Apple quietly announced the 2019 version of the iPad Mini and iPad Air. But that the only thing Apple launched this week. Apple refreshed its iMac lineup as well. And the new Apple iMac 2019 comes with seriously powerful upgrades over its previous models.
Although the new iMacs may look similar to the previous models on the outside, but on the inside, it is a different story. Apple refreshed both of its 4K and 5K iMac models with new notable processors and the graphics cards making it an amazing performer.
Apple iMac 2019 (4K 21.5-inch Model)
Talking about the smaller iMac (21.5-inch iMac) model, it comes in two CPU configurations. One with an 8th generation Quad-core Core i3 processor clocked at 3.6GHZ and another with an 8th generation Hexa-core Core i5 processor with a clock speed of 3.0GHz. But both of these variants are configurable with an optional 8th gen Hexa-core Core i7 processor, which runs at 3.2GHz clock speed.
On the graphics front, the 4K model comes in three different variants. The base variant receives the Radeon Pro 555X graphics card with 2GB of GDDR5 video memory. Similarly, the higher end model gets the Radeon Pro 560X with 4GB GDRR5 memory. The higher-end variant also has an extra privilege on its sleeve. It can be reconfigured with a more capable Radeon Pro Vega 20 with 4GB of HBM2 memory.
Apple iMac 2019 (5K 27-inch Model)
As far as the 5K 27-inch model of the iMac is concerned, the device comes with three variants in terms of CPU. The base variant comes with the 8th gen Intel Core i5 Hexa-core CPU clocked at 3.0GHz. The mid-tier of the bunch gets the 8th gen Intel Core i5 Hexa-core CPU running at a clock speed of 3.1GHz. The higher-end model, the powerful of the bunch enjoys a 9th Gen Intel Core i5 with six cores on the inside clocked at 3.7GHz. If one wishes to make a more capable workstation to handle the workloads, the mid-tier and higher-end model can also be configured with the 9th Gen Intel Core i9 processor with eight cores (3.6GHz).
Graphics wise, the base model is equipped with Radeon Pro 57X (with 2GB GDDR5 memory) and mid model with Radeon Pro 575X graphics card (with 4GB GDDR5 video memory). The higher-end model, on the other hand, boasts a powerful Radeon Pro 580X GPU (with 8GB GDDR5 memory). It can also be configured with more capable Radeon Pro Vega 48 (with 8GB HBM2).
Memory & Storage
On the memory side of things, all the five models (three variants of the 5K model and two variants of the 4K model) readily comes with 8GB of DDR4 RAM (2666MHz) on the board. But they can be increased to 16GB or 32GB on any day. However, only the higher-end variant of the 5K model can also be boosted with whopping 64GB of RAM.
On the storage front, the choice of Apple is not particularly pleasing. The base variant of the 4K model gets 1TB of HDD (5400-rpm drive). Other models come with a slightly better Apple’s Fusion Drive, which is nothing but a fancy name for an SSHD. Except for the base variant of the 21.5-inch model and the high-end variant of the 27-inch model, all the newbies come with 1TB of Apple’s Fusion Drive. And in the case of higher end model (5K 27-inch), 2TB of SSHD comes out of the box. SSD configurations are also available but Apple offers them separately.
In terms of price, the 4K 21.5-inch model of the Apple iMac 2019 costs $1299 for the base variant whereas the better one demands $1499. And when it comes to the 5K 27-inch model, it costs $1799, $1999, and $2299 for the base, mid-tier, and higher-end variants respectively.