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Apple updates iMac lineup with Kaby Lake chips, brighter displays, and faster storage

By Ng Chong Seng - on 10 Jun 2017, 10:57am

Apple updates iMac lineup with Kaby Lake chips, brighter displays, and faster storage

At its Worldwide Developers Conference today, Apple has also updated its iMac lineup with faster processors and I/Os, and better displays and graphics.

In broad strokes, the new iMac lineup has stayed mostly the same as the previous lineup. There are still three variants differentiated by screen types: a 21.5-inch model with a 1080p display, a 21.5-inch model with a Retina 4K display, and a 27-inch model with a Retina 5K display. On this display side of things, both the 4K and 5K models are getting brighter screens, up to 500 nits.

On the CPU and GPU front, the iMac is getting Intel’s 7th-gen Core i5 and i7 (Kaby Lake) chips and AMD’s Radeon Pro 500 series graphics. The full HD iMac starts at S$1,598, and can only be equipped with a dual-core Core i5 processor running at 2.3GHz, with Intel Iris Plus 640 graphics, 8GB RAM, and 1TB hard drive. You can top up the RAM to 16GB, change the HDD to a 1TB Fusion Drive or 256GB SSD, which would bring the price up to S$2,018 (1TB Fusion Drive) and S$2,158 (256GB SSD).

The entry 21.5-inch iMac with Retina 4K Display starts at S$1,898, and this will only net you a quad-core Core i5 CPU running at 3.0GHz, 8GB RAM and 1TB HDD. It also lands you better graphics in the form of the Radeon Pro 555 with 2GB VRAM. If you need more power, you can top up for a 3.6GHz Core i7, 16GB RAM, and swap the HDD for a 512GB SSD. This top-end config will set you back S$3,158.

The 21.5-inch 4K iMac also has a higher-end base model that comes with a faster quad-core Core i5 (3.4GHz), a 1TB Fusion Drive, and Radeon Pro 560 graphics with 4GB VRAM. This config costs S$2,188. This should be your starting point if you want a specced out 21.5-inch iMac, as this variant allows up to 32GB RAM and a 1TB SSD. This will cost a pretty penny, of course, at S$4,288.

(Click for larger image.)

If you want the best iMac before the iMac Pro arrives later this year, then there’s the 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K Display. There are three standard configs, starting from S$2,588 to S$3,328 and they differ mainly in terms of processor speeds (all Core i5 though), Fusion Drive storage, and graphics (from Radeon Pro 570/575 with 4GB VRAM to 580 with 8GB VRAM). You can customize the 5K iMac, of course. To give you an idea, a fully specced out model with a 4.2GHz quad-core Core i7 CPU, 64GB RAM, and 2TB SSD will cost you S$7,528! Opting for a Fusion Drive is one way to save some money here: for example, the price comes down to S$5,708 if you swapped the aforementioned 2TB SSD with a 3TB Fusion Drive. Since the iMac is an all-in-one, upgrading the core components is tough, if not impossible, so make sure you play around with the various BTO options before buying.

(Click for larger image.)

Lastly, for I/Os, all the updated iMacs will get two Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports, replacing the Thunderbolt 2 ports that were on the previous models.

The new iMac is now available for order, and ships as soon as one business day.

Source: Apple.

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