2015 iMac Reviews: ‘Best All-in-One’ Desktop, But Lacks USB-C and Fusion Drive Isn’t Standard

Apple today launched new 4K and 5K iMacs alongside the Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2 and Magic Trackpad 2. The refreshed all-in-one desktop computers feature faster processors and graphics, two Thunderbolt 2 ports and more affordable Fusion Drive storage upgrade options.

Following the announcement, several media outlets have published hands-on reviews and first impressions of the new iMacs, including Ars Technica, CNET, Engadget, Macworld, Mashable, Tech Insider and The Wall Street Journal. Many of the reviews also provide a closer look at the new Magic accessories.

The early reviews of the new iMacs are generally favorable, with high marks awarded to their improved displays with wider color gamut. The 2015 models are widely considered among the best desktop computers available, but some critics view the lack of USB-C and base configuration of 5400 RPM hard drives as shortcomings.

Ars Technica

Then there are the frustrating choices Apple has made across the lineup: No Thunderbolt 3 or USB Type-C even though those technologies are apparently ready to go, and no standard Fusion Drive or SSD in any but the top-end 27-inch iMacs. At $100, the jump to a Fusion Drive (albeit a smaller one than in years past) is cheaper than ever, but Apple could really afford to stick that 24GB drive inside every single one of these iMacs to alleviate the unmitigated misery that is using a 5400RPM hard drive in a $1500 desktop computer in this the year of our Lord 2015.

If you’re OK with the list of omissions and you can spring for the storage upgrade, the 4K iMac gets you a great professional-quality screen and a powerful quad-core processor for a pretty reasonable price. The 27-inch iMac is the computer that most blurs the line between consumer all-in-one and high-end workstation, but as long as you aren’t gaming you can get some pretty serious work done on the 21.5-inch iMac. But if Apple can make Fusion Drives and 4K screens standard on all iMacs when the Skylake refresh comes around, we won’t have much left to complain about.

CNET

For everyone else, even if you don’t regularly view 4K content, a sharp-looking Retina-level display is one of those things that’s nearly impossible to give up once you get used to it, and the new 4K iMac is competitively priced with the handful of 4K-display Windows PCs we’ve reviewed.

If you have a model from the past few years, this isn’t a must-have upgrade, but it may certainly be worth picking up the new keyboard and mouse or trackpad to give your older iMac a facelift.

Engadget

The iMac is still the best all-in-one, with an attractive (if predictable) design, near-standard 4K and 5K screens, and even better color accuracy than before. The 21.5-inch version is in some ways the more interesting of the two models, as this is the first time the smaller Mac has been offered with a Retina display. […]

As you can see, then, the iMac mostly hits the right notes, although I wish Apple were more generous with the other specs — besides display quality and resolution, that is. The 21.5-inch version is no longer offered with discrete graphics, not even on the 4K edition, which seems like a mistake. Meanwhile, hybrid Fusion drives only come standard on machines priced from $1,999.

Macworld

When four pixels are doing the work that only one used to do, the El Capitan interface really shines. Everything’s sharper. Photos look startlingly real, almost like they were printed on paper. And then there’s text, which looks razor sharp like it just rolled out of a laser printer. Even toolbars and Dock icons are more pleasant because all the on-screen graphics have added subtle details that were impossible at lower resolutions. […]

The base storage configuration of the 4K iMac is a 1TB, 5400rpm hard drive. It’s been a few years since I regularly used a Mac with a spinning disk as its primary hard drive, and man, did it feel slow. Starting up was slow. Launching apps was slow. Everything… just… took… longer. It’s disconcerting to take a brand-new, top-of-its-line Mac out of the box and be disappointed by how sluggish it feels, but that’s what I experienced, and it’s pretty much down to that slow hard drive.

Mashable

Apple did change how the Fusion Drive works in 2015. To allow for a lower-cost Fusion Drive option, Apple paired a 1TB hard drive with a 24GB SSD. In the past, the 1TB Fusion Drive matched a 1TB standard hard drive with a 128GB SSD. Now, if you want the 128GB SSD, you’ll need to have a 2TB or 3TB Fusion Drive offering.

