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iMac is here: All about Apple's first desktop computer with Retina 5K display

The Verge

Apple CEO Tim Cook on Thursday unveiled the new iMac, featuring the first high-resolution Retina display on Apple's desktop computers. It will cost $2,499. Here's everything else you need to know.

The new iMac will have a Retina display

iMac Retina display

(The Verge)

Apple's Retina displays have a much higher resolution than other Apple products. The new iMac will feature a 5120 × 2880 resolution on a 27-inch screen, making it the world's highest-resolution display. The idea, obviously, is to make the image look much crisper. (In comparison, the typical high-definition television is 1920 × 1080.)

This Retina-geared iMac comes two years after Apple launched the first MacBook with a Retina screen, which crammed 5,184,000 pixels into a 15.4-inch screen, and four years after the iPhone 4 introduced the displays.

The hardware got an upgrade

iMac power

(The Verge)

To run the better display, Apple upgraded what's inside the iMac. Thunderbolt 2, a 1 terabyte fusion drive, is now standard. It will also have an upgradeable graphics card and processor.

It uses less energy

iMac Retina energy

(The Verge)

Even though it has a lot more pixels, Apple said the display uses 30 percent less energy than previous iMacs.

It probably won't replace other iMacs

iMac comparison

(The Verge)

As Ars Technica reported, the Retina iMac most likely won't replace non-Retina models: "When Apple introduced the original Retina MacBook Pros, they cost considerably more than the non-Retina laptops. Apple offered both through most of 2012 and 2013. When the second-generation models shipped in later 2013, Apple dropped the price and eliminated most of the non-Retina products. A similar rollout for the new iMacs would make the most sense."

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