iMac Retina 5K Display Hands-on: Jaw-Dropping Screen

[tom71]

Talking about hardware:

If you've never used a retina macbook, you have no idea what that guy means by calling the new display "jaw-dropping".

The thing about Apple hardware is that IT IS engineered very well. Everything works very well together and the OS synced with that hardware.

It's the quality of the design and the quality of the components and how well everything works together that's work the price, with OS X at its heart. You couldn't ask for a better platform, but I do wish there were alternative platforms like that.

Getting a cheap 4K display for editing and few other screens for tools may sound ok, but in reality and in terms usability, who (using the tools professionally) would want one applications, video editor specifically, to be split between multiple monitors? It makes much more sense to have 4K content and all the button, timeline etc. on the same screen.

Multiple screen setup is great if you're using multiple apps, but last thing you want is to split one window of one app between multiple screens. You'd realise this, If you had to work with that app 40 hrs a week.


Personally, I use OS X for all personal computing and Windows PC for gaming + Linux OS for pro work.

 

[kawininjazx]

I don't like apple products, but at least their OS scales when the resolution is high, anything above 1080p on a PC makes everything so small you can hardly read anything.

 

[SpecialMente]

@tom71

wow, reading your words i finally find someone with an experience similar to mine.

I too come from many years of windows pcs, from ubuntu or red hat installations finally arriving to a macos oriented environment with a windows bootcamp for games and specified windows only apps.

I too agree about everything you said.
I just think that stability is not a big issue anymore as it was 5 years ago, regarding to windows blue screen: they have become very rare.

Of course on mac locked spinning dots are even more rare.

But anyway all the considerations about the fragmentation, the painful os installations, and the bloatware slowing down the machine over time are still worthy a mention. Cause basically they depend by the os and how apps interact with it, and windows is still years ago and prone to virus as always while macs offer cleaner experience.

I still don't understand the detractors of apple philosophy regarding the simplicity of the os. I think it's not that important to receive satisfaction from configuring an os and every app you install on it ( doing the geek), i know i am able to do it but this doesn't mean that i don't appreciate the fact that i can also be not be obliged to do it.

This is the basic assumption of OS X (extremized a bit in iOS) you can still do any stuff, also advanced one if you need to, it's just that you're not always obliged to use all your super skills just for using a new app.

I see that if you want to setup your computer and experiment with its software everyday this doesn't suit you but on the opposite in that case windows also doesn't suit you, the choice is just linux.

Regarding to hardware it's basically the same philosophy. Imac shows that apple doesn't charge the extra speculation money the tv or monitor vendors charge everytime they introduce a new panel technology. This proves the famous apple tax is once again inexistent.

But of course with other mac products often you pay a little more for a more stable and power efficient technology with a more limited choice of hardware compared to pc (but this has very good benefits for applications and ios and drivers stability ). Indeed this hardware lasts longer. Regarding the imac, this time the price is even lower of the hardware itself so it s a bargain, if you can afford it.

Basically more than 80% of the comments are blind critics from people that never really used a mac in his all life, so called haters. Other few have a rational approach but just a personal taste and use of the computer that collides with mac philosophy, maybe because they value more gaming or setting up everyday every software option.

But to everybody, the machine itself is great, and a bargain, it's just like the fact that if you don't need a ferrari doesn't mean that ferrari are shitcars.

 

[douglab222]

lol apple products are shit. nothing about them is cool. they are over glorified PC. they run on the same hardware X86 hardware that PCs have for the past 33 years. Mac OSX is a joke. its not secure and people are good at wasting money on apple products.

 

[bhaberle]

@HardyHarHar Apple has always made good quality professional screens. I used to think all this TomsHardware anti-apple post comments was hilarious, now it all has gotten pretty old. How many monitors have all those features, let alone are a 5k resolution? I don't care for the Apple's OS and most of their products but you can't just blindly hate everything made by Apple. I am sure this will get down voted but whatever lol.

 

[shaun_shaun]

"Now all we need is 5k pornography and we're all set. "


as long as you have an appropriate ISP to meet that requirement. not everyone has Google Fiber or equivalent connection.

