Which imac should you buy?

If you’re in the market for a new imac, Macworld staff look at each model to help you find the right model

The imac is a direct descendant of the very first Mac, and it’s often the computer that longtime users think about when they think about the Macintosh. The imac’s all-in-one design is popular and iconic.

The imac is great for both novices and demanding users. It can handle general-purpose

and heavy-duty tasks equally well. It’s ideal for someone who needs to buy a complete computer setup (keyboard, mouse or trackpad, and display) and wants to maximize workspace efficiency.

The current imac line-up was released in

June 2017 during Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference, and the imac Pro was released in December 2017. If you’re in the market for an imac, this guide will help you make the right choice. Apple has two versions of the imac: the standard imac and the imac with Retina display.

imac

Apple has two versions of the imac. Let’s go over the standard model first, followed by the imac with Retina display.

What is it? The imac is Apple’s iconic all-in-one computer. Made of aluminium, the imac has a builtin display and looks stately as it sits on a desk. It also offers top-notch performance.

Who’s it for? The imac is great for both novices and demanding users. It can handle general-purpose and heavy-duty tasks equally well. It’s ideal for someone who needs to buy a complete computer setup (keyboard, mouse or trackpad, and display) and wants to maximize workspace efficiency.

What are the specifications? One standard imac model is currently available with a 21.5in 1920x1080-resolution display. It has a 1TB hard

drive. (Apple no longer makes a 27in imac with a standard display – more on that later).

The entry-level 21.5in £1,049 imac (from fave.co/2sppkfr) has a 2.3GHZ dual-core Intel Core i5 processor and Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640 integrated graphics. The hard drive in the 21.5in imac models is a 5,400rpm drive.

You can’t upgrade the 21.5in imac yourself after you buy it, so consider paying an extra £180 at the outset for a memory upgrade to 16GB. If you want to add more RAM later, you need to bring the imac in to an Apple store. The 21.5in imac also offers a Fusion Drive or a flash storage upgrade. The imac comes with Apple’s Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse 2. If you order online from the Apple Store, however, you can switch the keyboard to a version with a numeric keypad, and switch the mouse to a wired

Apple Mouse or a

Magic Trackpad 2

(£50). You

can opt to get both a Magic Mouse 2 and a Magic Trackpad 2 for £129 extra.

The imac does not have an optical drive. If you want to read or burn CDS and DVDS, you need to buy an external USB optical drive.

How do I connect stuff? Wi-fi and Bluetooth are built-in. All imacs have four USB 3.0 ports, two Thunderbolt 3 ports, a gigabit ethernet port, and an SDXC card slot.

If you want to connect a Firewire device, you’ll need to use a Thunderbolt-to-firewire Adaptor (£29 from fave.co/2t32ulc). USB 2.0 devices can connect to the imac’s USB 3.0 ports.

How fast is it? The imacs are among Apple’s fastest computers, however, the £1,049 imac is Apple’s slowest imac. Also, if the imac has a hard drive, it’s a performance bottleneck. If you can upgrade to a Fusion Drive or flash storage, you’ll gain a significant performance boost. The £1,049 version has an attractive price, but you make huge sacrifices in performance.

Macworld’s buying advice: For new Mac owners, the £1,049 imac is a good alternative to the Mac mini, providing a nice performance increase. If performance is your top priority, consider a Fusion Drive upgrade. On a 21.5in imac, the 8GB of RAM should be fine, but buying the RAM upgrade at the point of purchase could help you avoid some hassle in the future.

imac with Retina display

What is it? The imac with Retina display is like Apple’s standard imac, but with an ultra highresolution display.

Who’s it for? The Retina imac is designed for professionals who work with high-resolution videos, photos, or images. Or it’s for the demanding user who wants the best image quality for everyday use.

What are the specifications? Apple calls its two 21.5in models the 21.5in imac with Retina 4K display. These imacs have a 4096x2304 resolution screen. The £1,249 model (from fave.co/2spn6we) has a 3GHZ quad-core Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, a 1TB 5,400rpm hard drive, and 2GB Radeon Pro 555 graphics. The £1,449 model (from fave.co/2t3csqa) has a 3.4GHZ quad-core Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, a 1TB Fusion Drive, and 4GB Radeon Pro 560 graphics.

Apple’s 27in imacs (called the 27in imac with Retina 5K display) come with a 5120x2880resolution Retina display. Apple offers three models of the 27in Retina imac. The £1,749 model

(from fave.co/2t3ejvb) has a 3.4GHZ quad-core Intel Core i5 processor, a 1TB Fusion Drive, and 4GB Radeon Pro 570 graphics. The £1,949 model (from fave.co/2t3raxh) has a 3.5GHZ quad-core Intel Core i5 processor, a 1TB Fusion Drive and 4GB Radeon Pro 575 graphics. The £2,249 (from fave.co/2sp565x) model has a 3.8GHZ quad-core Intel Core i5 processor, a 2TB Fusion Drive, and 8GB Radeon Pro 580 graphics.

