Details of three iMacs but what's the difference?

[Balliol1974]

I just received a reply from a store in the UK with details of the following machines all with a different price. The details appear to be much of a muchness so could some kind person explain what differences there are? Many thanks.

Apple iMac i5 3.2GHz 8GB 1TB Fusion Drive Retina 5k 27" All In One

Apple iMac MK482B/A Intel Core i5 3.3GHz 8GB RAM 2TB 27" with Retina 5K display Silver All In One

Apple iMac i5 3.2GHz 8GB 1TB Retina 5k 27" All In One

 

[IWT]

Hi, nice to you see you back again.

Briefly:

All models are 27 inch iMacs (Desktop)

All models have 8GB of Random Access Memory (working memory, RAM)

All models have Retina 5K screens (highest resolution currently available on iMacs)

Models 1 and 3 have identical processor speeds; Model 2 has faster processor, not only 3.3GHz, but quad core with Turbo boost.

Storage is different on each Model:

Model 1 is 1TB Fusion Drive; which means that there is a SSD, probably of 128GB coupled (or fused) with a 1 TB spinning platter Hard Disk Drive, 7200 rpm. It acts as one HDD and is shown as such in Disk Utility (DU). The idea is that the most commonly used apps etc are kept on the SSD for fast delivery. Libraries and documents etc are kept on the HDD. Apple moves things between the two depending on usage.

Model 2 has a single spinning platter HDD of 2TB; 7200 rpm

Model 3 has a single spinning platter HDD of 1TB, 7200 rpm

So all three models are very similar, but with differences which I've tried to explain.

Ian

 

[pigoo3]

I just received a reply from a store in the UK with details of the following machines all with a different price.

If you're trying to figure out which to purchase (or possibily purchase) including prices would be great. Then we could also comment which one might be the best deal (best bang for money spent).

- Nick

 

[chscag]

@Ian:

The spinning hard drives used in the iMac 27" models are 3.5" 7200 RPM drives. The 21.5" models use 2.5" 5400 RPM drives.

 

[IWT]

Thank you, Charlie, as always. I appreciate your info & guidance.

Ian

 

[harryb2448]

The speed difference between the 3.2GHz and the 3.3Ghz is only marginal, less that 10%, but the cruncher for me would normally be the model with Fusion drive. Apple with the latest model reduced the SSD storage from 128GB to 24GB which will not hold the operating system. If you want fast performance, go with a full SSD, or even better flash storage if the pocket will run to it. I really love my iMac with flash. Apple claimed Flash to be up to 2.5 times faster than SSD. Don't know if I agree, but it sure is afster.