The upgrade of 2015 iMac has come quietly. Unlike the usual simple CPU upgrade, it has improved the whole line of products to varying degrees. The 27 inch version uses 5K screens. The non Retina screen version is canceled directly. The 21.5 inch version adds 4K screen version, and the new 4K and 5K screens have a wider color gamut.
At the same time, Magic TrackPad 2, Magic Mouse 2 and Magic Keyboard, accessories of iMac, also came on stage after new design. TrackPad 2 also has the same new features as the new Macbook touch pad: Force Touch。
The editors of Junke Technology have been using the new iMac for some time. They chose the 21.5-inch version with the new 4K screen, which is more compact and cheaper than the 27 inch iMac. They said that it may affect many people's choices. To provide purchase advice, remember to upgrade the hard disk when placing an order. Here is Love to play computer games Translated and collated 2015 iMac experience articles.
The appearance is still the same
The new iMac is still the same design, the same size, the same Unibody metal body, and the familiar bottom bracket, with a thickness of 5mm, which still looks beautiful from the side. The iMac still places all interfaces on the back. The only difference is that the Thunderbolt 2 interface replaces the original Thunderbolt interface. The interface shape and logo are the same as the original, so no difference can be seen. The speaker is hidden on the bottom frame, as always bright.
Excellent screen
The 21.5-inch iMac with the highest resolution of 1920x1080 in the past provides a 4K Retina screen option, with a resolution of 4096x2304. At the same time, all 27 inch versions have been replaced with 5K screens. Apple said that the 21.5-inch version of the 4K screen has the same pixel density as the 27 inch version of the 5K screen. The new 21.5-inch version has 9.4 million pixels, which is 4.5 times the previous generation of products.
For those customers who want to have Retina screens when their desk area is not enough to fit the 27 inch version, the new 21.5-inch iMac can have a 4K screen only by adding an additional 400 dollars. It's a pity that iMacs with such quality cannot be connected to external laptops or Mac mini as monitors.
The 4K and 5K screens to be upgraded this time, according to Apple, support a wider P3 color gamut than the general sRGB, and the number of colors that can be displayed has increased by 25%, especially for red and green. Apple said that it has already supported 100% sRGB color gamut on the screen of the old iMac. This time, the upgrade to P3 color gamut is to meet the needs of some consumers using SLRs and professional video recorders.
Of course, consumers are not necessarily photography lovers or image related staff, and upgrading the screen to P3 color gamut may not be meaningful for daily use. The editor of Junke Technology said that compared with the old sRGB screen, the new P3 screen seems to have a better color, and the shadow part also has more details, which is not very different. However, his colleague pointed out one point: when using the Google Calendar icon daily, red and orange look more realistic, red is similar to red wine, and orange is like orange. I suggest that if you have the opportunity, you can go to the physical store of Apple Store to feel for yourself and see if this P3 color gamut screen is your dish.
New three piece set
Along with the 2015 iMac, there are also three sets of iMacs: Magic TrackPad 2, Magic Mouse 2 and Magic Keyboard. The common point of the three sets is that the AA battery power supply has been replaced by the built-in lithium battery, so they are lighter and thinner than the previous generation. Use the same Lightning interface as iPhone to charge, and it can also be compatible with the old iMac.
The overall size of the new keyboard is 13% smaller than that of the previous generation, but the area on the keyboard cap is larger. The keyboard layout is the same as that of the 12 inch Macbook. Apple said that it has newly designed each button and installed a new scissors structure, which has improved the stability by 33%. There is no major problem in use, to meet daily needs, but this keyboard is slightly shorter, and may be applied to 12 inch Macbooks in the future.
The appearance of the new mouse is basically unchanged. With the removal of AA batteries, the bottom of the mouse has been designed to be integrated. It is easy to use on the desktop, mouse pad and other places. The editor of Junki Technology said that he preferred to use the mouse over the trackpad because his clicking feel was better, but the new mouse click sound was slightly annoying. If he didn't like it, he could use the trackpad or enable the mouse tap function.
