The last 5k iMac was released just over a year ago to subtle fanfare. There were a number
of great upgrades to the new iMacs like a T2 chip, better graphics, new cameras and
more, however, they were completely overshadowed by the then upcoming Apple Silicon Macs and
they lacked a fresh new design.
And The M1 Macs have been incredible with their amazing performance to power ratio,
stability, overall snappy feeling and in the case of the 24” iMac, the fresh new design
that people were looking for. ……
But, no matter which Mac I use whether it is an Intel or M1 MacBook Pro with a display,
or M1 iMac, or any other Mac really, I always feel like something is lacking and I keep
returning back to the 5k iMac for desktop use….
Hey Im Jerry, and the 5k iMac might just be the perfect Mac. Please, just keep the vulgarities
to a minimum and don’t throw anything while I explain, ok? Ok…..
When I say the perfect Mac I mean the perfect Mac for sitting at a desk and getting stuff
done. From just casually surfing the web, basic document creation and watching Netflix
to demanding workloads like graphic design, programming, and video rendering. There are
other options for using a Mac in this way whether that is a MacBook with an external
display, a Mac mini, or even the new 24” iMac. And sure, you could say the Mac Pro
but I am going to leave the Mac Pro completely out of this discussion because of price and
just because I want to.
But compared to the 5k iMac those other options I mentioned just require … compromises where
the 5k iMac does not.
Let’s take the form factor for instance. The 27” iMac is an all in one desktop machine.
That means you take it out of the box and you have everything you need to use the device
including computer, display, speakers, cameras, mouse, and keyboard. You could say that the
MacBook Air and MacBook Pro are also all in one devices however using them by themselves
at a desk is not the most comfortable. To match the desk usability….ergonomics/…….you
would need to purchase an external display and maybe even a keyboard and mouse. For the
Mac mini you will for sure need a display, keyboard and mouse…plus speakers and a webcam.
For simplicity’s sake, the 5k iMac is just ready to go right out of the box.
And I don’t mean that it just has a check the box webcam, in fact, the T2 chip is powering
a 1080p webcam to give a pretty good webcam experience that is bright and looks great.
The T2 chip also powers the eq and bass response, a super-fast ssd, security and more.
When it comes to that display, oh man, pound for pound it offers the best overall display
performance in my opinion. At 27” and a resolution of 5120x2880 that brings a super
crisp 218 pixels per inch. And with a default working resolution of 1440p text is incredibly
sharp and photos pop with the P3 wide color. The display gets up to 500 nits of brightness
and you can actually watch HDR content.
If you want a sharp 3rd party display for a Mac there are plenty of 4k displays out
there, and I have tried half a dozen in the last year. Some of them are really nice and
have great features like 120hz on a gaming display, or pretty accurate colors factory
calibrated out of the box. Some have a nice modern design. But on a 27” monitor the
native resolution of 4k makes everything too small. The pixel doubleing for retina makes
everything too big. Scaling to 1440p looks good but just is not as sharp as the 5k iMac.
But that also goes for brightness, color accuracy, and just display quality. Many monitors exhibit
color shifting or darkened edges.
Even comparing the 5k to the 24” 4.5k display on the m1 imac and the 32” 6k Pro display
XDR which both have the same 218ppi, the 27” still wins in my opinion simply because 27”
feels like the perfect size
There are plenty of good displays out there, but I haven’t found any that match the 5k
iMac’s all around package. The built-in display of the 5k iMac is simply the most
consistent, well rounded display I have seen. And that before considering the integration
with MacOS for auto brightness, brightness control from the keyboard, and true tone.
If there was 1 thing I could change about the display, it’s just the height adjustment…and
maybe adding pro-motion…The height of the iMac is just a little shorter than I would
prefer and it has been like this since the iMac G5. Having the option to adjust the height
would make a big difference in ergonomics and comfort. Instead, I use this bamboo stand
from Kilibri which raises it just the right amount for me.
When it comes to performance the 5k iMac is still a major player. The M1 processor apple
announced last year gets all the attention because of its power to performance ratio,
integrated GPU, and unified memory. And it really is great, I have a ton of videos on
the M1 computers because Apple is tossing that chip in every device. But you know what,
even the i5 version of the iMac 5k still holds its own against the M1 in processing power.
They trade jabs but the i5 and i7 versions of the iMac 5k beat out the M1 in Cinebench
r23 multi core scores even though the M1 wins out in single and multi-core Geekbench CPU
tests.
For GPU, the M1 can’t even touch the discrete graphics cards in the i5 imac starting with
the radeon pro 5300, not to mention the 5500xt and 5700xt found in the i7 version.
From daily office apps and browsing to video editing, and light gaming the 5k iMac doesn’t
break a sweat. To me, in regular day to day usage the 5k iMac still performs extremely
well and dare I say perfectly?
Often I am using the M1 where I will have a ton of tabs open, final cut, pixelmator,
citrix, office apps, teams and other things where I start to feel the computer hesitating.
The M1 does a crazy good job with limited memory but I can stuff up to 128gb of memory
into the 5k imac.
There are times when the M1 macs feel faster like launching certain apps, playing back
certain file types or small tasks due to the faster single core speed and features built
in into the chip…..., but my 5k iMac just never feels like its hesitating or running
slow even with every app I need open.
On the back side of the imac you will find something that is becoming more and more rare
on a Mac……Built in Ports!
Yes, there are many ways to get extra ports on a your Macbook or M1 mac mini with something
like the Caldigit TS3 plus which I do use and love with every mac I use; however, The
5k imac comes with all the ports most people need right out of the box. There is a 1gb
ethernet port, 2 thunderbolt ports for displays, ssds, or docks, 4 usb a ports for all the
usb stuff you already have, an sd card slot, which hopefully makes its way BACK to the
macbooks, and a headphone jack.
I’m sorry, having built in ports in a desktop computer is just right. Unlike other Macs
you probably don’t need adapters to use the things you already have with the 5k imac.
Now, I want to just touch on the overall design real quick. This 5k iMac looks like an imac.
Which looks like imacs over the last many years….and even looks like the m1 imac.
I was one of the people who were initially upset about the m1 imac design and continuing
the chin, and bezels around the screen. I still would like to see a more modern design
reducing the bezels and chin and maybe we will see that in a future imac pro or something.
But for now, this is what an updated iMac looks like and its not that different from
the 5k imac. As far as the bezels, again, I complained about them in the m1 imac, but
like any screen, once you start using it and are focused on the screen or content, the
bezels fade away. As it turns out, I can get use to any size bezels and this computer works
fantastic no matter the bezel size.
So, like I said at the beginning, Hey Im Jerry, and the 5k iMac might just be the perfect
Mac…..Ya, I stand by that. For a desktop Mac the 5k iMac has everything you need, all
the power you would want,,,,,,, ports for all the accessories you have,,,,,,, and a
class leading 27” 5k display that is almost impossible to beat, all in a beautiful package
that still stands up to the latest and greatest from Apple. In my mind there are just no compromises
when going with the 5k iMac.
Now, tell me I am wrong in the comments but bring your ammo cuz Im going to defend myself.
Hit the thumbs up button if you liked it, hit subscribe if you want and Ill see you
next time.