Apple iMac 27in 5K Review: Always a stunner



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Apple has become the gold standard in all-in-one office, and not just because it's one of the few companies that still manufactures them. The iMac range combines an attractive display technology with a truly enviable hardware, and the iMac 5K 5 inch is one of the best in the bunch.

True, this is no longer at the top of the pile – this honor now belongs to the excellent iMac Pro – but it's still a fantastic machine, and one that will have photographers, Graphic designers and 3D modelers fight each other.

Design

If there is a feature for which Apple is famous, it is the exquisite design of its products. You can criticize the technical merits of whatever business hardware you want, but you can not deny that everything it produces sounds amazing. Apple has not changed much in the exterior design of the latest iMac compared to its previous incarnation, but it still looks fantastic. It is safe to say that in recent years he has barely aged.

This is not a surprise; The machined and stylish aluminum iMac is a good-level clbadic at this stage and any employee would be happy to have it in his office workspace around the world. The iMac is elegant, subtle and minimalist; we are absolutely in love.

One criticism, however, is that the screen continues to be lined by a fairly thick and stumpy bezel – 27mm, to be exact. In a technological landscape where manufacturers such as Dell offer monitors and screens with barely visible glbades, it's the only detail that makes the iMac always feel a bit late. In addition, we would prefer that the device has an adjustable height, instead of just tilting it.

These are two small blame, however, and do not overlook the simple fact that iMac is not just one of the most beautiful all-in-one we've used, it's not a problem. is one of the most attractive machines we have ever tested, complete shutdown.

Viewing

There is no surprise when we go to the display; it's another absolute cracker. The 5K panel from the previous iteration was already impressive, but the 2017 model is even better. The brightness reaches a ridiculous 527cd / m2, and the contrast ratio is 960: 1, making it an amazing visual experience. The screen covers both the sRGB and DCI-P3 color ranges, and reproduces both at frankly stunning precision levels.

If you are familiar with the Apple iMac line, none of this will be familiar to you; the company is renowned for packing its hardware with some of the best screens around, and the 27in iMac does not disappoint. It's bright, crisp and clear like a bell, with sharp, flawless outlines. It is perfectly suited to editing and design work.

The only small problem we have with this is that it can not be used in target display mode, which would allow you to use it as an external monitor. This is particularly irritating since the two USB Type-C ports on the back actually support the Thunderbolt 3 standard.

Hardware and Performance

Of course, as the well-known saying goes, the proof of the pudding is in how fast he can perform computation tasks. The iMac is appreciated not only as a pretty design machine, but rather as a powerful machine, and needs some seriousness to be able to handle demanding design and rendering tasks.

with 8 GB of RAM and a Core i5-7500 processor. When we tested it, it compares favorably to the Skylake version of 2015, with an overall score of 109, an increase of about 10% over the 2015 model. is not a huge boost, it is good to remember that the previous version was already very fast, and the new model is more than able to follow most modern PCs.

It's also worth noting the least powerful configuration with a 7th generation Core i5, it still gives devices with 8th generation i7 chips a run for their money, which is really impressive. However, it is pale in comparison to the amazing iMac Pro in terms of power, which has more than doubled its overall score in our tests – though with a Xeon processor and a £ 4,000-plus pricetag, we would wait for it. 19659016] The graphic performance, however, is a completely different story. Coming equipped with AMD's Radeon Pro GPUs, the new iMacs have great render power under the hood. Our test unit was equipped with the least powerful Radeon Pro 570 graphics processor, but even this one managed to sneak away from the most powerful model of last year in our benchmarks.

Storage

Fusion hybrid discs from Apple, which combine a high-capacity hard drive with a super-fast SSD drive – the logic being that everything you need to access quickly and regularly on the SSD, while all your less frequently used files and programs can stay on The 1TB model we tested was very fast, with a read speed of 987 MB / s and write speeds of 130 MB / s, but this is not a patch on the all-flash storage of the new MacBook Pros, which dwarfs the iMac in terms of storage speeds. You can upgrade to an appropriate SSD, of course, but be warned – it will not be cheap.

Ports and Features

It is painfully obvious that the iMac is designed for a desktop layout as minimalist as possible. the various inputs, ports, and connectors have been hidden at the back and are not suitable for hot-swap devices and USB sticks on a regular basis. Plugging into anything involves a lot of maneuvering both the iMac and yourself – saving you the hbadle and getting a USB hub or docking station instead.

By default, you get four USB 3 ports, an SD card reader, a Gigabit Ethernet port, and the aforementioned USB C ports. These are particularly interesting because in addition to doubling the data transfer rate to 40Gbits / sec, it will also allow you to attach an external GPU for graphics acceleration.

In a shock move, Apple has also evolved the iMac user. If you wish, you can disconnect and update the RAM, with two of the four vacant DDR4 slots in the default iMac. The only other change is that the headphone jack no longer draws the dual use of optical digital audio output, which is a minor shame.

Verdict

This should absolutely not surprise anyone that the iMac is an absolutely beautiful piece of technology, both inside and out. It still looks like a slice of the future, although it has not changed much for over three years, and it goes like a bat from hell.

Of course, this is not cheap, and for the asking price of £ 1,749 could certainly build a faster desktop PC. The catch, is that iMac also includes one of the best 5K screens we've ever seen – there are TVs that are not as beautiful. Viewed in this light, the 27-inch iMac starts to look like a good deal.

Like all the iMacs that preceded it in the last five years, the 2017 model is a powerhouse that is perfectly suited to creative work. It also works great for other business tasks, but this beautiful 5K screen really gives life to graphic and graphic projects. If you are a creative professional, get one by hook or rogue.

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