Apple updates iMac with 8th and 9th generation Intel Core processors
Apple’s all-in-one desktop Mac gets a boost in performance. Roman Loyola reports
Following the unveiling of new iPads (see page 8), Apple revealed upgrades for its iMac line-up, featuring eighth-generation Intel Core processors in the standard configurations, with the option to upgrade to a ninth-generation processor.
The price points of the standard configuration models remain unchanged. The new iMacs are available now from fave.co/2OT2DCL.
21.5in iMac
Apple has three standard configurations of the 21.5in iMac, and Apple is changing two of the three configurations. The £1,049 option stays the same, with a seventh-generation 2.3GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of memory, a 1TB hard drive, Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640, and a 1,920x1,080 display.
The new £1,249 model features an eighthgeneration 3.6GHz quad-core Intel Core i3 processor, 8GB of memory, a 1TB hard drive, 2GB Radeon Pro 555X graphics, and a Retina 4K P3 display.
The new £1,449 iMac also has an eighthgeneration 3GHz Intel Core i5 processor, but this model supports 6-core processing, a first for the 21.5in iMac. It also includes 8GB of memory, a 1TB Fusion Drive, 4GB Radeon Pro 560X graphics, and a Retina 4K P3 display.
A new option for the 21.5in iMac is the ability to upgrade the graphics card in the £1,449 iMac to a 4GB Radeon Pro Vega 20, which the company says is 80 percent faster than the previous graphics card. This upgrade adds £315 to the price.
While the standard memory configuration remains unchanged at 8GB, Apple is now using faster RAM clocked at 2,666MHz, up from 2,400MHz. Also, the 21.5in iMac can now handle
32GB of memory, up from the previous limit of 16GB. The RAM is still not user-accessible, so if you want more than the standard 8GB, you either need to customize the RAM at the time of your order, or bring in the iMac to be serviced for a memory upgrade later.
The 21.5in iMac comes with four USB 3 ports, two Thunderbolt 3/USB-C ports, a gigabit ethernet connector, a SDXC card slot, and a headphone jack.
27in iMac
Apple offers three standard-configuration models of the 27in iMac, all of which feature Retina
5K displays. All of the CPUs in the standard configurations are getting two more processing cores, jumping from four cores to six.
The £1,749 27in iMac features an eighthgeneration 3GHz 6-core Core i5 CPU, 8GB of memory (32GB max), a 1TB Fusion Drive, and 4GB Radeon Pro 570X graphics.
The £1,949 model has an eighth-generation 3.1GHz 6-core Core i5 processor, 8GB of memory (64GB max), a 1TB Fusion Drive, and 4GB Radeon Pro 575X graphics.
The £2,249 iMac has a ninth-generation 3.7GHz 6-core Core i5 CPU, 8GB of memory (64GB max), a 2TB Fusion Drive, and 8GB Radeon Pro 580X graphics.
For the £1,949 and £2,249 iMacs, Apple has available a CPU upgrade to a ninth-generation 8-core Core i9 processor. The £2,249 iMac
has available a graphics upgrade to an 8GB Radeon Pro Vega 48.
The 27in Mac’s rear panels sports four USB 3 ports, two Thunderbolt 3/USB-C ports, a headphone jack, an SDXC card slot, and a gigabit ethernet connector.
iMac Pro
Apple didn’t announce a major update to the iMac Pro (which was released in December 2017), but it did release a couple of new upgrade options. There’s now a 256GB RAM upgrade available for the iMac Pro, which adds £4,680 to the £4,899 base price. It also has a Radeon Pro Vega 64X with 16GB of HBM2 memory graphics upgrade available for an additional £630.