27″ Retina 5K iMac (Late 2014)

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.

27" iMac running Yosemite

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.

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

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

ports on iMac 5K

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

Keywords: #imacretina5k #retina5kimac

Short link: http://goo.gl/Ou3A58

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