Users can upgrade the RAM on the 27in imac easily. The machine has four RAM slots, accessible through the back. Apple installs the standard 8GB as a pair of 4GB memory modules, so you can add more RAM after you buy the system. Or if you prefer, you can upgrade the RAM at the point of purchase to 16GB (£180) or 32GB (£540).

How do I connect stuff? Wi-fi and Bluetooth are built-in. All Retina imacs have four USB 3.0 ports, two Thunderbolt 3 ports, a gigabit ethernet port, and an SDXC card slot.

If you want to connect a Firewire device, you’ll need to use a Thunderbolt-to-firewire Adaptor (£29 from fave.co/2t32ulc). USB 2.0 devices can connect to the imac’s USB 3.0 ports.

How fast is it? The Retina imacs are among Apple’s fastest computers when it comes to singlecore performance. When it comes to multi-core speed, the Mac Pros with more than four cores are faster machines. You can improve the multicore performance by opting for the 4.2GHZ Core

i7 upgrade in the £1,949 and £2,249 in the 27in models, or the 3.6GHZ Core i7 upgrade in the 21.5in model – you’ll pay more, but it may be worth it to your for the performance boost.

Macworld’s buying advice: The allure of the Retina display is strong; you’ll love the way it looks. You may not love the way the price looks, however. If you are hesitant about the price, it won’t take long to get over it, once you’ve used the Retina imac for a couple of weeks.

imac Pro

Who’s it for? The imac Pro is the computer for people who work on the most demanding tasks. It’s targeted at creative professionals, scientists, and software developers.

What are the specifications? It features a 27in Retina 5K 5120x2880 P3 display and comes in several configurations, including:

£4,899 from fave.co/2bhr9zz: 3.2GHZ 8-core

Intel Xeon W processor, 32GB 2,666MHZ ECC memory, 1TB SSD storage, 16GB Radeon Pro

Vega 56 graphics

£6,879 from fave.co/2d0ccty: 3GHZ 10-core Intel Xeon W processor, 64GB 2,666MHZ DDR4 ECC memory, 1TB SSD, 16GB Radeon Pro Vega 64 graphics

£9,759 from fave.co/2d0ccty:2.5ghz 14-core

Intel Xeon W processor, 128GB 2,666MHZ DDR4 ECC memory, 2TB SSD, 16GB Radeon Pro Vega 64 graphics

£12,279 from fave.co/2d0ccty: 2.3GHZ 18-core Intel Xeon W processor, 128GB 2,666MHZ DDR4 ECC memory, 4TB SSD, 16GB Radeon Pro Vega 64

The RAM on the imac isn’t user upgradeable, but Apple says it will upgrade your imac Pro at the Apple Store like the standard model. So if you’re buying one you probably want to spring for the extra money up front rather than pay more later.

The imac Pro comes in an exclusive aluminium space gray case with a matching space gray Magic Keyboard with numeric keyboard and Magic Mouse 2 (or Magic Trackpad 2 for an additional £50). And Apple is supplying a one-of-a-kind black Lightning cable in the box as well for charging purposes. Apple is debuting the T2 chip with the imac Pro, a

step up from the T1 in the Macbook Pro with Touch Bar. The chip is responsible for controlling a variety of components and tasks including the Facetime HD camera, putting less stress on the CPU. Earlier rumours suggested the chip could be responsible for hands-free Siri on the imac, but Apple has yet announce such a feature.

How do I connect stuff? Wi-fi and Bluetooth are included for wireless connectivity. The back of the imac Pro has four USB 3 ports, four Thunderbolt 3 ports, a 10 gigabit ethernet jack, and a SDXC card slot.

How fast is it? The machine is a multi-processing beast, designed to work with pro-level apps that demand multiple processing cores. Apple

has issued different configurations of the imac

Pro to select users, including mechanical and aerospace engineer Craig A. Hunter, director and photographer Vincent Laforet, and Youtubers Marques Brownlee and Jonathan Morrison, and all of them say the speed is very impressive.

In last issue’s review of the imac Pro, we confirmed that the new Mac is at its best with software that can take advantage of processors with multiple cores. And the imac Pro’s graphics performance is spectacular, thanks to the

Radeon Pro Vega.

If you use software that’s geared for singlecore performance (which includes many general consumer apps), you won’t see a marked increase. In fact, we found that the imac Pro is similar in single-core performance to a 2014 Core i7 5K imac. You’re better off with a new 5K imac in this case.

Macworld’s buying advice: If you use multi-core software and want the fastest processing speed available, this is the Mac to get. There is a new Mac Pro in the works, though you might be waiting until the end of 2018 before you can buy it.