Back in October , wereviewed the new $ 1299 entrance - level iMac , the first of the newiMacmodels that we could get our manpower on . Regrettably , it take on us a while to get the other three standard - configuration iMacs in the Macworld Lab to test . We in conclusion took a good looking at at the residual of Apple ’s iMac line .
Externally identical to the slim - edged21.5 - and27 - inchiMacs loose in October 2012 , the updates in this heap of iMacs are all internal , boast more brawny processors and support for faster 802.11ac Wi - Fi .
The raw iMacs come in four standard configurations , two 21.5 - inch models and two 27 - inchers . All apply space - core Intel i5 ( Haswell ) processor , 8 GB of retention and 1 TB unvoiced drives . The 21.5 column inch manakin use 5400 - revolutions per minute hard drives while the 27 - in iMacs use riotous 7200 - revolutions per minute drives . Also , the retentiveness in the 21.5 - in iMacs is not substance abuser upgradeable , whereas the 27 - inch iMacs ship with memory in just two of its four user - accessible DRAM slots .
*Customize to build model.
I ’ve already reviewed the entranceway - level $ 1299 iMac that comes with a 2.7GHz quad - core Core i5 processor and Intel ’s Iris Pro unified nontextual matter . The $ 1499 model has a degraded 2.9GHz quad - substance Core i5 processor and Nvidia GeForce GT 750 M distinct graphics with 1 GB of video memory . The $ 1799 27 - inch iMac sport a 3.2GHz quad - nucleus Core i5 C.P.U. and Nvidia GeForce GT 755 M distinct graphics with 1 GB of video memory . The eminent - end $ 1999 stock iMac has a 3.4GHz quad - core Core i5 processor with Nvidia GeForce GT 775 M discrete graphics with 2 GB of picture memory .
These fresh iMacs have the same four USB 3.0 ports , double Thunderbolt port , SDXC card slot and Gb Ethernet port as the previous 2012 models . The new iMacs do not let in Thunderbolt 2 ports find in the tardy Mac Pros and MacBook Pros or FireWire ports found in iMacs predating the later 2012 models .
As with its forerunner , the unexampled iMacs boast glossy screens with light-emitting diode backlights and IPS instrument panel . The resolving of the widescreen display stay on at 1920 by 1080 on the 21.5 - inch and 2560 by 1440 on the 27 - inch iMac . The IPS screen gives the iMacs excellent view angles with no loss of line or colouring material transmutation as you move aside from the center of the silver screen . The glass cover is stick to the display , not hold on by magnets like the atomic number 13 iMacs released before 2012 . While this and other changes help to importantly come down spotlight on these recent displays , it make it much knockout to service the 2012 and later iMacs .
If you think you might want a larger or fast home campaign , it ’s right to customize your iMac at the clock time of leverage . uncommitted option for the $ 1499 21.5 - in manikin admit 256 GB or 512 GB of wink storage ( $ 200 and $ 500 , respectively ) or a 1 TB Fusion Drive ( $ 200 ) which tie 126 GB of fast flash storage and 1 TB hard drive into a single mass that performs much like an SSD , but with the content of a hard drive . Upping the RAM from 8 GB to 16 GB will cost $ 200 . The high - death 21.5 - column inch iMac ’s processor can be advance from the standard 2.9GHz Core i5 to a 3.1GHz quad - core Core i7 C.P.U. for another $ 200 .
option for the 27 - in simulation include the same storage choices as the 21.5 - in iMacs but add an available 3 TB hard movement for $ 150 , 3 TB Fusion Drive for $ 350 , or 1 TB of split second storage for a nerveless $ 1000 . The 27 - column inch models can also be configured with 32 GB of RAM for an additional $ 600 . The high - death 27 - inch iMac can be upgraded to include a 3.5GHz core group i7 processor for $ 200 and graphics can be upgrade from the 2 GB GeForce GTX 775 M to a GTX 780 M with 4 GB of picture RAM for an superfluous $ 150 .
Late 2013 iMacs: Speedmark 9 scores
- Customize to construct model .
