27-INCH iMAC (2020) REVIEW THE LATEST INTEL iMAC LEAVES A LASTING IMPRESSION

THESE COULD BE THE LAST VERSIONS OF THE iMAC AS WE KNOW IT.

- ROMAN LOYOLA

This could be it, you know. There’s a pretty good chance this is the last version of the iMac as we know it, with its iconic all-in-one design and Intel processors. Maybe there’s a chance that those Intel processors get a speed bump upgrade before switching over to Apple silicon (go.macworld.com/swth), but regardless, they’re on their way out.

The iMac isn’t going out quietly, though. The 2020 27-inch iMac gets your attention by being a top performer with a CPU boost, SSD storage, and updated graphics. It has other features to take into consideration—namely, a new nano-texture glass front—but the emphasis is on speed. If you rely on software that takes advantage of multiple processing cores (video editors, graphics software, databases, etc.), the new iMac will satisfy your need for speed.

The iMac in this review is a built-to-order model with upgrades to the graphics card, processor, memory, storage, and the nano-texture screen. With those upgrades, the price of our review unit is $4,499.

WHAT’S INSIDE: INTEL, MORE MEMORY, FAST GRAPHICS

At the heart of the 27-inch iMac are new 10th-generation Intel Core processors, replacing the 9th-generation CPUs introduced in 2019. The processor in our review unit is a 3.6GHz 10-core Core i9 with Turbo Boost up to 5.0GHz. This is a build-to-order option, which adds $400 to the price of the high-end $2,299 standard configuration model.