You really have to wonder what Apple was thinking by releasing an iMac with a 5120 x 2880 pixel Retina Display. After all, the regular 27″ iMac already has a 2560 x 1440 pixel display, which goes well beyond HD TV quality.

That said, 4K resolution (4096 x 2160 pixels) is the extra high definition of the future, and to properly edit 4K video, you need a display that has room for all the controls a video editor needs. Hence the 5K Retina iMac with twice the vertical and horizontal resolution of the “regular” 27″ iMac.

We should probably be most impressed that Apple was able to offer such a cutting edge display in a US$2,499 machine. That’s only $500 more than the 3.4 GHz 27″ non-Retina iMac.

Update: With OS X 10.11 El Capitan, all Retina iMacs support a new 30-bit color mode with 10 bits per color channel. This is a big step forward from 24-bit color (8 bits each for red, green, and blue) in providing improved color gradation without banding. Initially, only some Apple apps support 30-bit color, but that will change over time.

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Details

• introduced 2014.10.16 at US$2,499, reduced to US$2,299 2015.05.19
• Identifier: iMac15,1
• Model no.: A1419
• Part no.: MF886

Mac OS

• Requires Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite or later
  • AirDrop is supported

Core System

• CPU: 3.5 GHz (3.9 GHz Turbo Boost) quad-core Intel Core i5 or 4.0 GHz (4.4 GHz Turbo Boost) quad-core Intel Core i7
• L2 cache: 3 MB shared cache
• Bus: 1600 MHz
• RAM: 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) of 1600 MHz DDR3 memory, 4 SO-DIMM slots, expandable to 16 GB or 32 GB
• Performance:
  • Speedmark 9:
  • Geekbench 3, 32-bit single-core: 3465 (3.5 GHz i5), 3883 (4.0 GHz i7)
  • Geekbench 3, 32-bit multicore: 10971 (3.5 GHz i5), 14554 (4.0 GHz i7)
  • Geekbench 3, 64-bit single core: 3844 (3.5 GHz i5), 4354 (4.0 GHz i7)
  • Geekbench 3, 64-bit multicore: 12352 (3.5 GHz i5), 16582 (4.0 GHz i7)

Video

• GPU: Radeon R9 M290X graphics with 2 GB memory (optional M295X with 4 GB), supports up to 3840 x 2160 on external display
• Display: 27″ 5120 x 2880 LED backlit flat panel display supports 30-bit color with OS X 10.11 El Capitan and later
• Video out: Mini DisplayPort, DVI and VGA with optional adapters

Drives

• drive bus: 6 Gbps SATA Rev. 3
• Storage: 1 TB Fusion Drive standard, 3 TB Fusion Drive optional. 256 GB, 512 GB, or 1 TB SSD optional.
• SuperDrive: external

Expansion

• Thunderbolt 2: 2 ports
• USB: 4 USB 3 ports
• FireWire 400: via Thunderbolt adapter
• FireWire 800: via Thunderbolt adapter
• Ethernet: 10/100/gigabit
• WiFi: 802.11ac AirPort Extreme built in, three antennas support up to 1.3 Gbps bandwidth
• Bluetooth 4.0: included
• IR receiver: none
• SD Card: 1 slot, supports SDXC
• Microphone: internal
• Modem: No longer offered by Apple

Physical

• H x W x D: 20.3 x 25.6 x 8.0 in/516 x 650 x 203 mm
• Weight: 21 lb/9.54 kg
• Power supply: unknown capacity

