This was nearing the end of the line for the Intel iMacs altogether, and perhaps you’re thinking: doesn’t this have a T2 security chip since it’s from 2019? Rest assured, it doesn’t.

The appeal of the 2019 model 5K iMac is precisely about the jump-up to Intel Coffee lake, combined with the lack of a heavy-handed T2 chip. The additional 2 CPU cores offered by even the base i5 makes this less an “S” model year, as they make a dramatic leap forward in performance – but only the i9 has hyper threading.

All models are bumped up to 2666 MHz PC4-21300 DDR4 SDRAM, including the base model. According to Intel, all CPUs support a maximum of 128 GB of DDR4, although Apple allows the base model only to be configured up to 32 GB, the rest up to 64 GB. One interesting quirk about this model is how the first 2 options (base and one above it) use an 8th gen Intel CPU, but the other 2 (CTO/BTO plus the one just below it) use a 9th gen Intel CPU. Both CPU generations belong to Coffee Lake.

What You Need to Know

• These iMacs still shipped with 8 GB of RAM in 2019 for the lowest configuration on all models. This is okay for basic tasks, but may become increasingly impractical as time goes on. For a serious speed boost, opt for at least 16 GB of RAM, and an SSD over the Fusion Drive or Hard Drive.
• There are four memory slots on the logic board.
• This iMac can use 8th and 9th gen Intel CPUs, socket FCLGA1151.

Details

• Announced March 19th 2019
• Apple model number: A2115 (EMC 3194)
• Model ID: iMac19,1
• Order: MRQY2LL/A (3.0 GHz i5-8500)
  • MRR02LL/A (3.1 GHz i5-8600)
  • MRR12LL/A (3.7 GHz i5-9600K)
  • BTO/CTO (3.6 GHz i9-9900K)
• Discontinued August 4th, 2020

Mac OS

• Requires macOS 10.14.4 (18E2034) Mojave or newer, is currently supported.

Core System

This iMac shipped with Hexa-Core and Octa-Core Coffee Lake 14nm CPUs. Only the i9 has hyper threading. All iMacs use an FCLGA1151 socket, and can be upgraded! These are part of the Intel 300 Series chipset.

Legend: L1i = L1 Instruction Cache, L1d = L1 Data cache

• Intel Core i5-8500 ($1799): 3.0 Ghz, 6 Cores, 6 Threads, 4.1 GHz Turbo
  65W TDP, 14nm, Per-Core: 32KB L1i/32KB L1d, 256KB L2, Shared: 9 MB L3
  Comes with: MMX, SSE 4.2, AVX 2, AES, EPT, VT-x, VT-d, MPX, SGX, SIPP
  .
• Intel Core i5-8600 ($1999): 3.1 Ghz, 6 Cores, 6 Threads, 4.3 GHz Turbo
  65W TDP, 14nm, Per-Core: 32KB L1i/32KB L1d, 256KB L2, Shared: 9 MB L3
  Comes with: MMX, SSE 4.2, AVX 2, AES, EPT, VT-x, VT-d, MPX, SGX, SIPP
  .
• Intel Core i5-9600K ($2299): 3.7 Ghz, 6 Cores, 6 Threads, 4.6 GHz Turbo
  95W TDP, 14nm, Per-Core: 32KB L1i/32KB L1d, 256KB L2, Shared: 9 MB L3
  Comes with: MMX, SSE 4.2, AVX 2, AES, EPT, VT-x, VT-d, MPX, SGX, SIPP
  .
• Intel Core i9-9900K ($2499*): 3.6 Ghz, 8 Cores, 16 Threads, 5 GHz Turbo
  95W TDP, 14nm, Per-Core: 32KB L1i/32KB L1d, 256KB L2, Shared: 16 MB L3
  Comes with: MMX, SSE 4.2, AVX 2, AES, EPT, VT-x, VT-d, MPX, SGX, SIPP
  Note: i9 was a $500 option for the $1999 model, and $400 for the $2299 model.

Memory

• Maximum memory bandwidth according to intel: 41.6 GB/s

• ($1799): 8 GB 2666 MHz PC4-21300 SDRAM ~21.3 GB/s effective
  • 16 GB (+$200), 32 GB (+$600) 
  • Was configurable up to 32 GB, unofficially works with 128 GB
    .
• ($1999 and up): 8 GB 2666 MHz PC4-21300 SDRAM ~21.3 GB/s effective
  • 16 GB (+$200), 32 GB (+$600), 64 GB (+$1000) 
  • Was configurable up to 64 GB, unofficially works with 128 GB

