Comprehensive Review of the New iMac: A Versatile Computer Worth the Investment

Last month, Apple introduced four new hardware products, including the eagerly awaited AirPods, the resurrected iPad mini/Air, and the iMac, which has changed everything except for its appearance.

In the past month, we have reviewed the new iPad mini and AirPods, and both left us with a good impression.

However, compared to previous product upgrades, these new products share a common trait—they all maintain the design of the previous generation. Whether it’s the largest iMac or the smallest AirPods, if I didn’t mention it, you might not even realize that I’m using Apple’s “Spring 2019” new models.

Could AirPods be the product that has changed the most this time?

After experiencing the new iPad mini and testing the new AirPods, today I opened the box of the new iMac and spent 10 minutes taking out this 27-inch behemoth from its fragrant packaging box.

Let’s take a look at the configuration of this iMac:

27-inch Retina 5K (5120 x 2880) display
Intel Core i9 processor / 3.6GHz base frequency
16GB RAM / 2667 MHz DDR4
512GB SSD
Radeon Pro Vega 48 GPU / 8GB VRAM

Hey, haven’t we met somewhere before?

Walking on the cutting edge of fashion, Apple has very distinct design styles for its iPhone and Mac product lines.

On the iPhone, you can see various designs and features that are at the forefront of the industry; while on the Mac, you can see designs that are all too familiar in recent years’ updates.

Compared to the iPhone, which sees minor changes every year and major changes every two years, new Mac products, whether it’s the MacBook or the iMac, reveal a design philosophy focused on efficiency rather than showiness.

Looking back, the only product that has enjoyed “special treatment” in recent years is the black iMac Pro.

▲ iMac Pro, iMac, and MacBook Pro, image source: Vincent Laforet

Thus, the 2019 iMac still retains the design from 2012—no screw holes in the metal body, a large glass panel, a bulging back, an unadjustable stand, and the iconic 5mm bezels, all of which are so familiar.

In simple terms, if you are a user of an old iMac from 2012 onwards and are wondering whether the new iMac can fit on your desk, rest assured, you don’t even need to measure the space for the same-sized model.

The L-shaped metal base still adopts a fixed height design, but fortunately, it can adjust the tilt angle of the screen, so to solve the height issue, I just need to use a stand to raise the iMac.

However, I still hope that Apple will incorporate height adjustment in future products; after all, I would like both aesthetics and comfort.

The new iMac’s rear ports remain unchanged from the old version, still retaining a 3.5mm headphone jack, SDXC card slot, four USB 3.0 ports, two 40Gb/s USB-C Thunderbolt 3 ports, and a Gigabit Ethernet port.

Like the MacBook Pro released last year, when external GPU support is needed, you can connect via Thunderbolt 3; when you need to connect an external display, Thunderbolt 3 can solve that as well.

▲ Apple Store custom iMac can go up to 64GB RAM

Additionally, Apple still reserves memory upgrade slots for the 27-inch iMac, with a total of four memory expansion slots (two slots already contain the original memory, such as the 8GB version which is 4GB*2).

It is worth noting that although the official preset configuration allows the iMac to go up to 64GB of RAM, some players have already used third-party memory sticks to upgrade the computer to 128GB.

So if you want to upgrade the memory, consider DIY; it can save you money while upgrading to performance that is not offered by the official specs.

This 5K display is one you won’t want to go back from

Once, the editor-in-chief of iFanr said that the iMac is “one you won’t want to go back from”; at that time, I thought he was just boasting. Until today, facing this 5K display, I found that I really don’t want to touch that 1080P screen again.

The integrated P3 wide color gamut and 5120 x 2880 (5K) resolution give the computer greater potential. For example, during my leisure time when I enjoy photography, the 5K display allows for more detailed detail display effects, providing better resolution for image details.

The edges of flowers and grass, the skin of people, the lines of buildings—the display effect of 5K resolution is a completely different experience compared to the 1080P screen I used before, and even the MacBook Air screen, which shares the same lineage as the iMac.

As for how the 5K display affects my daily office work, the most obvious impact is the delicacy of text and icons.

Although neither the 720P nor the 5K display contributes anything to my creations, the clear text display can reduce the pressure on my eyes from long periods of screen time. This feeling reminds me of the transition from the iPhone 3GS to the iPhone 4—once you get used to Retina, you can’t go back.

