iMac 5K Retina 27" Display Overview - iSwitched Part 1
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2015-05-07
·
1,965 words · ~9 min read
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whether we're talking about Ford versus Chevy cats versus dogs or PC versus MAC
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I think they're Comes A Time in every enthusiast's life when he asks himself I
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mean is the grass really greener on my side of the fence or do those other guys
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know something that I don't so given
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that apple is now offering not only the usual os10 experience but also an
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entirely Unique Piece of Hardware in the new 27in iMac that I would have wanted
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the opportunity to check out anyway a 5k Retina Display I decided to pick one up
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but to justify the expense of an iMac because you can bet your butt Apple did
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not send us a sample we've got quite a lineup of content planned around it
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including today's General overview a separate video of my thoughts as a
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longtime PC user after using the Mac as my daily driver at work for a few weeks
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and more so make sure you're subscribed
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so you don't miss any of I switched to Mac
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2014 Corsair gaming RGB keyboards feature Precision cherrymx RGB key
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switches for 16.8 million color per key
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backlighting for virtually unlimited customization click now to learn more
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now for many of you this won't be anything new before you power it on the
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late 2014 unibody 27in iMac is not
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markedly different from the previous generation one but for me opening it up
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was actually an entirely novel experience the last time I used an iMac
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it had a brightly colored bubble on the back of its tube display and the last
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time I even saw one up close they were still the thicker white design I mean
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it's not like I've never been to an Apple store before and it's not like I
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willfully ignored them I just didn't ever care enough to walk up and inspect
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them closely so I opened it up and I was just struck by the Excellence of the
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packaging on the PC itself and accessories which include one power cord
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that plugs into the back of the unit to power the Monitor and the PC inside a
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10K keyless scissor switch Mac keyboard and a Magic Mouse you also get a quick
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start guide some important information two Apple stickers and a small cleaning
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cloth then I was struck by how light the
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machine is I mean it's not like you can lift it with one finger light or
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anything like that but still got some heft to it at just under 10 kilog but if
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I didn't know better you could probably have convinced me that it's just a
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monitor in there and I would have batted an eye and boy it have her beautiful
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speaking of batting eyes I mean we can talk about hardware specs all day and
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don't worry that's coming but sometimes it's not about hardware specs sometimes
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people buy a Jag instead of hot rotting a neon because they want the experience
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of driving a Jag more than they just want to go fast and while I'm not
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necessarily one of those folks I do get it this computer starts at
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$2,500 but when you look at it at least it actually looks like it cost
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$2,500 something that most gaming PCs
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don't really manage to do even if they have more horses under the hood and in
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some cases a lot more so we'll begin at
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the back where we find the thick solid silver aluminum stand with a built-in
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Cable Management hole for power that looks wonderfully elegant and is
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definitely strong enough to hold the machine but feels a little bit limited
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for something that I just paid this much for all it can do is tilt and I guess
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swivel if you want to physically rotate the computer if you want height adjust
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you can get a stand for your desk a fairly inelegant solution and if you
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want pivot and didn't buy the version of
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the iMac 5K with a pre-installed vase amount on the back then go cry in the
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corner because you can't remove the original Stand without a complete tear
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down other than that the back is pretty bare there's a massive Apple logo that
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you can put the included stickers next to if you want to really show people
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what a cool guy you are there's a tiny microphone at the back of the display at
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the top that you can use for video calls I mean sorry excuse me FaceTime calls
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got to get used to the new lingo and there's an exhaust vent for the during
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light workload so far stunningly quiet
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cooling system moving down there's the power button and rear and also front I
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guess IO unfortunate design compromise
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number two I think the power button is fine just give your PC the old reach
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around fum back there for a bit and turn her on but while the gigabit Ethernet
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port and for that matter dual Thunderbolt 2 ports won't need to be
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accessed often I mean only when you need to plug in a new RAID controller or up
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to a single external 4k monitor or dual 1440p monitors the four USB 3 ports SDXC
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reader which I'm thankful is included by the way and headphone jack all will and
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will probably result in scratches on your beautiful machine at some point if
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you don't want to clutter your workspace with external hubs or dongles which you
