26 MACWORLD JUNE 2019
MACUSER REVIEW: 21.5-INCH IMAC RETINA 4KiMac and the 2017 model. You can see the
results from testing with Cinebench and
Blender here.
WHAT HASN’T CHANGED
ABOUT THE IMAC
The CPU, graphics, and RAM are the only
changes in the new 21.5-inch iMac. The
rest of the machine is the same as the
2017 model.
Our review unit came with a 1TB Fusion
Drive, which is standard on the $1,499
21.5-inch iMac. The Fusion Drive combines
a standard hard drive with flash storage;
the flash storage helps make the Fusion
Drive faster than a hard drive, while the
hard drive provides much more capacity at
a lower cost than flash storage alone. If
you’re waiting for Apple to make solid-
state drives standard equipment on the
iMac, you might have to wait a while (or
opt for an iMac Pro). SSDs are still pricey,
especially in capacities over 256GB, so
Apple makes SSDs available as
customizable options. The $1,299 and
$1,099 models come with a 1TB, 5,400-
rpm hard drive.
The 21.5-inch iMac’s 4K Retina display
remains unchanged from 2017. It has a
4096x2304 resolution, 500 nits of0 125 250 375 500CINEBENCH R20 CPU SINGLE-CORE
Longer bars are better21.5-inch iMac (2019)
3.0GHz 6-core i5
21.5-inch iMac (2017)
3.4GHz quad-core i54263950 100 200 300 400 500 600 700BLENDER BMW CPU
Shorter bars are better21.5-inch iMac (2019)
3.0GHz 6-core i5
21.5-inch iMac (2017)
3.4GHz quad-core i5418663