 

[MSCHEIN]

LMAO what I.T Pro uses a MAC?

 

[techguy911]

5k This display be design will be terrible for gaming "Apple shifted to oxide TFT from amorphous TFT in order to charge the pixels faster and let them hold longer for your viewing pleasure"
If you use this for gaming chances are it will have ghosting.
Atm i can't find 4k movies at any store or on TV so why even bother with 5k

 

[NightLight]

Yeah i'm sick and tired of apple crap on what was once a PC enthousiast website. The message has gotten lost. After 10 years of reading Tom's, it has finally gotten too much for me. Too hell with Tom's Hardware.

 

[techguy911]

5k This display be design will be terrible for gaming "Apple shifted to oxide TFT from amorphous TFT in order to charge the pixels faster and let them hold longer for your viewing pleasure"
If you use this for gaming chances are it will have ghosting.
Atm i can't find 4k movies at any store or on TV so why even bother with 5k

 

[gggplaya]

Actually you people are dumb. I'm no apple fanboy, in fact i don't like apple for their "closedness". But considering the Dell 27" UP2715K is the same resolution for $2500, and all you get is the monitor. The iMac is actually pretty amazing because it's the same price, and comes with a computer built into it.

A 5k monitor is 14.7megapixels, and a 4k monitor is 8.3 megapixels. That's a 70% increase in pixel density, you can view 14.7megapixels at their native resolution. This is especially nice for publishers, artists and photographers. The main demographic of the iMac series.

 

[Steveymoo]

Hmmmm. The target market for this is a little sketchy. I can see photoshop on this thing would be a real boon. However, professional editors would probably want something a little more beefy than this. Sure, maybe semi-pro editor might like the AiO package, but if you want real fast, dependable performance, you would go for a mac pro, or high end workstation.

 

[HSBC]

Everyone tech site I have read so far said the display is gorgeous. I guess haters are gonna hate?

I am not an Apple fan, and would never use their computers.

 

[jameskatt]

The iMac is JAW DROPPING because it is also the cheapest and BEST 5K screen around. You can connect it to your PC and use it as a monitor. Essentially, you get a best of breed 5K screen for only $2500 with a whole Mac attached. Wow!

 

[bootsattheboar]

I bet this is the hardest iMac yet to repair. Please stop putting spinny disks in these things if they were never meant to be disassembled.

 

[red77star]

Better than lame top of the line Surface Pro 3 for almost same amount of money

 

[Zepid]

It seems that Apple fans believe that Apple makes their own monitors (panels and scalar boards). They do not, they open up to bidders who will build to a vague outline (usually Samsung or LG) who produces the panel and scalar. All Apple does is put it in a gaudy magnesium alloy frame with glossy glass front.

 

[mavikt]

@Zepid; Yeah, I was just wondering where the appraised apple display panel fab is situated? Never heard of it.

 

[everygamer]

Kinda jumping the gun, there is no 5K content on the market, by the time there is this will be an old machine and people will be looking to upgrade. Also the AMD R9 graphics chip set they included can barely run games at 4K at 30 fps, so 5K is going to be unplayable.

So Apple released a 5K monitor for hype, the only sector that might get something out of this is graphics designers and people that work on art assets.

 

[d_kuhn]

4k/5k is for media production, and no it's not dirt cheap... most cheap 4k displays are 30hz (60hz at 1080p)... and if you do find a quality panel that runs at 4k/60 you'll need a top shelf graphics card (displayport or dual hdmi) to run it. I've no doubt that this display is far beyond anything you can get for a PC for under $1500 (my 4k PC monitor ran $2400). The system suffers from typical Apple under-spec hardware... but it's less so than usual. For $4k you can get it with a decent i7, 32 gig of ddr1600, a fast tb ssd (and the apple ssd's are good... 1GB/s sustained), and an only one gen old graphics card (good for Apple). It's not a great deal... but nobody expects a great deal from Apple. It would be more than fast enough for high end Photoshop use, and for low-mid range 4k work. A year ago I put together a low-mid range 4k production PC... it was quite a bit more (though it would be less today). Basically... it's in interesting system... not cheap... not perfect... but interesting.