A number of reports on Monday indicate Apple may be planning to release a Retina iMac alongside the launch of OS X Yosemite later this Fall.
Jack March, via MacRumors:
A source familiar with Apple’s plans tells me that Apple is indeed planning to launch a Retina iMac at their next press event, however the 27″ Model will be the only model that gets this feature. The source says the new 27″ iMac will use a 5120 x 2880 panel as leaked in the OSX Yosemite code a few months ago. This resolution is double the current resolution of the 27″ iMac which is 2560×1440.
9to5Mac has also published a report including similar information from “sources who have used the future desktop computer.”
The reports indicate the iMac will be of the same slim design as current models, and won’t include the Type-C USB port said to be included in the much-rumored 12″ MacBook Air. The main differences in the new model will be the display panel and the processor.
March’s sources indicate the 27-inch iMac will be the only iMac to go Retina, while 9to5Mac notes the OS X Yosemite betas include references to 6400 x 3600, 5760×3240, and 4096×2304 resolution screens.
Sources indicate the new iMac’s fastest processor available will be the Intel i7-4790K, with a base clock speed of 4.0GHz, while Broadwell CPU’s will “likely be added in an update next year.”
The new computer’s graphics output will be via an AMD GPU, similar to the late 2013 Mac Pro. Current iMacs use Nvidia GPUs.
9to5Mac’s sources also indicate that Apple is preparing updates to iMovie and Final Cut Pro, with improved tools for editing high-resolution, 4K footage.
It is expected that the new Retina iMac will be offered alongside non-Retina models, which was updated earlier this year.