CPU Upgrades

• none

Online Resources

• Thunderstrike Malware: Could It Still Be a Threat to Your Mac?, Low End Mac Tech Journal 2018.02.01. Malware secretly infects EFI. Which versions of macOS are safest?
• Know Your Mac’s Upgrade Options, Phil Herlihy, The Usefulness Equation, 2008.08.26. Any Mac can be upgraded, but it’s a question of what can be upgraded – RAM, hard drive, video, CPU – and how far it can be upgraded.
• The perfect Mac: MacBook Pro or iMac?, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 2009.08.11. The 15″ MacBook Pro with antiglare could be the perfect Mac, but the iMac also has much to commend it.
• Computer disaster ends happily, Alan Zisman, Zis Mac, 2009.08.05. The iMac was getting slower and slower, and Disk Utility kept trying to fix the same problems. With a new hard drive, the iMac is running as well as ever.
• Optimized Software Builds Bring Out the Best in Your Mac, Dan Knight, Low End Mac’s Online Tech Journal, 2009.06.30. Applications compiled for your Mac’s CPU can load more quickly and run faster than ones compiled for universal use.
• Intel’s promise fulfilled: More processing power per processor cycle, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 2009.06.30. Apple promised improved CPU efficiencies when it announced the move to Intel in 2005. Three years of MacBooks show the progress.
• Ubuntu Linux and Boot camp make it easy to create a triple boot Mac, Alan Zisman, Mac2Windows, 2008.12.24. Boot Camp makes it easy to install Windows on Intel Macs, and Ubuntu now makes it easy to install Linux to a virtual Windows drive.
• The ‘Better Safe Than Sorry’ Guide to Installing Mac OS X Updates, Charles W Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 2008.12.16. Most users encounter no problems using Software Update, but some preflight work and using the Combo updater means far less chance of trouble.
• Why You Should Partition Your Mac’s Hard Drive, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 2008.12.11. “At the very least, it makes sense to have a second partition with a bootable version of the Mac OS, so if you have problems with your work partition, you can boot from the ’emergency’ partition to run Disk Utility and other diagnostics.”
• Debunking the Apple Tax, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 2008.10.31. “…no one else is offering the quality of computer construction that Apple offers in the same price range.”
• One OS to rule them all, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 2008.10.29. With Fusion or Parallels letting you run Windows at full speed, Mac OS X gives you the best of both worlds.
• How to clone Mac OS X to a new hard drive, Simon Royal, Tech Spectrum, 2008.10.07. Whether you want to put a bigger, faster drive in your Mac or clone OS X for use in another Mac, here’s the simple process.
• Apple Trumps Microsoft in Making the 64-bit Transition Transparent to Users, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 2008.09.18. To use more than 4 GB of RAM under Windows, you need a 64-bit PC and the 64-bit version of Windows. On the Mac, OS X 10.4 and later already support it.
• SATA, SATA II, SATA 600, and Product Confusion Fatigue, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 2008.09.08. In addition to the original SATA specification and the current 3 Gb/s specification, SATA revision 3.0 is just around the corner.
• Does running OS X system maintenance routines really do any good?, Charles W Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 2008.08.26. Mac OS X is designed to run certain maintenance routines daily, weekly, and monthly – but can’t if your Mac is off or asleep.
• Free VirtualBox for Mac now a virtual contender, Alan Zisman, Mac2Windows, 2008.07.21. A year ago, the Mac version of VirtualBox lacked some essential features. Over the past year, it’s grown into a very useful tool.
• Win the depreciation game by buying on the low end, Charles W Moore, ‘Book Value, 2008.06.24. The worst depreciation afflicts high-end models. By buying a less powerful version, choosing certified refurbished, or picking up a used computer, you’ll come out ahead.
• 5 business essentials for ‘The Switch’, Jason Packer, Macs in the Enterprise, 2008.06.06. If you’re planning a migration from Windows to Macs, these five steps will help you succeed in making the switch.
• SheepShaver brings Classic Mac OS to Intel Macs and Leopard, Alan Zisman, Mac2Windows, 2008.05.20. Mac OS X 10.5 doesn’t support Classic Mode. Neither does Leopard. But SheepShaver lets you emulate a PowerPC Mac and run the Classic Mac OS.
• Windows on Macs: Three paths for integration, Jason Packer, Macs in the Enterprise, 2008.05.14. Mac users have three routes for running Windows apps: Run Windows using Boot Camp or virtualization, or use a compatibility layer such as WINE.
• Restore stability to a troubled Mac with a clean system install, Keith Winston, Linux to Mac, 2008.01.15. If your Mac is misbehaving, the best fix just might be a fresh reinstallation of Mac OS X – don’t forget to backup first.
• The best alternatives to Apple’s USB keyboards, Charles W Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 2007.12.10. There are a lot of USB keyboards out there, even for the Mac, but these two have great keyboard action, are solidly built, and have features Apple’s keyboard don’t include.
• Cross-platform computing: Better than it’s ever been, Andrew J Fishkin, Best Tools for the Job, 2007.11.13. Macs can read PC media, both Macs and Windows PCs play nice with each other on networks, and emulation makes it easy for Intel Macs to run Windows apps.
• 1 core, 2 cores, 4 cores, 8: How Much Difference Does It Make?, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 2007.04.10. Geekbench scores make it possible to compare the newest 3 GHz 8-core Mac Pro with the 1.5 GHz Core Solo Mac mini – and all the models in between.
• To AppleCare or not to AppleCare?, Charles W Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 2006.11.20. Consumer Reports, which generally recommends against extended warranties, says AppleCare makes sense. But does it?
• Region Free DVD Viewing Options for Intel and PowerPC Macs, Andrew J Fishkin, The Mobile Mac, 2006.09.12. Several hardware and software options that will let your view ‘wrong region’ DVDs on your PowerPC or Intel Mac.
• iMac with Retina 5K Display Technical Specifications

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