The new touch control panel has the biggest change. After the AA battery is removed, a new design with a lower tilt angle is adopted, and the Force Touch that has been implemented on Macbook is added. The overall area has increased by 29%. Force Touch is no stranger to people who use the new Macbook and the new 6s machine. Thanks to the improvement of touch area, it is easier to use than on Macbook, and the feedback effect of Force Touch simulation is satisfactory.
The new three piece set can be described as a major upgrade, with improvements in all aspects. The most popular one is definitely the design of canceling the use of AA batteries and directly embedding lithium batteries. According to the official website, it can be used for about a month after 2 hours of charging. In terms of price, Magic TrackPad 2 is 988 yuan, Magic Mouse 2 is 588 yuan, and Magic Keyboard is 728 yuan. These three sets together cost more than 2000 yuan. Your wallet is a little painful.
Performance
The new iMac provides Intel's 6th generation Skylake processor with AMD R9 M300 series graphics cards on the 27 inch version, while the 21.5-inch version is the 5th generation Broadwell processor and Intel Iris Pro series core display, of which the 4K version uses Iris Pro 6200. The reason why the 21.5-inch version still uses the Broadwell processor instead of upgrading to Skylake may be that Skylake does not match the Iris Pro 6200 very well. However, there are NVIDIA graphics cards available for the old models. This time, it seems that Apple is not kind to cancel it directly, and for this new 4K version, it may be more appropriate to match NVIDIA graphics cards.
This experience is the 21.5-inch high configuration version: equipped with 4K screen, 3.1GHz Intel Core i5-5675R processor, 8GB 1867MHz DDR3 memory and Iris Pro 6200. The performance test can be seen in the figure above that it is not far from the high configuration 5K iMac last year, which meets the basic daily office needs. Only occasionally, when searching, you will suddenly get stuck before you see the displayed results, or the preview file in Finder will also get stuck. The reason should be the hard disk problem.
It cost 1499 US dollars (10988 yuan from the National Bank of China) to purchase, but it was just a 5400 rpm traditional hard disk. It took 47 seconds to boot up, and 7 seconds to load the desktop. In contrast, it only took 15 seconds to boot up with Fusion Drive last year. The reading and writing speed was disappointing. For those who plan to buy a 4K version of iMac and go back to edit 4K videos they shot with 6s, the performance is very bad.
Apple attracts users to buy at a lower selling price, and the price of upgrading a part on free customization is only $100 at the lowest, so that consumers can choose an iMac that is suitable for them. This is a good direction. It is hoped that basic configurations such as Fusion Drive, especially those that affect user experience, can be made into standard configurations. By today's standards, 5400 RPM traditional hard disk and 16GB flagship mobile phones are outdated.
competitor
As the representative of all-in-one machine, iMac has few competitors. If Windows has to be selected due to operating system problems, Dell's XPS series is a good choice. The problem is that after iMac has updated its new configuration, The XPS 27 is still using the 4th generation Intel processor, and the XPS 18 is not an all-in-one machine. It is better to expect Dell to update its product line later. Lenovo's 23.8-inch A540 and 27 inch A740 are also good choices. Unfortunately, the processor is the fourth generation like Dell's.
The best choice may come from HP, the all-in-one machine of Envy series. 23.8 or 27 inch Technicolor certified screen, 4K screen and the 6th generation processor are optional. It also supports customized 16GB memory, SSD or hybrid hard disk, which will only be available in November.
Short comments
The iMac is still an outstanding product in the current all-in-one machine, which is superior in both configuration and appearance. At the same time, Apple has tried to bring the Retina screen into all its product lines, allowing users to maintain a consistent visual perception from the iPhone to the Mac. However, the hard disk is a failure. The new three piece set also makes the iMac even better. The only thing that can stop the enthusiasm of consumers is the price: the Retina screen version starts at 10988 soft coins, and if you want Fusion Drive, you can add 760 more. The three piece set sells for more than 2000 yuan.
2015 iMac, it's not easy to say I love you.
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