Careful with your starting point when picking an iMac

TidBITS Talk
1

Looks like I’ve a new iMac in my future, it’ll be a beast…

But an interesting anomaly arose when configuring my model.

If I select the mid-range model (my usual starting point) and configure I end up with:

27-inch iMac with Retina 5K display

  • 3.6GHz 8-core 9th-generation Intel Core i9 processor, Turbo Boost up to 5.0GHz
  • 16GB 2666MHz DDR4 memory
  • Radeon Pro 575X with 4GB of GDDR5 memory
  • 512GB SSD storage
  • Magic Trackpad 2
  • Magic Keyboard - US English
  • Accessory Kit

$3049.00

If I started with the high-end model and configure matching the other option, this introduces the option of selecting a higher end graphics card (which I’m debating…) but if I stay with the default I get:

27-inch iMac with Retina 5K display

  • 3.6GHz 8-core 9th-generation Intel Core i9 processor, Turbo Boost up to 5.0GHz
  • 16GB 2666MHz DDR4 memory
  • Radeon Pro 580X with 8GB of GDDR5 memory
  • 512GB SSD storage
  • Magic Trackpad 2
  • Magic Keyboard - US English
  • Accessory Kit

$3049.00

So same money, same specs, but better graphics card with double the VRAM.

Just for your info. And yes, I’m buying in Europe but the same difference applies in the Irish store.

2

And does it bother anyone else that the Magic Mouse is the default and the Magic Trackpad is a 50 dollar add-on cost?

The additional higher end graphics card is the Radeon Pro Vega 48 with 8Gb, it’s a 450 dollar add-on. Which is a serious bump in the price…

3

Yep, I mentioned this in my article about the new iMacs, pointing back at this older piece:

I really don’t get why Apple’s configurator would do this.

4

Ah I should have known to check here. So it’s a few years running.