[Deschodt]

After 3+ yrs of complaining Apple did not release new desktops, I'd have been a hypocrite if I did not buy one... Quick review of my new base model 3.4mhz 27" 5K screen Imac w/SSD drive - not fusion.

Screen: So far compared to my old 27" monitor (in retina mode on a 2014 Mini, so showing only 1920x1080 doubled in res), it's not exactly night and day in looks... Retina is retina, it looks fantastic either way, but now I've got more of it, almost twice the real estate on the screen in retina mode (if I want to look at a slightly smaller GUI). It is a nice screen, bluray movies on this thing look very sexy. It works as a spare TV !

Drive: SSD is the way to go. Apple does not carry them in store so I waited 2 weeks. The fusion drive is "OK", but the speed of pure SSD and the silence of it (nothing spinning) is hard to beat. The apple guy was a nerd and we chatted about this, he advised me to save on everything else but add internal SSD because a) the specs on read/write of their drive are way better than aftermarket, and b) that model is hard to crack open. Very glad I did... I added an external SSD as well and will split storage and backup that way... Gotta play with Symbolic links to get it all under one Home but I'll figure it out...

The benefits overall are more CPU, obviously, less cables and stuff on my desk (monitor included so no cable).. Mostly the striking feature (again some of you had it before) is the extreme quiet of it all - SSD and fan. Drive speed is noticeable, but the silence of it is very cool.

The new (finally) extended keyboard is different, the keys are even more recessed and have less "give" kinda like the new macbooks, so it almost feels like typing on a solid surface - you don’t depress the key as much. I don’t like it, I like finger comfort, but might get used to it.. Both Keyboard + mouse are now rechargeable via lightning cable which is new to me but probably not to you if you have a recent machine. Which is both cool (for the keyboard) and totally lame for the mouse, since the cable plugs under it, therefore it's not usable when charging. it's like an upside down turtle ;-) Why not put that port in the nose so you can keep using it as it charges?

Memory: I added 16gig for peanuts vs Apple costs for a total of 24G. I think the 21"model does not have a way to upgrade. The backdoor to add memory on the 27" model has a button to open it....No, really, somewhere...I swear ! Turns out it is hidden behind the power plug connector !!!! And you need to push on it like Conan the barbarian and use his sword too.... Stupid design (notch the door next time, only apple would care about hiding a button to make the backside of the mac "perfect")...

The video performance is way way better, you can game on this thing now, I'm testing the WW1 battlefield, whatever it's called... Wow ! Haven't had a chance to stream Netflix in 4K yet...

If you have a 2015 27" retina imac -> don't bother, buy an external SSD and boot from that... If you have 2014 or older tech, it's quite nice and fairly priced (for apple) especially if you do the memory yourself...