The upside of the new Fusion Drive configuration is that it makes the feature — and its faster response times — affordable for anyone. The downside is you don’t see speed improvements of documents and apps offloaded to the SSD as much because the cache is smaller.

Tech Insider

It’s not just about resolution though. The new iMac screens can show color better too. […]

But the average person probably won’t notice. I had to look at side-by-side comparisons to really see what has changed. This feature is better for photo and video professionals, not necessarily regular users who just want to do some light editing of photos they took with their iPhone. Just know that you’re getting a really nice screen and that Apple took the extra step to make sure it keeps getting better. Nothing wrong with that.

The Wall Street Journal

iMacs:

When you look at these new iMac screens, reds and greens in particular look brighter or more vibrant, like somebody cranked up the saturation dial to 11. With 25% more colors to work with, there’s also more detail because the monitors aren’t eliminating certain hues.

With an old and new iMac side by side, I could spot the difference on some photos, but not all. One problem is that many of our photos—including ones taken with the latest iPhone 6s—are saved in a reduced color palette called sRGB. To take advantage of the new screens, you need images or video saved in a format called DCI-P3. (Not coincidentally, the Mac’s Photos app can now save to that format, but you’ll have to start with high-quality images, like from a DSLR.) […]

Amid this flurry of iMac improvements, two mysteries remain. First, amid the rabbit warren of ports at the back of the iMac, Apple didn’t include a port called USB Type-C—used on the new MacBook laptop (with some controversy) for charging and input alike. Not including USB Type-C on the iMac sends an odd message about Apple’s commitment to that burgeoning standard.

Magic Keyboard, Mouse 2 and Trackpad 2:

I haven’t had a chance to test how long the batteries last, but Apple reports all three can go for about month on a single charge, and the mouse can give you a nine-hour day’s worth of pointing and clicking with a two-minute charge.

Apple’s new 4K and 5K iMacs, Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2 and Magic Trackpad 2 are available today.

The smaller iMac gets a 4K display, all the 27-inch models have 5K

Apple’s big fall keynote happened more than a month ago, so it’s a bit late for Tim Cook to be saying “one more thing.” Sure enough, though, the company just unveiled a refreshed line of iMacs, including a 21.5-inch model with an optional 4K (4,096 x 2,304) screen. That last bit shouldn’t come as a surprise: The internet has already been abuzz with rumors that the smaller iMac would finally get a Retina display option, as opposed to just plain old 1080p. All told, the 4K iMac has 4.5 times the resolution of Full HD, with the same pixel density as the 5K version. Speaking of the sort, the 27-inch model now comes standard with a 5,120 x 2,880 panel, whereas 5K resolution was once reserved for a $2,499 flagship edition. Across the board, both the 4K and 5K iMacs bring a 25 percent wider color range, and upgrading to Apple’s hybrid Fusion Drives costs about half as much as it used to ($100, down from $200 to $250). That said, it’s a shame that 5,400 rpm HDDs are still the standard throughout much of the iMac lineup.

In addition, Apple redesigned its mouse, wireless keyboard and Magic Trackpad with built-in batteries that recharge via a Lightning cable (fricking finally). The keyboard in particular now takes up 13 percent less space on your desk, but still has larger buttons, while the Trackpad now has 29 percent more surface area and supports pressure-sensitive Force Touch gestures. The mouse basically looks the same, and supports the same multitouch gestures as ever, but it’s lighter and redesigned feet on the bottom promise smoother gliding.Slideshow-328146

Under the hood, the 27-inch model steps up to sixth-generation Intel Core processors and AMD R9 M300-series graphics. The 21.5-inch version is no longer offered with a discrete GPU, and instead makes use of Intel’s higher-end integrated graphics, the Iris Pro 6200 chipset. As it happens, the only desktop chips that pair with Intel’s Iris Pro graphics are from Intel’s fifth-generation Core series, but before you get too upset, know that these particular chips were only released a few months ago, so it’s not like they’re old, exactly. Still, it’s a bummer that the dedicated GPU has been axed just as the 4K Retina display is arriving, though chances are, if you had your heart set on a dedicated GPU, you would have been more likely to go with the 27-inch edition anyway.

