First Look: New iMacs announced, and they're incredible!

TUAW may have had the date wrong (we guessed October 9, 2009), but the new iMacs we were looking for finally showed up today. The 20" and 24" models are gone, replaced by 21.5" and 27" iMacs with a true 16 x 9 HD aspect ratio. It's also obvious that Apple intends for the new iMacs to end up on the desktops of a lot of designers, since the line now includes the first quad-core iMac ever.

The pricing for the iMac line starts at the same US$1199, but that's where the similarities stop. The displays are now backlit by LEDs, providing better energy efficiency. The 21.5" model has a screen resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, which is the equivalent of a 1080p HDTV. That screen size is actually 90% of the resolution of the old 24" iMac. Resolution on the 27" model is 2560 x 1440 pixels. Both of the new iMacs use the IPS display technology for excellent color fidelity and a very wide (178°) viewing angle.

For the first time, iMacs now have an SD card slot located below the optical drive slot on the right side of the computer. The systems will ship with Apple's new wireless keyboard and Magic Mouse, or you can get wired models as a configure-to-order option at no extra cost.

All of the new iMacs can be loaded with up to 16GB of RAM and up to 2 TB of storage. The new low-end model, at US$1199, is running a blazing-fast 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor and comes with 4 GB of RAM, a 500 GB hard drive, and an Nvidia GeForce 9400M video card. The US$1499 model of the 21.5" iMac bumps storage up to 1TB and upgrades video to a Radeon HD 4670 card. The US$1699 27" model has the same features as the US$1499 21.5", but of course has the 27" display.

At the high end of the line will be an iMac that won't be released until next month -- a $1999 27" that is powered by a 2.66GHz Intel Core i5 quad-core processor. That model also has a Radeon HD 4850 video card built in. If you wish, you can swap out the Core i5 chip for the even more powerful Core i7 processor.

The Core i5 is based on the Linfield processor, which is part of the same Nehalem family found in the existing Mac Pro line. The Core i5 features a turbo mode, which means that the chip can shift from a slower clock speed with four cores to a faster mode with two cores active. The turbo mode speed of the Core i5 processor is 3.2 GHz, while the turbo mode speed of the i7 is a whopping 3.46 GHz.

What's really incredible is a new feature for the ~~iMacs~~ 27" models that allows them to act as external monitors or HDTVs. You'll be able to attach DVD players, Blu-Ray players, gaming consoles, or even other computers, and display them on the bright, clear, iMac display. Update: The 27" will handle DisplayPort-based input, with adapters to be announced. The 21.5" model will not support video input, based on the spec page.

The last iMacs were released in March of 2009, with a 20" model powered by a 2.66 GHz Core 2 Duo available at US$1199, and 24" models with 2.66, 2.93, and 3.06 GHz processors at US$1499, US$1799, and US$2199.

View Tags

Source: http://www.apple.com/imac/

Categories

Hardware iMac Apple First Look

TUAW may have had the date wrong (we guessed October 9, 2009), but the new iMacs we were looking for finally showed up today. The 20" and...

Add a Comment

Sign in »

38 Comments

Filter by:

agentLG1

Hmm -- nobody seems to have mentioned that you can get a 2 TB drive option for $250 extra. I've ordered a 27-inch with the default quad-core, 4 GB extra RAM (8 GB) total, 2 TB drive, no bloody wireless keyboard or mouse (the batteries are inevitably going to die while you're working). Total hurt, $2450 and well worth it, I have no doubt. I make my living on my iMac.

Now I'm just left wondering when "November" -- the stated ship date for the unit -- is going to arrive.

I notice the new drive burns dual-layer DVDs. Any advice on whether 2-sided DVD-Rs or dual-layer DVD-Rs are a better value? I suppose the 2-sided ones can be read on a non-dual drive?

Gracias!

Larry

October 21 2009 at 1:06 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Tim

Looks very nice and so much better then when the first iMacs came out. I like how you can upgrade the vid card in this and the screen is very very nice. :)

http://www.monowp.com/

October 21 2009 at 2:40 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

DirtyRob

I am all over the 27" Quad core in November.

October 20 2009 at 9:46 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Yoshi1080

That 27" display is just pure awesomeness, I am so needing one! I have been planning the purchase of a new computer for H1 2010 and wanted an iMac anyway.

October 20 2009 at 3:45 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Matt

Anyone else catch the slip up re 27' having quad core? Apple store BTO specs differ fro tech specs.

Processor and memory

* 21.5-inch and 27-inch models, one of the following:
o 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 3MB shared L2 cache
o 3.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 6MB shared L2 cache
* 27-inch models only, one of the following:
o 2.66GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor with 8MB shared L3 cache; Turbo Boost dynamic performance up to 3.2GHz
o 2.8GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor with 8MB shared L3 cache; Turbo Boost dynamic performance up to 3.46GHz; Hyper-Threading for up to eight virtual cores

October 20 2009 at 3:44 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to Matt's comment

Matt

My bad, I merely saw what I wanted to see... a cheaper quad core mac, that'll teach me for reading first thing in the morning...

October 20 2009 at 3:50 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

homan2

Set up proper lighting or become an hero.

October 20 2009 at 2:20 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

drew.borland

I have 3 macs (15 and 17 MBPs, and a Mac Mini) already...I just want the 27" LED monitor with 2560x1440 without the computer built in, how hard is that Apple?!!?!?

October 20 2009 at 1:37 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to drew.borland's comment

SIP

I'm sure Dell and a few others will be releasing them soon - with card reader, 4-port USB hub, HDMI, Component, S-Video, etc. -- all for Â£750.

October 20 2009 at 1:45 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

GadgetDon

My reaction is disappointment. From what they were saying in the quarterly conference call, I was expecting some price drop on the low end.

And more...has Apple gotten timid in its design work? Bigger screen, faster processor, etc. - nice, but where's the groundbreaking design work? Are they really saying the iMac G5 was the perfect design for an all-in-one, and so from here on it's just fiddling around the edges.

Jonathan Ivy, where have you gone?

October 20 2009 at 1:13 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

2 replies to GadgetDon's comment

Danny Zumwalt

Obviously you didn't watch the iMac introduction video where Ivy explains this decision.

October 20 2009 at 2:16 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

markm49uk

At least get his name right - Ive not Ivy. They are still the best looking all in one units on the market today so what's your problem ?

October 20 2009 at 3:02 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Drool. Sometimes makes me wish my life didn't require me to use a laptop.

Then I said to myself, "but would I really get an iMac? The nice thing about a Mac Pro is that you can use the monitor for something else." Then I finished reading. Nice going, Apple!

October 20 2009 at 1:12 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

SIP

My current machine is a Mac Pro 2008 2.8GHz 10GB RAM 3x320GB+1x500GB internal HDs with 2x1TB external HDs and HP-LP2465 monitor/Radeon 2600.

Iâ€™ve just configured my ideal iMac 27-inch

2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB
1TB Serial ATA Drive
ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB
8x double-layer SuperDrive
Apple Mouse
Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad (British) and User's Guide (English)

Total Â£1,758.99 incl. VAT

The Apple Remote is a Â£15 add-on!!

Total 1773.99 incl. VAT

Is it worth selling the Mac Pro for this?