Apple revamps hardware for iMac line. The bitten apple's desktop computers will have top-of-the-line components and prices... by car
Good news for digital graphics professionals: Apple has just announced the new iMac and iMac Pro, available on the Apple Store already today (and at authorized resellers from next week) with prices starting from 1,349 euros and can get close to 7,000 euros for the non-Pro line. The top-of-the-line iMac Pro, on the other hand, will be priced just under 20,000 euros.
Two main innovations for the new desktops from the bitten apple: latest-generation Intel processors up to 8 cores and optional Radeon Pro Vega graphics cards from AMD. In practice, the top of the hardware offered on the market today by Intel and AMD, the two giants of silicon that challenge each other on the market but meet in the high range of Apple. Thus, for the first time, the 21.5-inch iMac is available with a 6-core processor while the 27-inch can mount an 8-core processor (i.e. the ninth-generation Intel i9 octa-core with Turbo Boost up to 5.0 GHz frequency). If you choose to use AMD's professional video cards, then, graphics performance goes up 80% on the 21.5-inch model and 50% on the 27-inch.
New iMacs: prices and features
Today's cheapest iMac is the 21.5-inch model without the 4K Retina Display, which is sold at a base price of 1,359 euros. It mounts a seventh-generation Intel Core i5 dual-core processor at 2.3GHz (Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz), 8 GB of memory (expandable up to 16 GB), 1 TB hard drive, Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640, two Thunderbolt 3 ports and has an sRGB display with 1920×1080 pixel resolution. In contrast, the same model with Retina display costs 1,549 euros.
The 27-inch iMac with Retina Display 5K is priced starting at 2.199 euros and offers 8th generation Intel Core i5 6-core CPU at 3.0GHz (Turbo Boost up to 4.1GHz), 8GB of memory (expandable up to 32GB), 1TB Fusion Drive hard drive, Radeon Pro 570X video card with 4GB of dedicated memory, two Thunderbolt 3 ports and 5120×2880 pixels Retina 5K P3 display.
The absolute most powerful configuration of this new generation of iMacs includes Intel Core i9 8-core ninth-generation processor at 3.6GHz (Turbo Boost up to 5.0GHz), 64GB of RAM, Radeon Pro Vega 48 professional video card with 8GB of dedicated memory, 2TB SSD drive, Magic Mouse 2 and Magic Trackpad 2, Magic Keyboard and, pre-installed, professional video and audio editing software Final Cut Pro X and Logic Pro X. To take home this configuration, however, we have to spend exactly 6,947.98 euros.
New iMac Pro: prices and features
If, however, we need even more power, then we must turn to the iMac Pro line that starts at a price of 5.599 euros with Intel Xeon W 8-core CPU at 3.2GHz (Turbo Boost up to 4.2GHz), 32 GB of ECC RAM (expandable up to 256 GB), 1TB SSD disk, Radeon Pro Vega 56 video card with 8 GB of memory, 10 Gb Ethernet network card, four Thunderbolt 3 ports and Retina Display 5K 27 "with 5120×2880 pixel resolution.
The top of the line iMac Pro, on the other hand, offers an Intel Xeon W 18-core 2.3GHz processor (Turbo Boost up to 4.3GHz), 256GB of ECC memory, Radeon Pro Vega 64X video card with 16GB of dedicated memory, 4TB SSD drive, Magic Mouse 2 and Magic Trackpad 2, VESA mounting adapter kit, Magic Keyboard with numeric keypad, and Final Cut Pro X and Logic Pro X software. How much does this configuration cost? Exactly €19,232.98.