The new iMacs are available today and as it happens, we’ve already published a review of the 4K 21.5-inch model. If you choose to buy one yourself, the starting prices are the same as before: $1,099 for the smaller edition and $1,799 for the 27-incher. If you want the 4K iMac in particular, that starts at $1,499. Each comes standard with the keyboard and mouse, though you can swap in the trackpad for an extra $50, or choose to have both in the box. By the way, if you own an old iMac, you can purchase the new input devices individually, with the keyboard prices at $99, the mouse at $79 and the trackpad at $129.

Apple iMac review (2015): 4K is optional, faster hard drives shouldn’t be

No, it’s not just a CPU refresh. Apple started selling a new line of iMacs today, and yes, while they have fresh processors and graphics cards inside, that’s really the least of it. Going forward, all the 27-inch models have a 5K screen — not just the flagship we reviewed last year — while the 21.5-inch version now has an optional 4K panel. Across the board, too, these new 4K and 5K displays have a wider color gamut, although the difference is fairly subtle. Possibly more important than the iMac itself, though, are the input devices: Apple redesigned the wireless keyboard, mouse and trackpad, adding rechargeable batteries and, in the case of the touchpad, pressure-sensitive Force Touch gestures.

I’ve been spending a few days with the new iMac, and chose to review the 4K 21.5-inch edition in particular since this is the first “small” iMac with a Retina display. Between the crisper screen, compact footprint and a lower price than the 27-inch models, it has the potential to hit the sweet spot for a lot of people. Just be sure to upgrade the hard drive before you place your order.Slideshow-327729

Hardware

I felt a little nervous at first, using this unannounced computer out in the open at my office desk. What if someone walked by, uploaded a spy shot to Twitter and blew my cover? What if someone at our sister site TechCrunch saw? The truth is, it was the new keyboard and trackpad that I had to hide; the Mac itself has the same design as ever. Same dimensions. Same unibody aluminum enclosure. Same metal stand with a pass-through for the power cable. The bezels still measure 5mm thick, and are still pretty to look at from the side, although they don’t have any bearing on the overall footprint.

To that end, the iMac still puffs out in the back to accommodate all the circuitry inside. The ports are the same except the two Thunderbolt sockets have been replaced with Thunderbolt 2 connections, which have the same shape and labeling. Finally, the speakers are still hidden under the lower bezel, and they’re still loud.

Truly, the only potentially visible change is the color gamut, but I’m pretty sure anyone with discerning enough eyes to immediately tell the difference is working at Pixar, not Engadget.

Display

Now that I’ve flown through all the same-y stuff, let’s focus on one of the few things that has changed: the screen. Although the 21.5-inch iMac used to max out at 1,920 x 1,080 resolution, you can now get it with an optional 4K (4,096 x 2,304) Retina display. Meanwhile, on the 27-inch version, 5K resolution (5,120 x 2,880) is now the standard, whereas before it was originally reserved for a flagship $2,499 configuration (with lower-end models later offered starting at $1,999).

Either way, Apple says the screen density is now the same on the 4K 21.5-inch iMac as it is on the 27-inch 5K version. Previously, the lower-end 27-inch iMacs had 2,560 x 1,440 resolution, which means the pixel count is now quadrupled. In the case of the 21.5-inch version I reviewed, the difference is more dramatic: Those 9.4 million pixels amount to more than 4.5 times the resolution of the previous generation. And for a certain kind of shopper, that will come as a relief. Maybe you don’t have enough room on your desk to comfortably use the bigger 27-inch version, but still want the sharpest-possible display. If that’s you, you’ll happily pay a $400 premium to get the 4K iMac over the entry-level Full HD one. (I’d say the iMac could also make for a lovely secondary display, but alas, you still can’t use it as a monitor for your laptop or Mac Mini.)

