Skip to main content

With 5K resolution, Apple’s new iMac has more pixels than any other display

At its latest event, Apple revealed a slew of new changes that the company made to its line of iMac desktop computers.

The new iMac, dubbed iMac with Retina Display, wears a screen that offers an extremely high resolution of 5,120 x 2,880, which is equivalent to 5K. That’s seven times more pixels than what you’d get with 1080p screens, which are ubiquitous.

On top of that, the iMac with Retina Display offers significantly more pixels than 4K screens do as well. A 4K resolution amounts to 3,840 x 2,160. Apple claims that the new iMac with Retina display also consumes significantly less energy than previous screens.

To help power this super-demanding display tech, Apple has also upgraded the GPU and CPU on the iMac with Retina Display as well. The new iMac with Retina Display can now be had with a 3.5GHz Intel Core i5 quad-core processor, which is upgradeable to a Core i7 CPU running at 4GHz.

The default iMac with Retina Display configuration offers a Core i5 CPU that’s 100MHz faster than what the highest-end 27-inch iMac has. While you can bump the latter chip’s up to a Core i7 running at 3.5GHz, that’s where it tops out at. The iMac with Retina Display now has the most powerful CPU in the entire line.

27-inch iMac with Retina 5K Display
Image used with permission by copyright holder

It’s also swapping out the Nvidia 700M-series GPUs, which are in the current slate of iMacs, for newer AMD Radeon R9 M290X and M295X GPUs. That’s surprising, considering that Nvidia recently outed new 970M and 980M GPUs. The latter is an incredibly powerful performer, according to our tests, and offers power that’s not far off from the desktop-based GTX 980. The latter is currently the most powerful single-GPU graphics card you can get today.

Apple is offering upgrades in other areas as well. For instance, the 1TB hard drive that’s available by default with the non-Retina iMacs has been upgraded to a 1TB Fusion Drive, which should offer significantly better performance compared to a standard mechanical drive.

The new iMac with Retina Display can be had for $2,500, and is shipping starting today.

It’s worth noting that Dell will soon be releasing its own 5K display for $2,499. However, that screen, dubbed the Dell UltraSharp 27 Ultra HD 5K Monitor, will cost $2,500, and doesn’t include a computer inside it. It also won’t be released until sometime during the upcoming holiday season.

Konrad Krawczyk
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Konrad covers desktops, laptops, tablets, sports tech and subjects in between for Digital Trends. Prior to joining DT, he…
Apple’s M4 iMac brings next-gen power to your desktop
People using the Apple iMac with M4 chip.

Apple has brought its M4 chip to the iMac, making it the first Mac to get Apple’s latest silicon chip. The update also brings new colors and a significant performance improvement for the all-in-one desktop computer, and it comes a year after it received the previous-generation M3 chip. As with the previous M1 and M3 iMacs, the M4 model is compatible with Apple Intelligence.

It comes at the beginning of a week of product releases from Apple, with the company previously teasing that it had much more to reveal in the coming days. The updates could see the entire Mac lineup receive some variant of the M4 chip (including more powerful M4 Pro, M4 Max and M4 Ultra editions) over the coming months.

Read more
iMac deals: New, renewed and refurbished iMac computers
Apple iMac with Retina 5K Display review close

For PCs, most folks probably think of something like a Windows Desktop, but for those who are in the Apple ecosystem, iMacs are the way to go, and offer a lot of great specs and integrations with other devices like MacBooks. Even better, iMacs are easily one of the best all-in-one computers out there, and their various configurations often show up on our lists of best PCs, and it makes sense, considering so many folks tend to use them for creative work. Of course, they do tend to be pricey, which is why we've gone out and collected some of our favorite deals on them, although if you still want a MacBook, you can check out these MacBook deals or these refurbished MacBook deals.

Also, if you're ok with going for a Windows desktop, then check out our roundup of our favorite desktop deals.
Apple iMac 21.5-inch (mid 2017) Renewed -- $275 $1,099 75% off

Read more
The iMac Pro may not be completely dead, and that thrills me
The back of a blue iMac on a white desk.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Apple is working on bringing back either the iMac Pro or the 27-inch iMac with a new Apple Silicon chip to help it charge headlong into the modern era. We’ve been hearing variations of this rumor almost since the day the iMac Pro was discontinued in 2021.

A larger and more powerful iMac has been the primary hole in the Mac lineup, so I'm thrilled to hear that it isn't being forgotten about. And this time, the persistence of these whispers makes me think there’s really something there -- and the latest report on the subject hasn’t tempered my curiosity.
It's still alive

Read more