 21.5-inch iMac, which is being introduced today.

Inside the iMac, the processors are now Skylake CPUs starting with a 3,2 Ghz i5, and up to a 4,0 Ghz i7. The graphics are now handled by new AMD GPUs starting with a 2GB M380 and up to a 4GB M296X. RAM has seen a minor bump up now with 8GB 1867MHz going up to 32GB. It now also features a Thunderbolt 2 port.

 

The 21,5" iMac also got an upgrade, the highest end model ($1,499) now has a 4K display, with the 1080p models starting at $1,099.

As stated earlier, the new 4K display has the same new display tech as the 5K iMac. Inside the 21,5" iMac there's in the cheapest model a 1,6GHz dual-core i5, and the 4K model has a 3,1GHz quad-core i5 with Iris Pro graphics. The RAM now is 8GB of 1867GHz LPDDR3 going up to 16GB. Just like the 27" the 21,5" now has two Thunderbolt 2 ports and also more storage options 

 

They're also new versions of the keyboard, mouse and trackpad. They've now got rechargeable batteriers charging over the Lightning cable. The keyboard is much thinner because of this and the trackpad is bigger, but the Magic Mouse is the same as before. The new keyboard and mouse will come included with the new iMacs.

 

The new 27" and 21,5" iMacs are all shipping today.

Sources: 

http://www.theverge.com/2015/10/13/9512503/apple-imac-update-27-inch-5k-price-release-date-specs

http://www.theverge.com/2015/10/13/9512505/new-apple-imac-announced-specs-price-release-date-21-inch

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/466952-apple-releases-215-4k-retina-imac/

 

Edit: Added info about the 21,5" and added more images

Edited October 14, 2015 by Lord Sparklebottom
Fixed for night theme users

[FelixMemoria]

I think this means that now every iMac has atleast 4k or better. 

[ShadowCaptain]

thats awesome .. like really awesome

[UltraNeonGaming]

Wow, 5k is making it to the mainstream before 4k

Sort of, the 21.5in 4k iMac is pretty cool

[minibois]

Oh, well ok

Still not a product that seems interesting to me. Price is better though, maybe it throttles less too now.

 

New review @LinusTech?

 

(Off topic: @Lord Sparklebottom please remove the formatting to the quote)

[Lord Sparklebottom]

Oh, well ok

Still not a product that seems interesting to me. Price is better though, maybe it throttles less too now.

 

New review @LinusTech?

 

(Off topic: @Lord Sparklebottom please remove the formatting to the quote)

Noticed it, fixed

[Real_PhillBert]

I like seeing higher  resolutions becoming more popular. We have been at 1080P for a long time now.

[KirbyTech]

I like seeing higher  resolutions becoming more popular. We have been at 1080P for a long time now.

While that is true I think the reason is because 1080p on a 24" display from 2-3 feet away it is hard to tell much of a difference between 1080p and 4k. 4k is only important when you start to get bigger

[Real_PhillBert]

While that is true I think the reason is because 1080p on a 24" display from 2-3 feet away it is hard to tell much of a difference between 1080p and 4k. 4k is only important when you start to get bigger

 

IMacs are 27" displays, not 24. And you can certainly tell the difference on a 27" display. 

[Misanthrope]

MOAR PIXELS, MOOOOAAAAAAAAR!!!

 

[KirbyTech]

IMacs are 27" displays, not 24. And you can certainly tell the difference on a 27" display. 

I get they are 27", your comment was more general that saying just specifically 27" imacs and so was mine.

[Bouzoo]

I'm quite sure that M380 is not gonna be enough for serious editing. And think that's a M295X. Other than that it's quite awesome. 

Also did they upgrade cooling or throttling all the way? 

[captain cactus]

So Broadwell in the 21.5" iMac and Skylake in the 27". Why does Apple keep treating the smaller devices as "lesser" devices? Same with the iPad Mini. No reason to not put an A9 in there.

 

Also, yay for 5400 RPM drives. Like what the fuck. Oh, and no option for a dGPU in the 21.5" devices. But why? I mean, nice display you have there, but without a good GPU that Mac is gonna be underpowered in like a year. ALSO: where's DDR4?

[captain cactus]

I'm quite sure that M380 is not gonna be enough for serious editing. And think that's a M295X. Other than that it's quite awesome. 

Also did they upgrade cooling or throttling all the way? 

It's an iMac, so no. Still the same terrible cooling as always.

[snowComet]

I'm a bit disappointed that it is still featuring Thunderbolt 2....

Which means I can't use it as a 5K monitor....

[captain cactus]

I'm a bit disappointed that it is still featuring Thunderbolt 2....

Which means I can't use it as a 5K monitor....

Not even the 21.5" iMac supports target display mode. How's that? Thunderbolt 2 has the bandwidth for it.

[Mew]

Wait, why is their 4k higher res than 4k?

Edit: looks like they used broadwell because skylake doesnt have iris graphics yet.

http://anandtech.com/show/9715/apple-updates-imac-retina

[CtW]

IMHO they should have used the nvidia mobile gpus or at leased had 4gb of vram standard. The current generation RadeonM cards are basically rebrands of older cards (correct me if i"m wrong) and output much more heat than the green team's offerings. IIRC heat was an issue for the M290X on the last 5k iMac. There's a reason why most gaming laptops use nvidia parts and it isnt because nvidia tells them to. 

[CtW]

Wait, why is their 4k higher res than 4k?

Edit: looks like they used broadwell because skylake doesnt have iris graphics yet.

http://anandtech.com/show/9715/apple-updates-imac-retina

That resolution is Cinema 4k rather than the more common 4k resolution that you see in most consumer devices. 

[DaRk0]

I'm actually debating whether to sell my PC and buy an iMac or strongest Mac Mini with some nice 34 ultrawide monitor, since I'm not playing games that much anymore.

[Castdeath97]

Wait, why is their 4k higher res than 4k?

Edit: looks like they used broadwell because skylake doesnt have iris graphics yet.

http://anandtech.com/show/9715/apple-updates-imac-retina

So that they double the resolution of the previous model so that they can double the scaling.

[LukaP]

IMHO they should have used the nvidia mobile gpus or at leased had 4gb of vram standard. The current generation RadeonM cards are basically rebrands of older cards (correct me if i"m wrong) and output much more heat than the green team's offerings. IIRC heat was an issue for the M290X on the last 5k iMac. There's a reason why most gaming laptops use nvidia parts and it isnt because nvidia tells them to. 

If you havent noticed, Apple have a contract with AMD for their GPUs in their desktop computers. Im guessing it lasts for 2 years (or 3 generations)

 

Not even the 21.5" iMac supports target display mode. How's that? Thunderbolt 2 has the bandwidth for it.

Probably using the same custom developed scaler/interface, to save costs. meaning they have no means of making it accept DP1.4/HDMI2

[Mew]

So that they double the resolution of the previous model so that they can double the scaling.

 

The previous model was 1080p. Half of this resolution is 2048x1152.

[Castdeath97]

The previous model was 1080p. Half of this resolution is 2048x1152.

I guess it's 4 times then?

[ThinkWithPortals]

@LinusTech, what do you reckon? Updated review, or even "iSwitched to iMac v2?"