Regardless of the size, both the 4K and 5K screens extend beyond the sRGB color gamut in the previous generation to the wider P3 range. It offers 25 percent more available colors, according to Apple, particularly in the red and green areas of the spectrum. Blues are about the same versus sRGB, but you’ll still theoretically notice a difference in cases where blues are combined with either reds or greens (say, purples and shades like cyan). To make this happen, Apple moved from white LEDs to red-green phosphor LEDs that can capture more red and green light to appear onscreen. Apple says it already covered 100 percent of sRGB in older iMacs, and moved to P3 because many of its customers are already using DSLRs and pro video cameras capable of capturing colors that aren’t always recognized in the sRGB spectrum.

As you all know, I don’t represent that target market: I’m neither a photography nor a video enthusiast, and my job as an Engadget editor doesn’t require me to have a discerning eye for color. So it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that the benefits of P3 are somewhat lost on me. I had the opportunity to view some “before and after” photos with colors representing what you’d see on the old sRGB panel and the new P3 one, and the differences were generally subtle; colors look slightly punchier than they would have otherwise. There’s also slightly better detail preservation, particularly in shadowy parts of the image. What I’m about to say isn’t a technically correct explanation, but it almost looks as if someone bumped up the saturation, or as if the images were taken in HDR mode. Again, that’s not actually what’s going on behind the scenes, but it’s the best way I can explain the difference here — especially to shoppers who might not get to see the same comparison images that I did.

The funny thing is that while I might not have noticed the richer colors on my own, now that someone has pointed them out, they’re hard to un-see. Things that I see every day — dock icons, an orange label in Google Calendar, the red font I use to highlight important things in emails to my team — look different. Not just brighter, but truer; more pristine. Reds are closer to true reds. Oranges are more orange. You get the idea.

Unfortunately, there’s little else I can do to help illustrate the difference, since chances are you’re using an older sRGB screen yourself, if that. My best recommendation, then, is to head over to an Apple Store if possible and take a look at the screen in person. Perhaps you’ll even get to see one of the new P3-grade iMacs displayed next to an entry-level sRGB one, but no promises there. Barring that, you’re just going to have to trust me when I say that the P3 panel is indeed more color-rich, and that the difference can also be tough to spot unless you know what to look for.

Keyboard, mouse and trackpad

If the iMac’s new color gamut and CPU choices seem like modest changes, it’s the bundled input devices that make this a more substantial update than it may initially seem. All of the iMac’s matching peripherals — the wireless keyboard, mouse and trackpad — now recharge through a Lightning port. Yep, that’s right, gone are the AAs, and so is the battery barrel that housed them.Slideshow-327730

In all, you should expect to get a month’s use out of each device before you have to recharge. In the case of the mouse, the Lightning port’s location on the bottom side means you can’t use it while it’s rejuicing. But, because the keyboard’s and trackpad’s charging ports are each tucked away on a back edge, you can indeed use them while they charge. Accordingly, the new peripherals come with a Lightning cable in the box. As before, too, they ship pre-paired with your system, but if you’re using them with an older machine, they’ll automatically pair when you connect to the iMac via a Lightning cable for the first time. In fact, I had to do this with the Trackpad, which came in a separate box, as if I had bought it separately.

Speaking of the sort, the keyboard and mouse come in the box by default, with the Trackpad offered as an upgrade option on the configure-to-order page. If you’re the owner of an older iMac and want to swap in the new peripherals, they cost $99 for the keyboard, $79 for the mouse and $129 for the trackpad.

Keyboard

Without that battery compartment, too, Apple was able to make each of these devices lighter and, in the case of the trackpad and keyboard, thinner as well. Because the keyboard is now missing that cylindrical battery barrel, it has a slimmer design and lies at a flatter angle. I found it comfortable to type on, although I don’t recall having any complaints about the previous design, and unfortunately I don’t have an older keyboard lying around that I can use for comparison purposes.

Additionally, the keyboard’s footprint is 13 percent smaller than before, yet despite that the individual buttons are actually larger now, with the Function row in particular reaching the same vertical height as all the other buttons. You’ll also find the key spacing is more in line with what we saw on the 12-inch MacBook. Lastly, Apple says it reengineered each of the keys, adopting a refined “scissor” mechanism to help the buttons move up and down in an even, reliable way. All told, Apple is promising 33 percent better key stability, which is to say even if your finger strikes the corner of the key instead of the center, it’ll be that much more likely to register as a “normal” press.