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might end up needing to do anyway because my assumption that the headphone
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jack could also be used with a microphone via a four pole adapter was
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incorrect that is just a headphone jack
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so if you want a mic that isn't on the back of your PC you will need something
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like this moving around to the sides makes my anger subside a little bit as I
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can focus on the beauty of the machine again the edges are perfectly finished
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the glass is exactly even with the aluminum I truly remarkable and the
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edges are a mere 5 mm thick on the sides
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and top with only the bottom taken up by
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Speaker ports and air intakes for cooling the internals boy is she ever
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pretty which I guess leads us to the front yes whether she's more than a
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pretty face or not remains to be seen over the next couple of weeks of using
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this computer at work as my daily driver but she sure has a pretty face her 5K
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display features a massive 50 160x
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2880 60hz panel for an effective quadrupling
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of the pixel count and effective doubling of the resolution of a 1440p
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monitor with a custom Apple ton or timing controller to make this a single
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tile display which is mindblowing given that single tile 4K 60 HZ monitors
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started arriving a near 6 months ago
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it's IPS so colors pop although like all
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Apple displays even if the rumors that it's using the same panel as the
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upcoming Dell up2715k which has a 10bit per Channel
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color support panel are true it's limited to 8 bit per Channel color due
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to OS and application support although that isn't really a problem unless you
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spend your whole day looking at grayscale gradients if you spend more of
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your time watching movies editing photos Etc you will love it and all its
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pre-calibrated goodness colors pop or
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don't if you select a flatter pre-made profile text is phenomenally crisp even
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if your face is inches from the screen and the viewing angles are out standing
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say what you will about glossy displays and their disadvantages if you're in a
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room without strong backlighting you know so you don't have to use it as a
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vanity mirror uh they sure look nice when they're positioned correctly which
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I guess leads us finally to spec time one of the arguments I found online for
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why Apple went with a whopping 14 1 12 megapixel 5K display versus a more
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mundane 4K one I mean we're talking about 75% more pixels here is to allow
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video editors to work on a native 4K preview with tools spread out around it
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but I don't know if I buy that I mean it's a good computer with up to a core
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i74790k although that K is going to be underutilized you won't be overclocking
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it up to 32 gigs of RAM an R9
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m295x Tonga based 4 gig GPU and a 3 and
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1/2 in Drive Mount to go along with Apple's proprietary PCI Express based
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SSD but I feel like for serious content
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creation this argument would have been stronger for a dual tile 5K Cinema
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display for use with the Mac Pro and for the consumer grade iMac Ultra HD might
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have been a better bet for it for no other reason than that it would allow
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Apple's Target display mode a way of recycling your iMac in the future as a
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monitor once the internal guts are outdated to work with the 5K retina iMac
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what you see is what you get so stick
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with us over the next few weeks to find out if what you get is amazing and
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magical enough to justify its
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$2500 starting price point speaking of
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magical Hulu Plus is the sponsor of today's episode Hulu Plus is the only
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streaming service that gives you access to new current season episodes of shows
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like once upon a time in Brooklyn 99 through your smartphone tablet Roku
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every every season of shows like South Park and Doctor Who as well as kids
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shows and hundreds of Criterion movies their service is reasonably priced at
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only $7.99 a month not 2500 a 2500
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happens less often than monthly anyway
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but the point is they have a special offer going for Linus Tech tips viewers
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that where you can get a free two-e trial of Hulu Plus by signing up at Hulu
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plus.com Linus meaning you can make sure that you like the service before you
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spend even one penny pretty darn good so
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guys when you go to sign up for Hulu Plus be sure to use our link that's Hulu
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plus.com Linus to let them know that we sent you to get in on that special offer
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thanks for watching guys like this video if you liked it dislike it if you disliked it leave a comment letting me
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know what you'd like to see covered in the rest of my I switched series I'm
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definitely open to suggestions for things like uh things like apps things
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like handy tricks and workarounds that you guys have have found is useful for
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your own switch I've already got parallels installed it's freaking
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awesome so far by the way but yeah leave leave that in the comments also guys
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check out the link in the video description if you want to support us you can give us a monthly contribution
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he