Apple rumored to launch 27" iMac with 5K Retina display at October media event
Apple's big-screen iMac will get a doubled-resolution Retina display with a forthcoming update expected to be unveiled at the company's anticipated October media event, a new report claims.
Citing an unnamed source, Jack March reported on Monday that only the 27-inch iMac will be upgraded to a Retina display, leaving out the smaller 21.5-inch all-in-one desktop. The 27-inch model is said to have a 5K screen resolution of 5,120 by 2,880 pixels, which is exactly double the current resolution of 2,560 by 1,440.
The report also claims that the new iMac will be able to be configured with an Intel i7-4790K processor clocked at 4.0 gigahertz. That's a current-generation Haswell processor, as Intel's next-generation Broadwell processors are not expected to be available until early 2015.
The 5K screen is said to be powered by AMD graphics, which would be a switch from the Nvidia GPUs found in current iMac models.
As for the 21.5-inch iMac, Monday's report suggested that Apple might bring a Retina display to the smaller model once Intel's Broadwell chips become available.
Apple's first Mac with a Retina display was the 15-inch MacBook Pro, which debuted in mid-2012. A 13-inch version debuted later that year, in the fall.
The report is the latest to claim that Apple has slotted an updated 27-inch iMac for launch this fall. Signs of a potential Retina display iMac were first spotted in June in Apple's beta release of OS X 10.10 Yosemite.
Apple is widely expected to be planning a media event in October where the company would presumably introduce the new iMac with Retina display, as well as next-generation iPads expected to sport Touch ID fingerprint sensors. The company is also said to be working on a new MacBook Air with Retina display, as well as a revamped Apple TV, but recent rumors have suggested those refreshes might not arrive until 2015.
Citing an unnamed source, Jack March reported on Monday that only the 27-inch iMac will be upgraded to a Retina display, leaving out the smaller 21.5-inch all-in-one desktop. The 27-inch model is said to have a 5K screen resolution of 5,120 by 2,880 pixels, which is exactly double the current resolution of 2,560 by 1,440.
The report also claims that the new iMac will be able to be configured with an Intel i7-4790K processor clocked at 4.0 gigahertz. That's a current-generation Haswell processor, as Intel's next-generation Broadwell processors are not expected to be available until early 2015.
The 5K screen is said to be powered by AMD graphics, which would be a switch from the Nvidia GPUs found in current iMac models.
As for the 21.5-inch iMac, Monday's report suggested that Apple might bring a Retina display to the smaller model once Intel's Broadwell chips become available.
Apple's first Mac with a Retina display was the 15-inch MacBook Pro, which debuted in mid-2012. A 13-inch version debuted later that year, in the fall.
The report is the latest to claim that Apple has slotted an updated 27-inch iMac for launch this fall. Signs of a potential Retina display iMac were first spotted in June in Apple's beta release of OS X 10.10 Yosemite.
Apple is widely expected to be planning a media event in October where the company would presumably introduce the new iMac with Retina display, as well as next-generation iPads expected to sport Touch ID fingerprint sensors. The company is also said to be working on a new MacBook Air with Retina display, as well as a revamped Apple TV, but recent rumors have suggested those refreshes might not arrive until 2015.
Comments
But how much would such a machine cost? 27 inches of retina sounds prohibitively expensive, and I would want to max out the internals (CPU, RAM) to give it as long a life as possible...
That being said, I don't care about on-board storage (500GB flash would be fine), as much of my media is stored in iTunes in the Cloud.
I am very interested in this product. Having used a Macbook Pro retina for the last few years though, I have grown to like the 16:10 display, and wish the iMac would have a squarer display. But despite that, a Retina iMac would be irresistible anyway. Also wondering if the same event might unveil an iPad Plus.
Then I guess that's when my next Apple purchases will be.
Hope this clears the way for a stand-alone 5K display to use with the new Mac Pro.
I'll try to hold out until it can accept video in from either DisplayPort 1.3 or Thunderbolt 3, because TB2 wont suffice to drive 5120x2880 in 60Hz unfortunately. But damn, it will be hard to resist.
I'd love one of these but I can't help what kind of GPU they are going to need to drive one of these displays for anything more intensive than web browsing? High end GPUs on windows PCs struggle to do gaming at 4K resolution and if i'm going to spend £2k ($3k) on a desktop I kind of want it to do a bit a high resolution gaming too.
I would be curious to see the GPU in such an iMac. Games already have been to be run at a subpar resolution (less than full HD) with graphical settings turned down on the MacBook Pro.
Could Apple fit the same GPUs used in the Mac Pro inside the 27" iMac? Would a pair of these be enough to drive a 5K display? How close to the base Mac Pro would the new iMac be (actually the fully loaded iMac is already close to the specs of the base Mac Pro except for the GPUs isn't it?)? Of course this model of iMac will be more expensive than $3K and probably cost closer to $5K with smaller size flash drive and memory just to make it somewhat affordable. I'm still waiting to see how it fits in with the Mac Pro to see which one to buy. I'm already factoring in a TB2-connected RAID so 256GB or 512GB flash storage would be plenty. RAM is always the least expensive upgrade so I'll max it out. I don't play games so I'm not worried about that, only about running FCP and other video intensive activity.
That's a good bet to make.
It appears that Apple used the same display panel for the current 27" iMac as the 27" Thunderbolt Display.
I have a feeling that lack of hard infornation brings out the worst FUD.
Is that a design flaw? /s
How did it fall?
The GPU and CPU to drive 5K video is going to need some serious cooling, but maybe they can still make it thinner. /s
Seriously, though, I'm definitely in the market for a new iMac. This sounds fantastic, but hard to believe.
I may not be much of an iMac fan but here I have to defend the machine a bit as it has never been a gaming machine nor has it ever targeted that niche. So I can't fathom why you would even bring gaming into the discussion. Depending upon how those GPUs perform though, this machine would be of interest to far more niches than web browsing. Design work comes to mind.