Apple's 27-inch iMac gets CPU and GPU refresh
Call this a full refresh as Apple has made substantial hardware upgrades to its 27-inch iMac product line. The design of the system remains intact, but for an extra $500, consumers can opt for the nano-textured glass cover on display, minimizing reflections. The hardware refresh indeed is quite interesting, considering Apple is transitioning to an entirely new silicone.
Sticking with Intel, the 27-inch iMac will be upgraded to the Intel 10th generation Comet Lake H processor, with choices between the 6-core/12-Thread 3.1 GHz Core i5, 8-Core/16-Thread 3.8Ghz Core i7 or 10-Core/20-thread 3.6 Core i9. You can also upgrade RAM to the maximum capacity, 64GB to 128GB.
The processor is not the only hardware that has gone through an upgrade in this system; Apple is ditching the hard-drive-based Fusion drive system. Instead, in all iMacs, it will have the standard SSD (solid-state storage). The 27-inch iMac base model will come with a 256GB SSD, with 512 GB for the higher-end models. In typical Apple fashion, if you want to exceed your storage capacity, it comes at a high cost as there's also 8TB SSD.
Apple is also offering consumers several GPU ( graphic processing unit) options from AMD. The base Core i5 iMac will have a Radeon Pro 5300 (4GB GDDR6), while the Core i7 systems will have a Radeon Pro 5500 XT (8 GDDR6) and the Radeon Pro 5700 XT (16 GDDR6). Both of these upgrade options will add $300 and $500 more to the retail price.
Apple also is adding a new FaceTime camera with increased resolution from 720p to 1080p. As an option, consumers can choose to upgrade to 10GbE, with the SD reader still supporting faster UHS-II speeds.
The newly upgraded 27-iMac is now available to order retailing for $1,799 ( 6-Core/12-thread Core i5, 8GB DDR4-2666, 256GB SSD, Radeon Pro 5300. I say purchase these iMacs now because afterward, Apple will no longer install Intell CPU’s into their systems from here on out.
