BERLIN – On the 30th anniversary of the Macintosh computer, Apple has set a new benchmark with a new 27-inch iMac that comes with a Retina 5K display. That’s seven times higher definition than a standard HD TV.
“There has never been a desktop of this level of display,” Apple’s worldwide marketing chief Phil Schiller said when unveiling the new desktop today.
The new iMac with Retina 5K was launched alongside the new iPad Air 2 and the iPad mini 3 tablet computers, which also boast Retina technology.
The new desktop, which runs OS X Yosemite which has also been released for free on the App Store today, features a 14.7m pixel display and has a resolution of 5,120 x 2,880.
That is the equivalent of 67pc more pixels than a 4K display.
On stage at Apple’s town hall event for the press, Schiller said the 27-inch iMac with Retina 5K uses an oxide TFT-based panel to deliver vivid display brightness from corner to corner.
All 14.7m pixels are driven by an Apple-designed timing controller (TCON). The display also uses highly efficient LEDs and organic passivation to improve display but at the same time reduce power consumption by 30pc.
Contrast ratio is improved via a new photo alignment process to deliver darker colours and more vivid colours from any viewing angle.
Precision and accuracy of iMac with Retina 5K display
Three spectroradiometers are key to ensuring precise and accurate colour.
Schiller said the new desktop comes with a 4GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor with speeds up to 4.4GHz.
Each machine comes with an AMD Radeon R9 M290X graphics processor that can deliver up to 3.5 teraflops of computing power.
The desktop comes with a standard 8GB of memory and a 1TB Fusion Drive for the first time.
The new Mac can be configured with up to 32GB of memory, a 3TB Fusion Drive3 and includes two Thunderbolt 2 ports capable of up to 20Gbps each.
As well as the new OS X Yosemite operating system, each machine will come with free apps like iMovie, GarageBand and a suite of iWork apps.
The new machine ships today with a 3.5 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.9GHz, AMD Radeon R9 M290X graphics and a 1TB Fusion Drive for a suggested retail price of €2,699, including VAT (€2,194.31 excluding VAT).
