Apple iMac 27-inch (Core i7)

by Joel Santo Domingo

The Apple iMac 27-inch (Core i7) ($2,199 direct) is an excellent multimedia-oriented all-in-one desktop, particularly for people that actually create media instead of just viewing it. In most ways, it resembles its predecessor, the Apple iMac with Core 2 Duo ($1,699 list, ), only it's faster. The Intel Core i7 CPU gives the iMac the quad-core power that used to be impossible in the all-in-one desktop category. Though it seems expensive, it's good enough to claim the Editors' Choice for multimedia-oriented, high-end all-in-one desktops.

Design and Features
Like the other iMacs in Apple's lineup, the iMac 27-inch (Core i7) is a design triumph of brushed aluminum, and sports a black glass frame. A metal tilting arm suspends the iMac over your desk, leaving you a place to stow the included wireless keyboard. The back of the iMac 27-inch (Core i7) is clean, especially since you don't need to hook up a USB keyboard or mouse (the package comes standard with wireless options for both). The included Magic Mouse has a multi-touch surface for clicking and swiping. It's a little thin compared with most mice, but you get used to the new navigation experience rather quickly. The back panel has audio in/out jacks, four USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire 800 port, the Mini DisplayPort (in/out), and a Gigabit Ethernet port. The Mini DisplayPort is useful for connecting another external monitor, or you can use the iMac as a huge external display for other computers like the Mac Mini ($599.00 List, ) or a MacBook Pro ($1,799.00 Direct, ). Apple sells adapters for VGA and DVI connections at the Apple store, and Apple also sells a VESA mount kit separately, so you can wall mount the iMac.

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The system's built-in screen is bright and vibrant, with a 2,560-by-1,440 resolution. This is actually quite a bit larger than the 1,920 by 1,080 resolution required "true 1080p HD." This feature makes the iMac 27-inch (Core i7) perfect for graphic artists and other people who need a lot of screen real-estate (i.e. editing spreadsheets or presentations). You can also connect an external monitor for more screen real estate with the included Mini DisplayPort or use the same Mini DisplayPort as an input for an external Mac like the Mac mini or one of the MacBook Pros.

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The side of the iMac holds a slot-loading DVD burner, but Blu-ray isn't available. The lack of Blu-ray is a little disappointing, but expected, since Apple prefers that you buy all your HD movies from iTunes. There's also a card slot below the DVD drive, but it's kind of mind-boggling that it only supports SD (many single-slot card readers also support other formats like xD or Memory Stick). The most glaring omission is the lack of an eSATA port: High-end content creation users are the sort that would benefit from eSATA's extra transfer speed. FireWire 800 is nice, but when you're opening and transferring humungous files (over 1GB), eSATA's extra speed will help keep you sane.

The iMac comes with the iLife suite, with iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand, and iTunes. I won't waste time on how good the integration between the programs is; suffice to say they are a must for any Mac user with a lot of multimedia files and a penchant for creativity. The system's 1TB drive can hold the content creation programs that professionals use (like Adobe CS4 or CS5), and there's plenty of room for the files you're working on. A 2TB drive is available as a configure-to-order option.

The Front Row media enjoyment app is still included, but you'll need to purchase the Apple Remote separately for $19. The system as configured here comes with 4GB of speedy DDR3 memory, and the iMac can hold up to 16GB. The memory door on the bottom of the iMac is the system's only user-accessible area. Hard drive replacement involves complete disassembly of the iMac, so external expansion is the best course. Like all Macs, the iMac is completely free of adware and pre-loaded trial software. Other pluses include EPEAT Gold certification, Energy Star 5.0 certification, and recyclability.

Performance
The system's Intel Core i7-860 processor is rated at 2.8GHz, but it can be internally overclocked up to 3.46GHz when needed to provide more computing power (via TurboBoost). The Core i7 also supports HyperThreading, so it can compute up to eight streams of data at once. These features make the iMac 27-inch (Core i7) more attractive to the multimedia worker or prosumer. With the Core i7-860, the iMac is the most powerful all-in-one that I've tested. In fact, this iMac is one of the more powerful Macintosh desktops I've tested, period.

The Core i7 processor helps the iMac 27-inch (Core i7) gain some pretty speedy benchmark test results. The system can complete the Windows Media Encoder test in 36 seconds, and the PhotoShop CS4 test in 1 minute 28 seconds. These numbers show the iMac 27-inch (Core i7) is faster than any other recent all-in-one PC, including the HP TouchSmart 600-1055 PC ($1599 list, ), our last high end all-in-one Editors' Choice. The HP 600-1055 PC takes over a minute to do the WME test, and over 2 minutes for the CS4 test. It doesn't sound like much time, but compounded over the course of an all-night editing session, and you'll see the time saved by the faster Core i7 processor. The CS4 test took a little longer in Mac OS X (1:40), but that's still a lot faster than the previous iMac 27-inch Core 2 Duo (1:57).

The iMac 27-inch (Core i7) also has more gaming prowess than other all-in-one PCs, thanks to its ATI Radeon HD 4850 graphics. It can play both Crysis (67 frames per second) and World in Conflict (64 fps) smoothly at 1,280 by 1,024 resolution. This bests all of the other all-in one PCs out there including the closest competitors, the iMac 27-inch (Core 2 Duo) (48 fps and 53 fps, respectively) and Gateway One ZX6810-01 ($1,400 list, ) (39 fps and 46 fps). This iMac 27-inch (Core i7) could be called upon for light to moderate 3D gaming use.

The Apple iMac 27-inch (Core i7) is a powerful system for people who need the multimedia computing power. You can even replace your Mac Pro tower, as long as you don't need internal expandability. The new iMac is as powerful as Mac Pro systems from last year. It's also a performance competitor to dedicated multimedia systems like the HP Pavilion Elite HPE 140f ($1,030 list without monitor, ). It certainly outperforms the HP TouchSmart 600-1055, our former Editors' Choice for multimedia-oriented, high-end all-in-one PCs. Therefore the iMac 27-inch (Core i7) takes the title in this category. If you know you need the power, then the added expense is worth it.