Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
There ’s little doubt that 2010 is the year of the iPad and iPhone for Apple , with the company largely rivet on the unexampled kids on the stop . But the Mac is n’t entirely out of the picture . While the Mac clientele is a more mature mathematical product line than Apple ’s mobile gadget card , it remains an authoritative segment — both to Apple and the customers who utilize the Mac . And though the four newiMacs(two 21.5 - inch modelling and two 27 - inch manikin ) released in July provide only pocket-size speed boosts , these belated desktop will make most customers very happy .
Standard equipment
The Intel Core 2 duet processors found in the lower - conclusion iMacs of the previous contemporaries are gone . Apple now uses dual - inwardness Intel Core i3 processors with 4 Bachelor of Medicine of Level 3 cache in three of the new iMacs . The $ 1199 21.5 - column inch iMac has a 3.06GHz Core i3 , while the $ 1499 21.5 - inch iMac and the $ 1699 27 - inch iMac both boast 3.2GHz Core i3 processors . The fourth iMac , a $ 1999 27 - inch simulation , cavort a 2.8GHz Core i5 quad - center processor with 8 megabyte of degree 3 hoard .
The differences between the iMac processors go beyond the number of nub and clock speeding , however — and it can be puzzling . The 3.06GHz Core i3 processor in the $ 1199 iMac and the 3.2GHz Core i3 CPU in the $ 1499 and $ 1699 iMacs supportHyper Threading , which take into account the central processor to expend virtual cores to better treat grave workloads , but they do n’t supportTurbo Boost , where the central processor shut down idle cores and encourage the hurrying of the active core . The quad - core 2.8GHz Core i5 in the $ 1999 iMac does n’t support Hyper Threading , but it does abide Turbo Boost .
All of the iMacs come with 4 GB of 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM installed as a duet of 2 GB SO - DIMMs . With a sum of four memory slots , you could append more SDRAM without having to put back the memory that come with the iMac . The iMacs endorse a uttermost of 16 GB of memory .
How we tested: Speedmark 6 scores are relative to those of a 2.13GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook, which is assigned a score of 100 (higher scores are better). Call of Duty score is in frames per second (higher is better). MathematicaMark is a performance score (higher is better). All others are in minutes:seconds (lower is better). The new iMacs were tested with OS X 10.6.4 and 4GB of RAM. The 27-inch 2.66GHz Core i5 iMac was tested with OS X 10.6.2 and 4GB of RAM. The Core 2 Duo-based iMacs were tested with OS X 10.6.1 and 4GB of RAM. The 2.66GHz Mac Pro was tested with OS X 10.6.1 and 3GB of RAM. We duplicated a 1GB file, created a Zip archive in the Finder from the two 1GB files and then unzipped it. We converted 90 minutes of AAC audio files to MP3 using iTunes’ High Quality setting. In iMovie ’09, we imported a camera archive and exported it to iTunes using the Mobile Devices setting. We ran a Timedemo at 1024-by-768 with 4X anti-aliasing on in Call of Duty 4. We imported 150 JPEGs into iPhoto ’09. The Photoshop Suite test is a set of 14 scripted tasks using a 50MB file. Photoshop’s memory was set to 70 percent and History was set to Minimum. We used Compressor to encode a .mov file to the application’s H.264 for video podcast setting. We ripped a DVD chapter to the hard drive. We recorded how long it took to render a scene with multiprocessors in Cinebench. We ran the Evaluate Notebook test in MathematicaMark 7. We ran the WorldBench 6 multitasking test on a Parallels 5 VM running Windows 7 Professional. We timed the import and thumbnail/preview creation time for 150 photos in Aperture.—Macworld Lab testing by James Galbraith, Mckinley Noble, Blair Hanley Frank, and Chris Holt.
