The 2020 5K Intel iMac was the very end of the line for any and all Intel iMacs, and was the third-to-last Intel Mac to be discontinued – selling until March 8th, 2022. This final model iMac receives some upgrades over the 5K 2019 model, as well as the notorious addition of the T2 security chip. The 2020 5K iMac receives refreshed GPUs across the board which use faster GDDR6 VRAM, is updated to bluetooth 5.0, finally ships standard with SSD’s on all models, and Intel’s new 10th-gen “Comet Lake” processors. The 2020 5K retains a socket on its logic board for the CPUs, but is updated to LGA 1200 over the previous year’s LGA 1151. This model year also introduced a new-to-iMac “nano texture glass” surface option for $500, which was reduced to $300 on April 20th, 2021.

What is “Nano Texture Glass”?

Just like the Anti-Glare “Matte” display options of the unibody MacBook Pro, the 2020 5K iMac introduced an antiglare option of its own called Nano Texture Glass. It was pricey, with the cost reduced by $200 about a year after its introduction. Matte displays such as the ones used in the Unibody MacBook Pros used a display coating on top of the display itself which would diffuse light coming onto it. Nano Texture Glass on the other hand, is a physically etched surface pattern which alters how light hits the surface of the display – eliminating most of the glare in the process. The only catch is – Apple wants you to use a specific type of cloth to clean this type of display, as it is a machined, precision task to do such a thing to a display. (Macworld, 2024, URL)

What You Need to Know

• These iMacs still shipped with 8 GB of RAM in 2020 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.
• This model has the T2 security chip, unlike all other Intel iMac models.
• There are four memory slots on the logic board, which are user-accessible without requiring full disassembly – unlike the 21.5″ iMac of this time.
• The CPUs are socketed, using socket LGA 1200.
• The GPU is soldiered to the logic board.

Details

• Announced August 4th, 2020
• Apple model number: A2115 (EMC 3442)
• Model ID: iMac20,1 (Models without Radeon Pro 5700/5700 XT)
  • iMac20,2 (Radeon Pro 5700/5700 XT only)
• Order: MXWT2LL/A (3.1 i5-10500)
  • MXWU2LL/A (3.3 i5-10600)
  • MXWV2LL/A (3.8 i7-10700K)
  • BTO/CTO (3.6 i9-10910)
  • BTO/CTO (3.8 i7-10700K + Radeon Pro 5700/5700XT)
  • BTO/CTO (3.6 i9-10910 + Radeon Pro 5700/5700XT)
• Discontinued March 8th, 2022

Mac OS

• Requires macOS 10.15.6 (Build 19G2005) Catalina or newer, is currently supported.

Core System

This iMac shipped with Hexa-Core, Octa-Core, and Deca-Core Comet Lake 14nm CPUs. All models have hyper threading this time around! All iMacs use an FC-LGA1200 socket, and can be upgraded.

Legend: L1i = L1 Instruction Cache, L1d = L1 Data cache, PL2 = Maximum Turbo-Boost wattage

• Intel Core i5-10500 ($1799): 3.1 Ghz, 6 Cores, 12 Threads, 4.5 GHz Turbo, 65W TDP
  134W PL2, 14nm, Per-Core: 32KB L1i/32KB L1d, 256KB L2, Shared: 12 MB L3
  Comes with: MMX, SSE 1/2/3/4.2, AVX 1/2, EIST, XD Bit, VT-x, VT,d, AES-NI,
  TSX, TXT, CLMUL, FMA3, F16C, BMI 1/2, ABM, ADX, RdBand, TBT 2.0
  .
• Intel Core i5-10600 ($1999): 3.3 Ghz, 6 Cores, 12 Threads, 4.8 GHz Turbo, 65W TDP
  134W PL2, 14nm, Per-Core: 32KB L1i/32KB L1d, 256KB L2, Shared: 12 MB L3
  Comes with: MMX, SSE 1/2/3/4.2, AVX 1/2, EIST, XD Bit, VT-x, VT,d, AES-NI,
  TSX, TXT, CLMUL, FMA3, F16C, BMI 1/2, ABM, ADX, RdBand, TBT 2.0
  .
• Intel Core i7-10700K ($2299): 3.8 Ghz, 8 Cores, 16 Threads, 5.1 GHz Turbo, 125W TDP
  229W PL2, 14nm, Per-Core: 32KB L1i/32KB L1d, 256KB L2, Shared: 16 MB L3
  Comes with: MMX, SSE 1/2/3/4.2, AVX 1/2, EIST, XD Bit, VT-x, VT,d, AES-NI,
  TSX, TXT, CLMUL, FMA3, F16C, BMI 1/2, ABM, ADX, RdBand, TBT 2.0
  .
• Intel Core i9-10910 ($2499*): 3.6 Ghz, 10 Cores, 20 Threads, 5 GHz Turbo, 125W TDP
  229W PL2, 14nm, Per-Core: 32KB L1i/32KB L1d, 256KB L2, Shared: 20 MB L3
  Comes with: MMX, SSE 1/2/3/4.2, AVX 1/2, EIST, XD Bit, VT-x, VT,d, AES-NI,
  TSX, TXT, CLMUL, FMA3, F16C, BMI 1/2, ABM, ADX, RdBand, TBT 2.0
  .
• Note ($2499*): The i9 was a BTO/CTO configuration of either the 3.3 i5 iMac, or the 3.8 i7 iMac. If configured with the i7 iMac, the price would be ($2699). It would be $2499 if configured with the i5 iMac.

