Apple iMac 27-Inch With 5K Retina Display (2017) Review - Review 2022

The iMac defined the all-in-one (AIO) desktop a decade agone, setting the phase for a surge in premium Windows machines built in its mold. Apple has since refined the iMac'south design earlier reaching the electric current super-slim aluminum version, which has remained largely unchanged since 2022. This time around the 27-inch iMac with 5K Retina brandish ($1,799) gets a brighter screen, more mod connections, and a modest functioning bump over its two-year-old predecessor, making it the Apple desktop to purchase if a big display and macOS are necessities. Simply information technology's only a matter of time before loftier-finish Windows AIOs like the Microsoft Surface Studio and the HP Envy 34 Curved All-in-Ane outset cutting into Apple tree's pie.

A Modern Classic

There's no denying that the new iMac looks a lot like the old iMac, so don't look for any new flourishes hither. The genre-defining aluminum and glass build has stayed thin and sleek—it's easy to have it for granted since it's been around for so long, but it remains an impressive feat of technology, peculiarly as increasingly powerful parts are packed within. This year's version of the smaller 21.5-inch 4K iMac ( at Amazon) shares the design of its larger counterpart, with no aesthetic variations beyond size (though there are some component differences described below).

The display is nearly the same as the last version, a cute 27-inch 5K Retina screen with a five,120-past-two,880 resolution under edge-to-border glass. In that location's no impact capability here, so if that's appealing to you, you'll have to take the Windows route. Apple does have a host of new features coming in the next MacOS, High Sierra, but touch interaction is still limited to iOS.

Apple iMac 27-Inch With 5K Retina Display (2017)

The Microsoft Surface Studio ( at Microsoft Store) combines impact and greater convertibility with its 5K screen, if your work would benefit from a born digitizer and you still want the ultra-high resolution. The Surface Studio can recline near fully horizontally to serve every bit a digital drafting lath, while the iMac'south screen can exist tilted upwards near 45 degrees, it only tilts downward slightly, and you tin can't arrange the height of the brandish. The Dell XPS 27 (7760) is another pick that doesn't quite have the all functionality of the Studio, but features a large 4K impact screen and tin can similarly recline.

Still, the iMac's image quality is insanely crisp, right up at that place with the 5K screen on the Surface Studio. Images really pop, and information technology would be difficult to brand text whatsoever sharper. The font and UI would exist too tiny at a 1:1 pixel ratio in 5K, so a scaling setting is active (the default is a scale that appears as a ii,560-past-1,440 resolution) to make it usable, though y'all can tweak this in the system settings if you want to feel the native resolution.

Apple iMac 27-Inch With 5K Retina Display (2017)

The screen brightness across all of the new iMacs has been increased to 500 nits, and it shows. At full brightness the brandish is almost painfully luminous, and I wouldn't blame you for dialing it downwardly from the maximum (in that location'due south besides an auto-adjust option). If yous need to see fine details, though, peculiarly in photograph and video editing, this is a big aid, as is the display's wide color (P3) support. Colors on the new iMac are incredibly vibrant.

To become a more quantitive determination, I tested color accuracy using Datacolor'southward Spyder5Elite colorimeter and software. The parcel runs a exam on the screen'south ability to display different color spectrums used for a variety of purposes across industries. Color accuracy is important to many professionals for representing real-life colors digitally to facilitate physical printing, samples, and more. The iMac's display covers 100 percent of the sRGB specturm, 87 pct of NTSC, and 92 percent of Adobe RGB. The coverage isn't consummate, but results are even so potent, and should satisfy nearly use cases.

Overall, the iMac may not deliver the enveloping outcome of the HP Envy's ($one,699.99 at HP) huge 34-inch curved screen, but different the Envy, its traditional 16:9 attribute ratio is supported past video streaming services and physical media.

Freshened Up Features

While the overall body design is largely unchanged, the iMac's ports take been modernized. The left lesser corner of the back panel holds four USB 3.0 ports, ii USB-C ports with Thunderbolt three, an Ethernet jack, an SDXC card slot, and a headphone jack. The 2022 iMac used Thunderbolt 2 ports, then the upgrade means faster data transfers and better forwards-looking versatility for accessories. Given the inclusion of both USB 3.0 and USB-C, you won't demand as well many adapters as long as you have some USB-C peripherals. Withal, there are some exceptions, as you lot may take to buy Apple'due south USB-C to Thunderbolt ii adapter ($49) or a third-party USB-C to HDMI adapter if yous have peripherals or accessories reliant on those ports.

The location of the iMac's connectors is slightly inconvenient, as it is with the Surface Studio, particularly for headphones, but it's the price you pay with a arrangement this thin. The Envy shares many of the same connections, just has two HDMI ports and just one USB-C port with Thunderbolt 3. However, some of its ports are located on the right side of its base of operations, which is thick enough to accomodate them.

The iMac has born speakers, which are of above-average quality for an all-in-one. You can play media loudly on the new iMac without much distortion, even if information technology's notwithstanding brusk of a true stereo speaker setup. On the other hand, the HP Envy integrates a full high-quality soundbar along its base, which is ane of our favorite things about it, and the Dell XPS 27 boasts an insane x-speaker setup.