The iMacs apply 7200 - rpm hard driveway ; the $ 1199 iMac has a 500 GB drive , while the other three manakin have 1 TB operose effort . All four iMacs have 8X SuperDrives , and right next to the SuperDrive one-armed bandit is a SD placard slot , which has been upgraded to support SDXC , a unexampled format that take into account for SD add-in capacity over 32 sarin .
Apple includes its Wireless Keyboard ( ) and the Magic Mouse ( ) with the iMac , but if you order online from theApple Store , you’re able to switch the keyboard to a wired version with a numeric keypad and switch the shiner to an Apple Mouse ( ) , both for no extra fee . you could also add Apple ’s young Magic Trackpad ( ) for $ 69 .
The external port have n’t changed from the previous multiplication of iMacs . There ’s a earpiece / optical digital sound recording yield minijack , an audio line in / optical digital audio stimulation minijack , four USB 2.0 ports , one FireWire 800 port , a Mini DisplayPort ( with telecasting - in support ) , and a Gigabit Ethernet interface . The iMacs also come standard with Wi - Fi , Bluetooth , built - in talker , and a make - in iSight camera .
New graphics, same displays
Besides the processors , the graphics cards are the other major modification with the new iMacs . incorporate graphics processors that use a share of primary memory for picture storage are no longer featured in any of the iMacs . All of the fresh models use ATI discrete computer graphic , which have dedicated video Aries .
The 3.06GHz Core i3 iMac has a 256 MB Radeon HD 4670 , which was used in the now - discontinued $ 1499 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo iMac . The two new 3.2GHz iMacs have 512 megabit Radeon HD 5670 artwork , while the 2.8GHz Core i5 iMac uses a 1 GB Radeon HD 5750 .
As for the display , they ’re the same 16:9 displays as those used in the old iMac generation : lead - backlit TFT active - matrix liquid crystal display that supportin - aeroplane switchingand are equal to of display millions of color . The 21.5 - inch display has a 1920 - by-1080 native resolution , while the 27 - inch show has a aboriginal result of 2560 - by-1440 . The viewing angle seems to be the same as the late iMacs , which is beneficial ; there ’s no noticeable colouration shift when search at an angle .
Some client who bribe a late 2009 iMac quetch of yellow - tinted display . To see if the new iMacs had similar problems , we used ayellow - tint testcreated by a proofreader atMacRumors . We were n’t able to notice a tint or coloration transformation with the week - old iMacs in our science laboratory , nor did we notice anything wrong when we tested our older 27 - inch 2.66GHz Core i5 iMac from previous 2009 . We also looked for unclouded leakage on the iMac showing , and in our testing , it was more obtrusive on our 27 - inch 2.8GHz Core i5 — though it was only noticeable with a solid black background and not enough to affect everyday use for general user . We could barely notice any light leakage with the other novel iMacs .
If you ’re still holding out Leslie Townes Hope for an iMac with a non - glossy screen , I detest to tell you this , but it ’s fourth dimension to move on . The raw iMacs all have a glass front , which make a glossy effect with the screen . Apple seems to wish this special iMac design , and an anti - glare screen is n’t in the society ’s programme . I ’ve had different iMac models on my desk for quite some fourth dimension now and I ’ve adapted , but if you ca n’t see out how to cope with the glare and reflexion , you ’ll have to turn over another Mac modeling .
Customization options
As usual , when you grease one’s palms from the Apple Store , you could customize your edict . There are a few customization options uncommitted that are very interesting and ones you ’ll want to consider . ( Macworldreviews and mouse rate only the standard configurations , but we will attempt to get a few build - to - order models , benchmark them , and post the resolution . )
For $ 200 , the top - of - the - line iMac can be upgraded to a quad - heart and soul 2.93GHz Core i7 processor , which supports Hyper - Threading and Turbo Boost . Macworldhas yet to see the fresh Core i7 - fit iMac , but we are play on getting one and testing it to see how much of a performance boost it provides . If it ’s anything like the boost provided in the previous Core i7 iMac , the extra $ 200 will be well worth it .