For my part, I was always able to hit the button I meant to, even without looking. I generally made few typos, too, though occasionally a key would still fail to register my press — a problem I’ve noticed on flat, shallow keyboards in general. Perhaps in a future update, Apple will adopt the same underlying keyboard mechanism in use on the 12-inch MacBook.

Magic Mouse 2

Like the iMac itself, the new Magic Mouse is difficult to tell from its predecessor, at least at a quick glance. As before, the mouse has a glassy white surface that responds not just to button presses, but also to multitouch gestures, similar to what you’d otherwise do on a trackpad. Look closer, though, and you’ll see that while the Magic Mouse 2 is as thick as before, it’s noticeably lighter, thanks to the lack of AA batteries inside. Apple also redesigned the feet on the bottom for smoother gliding. As I said about the keyboard’s flatter angle, the new foot design here works, but I also had no complaints about the glide factor on the previous model; the old version also worked well on a variety of surfaces.

If anything, the rechargeable battery is a bigger deal than the new feet. In particular, the mouse has a quick-charging feature that allows it to regain nine hours of use after just two minutes of charging. That’s important, since the mouse can’t be used while it’s charging, the way the keyboard can.

Ultimately, whether you choose the mouse or trackpad boils down to personal preference. Personally, I’ve always been a mouse person: Mice are comfortable to rest my hand on, and I enjoy the tactile feedback of pressing a button (as I’ve argued before, Apple’s pressure-sensitive Force Touch trackpads don’t quite feel like the real thing). That said, the button on the Magic Mouse is a little noisy; if that annoys you, using the Magic Trackpad with tap-to-click enabled could be a good alternative.

Magic Trackpad 2

As I hinted earlier, I’m not a huge fan of the Force Touch trackpads on MacBooks; I miss the tactile feel of being able to press a button on the old touchpad. But, I enjoy Force Touch a good deal more on the new Magic Trackpad. I’m going to chalk that up to ergonomics: According to Apple, the underlying technology here is the same as on the MacBook, which means there’s nothing different going on under the hood. In case you need a refresher, there are four pressure-sensitive force sensors plus a so-called Taptic Engine that uses vibrating feedback to simulate the feeling of a button press (neither the Magic Trackpad nor MacBook touchpad really have a button; both feel like stiff pieces of glass when powered off). As on the MacBook, you can use a long-press, or “Force touch,” to do everything from peek at files in Finder to quickly fast-forward movies in iTunes.

For people who already own one of the new Force Touch-enabled MacBooks (or even a Force Touch gadget like the Apple Watch or iPhone 6s with its 3D Touch screen), these gestures and tricks will all seem familiar. If you found them useful before, that may well convince you to use the Magic Trackpad instead of the mouse. If, like me, you think Force Touch is a little gimmicky in OS X, it comes down more to ergonomics.

Indeed, that’s why the trackpad has enormous appeal for me. The second-gen Magic Trackpad has 29 percent more surface area than the original, and you obviously get way more space than you would on a Magic Mouse or MacBook touchpad. I find the increase in surface area alone makes Force Touch easier to use here than on a laptop. Also, when the pad is placed farther away from the keyboard (as opposed to right below it), that has an effect on where I rest my hand, and it puts my wrist in a more natural position. Between that and the quieter “button” feedback I’d otherwise get on the Magic Mouse, I ended up getting a lot of use out of the trackpad — even if I’m otherwise indifferent to Force Touch.

Performance

While the 27-inch models received an upgrade to Intel’s new sixth-gen Core processors and fresh AMD R9 M300-series graphics, the 21.5-inch version runs fifth-gen CPUs with up to Intel Iris Pro 6200 graphics. This would make sense, since Intel doesn’t yet seem to have any sixth-gen desktop chips that work with Iris Pro; as of this writing, the list is limited to five fifth-gen processors, all of which were released not long before the refreshed iMac came out. (Which is to say, these processors aren’t exactly old, per se.) What’s vexing is that until today, Apple was in fact selling the 21.5-inch model with an optional NVIDIA graphics card, so this would seem to represent a change of heart. Aside from trying to keep the smaller model affordable for casual users, I imagine the company is trying to incentivize folks to pay more for the bigger version — and it’s betting power users will be willing to do just that. That’s a shame, because a 4K display is probably at its best with a dedicated GPU.

