---
title: Significant update for iMacs - up to twice the performance
description: Significant update for iMacs - up to twice the performance
---

[RedShark News - Video technology news and analysis ](https://www.redsharknews.com)

# [Significant update for iMacs - up to twice the performance](https://www.redsharknews.com/technology-computing/item/6222-significant-update-for-imacs-up-to-twice-the-performance)

 Written by [David Shapton](https://www.redsharknews.com/author/david-shapton) | Mar 19, 2019 3:40:52 PM

New iMac on a desktop

**A big refresh for iMacs is good news for creators who need a top-end all-in-one from the Cuppertino computer company**

 iMacs are a bit like the Cambrian period in geology, about 540 million years ago. At first there was a great outpouring of new, and, frankly, utterly weird life forms: "Hopeful Monsters", they were dubbed. Strange but optimistic species that turbo-charged evolution for a few million years, with the successful ones having a huge influence on future life even today. But most of them didn't survive: brave attempts at living but ultimately too strange; too ill-adapted for the mainstream. 

Remember the first iMac in 1998? It was turquoise and transparent. And it didn't have a floppy disk. Pretty shocking at the time. But just about every gadget from the Far East cheerfully copied the design ethos: see-through consumer products became the norm. And then, five years later, there was what I think was the strangest of all: the love child between a desk lamp and a laptop. A clever design that vanished as quickly as it arrived. 

But what came next has stuck around for a decade and a half: first in the form of a white poly-carbonate "screen" containing the actual computer, and then the familiar aluminium (aluminum) iMac. 

The current version of this contains a powerful computer housed in an impossibly thin-looking case. Unless you're an out-and-out power user, this is the tabletop Mac you're likely to buy if you're a creative (although the new Mac Mini is looking like a contender in this market if you already have screens, keyboards, etc). 

### The updates

Specifically, the [21.5 inch iMac](https://www.redsharknews.com/technology-computing/item/component/redshark/ad/c/1339) moves to an 8th-generation quad-core. These are 6-core processors, with a claimed 60% faster performance. 

The [27-inch iMac](https://www.redsharknews.com/technology-computing/item/component/redshark/ad/c/1338) now has a 9th-generation 6-core or 8-core processor with a claimed 2.4 times speed boost.

Graphics have been improved as well, with the arrival of AMD Radeon Pro graphics. The 21.5 inch iMac receives a claimed 80% graphics boost, and the 27 inch is 50% faster. 

### Prices

 The [21.5 inch](https://adorama.evyy.net/c/157766/29622/1036?prodsku=ACMMQA2LLA&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.adorama.com%2FACMMQA2LLA.html) iMac now starts at £1,249 and the [27 inch iMac](https://adorama.evyy.net/c/157766/29622/1036?prodsku=ACMNED2LLA&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.adorama.com%2FACMNED2LLA.html) with a 5K display is £1,749. They're avaialble now. 

I can't help feeling that the 27 inch iMac is a really good machine: a great screen, pretty powerful for everything except "power computing", and it looks great (which matters to professionals). 

[View full post](https://www.redsharknews.com/technology-computing/item/6222-significant-update-for-imacs-up-to-twice-the-performance)

```json
{
  "@context" : "http://schema.org",
  "@type" : "BlogPosting",
  "author" : {
    "@type" : "Person",
    "name" : "David Shapton"
  },
  "dateModified" : "2020-04-22T13:07:18.902Z",
  "datePublished" : "2019-03-19T15:40:52Z",
  "headline" : "Significant update for iMacs - up to twice the performance",
  "image" : {
    "@type" : "ImageObject",
    "height" : 624,
    "url" : "https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/6155957/Imported_Blog_Media/iMac_with_squirly_graphics-1.jpg",
    "width" : 816
  },
  "mainEntityOfPage" : "https://www.redsharknews.com/technology-computing/item/6222-significant-update-for-imacs-up-to-twice-the-performance",
  "publisher" : {
    "@type" : "Organization",
    "logo" : {
      "@type" : "ImageObject",
      "height" : 60,
      "url" : "/hs/hsstatic/content_shared_assets/static-1.4092/img/default-amp-logo.png",
      "width" : 60
    },
    "name" : "RedShark News"
  }
}
```