Tales of a 30 percent increase in power efficiency and processing cores placed on smaller silicon wafers have keep Mac enthusiasts dreaming of a thinner all-in-one machine with a 4K display, but Apple opted for affordability over power when it released 21.5-inch iMac for $1,099 on Wednesday.
With two other models bearing the same display size as Apple's latest release, the company's newest 21.5-inch model comes in at the low end of the price spectrum, with more modest components than the others.
Unlike the four physical cores composing the processors of the other 21.5-inch iMacs, the latest version only has two. The newest model clocks in at 1.4 GHz, while the other 21.5-inch iMacs are clocked at 2.7 GHz and 2.9 GHz at price points of $1,299 and $1,499, respectively.
The new 21.5-inch model differs from its $1,299 and $1,499 companions in storage space, shipping with 500 GB of hard drive space -- the other models each include a 1-TB hard drive. But as far as temporary storage space goes, all three of the 21.5-inch models include 8 GB of RAM.
The inclusion of the Intel HD 5000 GPU also helps the latest offering in the 21.5-inch line of iMacs reach its economical price point. The two other 21.5-inch models bear GPU with a bit more power, featuring Nvidia's GeForce GT 750M and the Intel Iris Pro Graphics chips.
Apple's decision to release a more afforable product was largely due to the incomplete state of a Broadwell CPU generation from Intel, the company Apple depends on for CPU and graphics chipsets, although it also uses Nvidia graphics cards on occasion. Intel's Broadwell line has been slated for release late in 2014 and a release date well into 2015 isn't out of the question.
The silicon wafers on which the cores of Intel's CPUs rest will shrink from 22 nanometers to 14 nm with the implementation of the Broadwell line. That decrease in size was said to include a 30 percent reduction in power consumption.
Reduced power consumption requires less cooling, which could enable Apple achieve a thinner, lighter build for future iMacs and its Macbook Air without losing any processing power.
For individuals looking for another entry by Apple into the high-end of its spectrum, all signs indicate the company will do so when Intel and its Broadwell line are ready to go. With Apple preparing for a beta period ahead of a fall 2014 release, the decision to opt for economy over horsepower makes even more sense for Apple with its latest iMac.