The unit I’ve been testing is one of the higher-end 21.5-inch configurations, one with a 4K screen, 3.1GHz quad-core Core i5-5675R processor, 8GB of 1,867MHz DDR3 RAM and Intel Iris Pro 6200 graphics. Performance was fine for web browsing and light multitasking, with benchmark scores that matched the flagship 5K iMac I tested last year. The 802.11ac wireless radio also delivered fast speeds, although I admittedly spent most of my time with an Ethernet cable plugged in the back. I did unfortunately encounter the occasional bout of sluggishness. One time, for instance, Spotlight search paused before displaying results, leaving some artifacting on the screen. I also sometimes found that if I tried to do something immediately after boot-up — say, open a file in Finder — I’d be met with a short delay. In moments like this, I felt as if I hadn’t fully regained control of the system, even though the desktop appeared to have loaded. Thankfully, at least, hiccups like these were the exception, not the rule.

If you’re not careful, you also might end up with frustrating disk speeds. Even on my review unit, which would cost $1,499 at retail, I have just a traditional hard drive, one that spins at a modest 5,400 revolutions per minute. (Seriously, what year is this?) I routinely waited through a lengthy startup of around 47 seconds, with the machine taking seven seconds just to show the splash screen. In contrast, an iMac with a Fusion Drive that I tested last year (and the year before that), booted up in just 15 seconds or so. What’s more, in the Blackmagic Disk Speed Test, the new iMac rarely broke 100 megabytes per second on either read or write speeds, not even when I simulated the lightest-possible workload. That would be fine for basic use, like email and Facebook, but people who intend to use their 4K iMac to do things like edit 4K video shot on their new iPhone 6s might be disappointed.

From Apple’s perspective, the company is doing shoppers a favor by offering Fusion Drives on more configurations, and charging less for an up-sell. Specifically, the company is now offering them standard in models starting at $1,999, and upgrading to one on the configure-to-order page now costs $100, down from a range of $200 to $250 in the last generation. This is a step in the right direction, and I get that Apple wants to keep the iMac’s starting price down to lure in more budget-conscious shoppers, but at least make Fusion Drives standard on some of the more expensive configurations, like the $1,499 sku I tested. To me, this feels like the “16GB iPhone” debate, redux: 5,400 rpm hard drives are about as passé as 16GB of storage is on flagship phones, and in both cases, the rest of the industry has moved on.

Configuration options

Both the 21.5- and 27-inch iMacs have the same starting prices as before, with the smaller model going for $1,099 and up and the bigger one priced from $1,799. Starting with the 21.5-inch size I reviewed, the base-level specs include a dual-core 1.6GHz Core i5 processor, a 1,920 x 1,080 display and integrated Intel HD 6000 graphics. The next model up, a $1,299 configuration, steps up to a 2.8GHz quad-core Core i5 processor and Intel Iris Pro 6200 graphics. Finally, there’s the high-end unit I tested, which for $1,499 brings a 3.1GHz quad-core Core i5 processor, that 4K Retina display with the expanded color range and the same Iris Pro 6200 graphics as on the model just below it. Regardless, each of these comes standard with 8GB of RAM and a 1TB, 5,400 rpm hard drive.

From there, you have some configuration options. You can double the RAM to 16GB regardless of the model you buy. There’s also a quad-core Core i7 CPU available, but it’s only offered as an upgrade option on the top-end $1,499 edition. Throughout, too, you can swap in different storage solutions, although your options get more plentiful as you step up to the $1,499 configuration. For instance, on the $1,099 model you only have the choice of upgrading to a 1TB Fusion Drive or a 256GB SSD. With the $1,299 version, your choices include a 2TB Fusion Drive and either 256GB or 512GB of solid-state storage. It’s only on the $1,499 configuration that you can choose any of the above.