With the two 3.2GHz Core i3 ( Hyper - Threading only ) iMac models , you may upgrade the central processing unit to a 3.6GHz Core i5 for $ 200 . This dual - substance Core i5 has both Hyper - Threading and Turbo Boost support .
The 27 - inch iMacs now have the option for solid - state drives ( SSD ) . you’re able to choose to expend a 256 GB SSD alternatively of a hard driveway for $ 600 . What ’s more interesting is that the 27 - inch iMac has a second storage bay , and Apple now lets you install a 1 TB concentrated drive and a 256 GB SSD for $ 750 , or a 2 TB hard drive and a 256 GB SSD for $ 900 .
SSDs bid a significant performance hike over knockout drives , but over the long haulage , SSDs can have problem with cancel files that cause functioning degradation . Mac OS X lack theTRIMsupport that can help fix this problem , so some SSDs haveover - provisioning , which sets away some of the SSD ’s mental ability to supercede spoiled blocks and for ecumenical maintenance and housekeeping tasks . We ’re not indisputable if the SSDs Apple habituate have over - provisioning . If you do settle to go with a concentrated drive and SSD , look at installing the OS and covering on the SSD and storing your files to the hard drive .
Since Apple leave two memory slots undetermined , you might think about filling those slots with more store . As for this writing , Crucialsells a pair of 2 GB SO - DIMMs for $ 100 , not including cargo ships . OWCsells a standardised upgrade for $ 118 before shipping . However , if you upgrade to 8 GB ( four 2 GB SO - DIMMs ) from the 4 GB touchstone when you buy an iMac from the Apple Store , you ’ll pay an additional $ 200 . add retentiveness to an iMac is an upgrade the user can easily perform , so you ’ll bring through a few dollars if you shop for third - political party memory . add your own retentiveness may affect the warranty , so moderate with the third - political party if the warranty is of concern .
New iMacs (Late 2009) Speedmark 6 scores
Macworld Lab tested the young iMacs to notice out how well they perform overall using the Speedmark 6 bench mark suite . Overall , we encounter moderate speed boost over the previous coevals of iMacs .
In our testing , the newfangled $ 1199 21.5 - inch 3.06GHz Core i3 iMac had the most dramatic betterment over its herald , a 21.5 - in 3.06GHz Core 2 Duo iMac ; the new theoretical account showed an impressive 20 percent further overall in Speedmark 6 . The new $ 1199 iMac , with its dedicated ATI Radeon HD 4670 graphics processor , has its biggest performance gain in graphics performance , with a frame pace in our Call of Duty 4 trial that was near four time that of the older 3.06GHz Core 2 Duo iMac , which use an integrated nVidia GeForce 9400 M graphics CPU .
The two halfway iMac models , a 21.5 - inch $ 1499 model and a $ 1699 27 - inch simulation with 3.2GHz Core i3 processors , had betterment that were more pocket-size over their same - sized predecessors with 3.06GHz Core 2 brace CPUs — the new iMacs have about a 16 percent improvement in their Speedmark 6 oodles . The two 3.2GHz Core i3 iMacs had about a 7 percent improvement in Speedmark 6 over the new 3.06GHz Core i3 iMac .
During our testing , we had an odd retardation in theHandBrakeportion of our Speedmark 6 trial suite . The $ 1199 iMac took nearly twice as farseeing to pull a videodisc chapter using HandBrake than on the other iMacs ; we expect a slower metre because of the slower C.P.U. , but not as much as we experience . The $ 1199 iMac we test come with a SuperDrive from Hitachi - LG DATA Storage ( model HL DT ST DVDRW GA32N ) , and a HandBrake developer thought that perhaps this fussy SuperDrive usesriplock , a feature that slows the optic mechanism during DVD playback to subjugate the amount of audible racket . This would excuse the slowdown during DVD rip .
