Industry news

Stephan Jukic – October 15, 2015

4K UHD resolution in the vast majority of display devices on sale today generally consists of 3840 x 2160 pixels. This is the standard-issue UHD standard of almost all 4K TVs, most 4K cameras and the majority of 4K monitors. Well it seems that Apple likes to buck the trend, at least when it comes to the UHD 4K-level Retina desktop PCs it finally gets around to releasing here and there.

First of all, the rumors of an impending 4K UHD 21.5 inch iMac that we’ve been speculating on at 4K.com for weeks now have finally panned out and the new Apple flagship iMac has emerged and it does indeed come with 4K resolution in its Retina display. However, in a move that was also the case with last year’s October release of the 27 inch 5K Retina iMac, Apple, whenever it bothers to go with 4K in its display devices, prefers to take it above the average. The company opted for a higher-than-True 4K resolution of 4096 x 2304 pixels in their latest desktop machine, giving it 7 times the resolution of HD.

Apple’s 2015 iMac model comes with this higher level of 4K resolution and as a result includes several hundred thousand extra pixels in its screen. Of course, as those who’ve actually viewed the new machine can attest, the slightly larger 4K resolution makes little visible difference from a more classical 4K UHD 3840 x 2160 resolution in any competing 4K PC monitor but Apple fans can at least rest easy knowing that their new iMac is well above average. Furthermore, at just 21.5 inches in size, the screen of the new iMac now sports one heck of a beefed up pixel density in comparison to last year’s Full HD 1080p 21.5 inch iMac.

the larger-than-average 4K display of the new 21.5 inch Retina iMac offers 7 times the resolution of ordinary HD.

The new iMac is physically almost identical to its 2014 predecessor at least as far as external, superficial appearance is concerned but the real changes made to this latest version of the popular desktop machine go well beyond simply giving it nearly 5 times the resolution of its predecessor.

For starters, its Retina display also supports the much greater P3 color gamut that most 4K PC monitors can’t quite hope to match with their color specs. The majority of 4K display devices offer support for sRGB with only some displays also throwing in AdobeRGB coverage. The 21.5 inch iMac screen, on the other hand, gives off 25% wider color gamut than a conventional sRGB 4K display model. In other words, it’s an ideal machine for photo and video editors who have seriously precise needs, though the small size of its display does work against its editing tool chops.

Furthermore, the new iMac features greatly expanded processing technology, superior graphics processing and assorted new “Magic” accessories.

On the other hand, other sources from AppleInsider have pried into the 2015 iMac and also found a few interesting things like an LG-built display and a RAM that’s soldered right into place and can’t be upgraded. We’ll be coming out with our own review of this interesting new machine within the next few days, so stay posted.

Story by 4k.com