While I have you here, let’s go over what you get on the 27-inch version — after all, many of you will want the same color range as on the unit I reviewed, just with more screen real estate and stronger performance. As I said, the larger iMac starts at $1,799, a price that includes a 3.2GHz quad-core Core i5 processor, a 2GB AMD R9 M380 GPU and a 1TB hard drive spinning at 7,200 rpm. If you step up to the $1,999 model, you get the same CPU, but a slightly faster GPU (a 2GB R9 M390) and a 1TB Fusion Drive instead of a traditional HDD. Finally, the highest-end $2,299 model has a slightly faster 3.3GHz quad-core Core i5 processor, AMD R9 M395 graphics with 2GB of video memory and a 2TB Fusion Drive. Across the board, you get a 5K (5,120 x 2,880) display with the expanded P3 color range and 8GB of memory.

Real quick, the 27-inch iMac has some up-sell options of its own. The two higher-end configs can be had with a 4.0GHz quad-core Core i7 processor, while a 4GB AMD R9 M395X GPU is offered on all three models. More RAM — 16GB or 32GB — is also an option across the board. You will find that storage options vary somewhat: the entry-level $1,799 model can be had with a 1TB, 2TB or 3TB Fusion Drive or a 256GB or 512GB SSD, while the two higher-end configurations add a 1TB SSD option. (You can’t upgrade to a 1TB Fusion Drive on the two more expensive models; just 2TB and 3TB.)

The competition

The upgraded iMac doesn’t have much competition, especially for the smaller 21.5-inch model. If you’re OS-agnostic enough to consider a Windows machine, I’d normally point you toward Dell’s premium XPS line. The problem, though, is that as of this writing, the XPS 27 listed on Dell’s site runs fourth-generation Core processors, compared with sixth-gen in the refreshed 27-inch iMac. Meanwhile, Dell’s XPS 18 is actually a battery-powered, portable all-in-one, putting it in a different category altogether than the iMac. If you’re in the market for a 27-inch machine, the XPS 27 has a Quad HD screen, and starts at a more reasonable $1,700, but I suggest waiting for Dell to refresh the internals. It’s a similar story with Lenovo: The 23.8-inch A540 and 27-inch A740 listed on the company’s site could in theory make decent alternatives, but as of this writing they’re being sold with fourth-gen Intel CPUs.

If anything, your best alternative might come from HP. The company just last week unveiled a pair of refreshed Envy-series all-in-ones, with 23.8- and 27-inch Technicolor-certified screens, optional 4K resolution and sixth-gen Core processors. Like the iMacs, too, they support up to 16GB of RAM and your choice of an SSD, HDD or hybrid disk. They’re not on sale yet, but they will be soon: Look for them on November 1st, starting at $1,000 for the Envy 24 and $1,200 for the 27.

Wrap-up

The iMac is still the best all-in-one, with an attractive (if predictable) design, near-standard 4K and 5K screens, and even better color accuracy than before. The 21.5-inch version is in some ways the more interesting of the two models, as this is the first time the smaller Mac has been offered with a Retina display. That’s good news for people who are willing to pay a premium for a sharper screen, but don’t quite have the desk space for the bigger 27-inch model. In addition to the computer itself, the peripherals come close to stealing the show: They’re finally rechargeable, for one, and the keyboard in particular takes up less space, despite having larger buttons. The Magic Trackpad now supports Force Touch too, so if you happen to enjoy those pressure-sensitive gestures on the MacBook Pro, Apple Watch or iPhone 6s, you can now have the same experience here.

As you can see, then, the iMac mostly hits the right notes, although I wish Apple were more generous with the other specs — besides display quality and resolution, that is. The 21.5-inch version is no longer offered with discrete graphics, not even on the 4K edition, which seems like a mistake. Meanwhile, hybrid Fusion drives only come standard on machines priced from $1,999. Again, I love the improved screen, but having faster storage for the money and the option of more robust graphics would have improved my boot time and maybe eliminated the few hiccups I experienced. It’s great that more iMacs now have 4K and 5K panels, but until Apple redesigns the hardware, which has looked the same for several years now, the best thing the company can do is double-down on performance.