Retina iMac Review: The Screen That Makes Desktops Relevant Again

Wall Street Journal ^ | October 22, 2014 | By GEOFFREY A. FOWLER

[Swordmaker]

Maximum Pixels in Apple’s 5K Display for the Most Demanding Photo or Video Jobs

In a world of tablets, phablets and laptops, is there room for a powerful desktop? WSJ's Geoff Fowler reviews the iMac with 5K retina display with Tanya Rivero.

I love using a desktop computer to write, surf and create, but I’ve had a nagging suspicion that they’re going away. Who needs a desktop in a world with laptops, tablets and even phones that are just as capable?

Last week Apple introduced a new kind of desktop iMac that changed my mind. The new computer is similar in shape and capability to last year’s iMac, except for one amazing feature: It packs four times the resolution into its 27-inch Retina screen. Because it has so many pixels—14.7 million, in fact—you’ll never need to think about pixels again.

Priced at $2,500 and up, you don’t need this new iMac—standard 27-inch iMacs start at $700 less. But oh boy will you want one, particularly if you spend time working with digital photos or videos. Using the Retina iMac lets you see, for the first time, every pixel you’ve captured all at once.

[Hootowl99]

I bought the MacBook Air with retina then loaded it up with extra memory and upgraded color card. It is a terrific work of art for most uses. I drove me nuts that I had to return it back to Apple for a 100% refund.

I use a laptop for some heavy computing and with the NVidia card plus the nicely spec’d I7 CPU expected to speed along nicely. However, it turned out that Apple had detuned the I7 plus the NVidia was unavailable for computing because of a lack of OS-x operating system support by the software vendor. Bummer.... Now I am in a crappy Windows 8.1 system. Gimme my Windows 7 or XP any day over W8.1.

[ReignOfError]

Yes, but the monitor isn’t limited to an Apple system. The biggest downside is that it is a Dell.

The iMac has Target Display Mode, which allows it to be used as a monitor. It's designed to be used on other Macs; I don't know how involved it would be to convert DVI or DisplayPort output from a Windows box to Mini DisplayPort input for the Mac, but as Swordmaker points out, it would probably make more sense to just set up Boot Camp, buy the iMac as a monitor and get a 3.5GHz quad i5 computer thrown in for free.

[Mark17]

I have 13 inch Mac Book Pro, with retina display. It is really nice and sharp, but I don’t use it much. I hook up the Mac to a HD TV, so I can watch hockey games on NHL Gamecenter. The retina display is better, but games look better on a bigger screen. Back in the 80s, I was asking about using a TV set for a computer monitor. No one could give me an answer that I wanted to hear. Now, as much as I love that retina display, I use a 32 inch 1080p HD TV as my monitor. It works for me.

[Yossarian]

The iMac has Target Display Mode

Not the new Retina iMac. That won't return until Intel Skylake chips are released.

[Swordmaker]

I bought the MacBook Air with retina then loaded it up with extra memory and upgraded color card. It is a terrific work of art for most uses. I drove me nuts that I had to return it back to Apple for a 100% refund.

I use a laptop for some heavy computing and with the NVidia card plus the nicely spec’d I7 CPU expected to speed along nicely. However, it turned out that Apple had detuned the I7 plus the NVidia was unavailable for computing because of a lack of OS-x operating system support by the software vendor. Bummer.... Now I am in a crappy Windows 8.1 system. Gimme my Windows 7 or XP any day over W8.1.

Gee, Hootow99, why do I just not believe you? Could it be you aren't telling a word of truth about ever buying a MacBook Air with Retina? Why? Because there has never, ever, been a MacBook Air with Retina. . . nor one you could "load up" or "upgrade" to an "NVidia color card" because Macbook Airs use Intel 4000 or 5000 integrated graphics. . . nor do they "detune the Intel i7 processor." Had you wanted to access any graphic card installed for "computing" because you claimed of a lack of OS-x support, why did not just install Windows 7, XP, or crappy 8.1 on whatever Mac you obviously really didn't buy? I call FUD on your little anecdote.

Not a thing you said rings true. . . except your assessment of Windows 8.1.

[Swordmaker]

The iMac has Target Display Mode, which allows it to be used as a monitor. It's designed to be used on other Macs; I don't know how involved it would be to convert DVI or DisplayPort output from a Windows box to Mini DisplayPort input for the Mac, but as Swordmaker points out, it would probably make more sense to just set up Boot Camp, buy the iMac as a monitor and get a 3.5GHz quad i5 computer thrown in for free.

Not for this IMac, unfortunately, the chips that handle that aren't up to handling that level of resolution.

[Sir_Ed]

Interesting, thanks!

Ed

[palmer]

Minor correction: you got the macbook pro with retina. There's no macbook air with retina yet, they are waiting for new processors but there also may be an issue with the battery size on the air since retina displays draw more power.

[setha]

I was aiming for the part where the Dell would have the simplicity of being a monitor, as opposed to a full computer. That, and it shouldn't be too hard to use it as a second display on a Mac (somehow).

As for Target Display Mode, that doesn't appear to be a currently supported option for the new model, according to Apple's notes on the subject.