▲ Using a camera to capture the screen details of the Apple Store page

For me, the greatest value of the iMac lies in this screen. After all, considering the price, the entry-level price of the 27-inch model is 13,832 yuan, while the LG UltraFine 5K display sold in the Apple Store is priced at 9,850 yuan. Both products have 5K resolution, P3 wide color gamut, and 500 nits brightness, but the price difference is less than 4,000 yuan.

And in this 4,000 yuan price difference, you also get a 3 GHz Core i5 processor, 8GB RAM, 1TB Fusion Drive, a Radeon Pro 570X GPU, and a new keyboard and mouse worth 1,488 yuan…

Why do I feel like the iMac has a sense of “buy the screen, get the host free”?

Overall, although there are still many monitors on the market that outperform the iMac’s display, based on user reviews from the past to the present, this display is sufficient to meet the needs of most professional users, so there’s no need to overly worry about its display effect.

Of course, there are still some regrets. The 27-inch screen still has a bezel thicker than that of the MacBook Air, which is in stark contrast to the ever-thinner bezels of the iPhone. In fact, if Apple could reduce these four black edges, even if only to half of the current thickness, this screen would undoubtedly have a stronger visual impact.

A powerhouse

This year’s entry-level 27-inch new iMac comes with an 8th generation Core i5 processor, 8GB RAM, and a 1TB Fusion Drive. Like all Mac products, you can customize everything from the processor to the memory and hard drive according to your needs.

▲ Configuration table for the non-custom 27-inch iMac

The iMac we reviewed is equipped with a 9th generation Core i9 processor, which can reach up to 5.0GHz with Turbo Boost, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. The GPU is an 8GB Radeon Pro Vega 48.

This year, Apple upgraded the iMac’s processor to the 8th generation Core i3/i5, and you can customize the 9th generation Core i9 processor for an additional 2,936 yuan, which was just released in October last year and is currently Intel’s most powerful Core 9 series processor, the 9900K.

The i9-9900K is Intel’s first 8-core 16-thread desktop processor and supports the second generation AVX advanced vector extension technology, with each core utilizing 16MB of cache, achieving peak performance for desktop processors.

Using benchmarking tools like GeekBench and CineBench, we can see the performance of the new iMac. It is worth noting that since MAXON’s CineBench software has been upgraded from R15 to CineBench R20 this year, we differentiated the results of R15 and R20 in the CineBench tests.

With the desktop-level i9, the iMac scored 6,204 cb in single-core and 32,569 cb in multi-core on GeekBench, which is stronger than the i9 MacBook Pro, and the OpenCL computation performance score even exceeded 140,000.

In the CineBench R20 tests, the CPU performance reached 4,028 cb for the 9 series, and 503 cb. However, the R15 scores were a bit off; after multiple runs, we obtained a score of 1,642 cb and a single-core total score of 205 cb. I suspect there may be compatibility issues with the software.

▲ CineBench R20 test scores

▲ CineBench R15 test scores

As for the performance of the operating system and applications, you can refer to the actual test results below (for reference only, actual results may vary depending on device and usage scenarios):

The standard GPU is sufficient; professionals may consider upgrading all at once

In addition to the CPU, Apple has also upgraded the Radeon Pro 570X, Radeon Pro 575X, and Radeon Pro 580X graphics cards in the non-custom 27-inch iMac.

But like the MacBook Pro, the non-custom top configuration can also be upgraded to the Radeon Pro Vega 48, which has 40% more rendering power than the Radeon Pro 580.

Although the Radeon Pro Vega 48 performs slightly lower than the Vega 56 and Vega 64 of the iMac Pro, the improvement compared to the standard Radeon Pro 580X is limited. However, the Vega 48’s 8GB memory uses HBM2 packaging, ensuring stability during high-load rendering.

Overall, if you are a professional graphics user or working with 4K or even 8K video, I believe it is necessary to upgrade to the Radeon Pro Vega 48 all at once. On the other hand, if you are a home user who does not engage in professional video creation, the three standard graphics cards can meet most of your needs.