Memory

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

• (All): 8 GB 2666 MHz PC4-21300 SDRAM ~21.3 GB/s effective
  • 16 GB (+$200), 32 GB (+$600), 64 GB (+$1000), 128 GB (+$2600)

Video

• ($1799/1999): AMD Radeon Pro 5300, 4 GB GDDR6, Navi 14 PRO XE, 1280 Cores, 7nm
  • 6.4 Billion Transistors, 158mm die size, BGA-1125, PCIe v4 x8, BW: 224 GB/s
  • 1000 MHz GPU clock, 1750 MHz Memory clock (14 Gb/s effective), 85W TDP
  • OpenGL 4.6, OpenCL 2.1, Vulkan 1.3, 20 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 5500 XT, 8 GB GDDR6, Navi 14 PRO XL, 1536 Cores, 7nm
  • 6.4 Billion Transistors, 158mm die size, BGA-1125, PCIe v4 x8, BW: 224 GB/s
  • 1187 MHz GPU clock, 1750 MHz Memory clock (14 Gb/s effective), 125W TDP
  • OpenGL 4.6, OpenCL 2.1, Vulkan 1.3, 24 Compute units, 16KB L1 Per CU, 2 MB L2
  • As powerful as a desktop GTX 980 or a Radeon R9 Fury.
    .
• (+$300): AMD Radeon Pro 5700, 8 GB GDDR6, Navi 10 XLA, 2304 Cores, 7nm
  • 10.3 Billion Transistors, 251mm die size, BGA-1928, PCIe v4 x16, BW: 224 GB/s
  • 1243 MHz GPU clock, 1500 MHz Memory clock (12 Gb/s effective), 130W TDP
  • OpenGL 4.6, OpenCL 2.1, Vulkan 1.3, 24 Compute units, 16KB L1 Per CU, 4 MB L2
  • As powerful as a desktop GTX 1070 or about the same as a Radeon RX Vega 56.
    .
• (+$500): AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT, 16 GB GDDR6, Navi 10 XTA, 2560 Cores, 7nm
  • 10.3 Billion Transistors, 251mm die size, BGA-1928, PCIe v4 x16, BW: 224 GB/s
  • 1243 MHz GPU clock, 1500 MHz Memory clock (12 Gb/s effective), 130W TDP
  • OpenGL 4.6, OpenCL 2.1, Vulkan 1.3, 24 Compute units, 16KB L1 Per CU, 4 MB L2
  • As powerful as a desktop RTX 3050 or a Radeon RX Vega 56.
    .
• 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 6016×3384@60Hz 1 Billion colors, 1x 5120 x 2880@60Hz 1 Billion colors, 2x 4096 x 2304 1 Billion colors, or 2x 3840 x 2160 1 Billion colors.
  • Radeon Pro 5700/5700 XT Only: 2x 6016×3384@60Hz 1 Billion colors
    .
• (+$500): Nano-Texture Glass (Reduced to $300 on April 20th, 2021)

Drives

• ($1799): 256 GB Soldered-In PCIe 3.0-based Solid State Drive
  • According to everymac, this model has a 256 GB SSD only, with no options to upgrade.
    .
• ($1999): 512 GB Soldered-In PCIe 3.0-based Solid State Drive
  • 1 TB (+$200), 2 TB (+$600)
    .
    
• ($2299*): 512 GB Soldered-In PCIe 3.0-based Solid State Drive
  • 1 TB (+$200), 2 TB (+$600), 4 TB (+$1200), 8 TB (+$2400)
    .
• *If configured to the i9 from the 3.3 i5 model, you could only upgrade to a 2 TB SSD. You must select the i7 model in order to take advantage of higher SSD storage options.

Expansion/Misc

• 1080p Facetime HD Camera
• 2x USB-C Style Thunderbolt 3 ports with USB 3.1
• 4x USB-A style USB 3.0 ports
• Bluetooth 5.0
• 802.11ac (a/b/g/n) Wifi 5
• Gigabit Ethernet RJ-45 connector
  • Optional: 10g Ethernet (+$100)
• SDXC SD-Card slot reader (UHS-II)
• 3.5mm Headphone Jack
• Three-mic array
  • High signal-to-noise ratio and directional beamforming
  • Support for “Hey Siri”
• Standard 3-Prong IEC 63020 Power Connector
• Kensington lock slot
• 300W Power Supply, seems to be shared across models

Included In Box

• iMac 5K 27″
  • Covered by protective sheet, held by styrofoam
• Magic Mouse 2
  • Configurable with Magic Trackpad 2
• Magic Keyboard 2
  • Configurable to Magic Keyboard 2 with Numeric Keypad
• Power Cord, IEC 63020 to NEMA 5-15 connector
• USB-A to Lightning connector charging/data cable
• Polishing cloth

Physical

• Size:H/W/D 20.3 x 25.6 x 8 in/51.6 x 65 x 20.3 cm
• Weight: 19.7 lb./8.92 kg