[Wyatt's Torch]

It’s time to replace my early 2008 Mac Pro. It has lived a very long and very productive life. I am intrigued by this machine but am contemplating going the Mac Book Pro/27” Monitor combo so I have the option of portability. Anyone have an opinion?

[Wyatt's Torch]

What Dell 4K monitor would be good? I need to replace my 7 year old Mac Pro and am thinking of the Mac Book Pro/Monitor option. Thanks.

[Hootowl99]

Bah... I went to double check my receipt from the Ottawa Apple Store. You are probably right about the Retina as there is no mention of it in the detail. All the rest is accurate re. MacBook Air. Price was $1849CN, which was about $1780US at the exchange rate at that time. Walkout price including a case and tax was $2170CN. Upgrades above base configuration installed at the store.

Do not assume that a non-USA product line up is going to be exactly configured as a USA line up. I didn't realize this myself until I popped into the web Apple Store after your comments.

[Swordmaker]

Sorry, Hootow99, no matter how much you protest, there are still no NVidia cards in ANY MacBook Air anywhere . . . or a separate video card. MacBook Airs were NEVER made that way, no matter what country where they were sold:

EveryMac.com's listing of every manufactured and sold MacBook Air model with specifications

MacBook Airs are designed for light weight and portability as well as reasonable all around power in their class; they are not designed, nor meant to be graphic work stations, or processing work horses. As such, the graphics on Macbook Airs are built onto the logic board and soldered onto them at the factory. Nor were "upgrades" installable at the store as you claim. . . memory in a MacBook Air is soldered to the logic board, as are the graphic chips. The only upgradeable component in a MacBook Air is the harddrive.

Had you said it was a MacBook Pro, your claims would be more believable. The installed Intel i7 is still not "detuned," but will be clocked down when operating on battery power. Plug it in and it operates at full clocked speed. And, again, multiple PC Magazines rated the Mac notebooks as the best Windows machine in multiple articles. So all you had to do was install an OEM version of your favorite install of Microsoft's OS in Boot Camp and you would have been good to go. Doing so by-passes any "de-tuning" or OSX issues you claim as it boots as a Windows computer.

[Sir_Ed]

Hi, Wyatt,

I use the UP3214Q, which is the best one they make, (until the 5k is released.)

It’s pricey, but very, very good...I need its Adobe RGB spectrum and ability to be calibrated with my Pantone-calibrated Xerox 7800.

See ya’,

Ed

[palmer]

Thanks for the clarification. At this point in time you had a choice of 13 inch macbook pro with some of the features you mentioned like the nvidia card and some upgradability or the 13 inch air. Sounds like you were steered into a 13 inch air, which while sleeker, does not appear to meet your needs (like retina 4k display driven by an nvidia card). That's too bad.

I have a macbook air 11 which met my needs being small and lightweight, but I would obviously prefer a retina display and will jump on the 12 inch air with retina when it comes out early next year (maybe Christmas but I think next year is a better bet).

[palmer]

So all you had to do was install an OEM version of your favorite install of Microsoft's OS in Boot Camp and you would have been good to go.

That may be. I did that at first on my air. After messing around with dual booting I found that using windows in a VM was adequate. The performance might not be adequate for Hootowl99 but we don't know his requirements.

[Swordmaker]

That may be. I did that at first on my air. After messing around with dual booting I found that using windows in a VM was adequate. The performance might not be adequate for Hootowl99 but we don't know his requirements.

I just know that the story he related for his purchase of his MacBook Air was simply not possible. There is no such product.

[palmer]

He might have been confused between the 13 pro (with retina) and the 13 air (no retina option). The 13 pro with retina is only a little thicker and heavier but is much nicer for the money IMO. The 13 air is only for those who must have maximum portability.

[palmer]

And you are right that nothing could have been installed at the store in the air except the bigger SSD. I have a feeling the store fed him a line of bull.

[Swordmaker]

And you are right that nothing could have been installed at the store in the air except the bigger SSD. I have a feeling the store fed him a line of bull.

Except that I know that Apple Store employees simply do not "sell" lines of bull like that. They are excellent at advising you to buy what you need and will not sell you what will not work for what you need. . . and will tell you if what you are needing will not work. They will be disciplined for doing such a thing. Customer service is paramount. Apple does not up-sell and certainly does not "push" something onto a customer that will not suit their stated needs. His narrative simply does not jive with what he claimed he got.

Had he claimed a MacBook Pro, it would have been more believable. But he keeps insisting it was a MacBook Air. . . and then doubles down with citing his "receipt," still claiming a MacBook Air, with the upgrades. . . and adding Canadian pricing to ad verisimilitude. Palmer, is simply could not have happened as he claims for a MacBook Air.

I have seen too many similar anecdotes on FreeRepublic and other forums in this same pattern. . . with the anti-Apple anecdote teller always finding something is impossible to do on a Mac (despite the fact you can run Windows on a Mac) and being rescued from this problem by buying a Windows computer. I just see too many red flags. The biggest red flag is details that just don't agree with facts of actual Macs. In my experience, Palmer, they are invariably not true. . . so I still call FUD.