Macworld (2019-06)

JUNE 2019 MACWORLD 23

2019 iMac, too. Apple now uses 2666MHz
DDR4 memory, a small increase in speed
from the 2400MHz DDR4 memory used
before. The standard RAM configuration is
8GB (our review unit is configured this
way). The RAM in the 21.5-inch models is
still not user accessible, unfortunately. If
you want to add more RAM later, you need
to bring in the iMac to an authorized
service provider. Or you can upgrade to
16GB ($200) or 32GB ($600) at the time of
purchase. The 27-inch iMac has user-
accessible RAM.

BOOSTED IMAC SPEED
We ran several benchmark tests to gauge
the speed of the 21.5-inch 3.0GHz 6-core
Core i5 iMac with 8GB of 2666MHz DDR4
RAM, and 4GB
Radeon Pro
Vega 20
graphics. We
compared the
results
primarily to the
2017 model
with 3.4GHz
quad-core
Core i5
processor with
2400MHz
DDR4 memory
and 4GB
Radeon Pro

0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000

GEEKBENCH 4 SINGLE-CORE

Longer bars are better

21.5-inch iMac (2019)

3.0GHz 6-core i5

Mac mini (2018)

3.6GHz quad-core i3

21.5-inch iMac (2017)

3.4GHz quad-core i5

iMac Pro (2017)

3.2GHz 8-core Xeon W

21.5-inch iMac (2015)

3.3GHz quad-core i7

5,352

4,793

4,988

5,061

4,458

560 graphics, which sold for $1,499. When

possible, we included benchmarks from

other Macs for reference.

In single-core testing, the new iMac

provides modest gains over its 2017

predecessor. The 2019 21.5-inch 3.0GHz

Core i5 iMac had a 7 percent boost over the

2017 3.4GHz Core i5 iMac. If you compare

the 2019 iMac to the 2015 3.3GHz Core i7

iMac, the boost is a little more impressive:

we saw a 20 percent performance

increase.

We also took a look at how the single-

core performance of the new iMac

compares to the current 3.6GHz Core i3

Mac mini (go.macworld.com/i3mn) ($799).

The iMac bests the Mac mini by 12 percent,

which isn’t surprising when you consider