The fresh top - of - the - line of credit iMac , a 27 - inch quad - marrow 2.8GHz Core i5 iMac , is now the fastest standard configuration Mac we ’ve test , though its rise over its predecessor , a quadrangle - gist 2.66GHz Core i5 iMac , was small — just about 4 percentage overall in its SpeedMark 6 overall test score . In item-by-item app testing , the two iMacs showed very similar carrying into action . We saw the biggest improvement in the new Quad - Core iMac in our Call of Duty 4 framerate tests , where the Modern modeling was 35 percent quicker .
For more about our benchmark results , take our lab reports on the3.06GHz Core i3 iMac , the 3.2GHz Core i3 iMacs , and the2.88GHz nub i5 iMac .
New iMacs (Mid 2010) benchmarks
effective results inbold . Reference systems initalics .
How we test : Speedmark 6 sexual conquest are comparative to those of a 2.13GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook , which is assign a score of 100 ( high score are better ) . Call of Duty score is in frames per second ( higher is better ) . MathematicaMark is a performance account ( in high spirits is estimable ) . All others are in minutes : seconds ( lower is better ) . The new iMacs were tested with OS X 10.6.4 and 4 GB of RAM . The 27 - inch 2.66GHz Core i5 iMac was tested with OS X 10.6.2 and 4 GB of RAM . The Core 2 twosome - based iMacs were tested with OS X 10.6.1 and 4 GB of RAM . The 2.66GHz Mac Pro was tested with OS X 10.6.1 and 3 GB of RAM . We reduplicate a 1 GB Indian file , created a Zip archive in the Finder from the two 1 GB files and then unzipped it . We converted 90 minute of AAC audio file cabinet to MP3 using iTunes ’ High Quality setting . In iMovie ’ 09 , we import a tv camera archive and exported it to iTunes using the Mobile Devices localise . We ran a Timedemo at 1024 - by-768 with 4X anti - aliasing on in Call of Duty 4 . We import 150 JPEGs into iPhoto ’ 09 . The Photoshop Suite psychometric test is a set of 14 written tasks using a 50 MB file . Photoshop ’s store was arrange to 70 percent and account was set to Minimum . We used Compressor to encode a .mov Indian file to the program ’s H.264 for video podcast setting . We rip a DVD chapter to the hard driveway . We memorialise how long it charter to return a vista with multiprocessors in Cinebench . We ran the Evaluate Notebook test in MathematicaMark 7 . We ran the WorldBench 6 multitasking trial on a Parallels 5 VM running Windows 7 Professional . We timed the meaning and thumbnail / preview existence time for 150 photos in Aperture.—Macworld science laboratory testing by James Galbraith , Mckinley Noble , Blair Hanley Frank , and Chris Holt .
Macworld’s buying advice
The iMac keep to be an attractive all - in - one computing gadget for the family , home offices , and business enterprise . If you ’re look for a unexampled Mac or you ’re thinking about kick upstairs a screen background Mac that ’s at least a couple of class old , you ’ll be slaked with the features and performance , as long as you ’re willing to deal with the glossy video display . If you bought a late-2009 iMac , the reasons to upgrade are n’t very compelling , unless you have the previous $ 1199 iMac with the integrated graphics and you want better graphics execution for game .
The $ 1199 iMac is a very attractive good deal , particularly now that it has a dedicated graphics processor . The new $ 1999 Quad - Core 2.8GHz Core i5 iMac is an impressive machine , outpace the current ( but presently to be replaced ) Quad - Core 2.66GHz Mac Pro in many of our examination . The iMac does n’t have the expansion pick as the Mac Pro , but if you need a very fast Macright now , it ’s the machine to get . However , it ’s worth waiting for the new Mac Pros to get later this calendar month ; we ’ll have benchmark and full reviews as soon as the Mac Pros are available .
[ Roman Loyola is a Macworld elderly editor in chief . ]
