Apple iMac with Intel 4th Generation processor – Easily the best all-in-one on the market

Apple’s innovative iMac has led the way in design and performance for many years, creating an all-in-one computing experience with just a single cable in the whole package as you buy it off the shelf.  Year after year they pack more into what is the best looking and best performing all-in-one computer on the market.  EFTM has been testing the very latest generation iMac.

I won’t lie – new iMac updates hurt, they hurt me a lot.  In the middle of 2010 I took the bold leap into the Mac world, ordering my first 27-inch iMac.  I added power, memory, performance with upgrades when I ordered it, and it served me well.  In October 2012 sitting in the California Theatre in San Jose when Tim Cook unveiled the all new design for what could easily be Apple’s flagship Mac product I was left wanting – wanting to upgrade.  And I did.  The minute it was available.

Then, nine months later a new model appears once again, this time with Intel’s latest spec – 4th Generation Haswell processor.  For someone who does a fair bit of video and photo editing, this is more and more want.

This is the constant problem with technology, you simply cannot look over your shoulder, there will always be something newer coming, and sooner or later you will get something even better.

If you’re in the market today for a new computer – this 2013 iMac is without a doubt a must have at the very top of your list to consider.

Yep, it’s a Mac, and that itself is still a big jump for many people, however today with a radical new Windows operating system in new PC’s (Windows 8) there is a learning curve ahead for any new PC buyer.

This 2013 upgrade brings to the iMac fourth-generation Intel Core processors, a new 700-series NVIDIA graphics which is up to 40% faster, better and faster performance from the hybrid spinning disk and solid state “Fusion” Drives, an optional 1TB of flash storage and the latest WiFi 802.11ac wireless connectivity.

Individually each of these upgrades are good advances on the previous model, like adding climate control to air conditioning in your car, or a turbo to your sporty V6.  Perhaps power windows to your wind-up’s.  But when you put them all in a single upgrade there is a noticeable jump in performance.

I say this as an owner of the December 2012 iMac.  I purchased a fully specced model – All the RAM, all the Fusion space, all the possible processor power, yet I can see – incrementally a boost in software startup times, in file movement time, and in video editing terms an excellent performance boost in terms of rendering your video project.

2012 buyers aren’t going to go out and buy this new model.  However, if you’re the owner of an iMac and want to feel the power of today – this is one machine worth getting behind the keyboard of at your local Apple store.

In late 2012 the iMac’s new design meant a thinner and much lighter body, streamlined design with the initially disappointing removal of the CD/DVD drive.  You soon realise that’s not the end of the world.

There is no personal computer with the design and styling of the Apple iMac – it is in a class of it’s own.  When it comes to performance the leaderboard shows iMac number 1 with the rest still to cross the finish line.

iMac comes in both 21.5 and 27 inch versions, with processors up to Intel Core i7 3.5GHz, up to 32GB RAM (in the 27 inch) and 1-3TB of storage.

If there is one thing you take away from the iMac on first ownership it’s without doubt the simplicity.  Four items.  The iMac, the keyboard, the mouse and the power cable.  If you’ve got WiFi at home you’ll have the thing out of the box and on the internet in ten minutes from cracking open the tape.

Apple sets the benchmark in so many areas of its product lineup, the iMac is a benchmark that has barely been challenged, this latest version keeps it lengths ahead.

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