Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iMac with 5k retina display(first Mac)
- Thread starter tasdisr
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
One thing I forgot to ask. We are going to order an iMac next week and there are two models we are looking at.
One shows late 2014 and the other shows 2015. Other than processor speed is there any difference between the two?
They are priced within $10.00 of each other.
Sorry if this has been answered somewhere before but the whole iMac thing is new to me.
The specs on the late 2014 are
One shows late 2014 and the other shows 2015. Other than processor speed is there any difference between the two?
They are priced within $10.00 of each other.
Sorry if this has been answered somewhere before but the whole iMac thing is new to me.
The specs on the late 2014 are
- 27" Retina 5K IPS Display
- 5120 x 2880 Native Resolution
- 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5 (Haswell)
- 8GB of 1600 MHz DDR3 RAM
- 1TB Fusion Drive
- AMD Radeon M290X GPU (2GB GDDR5)
- 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0
- 2x Thunderbolt 2 and 4x USB 3.0 Ports
- FaceTime HD Camera, Dual Mics, Speakers
- Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite
- 27" Retina 5K IPS Display
- 5120 x 2880 Native Resolution
- 3.3 GHz Intel Core i5 (Haswell)
- 8GB of 1600 MHz DDR3 RAM
- 1TB Fusion Drive
- AMD Radeon M290 GPU (2GB GDDR5)
- 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0
- 2x Thunderbolt 2 and 4x USB 3.0 Ports
- FaceTime HD Camera, Dual Mics, Speakers
- Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite
The late-2014 variant is way more powerful due to the M290X GPU.
The 2015 one may be newer, but it's from the same generation as the late-2014 and has a worse GPU.
Everymac says
Compared to the Late 2014 models introduced previously (and still sold as new), this model effectively is the same, but has a slower processor, slower graphics processor, and a hard drive instead of a faster "Fusion Drive."
http://www.everymac.com/systems/app...7-inch-aluminum-retina-5k-mid-2015-specs.html
the cpu is marginally slower.
the hard drive is dramatically slower (as in, you'd be foolish to get it)
as for the graphics card, no one quite knows. I think it probably splits the difference between a macbook pro's m370x and the m290x of the 2014 imac, if that's meaningful to anyone. (896 vs 1280 stream processing units was a figure I saw somewhere) Could be the difference between comfortably and marginally adequete. Could be perfectly fine if you don't play games.
Newer doesn't always mean better. In this case,it might have been a large institutional buyer (i.e, a large school system) who insisted on a firm $2000 price.
Compared to the Late 2014 models introduced previously (and still sold as new), this model effectively is the same, but has a slower processor, slower graphics processor, and a hard drive instead of a faster "Fusion Drive."
http://www.everymac.com/systems/app...7-inch-aluminum-retina-5k-mid-2015-specs.html
the cpu is marginally slower.
the hard drive is dramatically slower (as in, you'd be foolish to get it)
as for the graphics card, no one quite knows. I think it probably splits the difference between a macbook pro's m370x and the m290x of the 2014 imac, if that's meaningful to anyone. (896 vs 1280 stream processing units was a figure I saw somewhere) Could be the difference between comfortably and marginally adequete. Could be perfectly fine if you don't play games.
Newer doesn't always mean better. In this case,it might have been a large institutional buyer (i.e, a large school system) who insisted on a firm $2000 price.
Last edited:
Thanks for the help. I am hoping to order the late 2014 iMac 5k next week.
Finally ordered the iMac and hope to have it on Monday. Ended up ordering the following
The specs on the late 2014 are
The specs on the late 2014 are
- 27" Retina 5K IPS Display
- 5120 x 2880 Native Resolution
- 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5 (Haswell)
- 8GB of 1600 MHz DDR3 RAM
- 1TB Fusion Drive
- AMD Radeon M290X GPU (2GB GDDR5)
- 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0
- 2x Thunderbolt 2 and 4x USB 3.0 Ports
- FaceTime HD Camera, Dual Mics, Speakers
- Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite
Well done!
This is a very nice upgrade for your intended uses, Mac OS is very user friendly, you will soon appreciate its simplicity and productivity. The new version 10.11 named El Capitan, coming this Fall, will make your iMac even better.
Just have in mind to add some more RAM from a third party supplier.
Think you've made the right decision with that order!
If you have need further storage, you could consider using the HDDs from your old laptops if you don't plan on doing anything else with them. This is what I've done and it's saved me some money because all I've had to purchase is an enclosure. Just need to bear in mind that they are quite old so may fail sooner.