All solution are heaps . Higher musical score are adept . breed configurations tested , except where note . Best mark inbold . Reference models initalics.—Macworld Lab testing by James Galbraith and Albert Filice .
We used our Speedmark 9 benchmark suite to gauge the performance of the new iMacs . The $ 1499 iMac was 5 percentage faster overall than the 2012 2.9GHz quad - core group Core i5 ( Ivy Bridge ) iMac it replaces . iPhoto , Photoshop and MathematicaMark scores were within 2 percent between these new and 2012 iMacs . The 2013 2.9GHz iMac was 20 percent faster in iMovie , thanks to betterment Intel made in its Haswell processor ’s Quick Sync Video feature article . HandBrake encryption was 17 percent faster on the new $ 1499 iMac .
Interestingly , all of the new iMacs were slower than their herald in our booklet Zip and Unzip trial . At first we cerebrate it was the hard drive , but both the 2013 and 2012 depressed - end 27 - inch iMacs use the same 1 TB Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 private road . find out at the processor utilization during the Zip psychometric test , we noticed that the mental test uses a unmarried central processor . We saw that while the Haswell processor in the 3.2GHz 2013 27 - inch iMac would run at a mellow rate than the 2.9GHz Ivy Bridge processor in the 2012 27 - inch iMac ( both can go up to 3.6GHz in Turbo Mode ) , the Haswell central processing unit often dropped as broken as 800MHz , while the Ivy Bridge processor maintained a more consistent speed — falling to 1.6GHz now and again , but not as often as the Haswell . We also tried the Zip test with a480 GB Thunderbolt Helios + E2 effort , and the 2012 iMac was only a bit faster with the Helios , but the new iMac with Helios finished the task 130 second faster , in line with the quondam iMac . It ’s possible that Haswell ’s vigour - saving feature article are plain in as it waits on the slower toilsome drive to allow for data point to crunch . We ’re look into this and will update this review when we have an explanation .
Like the 21 - inch iMac , the new downhearted - ending $ 1799 27 - inch iMac was also 5 percent quicker overall than its predecessor . The Modern fashion model was 14 percent faster in our HandBrake Encode run 28 percent quicker in our iMovie tryout . The new iMac ’s Nvidia GeForce GT 755 M graphics helped the system post 17 percent high form rates in the Cinebench OpenGL test than the GeForce GTX 680 M graphics in the older iMac .
The high - end $ 1999 27 - inch iMac was 15 percent faster overall than the 2012 high - end stock iMac . It was also faster than the honest-to-goodness iMac in all but the aforementioned Zip and Unzip tests . Highlights include a 42 percent dissolute iMovie test result 18 percentage faster Handbrake times and 28 percent faster files and folder copy times .
Tests of ourCTO 27 - inch iMacshow that the Fusion Drive and central processing unit raise by all odds give the customs iMac a decent execution hike . The usage 2013 iMac was 39 per centum faster overall than the top - of - the - pedigree strain $ 1999 iMac . The CTO iMac ’s 3.5GHz quad - core Core i7 central processor helped it outpace the high - end iMac and its 3.4GHz Core i5 CPU in Cinebench ’s CPU test , MathematicaMark , and HandBrake by 25 , 19 , and 16 percent , respectively . The 6 GB folder transcript trial took just 41 seconds on the custom iMac with Fusion Drive , versus 103 seconds on the high-pitched - end stock iMac .
Bottom line
The new iMacs have the same strengths and weakness as the 2012 iMacs that ushered in the current design : strikingly thin - edge and decreased screen glare , but at the price of reject the visual drive from the iMac line and RAM upgradability in the 21 - inch example . The Modern models are faster than their predecessors in most tests , but CTO options can really increase operation .
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Finder tests
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iMovie 10.0.1 enhance/export
iPhoto 9.5.1 import
iTunes 11.1 AAC to MP3 encode
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HandBrake 0.9.5 encode
Photoshop CC action script
Aperture 3.5.1 import/process
Cinebench R15 CPU
MathematicaMark 9
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Parallels 9-PCMark 8 Office
Unigine Heaven and Valley 1280-by-720
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