Apple iMac 27-Inch With 5K Retina Display (2017)

Every bit for other features, the 2022 iMac integrates 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth four.2, and comes with Apple's wireless Magic Mouse 2 and Magic Keyboard. The mouse supports touch-based scrolling, though I still find its shallow shape uncomfortable, and the keyboard angle and keys are similarly low-profile. Still, both the mouse and the keyboard are loftier quality for bundled peripherals.

In that location are a handful of configuration options bachelor: Ours is the starting-price Core i5 unit with 8GB of retentiveness, Radeon Pro 570 graphics, and a 1TB Fusion Drive. This storage type comes basic in every 27-inch iMac (the entry-level 21.5-inch iMac starts with a standard hard drive); it's a hybrid style that combines Flash Storage memory and a spinning hard disk, so it'south not as fast as an SSD. The only mail-purchase upgrade options are for memory, then choose your processor, graphics bill of fare, and storage carefully when purchasing. It'southward worth noting that the new 21.5-inch 4K iMac doesn't come with identical components—the base version includes a 2GB Radeon Pro 550 GPU and a slower processor, for case, so be careful in assuming it'due south only a decision between screen sizes.

You can configure the 27-inch iMac with up to a iv.2GHz Core i7 processor, a 3TB Fusion Bulldoze or upward to a 1TB SSD, 64GB of memory, and a Radeon Pro 575 or 580 graphics bill of fare. These summit-terminate options get pretty expensive—the priciest model is $2,229 and can be significantly upgraded with those options.

Apple covers the iMac with 90 days of technical back up, and a one-year warranty.

Steady Speeds

Making the jump to a Kaby Lake processor is 1 of the master draws of the 2022 iMac, and the 3.4GHz Core i5-7500 chip in our unit acquired an uptick in speed over the 2022 model. We don't run Windows-based benchmark tests on macOS systems, only in the multimedia tests, the new iMac saw improvements across the board, with faster Photoshop and Handbrake times and a higher CineBench score. The increases, however, aren't too considerable, as shown in the criterion chart below.

Apple iMac 27-Inch With 5K Retina Display (2017) BM

If you accept a 2022 iMac, you may non demand to upgrade purely for speed, unless you consider a more expensive configuration with a Core i7 processor. The HP Envy 34 Curved posted nearly the same time on Handbrake, only had a much higher CineBench score, while the Dell XPS 27 was faster across the board. The Surface Studio was too slightly faster on the 2 timed tests and fared better on CineBench.

Related Story See How We Test Desktops

3D performance is also improved, though it's not revolutionary. The AMD Radeon Pro 570 with 4GB of VRAM is an increase over the 2022 model's 2GB Radeon R9 M290. Blitheness and rendering software will be faster on this version thanks to the upgrade, which will benefit creative professionals. As for gaming, the 2022 iMac was able to average over 30 frames per 2d on the Sky and Valley tests at ultra-quality settings and Hard disk drive resolution, though the 5K native resolution is, of course, a bridge too far for the hardware. The Studio is a much more capable gaming automobile, fifty-fifty though that's non any AIO's main purpose.

Apple iMac 27-Inch With 5K Retina Display (2017) BM

You may accept to turn downwardly visual settings in more than cutting edge games, but yous can definitely bask a variety of titles on medium-to-high settings on the new iMac when y'all're not working. Apple tree appear back up for VR headsets at WWDC this year, only yous'll need a better carte than the 570 for a shine VR experience. At that place will be back up for SteamVR and external graphics cards, yet, so VR isn't out of the question here.

The Good Gets Better

In terms of a straight generational comparison, the new model improves on the 2022 version in many facets, delivering faster components, newer ports, and a brighter display than its predecessor. The changes in speed aren't desperate over the previous model, but information technology'due south a fast computer in general, and if you do processor-intensive work like video editing, every infinitesimal counts. Some users merely need to stick with macOS for their professions, and if that's yous, this is the most updated and powerful iMac you tin can purchase right now. If you're truly wednesday to macOS and want more muscle, you should wait until December for the iMac Pro workstation, which includes much more powerful components.

That said, Windows-based desktops just keep getting better. The physical hardware is frequently as well designed, and there are of import differentiators being added to the large-display designs. The HP Envy is more than eye-catching with its huge curved display and loftier-quality sound bar for just a few hundred dollars more than than the base 27-inch iMac. Its premium media-middle-way pattern better embodies the high-end all-in-one category, and so it remains our top pick. Microsoft'south Surface Studio is another attractive pick that earns our Editors' Choice for its innovation, combining a touch screen and a highly convertible form factor for a powerful PC and digital art tool in one. While Apple hasn't exactly stagnated, the next lineup of iMacs will need a more than significant overhaul to go along the Windows competition at bay. For its part, the 21.v-inch 2022 iMac nabs our Editors' Selection as a clearer standout compared with the contest at its size and price.