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Apple announces 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K display starting at $2499, 5120×2880 screen resolution

Apple has just announced a brand-new Retina 27-inch iMac. Apple is spreading Retina displays across the lineup, with the iMac leading that charge. This is the highest resolution screen in the world, according to Apple, with 14.7 million pixels. This is a 5K display — more than seven times the pixels of a HDTV. The screen builds on the technology Apple built on the iPhone and iPad, but to a whole new scale.

The iMac is just 5mm at its thinnest point, maintaining the same thinness as the previous generation, despite the massive leap in pixel density.

 

Alongside resolution, the display has a greater contrast ratio to maximize detail. Meanwhile, Apple uses power-saving LEDS which decreases power use by 30%.

It also includes the fastest CPU chips, upgradeable to a 4 GHZ Intel Core i7. In terms of graphics, the iMac is 45% faster than the previous version. It also includes a Thunderbolt 2 port for faster IO.

This iMac will start at just $2499, shipping today.

Apple Introduces 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K Display

CUPERTINO, California—October 16, 2014—Apple® today unveiled the 27-inch iMac® with Retina® 5K display, featuring the world’s highest resolution display with a breathtaking 14.7 million pixels. At this amazing resolution, text appears sharper than ever, videos are unbelievably lifelike, and you can see new levels of detail in your photos. With the latest quad-core processors, high-performance graphics, Fusion Drive and Thunderbolt 2, iMac with Retina 5K display is the most powerful iMac ever made—it’s the ultimate display combined with the ultimate all-in-one.

“Thirty years after the first Mac changed the world, the new iMac with Retina 5K display running OS X Yosemite is the most insanely great Mac we have ever made,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “With a breathtaking 14.7 million pixel display, faster CPU and graphics, Fusion Drive, and Thunderbolt 2, it’s the most beautiful and powerful iMac ever.”

iMac with Retina 5K display delivers an amazingly immersive user experience. With a resolution of 5120 x 2880, iMac with Retina 5K display has four times more pixels than the standard 27-inch iMac and 67 percent more pixels than a 4K display. Text looks as sharp as it does on a printed page, and you can see more of your high-resolution photos with pixel-for-pixel detail. In apps like Final Cut Pro® X, you can view 4K video at full size while still leaving plenty of room for your assets and editing tools.

The display on the new 27-inch iMac has been engineered for performance, power efficiency and stunning visual quality. iMac with Retina 5K display uses a precisely manufactured oxide TFT-based panel to deliver vivid display brightness from corner to corner. A single supercharged Apple-designed timing controller (TCON), with four times the bandwidth, drives all 14.7 million pixels. iMac with Retina 5K display also uses highly efficient LEDs and organic passivation to improve image quality and reduce display power consumption by 30 percent, even while driving four times more pixels at the same brightness. To improve the contrast ratio, iMac with Retina 5K display uses a new photo alignment process and a compensation film to deliver blacker blacks and more vibrant colors from any viewing angle. In addition, every iMac with Retina 5K display is calibrated using three state-of-the-art spectroradiometers to ensure precise and accurate color.

Not only is iMac with Retina 5K display more beautiful on the outside, it is also more powerful on the inside. It comes with a 3.5 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.9 GHz, and for the first time can be configured with a 4 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 4.4 GHz. Every new iMac with Retina 5K display also comes with AMD Radeon R9 M290X graphics and can be configured with AMD Radeon R9 M295X graphics, delivering up to 3.5 teraflops of computing power, the most powerful graphics ever offered on an iMac. iMac with Retina 5K display comes standard with 8GB of memory and a 1TB Fusion Drive for the first time. The new iMac can also be configured with up to 32GB of memory, a 3TB Fusion Drive, or up to 1TB of super-fast, PCIe-based flash storage. In addition, iMac with Retina 5K display includes two Thunderbolt 2 ports that deliver up to 20Gbps each, twice the bandwidth of the previous generation.

Every new Mac® comes with OS X® Yosemite, a powerful new version of OS X, redesigned and refined with a fresh, modern look, powerful new apps and amazing new Continuity features that make working across your Mac and iOS devices more fluid than ever. OS X Yosemite is also engineered to take full advantage of the iMac’s Retina 5K display, delivering stunning clarity across all your apps.

iMovie®, GarageBand® and the suite of iWork® apps come free with every new Mac. iMovie lets you easily create beautiful movies, and you can use GarageBand to make new music or learn to play piano or guitar. iWork productivity apps, Pages®, Numbers® and Keynote®, make it easy to create, edit and share stunning documents, spreadsheets and presentations. iWork has been redesigned with a new look, support for iCloud Drive℠ and a host of new features, including a new comments view in Pages. iWork for iCloud® beta lets you create your document on iPad®, edit it on your Mac and collaborate with friends, even if they’re on a PC.

Pricing & Availability
iMac with Retina 5K display begins shipping today with a 3.5 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.9 GHz, AMD Radeon R9 M290X graphics and a 1TB Fusion Drive for a suggested retail price of $2,499 (US). Customers can order iMac with Retina 5K display through the Apple Online Store(www.apple.com).

Additional technical specifications, configure-to-order options and accessories are available online at www.apple.com/imac.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.

Press Contacts:
Colin Smith
Apple
colins@apple.com
(408) 862-1171

Jennie Orphanopoulos
Apple
jennieo@apple.com
(408) 783-0203

Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, Mac OS, Macintosh, iMac, Retina, Final Cut Pro, OS X, iMovie, GarageBand, iWork, Pages, Numbers, Keynote, iCloud Drive, iCloud and iPad are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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Comments

  1. Rehahlia Thabet - 9 years ago

    wow 5k

  2. Mike Knopp (@mknopp) - 9 years ago

    And I have another thing to add to my list of Apple needs to get the !%^$! over. This insane drive to make EVERYTHING thinner.

    Here should be their slogan for the redesigned iMacs. 60% thinner at the edge than last years iMac. 100% of the desk space used as last year’s model. 10% less user friendly because the edges are so thin we had to move the SD slot to the back instead of the side and couldn’t provide a way for users to upgrade RAM in the 21.5 inch model.

    The only reason anyone cares about thinner desktops is if they gain you space on top of your desk. Since the thinner iMacs still have the same stand they gain you no desktop space. This was a stupid decision on their part, and I was holding out just a glimmer of hope that they would correct this moronic decision of form over function.

    That being said, the new 5K iMac is incredible looking. It will be interesting to see how well the graphic system can handle that insane number of pixels. The move to 5K makes a lot of sense for video editors as this will allow them to work on 4K video at full size and still have some room for controls.

    • Mosha - 9 years ago

      So they moved the SD slot….with the rest of the I/O, where they have been for years…how nonsensical…oh wait…The functionality hasn’t changed to the detriment of the user. The slot still acts as it always has…

      Oh and the unit itself is far lighter then ever, making swiveling on a table an absolute breeze, even with a single finger. Making accessing the I/O less of a chore.

    • taoprophet420 - 9 years ago

      With the bulge in the back istill the same depth why make the edges thinner?

  3. Stephen Wesley Wood - 9 years ago

    Has anyone done the math to calculate pixel density?

  4. taoprophet420 - 9 years ago

    Where is the 3D logo?

Author

Avatar for Benjamin Mayo Benjamin Mayo

Benjamin develops iOS apps professionally and covers Apple news and rumors for 9to5Mac. Listen to Benjamin, every week, on the Happy Hour podcast. Check out his personal blog. Message Benjamin over email or Twitter.