Video

• ($1799): AMD Radeon Pro 570X, 4 GB GDDR5, Ellesmere PROA, 1792 Cores, 14nm
  • 5.7 Billion Transistors, 232mm die size, BGA-1401, PCIe v3 x16, BW: 217 GB/s
  • 1000 MHz GPU clock, 1695 MHz Memory clock (6.8 Gb/s effective), 150W TDP
  • OpenGL 4.6, OpenCL 2.1, Vulkan 1.3, 28 Compute units, 16KB L1 Per CU, 2 MB L2
  • As powerful as a desktop GTX 770 or a Radeon R9 280X
    .
• ($1999): AMD Radeon Pro 575X, 4 GB GDDR5, Ellesmere XLA, 2048 Cores, 14nm
  • 5.7 Billion Transistors, 232mm die size, BGA-1401, PCIe v3 x16, BW: 217 GB/s
  • 1000 MHz GPU clock, 1695 MHz Memory clock (6.8 Gb/s effective), 150W TDP
  • OpenGL 4.6, OpenCL 2.1, Vulkan 1.3, 32 Compute units, 16KB L1 Per CU, 2 MB L2
  • As powerful as a desktop GTX 1650 or a Radeon RX 470.
    .
• ($2299): AMD Radeon Pro 580X, 8 GB GDDR5, Ellesmere XTA, 2304 Cores, 14nm
  • 5.7 Billion Transistors, 232mm die size, BGA-1401, PCIe v3 x16, BW: 218.9 GB/s
  • 1100 MHz GPU clock, 1710 MHz Memory clock (6.8 Gb/s effective), 185W TDP
  • OpenGL 4.6, OpenCL 2.1, Vulkan 1.3, 36 Compute units, 16KB L1 Per CU, 2 MB L2
  • As powerful as a desktop GTX Titan or a Radeon R9 390.
    .
• (+$450): AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48, 8 GB HBM2, “Vega 10 PRO”, 2304 Cores, 14nm
  • 12.5 Billion Transistors, 495mm die size, BGA-2013, PCIe v3 x16, BW: 218.9 GB/s
  • 1200 MHz GPU clock, 782 MHz Memory clock (1572 Mb/s effective), 120W TDP?
  • OpenGL 4.6, OpenCL 2.1, Vulkan 1.3, 48 Compute units, 16KB L1 Per CU, 4 MB L2
  • As powerful as a desktop Radeon RX 6500XT, or a GeForce GTX 980.
  • This option was only available on the i5-9600K or i9-9900K models.
    .
• 27″ IPS TFT LED-backlit LCD Retina display, 5120 x 2880 @217.5 PPI
  • Support for 1 Billion Colors, 500 Nits Brightness, and P3 Wide Color Gamut
  • “Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display at 1 Billion colors and”
  • 1x 5120×2880/60Hz 1 Billion colors, 2x 3840 x 2160@60Hz 1 Billion colors, 2x 4096 x 2304 with millions of colors

Drives

• ($1799): 1 TB Fusion Drive (with 32 GB SSD portion)
  • Configurable to: 2 TB Fusion (+$200)
    256 GB SSD(+$100), 512 GB SSD (+$300), 1 TB SSD (+$700)
    1 TB SSD was amended to $500 after July 9th, 2019
    .
• ($1999): 1 TB Fusion Drive (with 32 GB SSD portion)
  • Configurable to: 2 TB Fusion (+$200), 3 TB Fusion (+$300)
    256 GB SSD(+$100), 512 GB SSD (+$300), 1 TB SSD (+$700)
    1 TB SSD was amended to $500 after July 9th, 2019
    .
• ($2299): 2 TB Fusion Drive (with 128 GB SSD portion)
  • Configurable to: 3 TB Fusion (+$100)
    512 GB SSD(+$100), 1 TB SSD (+$500), 2 TB SSD (+$1100)
    1 TB SSD was $300 after July 9th, 2019, and the 2 TB was $700 afterward.

Expansion/Misc

• Facetime HD Camera
• 2x USB-C Style Thunderbolt 3 ports with USB 3.1
• 4x USB-A style USB 3.0 ports
• Bluetooth 4.2
• 802.11ac (a/b/g/n) Wifi
• Gigabit Ethernet RJ-45 connector
• SDXC SD-Card slot reader
• 3.5mm Headphone Jack
  • wSupport for Apple iPhone headset with microphone
• Stereo Speakers
• A single Microphone
• Kensington lock slot
• 300W Power Supply, seems to be shared across models

Included Peripherals

• iMac 5K
• Magic Mouse 2
  • Configurable with Magic Trackpad 2
• Magic Keyboard 2
  • Configurable to Magic Keyboard 2 with Numeric Keypad
• Power Cord
• Documentation, Apple Stickers

Physical

• Size:H/W/D 20.3 x 25.6 x 8 in/51.6 x 65 x 20.3 cm
• Weight: 20.8 lb./9.42 kg