The hard drive is what you should consider upgrading the most

Compared to the graphics card, the real area to consider upgrading is the hard drive. The new iMac offers 1TB / 2TB Fusion Drives, but note that the entry-level 21.5-inch non-custom model has a 5400 RPM 1TB hard drive.

Additionally, if you have storage or speed needs, you can pay an extra 734 yuan for a 3TB Fusion Drive or a 512GB SSD.

▲ The 21.5-inch iMac has two hard drive specifications

As for the performance difference between the 1TB Fusion Drive and the 512GB SSD, we can get the most intuitive results through the BlackMagic Disk Speed Test:

According to the data from our previous reviews of the iMac and MacBook Pro, the 1TB Fusion Drive writes at 798MB/s and reads at 160MB/s; this time, the 512GB SSD in the iMac writes at 1,900MB/s and reads at 2,497MB/s, which is significantly faster than the standard Fusion Drive, but shows a clear gap compared to the 4TB SSD in the MacBook Pro.

Overall, while the 1TB Fusion Drive has absolute storage advantages, its read and write speeds are noticeably slower than the SSD. The speed difference can be clearly felt during boot-up, application opening, and media file import/export.

Of course, everyone has different usage scenarios for hard drives. Some users may require more space, so they might spend 734 yuan on a 3TB Fusion Drive; others may want the response speed to be as fast as their phone, so they might convert the 1TB hard drive to a 512GB SSD.

In summary, whether to spend this money depends on your budget and personal needs. For me, this SSD can bring an overall experience upgrade to the computer, so it is definitely worth my investment.

It serves as an office desk and a family computer

For me, this year’s iMac feels like the MacBook Pro that suddenly appeared last year. Its unchanged design makes it look more like a regular update from Apple rather than an iteration.

▲ Evolution of iMac design (iMac G3~iMac 2012)

The aluminum alloy body and 5mm bezels have become the iconic design of the iMac. It feels like a business card for this series. Although its bezels are thick, and the integrated stand cannot be adjusted for height, aside from these points, the aluminum alloy body iMac seems to have no significant shortcomings and still serves as a prominent sign for many companies.

However, that said, I still hope Apple can reduce the thickness of the iMac’s bezels. After all, this front has been used since 2009, and it has been 10 years. It feels like the seal of the iMac’s 4K and 5K screens, constantly reminding you that the beautiful scenery on the screen is just a picture.

Hardware upgrades still follow the past rhythm. The pairing of the 27-inch and 5K display is excellent, and the updated generation of Core processors allows this computer to continue being a productivity platform for designers, image creators, and video creators.

Although the standard iMac may not provide you with a 100% experience compared to professional workstations, with the support of macOS, the 5K display, quiet noise, and mature interaction, the iMac should still score above 85% for excellence.

Of course, besides office use, it can also serve as a qualified home computer. If your phone is an iPhone, your video device is an iPad, your business travel device is a MacBook, and your headphones are AirPods, then you can form a wireless hardware ecosystem with iCloud.

This is also where the iMac truly impressed me during this time.

During this time, I placed the iMac at home and the MacBook in my bag. After using the MacBook to work outside, iCloud automatically synced my content to the cloud. I can access the cloud “desktop” content using my iPhone and iPad while on the go. When I get home, I can let the iMac continue the work I saved in the cloud.

Or, watch “Game of Thrones” with family.

▲ Image source: Apple

For example, this review was written using Pages on my MacBook at Starbucks. On the way home, I modified it using my iPhone, and when I got home, I used my iMac and Numbers to organize tables and layout. Throughout this process, I wore my AirPods, and switching between these devices was just a matter of two steps.

While we all know that many software offers cross-platform functionality, for users who use Apple’s “full stack”, seamless transfer and hassle-free experience are still the advantages of iCloud and native functions on Apple devices.

I edited images on the iMac and sent them to my phone via AirDrop for sharing on social media. Other features like iCloud Keychain, Universal Clipboard, and wireless hotspot sharing all make the transfer between macOS and iOS more efficient and convenient.

▲ iMac G3

For me, although we always regard the iMac as a productivity tool exclusive to designers and video producers, in reality, after the iMac Pro, it has shed the burden of being an office exclusive and returned to life, becoming an “all-in-one” computer that combines family entertainment and office use.

As for more demanding tasks, let the iMac Pro handle them.

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