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OS X El Capitan Code Hints at 4K 21.5-inch Retina iMac

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Apple's newest OS X El Capitan beta, released on Tuesday, contains code that may hint at some upcoming Apple product updates. Shared by Pierre Dandumont (via 9to5Mac), the code references a Retina display with a 4096 x 2304 resolution, potentially referring to a future 21.5-inch Retina iMac with a 4K resolution.

elcapitandisplaycode-800x282.jpg

There's also a mention of Intel Iris Pro Graphics 6200, the graphics chipset that accompanies Intel's newest line of Broadwell processors. Intel Iris Pro Graphics 6200 and a Broadwell/Skylake processor could potentially be destined for a 4K 21.5-inch Retina iMac, but the chipset is also suitable for a number of notebooks. There's a further mention of AMD Radeon M380 - M395X graphics, which could be used in high-end iMac models.

Apple has updated its 27-inch iMac with a 5K Retina resolution, but the 21.5-inch iMac has thus far remained untouched as Apple has had to wait on appropriate chips for the machine. Apple's plans for the 21.5-inch iMac remain unclear, as Intel has only released two desktop-class Broadwell chips and does not plan to release additional desktop chips. For that reason, a 21.5-inch Retina iMac update could still be months off should Apple opt to wait for Broadwell's successor, Skylake.

applebluetoothremote-800x350.jpg

In addition to pointing towards a potential 21.5-inch iMac upgrade, code in the latest El Capitan beta also hints at a revamped Remote with a multi-touch trackpad that supports scrolling, a dedicated Bluetooth chip, and audio support, potentially for Siri commands. Details on the remote, which will likely accompany the upcoming Apple TV, were first shared in May.

Article Link: OS X El Capitan Code Hints at 4K 21.5-inch Retina iMac
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2015/06/25/os-x-el-capitan-code-hints-at-21-5-inch-imac/
soupcan

soupcan

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In the same code there were hints at unreleased mobile GPUs from AMD, the R9-M380, M390, M395, M395X, and an Intel Iris Pro 6200 which is already on the market.

el-capitan-amd-chips.png


Why Apple is still doing business with AMD is beyond me. nVidia's GPUs are so much more powerful while operating at a lower TDP, and Apple's terrible cooling design in the iMac isn't helping either. Both the CPU and GPU are known to thermal throttle themselves before they overheat and shut down because of Apple's desire to make a thinner desktop.
 
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SgtPepper12

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The current 21.5" iMac has a resolution of 1920x1080, so that's actually not really 4x that resolution (it's slightly more). This could mean that they bump up the screen size to 23" (which would be proportionate). On the other hand 4k on 21.5" matches the 5k-27"'s 218 dpi. But I'm hoping they bump up the size. I always thought 21.5 was slightly too small.
 
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sofila

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Shaun said:
I'm totally confused with the iMac. Don't know whether to buy now, wait for new Broadwell models or wait for Skylake models. Used to be so simple with Intel now I'm lost.
Click to expand...
Me too, I would like to see if 21-5 iMac will continue to be the poor brother of the family, with best clothes reserved only for the bigger 27
 
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danvdr

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This is good news. My parent's iMac is old, but still does what they need it to do. Just waiting for a better resolution monitor to upgrade them.
 
Jack Burton

Jack Burton

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Shaun said:
I'm totally confused with the iMac. Don't know whether to buy now, wait for new Broadwell models or wait for Skylake models. Used to be so simple with Intel now I'm lost.
Click to expand...

Oh man, me too. I'm ready to jump back to the Mac after living with a home built PC. I just want them to update the retina line with better processors and GPUs. Just get me a little more life out of the machine. If intel hits a delay, though, I could see waiting for a long time.

The alternative for me is to stay on the PC and suffer the transition to Windows 10 (from Win 7, which is rock solid for me). I don't want to deal with those growing pains.
 
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kazmac

kazmac

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23-24" would be just enough (27" is too big for me); but wonderful news if that is the case. I'll continue to hope my 2010 21.5" chugs along until the 2nd gen of this smaller retina model is released. Makes sense for me to stick with the model I've used for many years now, especially given the appliance nature of Apple's computers these days.
 
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nagromme

nagromme

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That res does't make sense for 21.5"

If you want your retina display to be ideal, you want to double that size display's normal pixel count.

The proposed size is higher than 4k UHD (3840x2160). UHD is reasonable for a 24" display and would be fine at 21.5" too. But higher? The text would either be too small or non-native scaled. Why bother?

I can see the proposed size making sense for an iMac around 24" maybe... or a 4k pro display! (I know, they'll probably go right to 5k, but I want a 4k one! My Mac Pro can handle that size well, and my current Dell screen has been trouble-prone.)
 
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