The New 27-Inch iMac Comes With a 5K Display

The new 27-Inch iMac comes with a 5K display. Apple

If you’re going to use a computer with a built-in monitor, that fixed display might as well be the highest-resolution screen possible.

With its new iMacs, Apple has boosted the screen resolution on its 27-inch iMac to 5120×2880 resolution (218ppi). That’s a 5K display—not 4K, but 5K. The new 5K iMac, which only comes in the 27-inch size, is available now starting at $2,500. The first batch of orders should ship within two days.

That matches the size, price, and pixel density of Dell’s upcoming $2,500 UltraSharp monitor, which is just a monitor and does not include a full computer behind the screen. Any way you slice it, that is a solid deal.

At the unveiling in Cupertino today, Apple hammered home the new display’s benefits for image and video editing. The new iMac is just 5mm thick at the edges, but its screen purportedly offers improved brightness due to a newly designed backlight system, as well as improved contrast ratio and wider viewing angles. The last version of the 27-inch iMac, launched around the same time last year, had far fewer pixels. The 2013 27-incher had a 2560×1440 display (109ppi). Apple also claims the new iMac consumes 30 percent less energy than its previous model.

Under the hood, the new iMacs get a boost, too. The new machines are available before Intel’s next-generation Broadwell chipset is ready, but they do have newer versions of the Core i5 and i7 Haswell CPUs. Configurations will start at a 3.5GHz quad-core Core i5 CPU with 8GB RAM. Apple also noted that a 1TB hybrid SSD/HDD Fusion Drive would come standard on the base-level iMacs.

There are also big changes in the graphics department. Unlike last year’s Nvidia-powered iMacs, the base 27-inch iMac will be driven by the AMD Radeon R9 M290X found in gaming machines such as the Alienware 17. Apple claims the new GPU is 45 percent faster than the previous generation of Nvidia GeForce GTX-powered iMacs. AMD’s FirePro graphics cards are already featured in the latest Mac Pro, so this signals a bigger shift from Nvidia to AMD in Apple’s higher-end PCs.

Prices obviously vary depending on configuration and storage specs, but the tack-sharp 27-inchers will start at $2,500 for the 3.5GHz Core i5 version. The full-tilt configuration will offer a 4GHz Core i7 CPU, 32GB RAM, a 1TB SSD, and an R9 M295X GPU for $4,478. The new iMacs are available on Apple’s website now and shipping in the next few days.

In addition to its unveiling new hi-res iMacs, Apple also gave the Mac Mini a minor spec bump as well. It’ll be built around fourth-generation Intel Core CPUs and offer integrated Intel Iris graphics processors and a pair of Thunderbolt 2 ports. The new Mac Minis start at $500 and are available today.