Which Imac

  1. Which Imac Should I Buy Quiz
  2. Which Imacs Support Target Display Mode
  3. Which Imac Should I Get

Best Mac 2021: Which iMac, MacBook, or Mac Mini is right for you? Apple's Mac lineup can be confusing as the company continues to transition from Intel processors to its own Apple Silicon processors.

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020)
27-inch Retina 5K display, 3.6GHz 10-Core i9, 128GB 2666MHz DDR4 SDRAM, 8TB Solid State Drive, AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT with 16GB memory
Power ConsumptionThermal Output
IdleCPU MaxIdleCPU Max
74W295W252 BTU/h1007 BTU/h
  • 2 days ago  The M1 iMac supports one external monitor (up to 6K resolution with up to a 60Hz refresh rate, just like the Apple Pro Display XDR), which is different from previous non-M1 iMacs. For example, the 2020 27-inch iMac allows you to connect to multiple external monitors.
  • Jun 05, 2017 iMac i5 2.3 21.5 2017. IMac i5 3.1 27 2020. IMac i5 3.3 27 2020.

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2019)

27-inch Retina 5K display, 3.6GHz Intel 8-Core i9, 64GB 2666MHz DDR4 SDRAM, 3TB Fusion Drive, AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 with 8GB memory

Power Consumption

Thermal Output

Idle

CPU Max

Idle

CPU Max

71W

262W

242 BTU/h

895 BTU/h

iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2019)

21.5-inch Retina 4K display, 3.2GHz Intel 6-Core i7, 32GB 2666MHz DDR4 SDRAM, 1TB Solid State Drive, AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 with 4GB memory

Power Consumption

Thermal Output

Idle

CPU Max

Idle

CPU Max

47W

166W

161 BTU/h

568 BTU/h

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017)

27-inch Retina 5K display, 4.2GHz Intel Quad-Core i7, 64GB 2400MHz DDR4 SDRAM, 3TB Fusion Drive, AMD Radeon Pro 580 with 8192MB memory

Power Consumption

Thermal Output

Idle

CPU Max

Idle

CPU Max

71W

217W

242 BTU/h

741 BTU/h

iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017)

21.5-inch Retina 4K display, 3.6GHz Intel Quad-Core i7, 32GB 2400MHz DDR4 SDRAM, 512GB Solid State Drive, AMD Radeon Pro 560 with 4096MB memory

Power Consumption

Thermal Output

Idle

CPU Max

Idle

CPU Max

49W

161W

168 BTU/h

550 BTU/h

iMac (21.5-inch, 2017)

21.5-inch display, 2.3GHz Intel Dual-Core i5, 16GB 2400MHz DDR4 SDRAM, 256GB Solid State Drive

Power Consumption

Thermal Output

Idle

CPU Max

Idle

CPU Max

33W

74W

113 BTU/h

253 BTU/h

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015)

27-inch Retina 5K display, 4.0GHz Intel quad-core Core i7, 32GB 1866MHz DDR3L SDRAM, 3TB Fusion Drive, AMD Radeon R9 M390 with 2GB memory

Power Consumption

Thermal Output

Idle

CPU Max

Idle

CPU Max

63W

240W

215 BTU/h

819 BTU/h

iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, Late 2015)

21.5-inch Retina 4K display, 3.3GHz Intel quad-core Core i7, 16GB 1866MHz LPDDR3 SDRAM, 2TB Fusion Drive

Power Consumption

Thermal Output

Idle

CPU Max

Idle

CPU Max

40W

119W

136 BTU/h

406 BTU/h

iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2015)

21.5-inch display, 1.6GHz Intel dual-core Core i5, 16GB 1866MHz LPDDR3 SDRAM, 1TB Fusion Drive

Power Consumption

Thermal Output

Idle

CPU Max

Idle

CPU Max

33W

58W

113 BTU/h

198 BTU/h

iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Mid 2015)

27-inch display, 3.3GHz Intel Core i5, 32GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM, 3TB Fusion Drive, AMD Radeon R9 M290

Power Consumption

Thermal Output

Idle

CPU Max

Idle

CPU Max

70W

197W

239 BTU/h

673 BTU/h

iMac (27-inch, Late 2014)

27-inch display, 4GHz Intel Core i7, 32GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM, 3TB Fusion Drive, AMD Radeon R9 M295X with 4096MB memory

Power Consumption

Thermal Output

Idle

CPU Max

Idle

CPU Max

70W

288W

239 BTU/h

983 BTU/h

iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2014)

21.5-inch display, 1.4GHz Intel Core i5, 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM, 500GB HDD, integrated graphics

Power Consumption

Thermal Output

Idle

CPU Max

Idle

CPU Max

33W

68W

113 BTU/h

232 BTU/h

iMac (Late 2013)

iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2013)

21.5-inch display, 3.1GHz Intel Core i7, 16GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM, 1TB Fusion Drive, NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M graphics

Power Consumption

Thermal Output

Idle

CPU Max

Idle

CPU Max

37W

136W

126 BTU/h

463 BTU/h

iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2013)

21.5-inch display, 2.9GHz Intel Core i5, 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM, 1TB Serial ATA Hard Drive, NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M graphics

Power Consumption

Thermal Output

Idle

CPU Max

Idle

CPU Max

37W

94W

127 BTU/h

322 BTU/h

Which

iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2013)

21.5-inch display, 2.7GHz Intel Core i5, 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM, 1TB Serial ATA Hard Drive, Intel Iris Pro Graphics

Power Consumption

Thermal Output

Idle

CPU Max

Idle

CPU Max

38W

91W

129 BTU/h

311 BTU/h

iMac (27-inch, Late 2013)

27-inch display, 3.4GHz Intel Core i7, 32GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM, 3TB Fusion Drive, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 775M

Power Consumption

Thermal Output

Idle

CPU Max

Idle

CPU Max

78W

229W

266 BTU/h

782 BTU/h

iMac (27-inch, Late 2013)

27-inch display, 3.4GHz Intel Core i5, 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM, 1TB Serial ATA Hard Drive, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 775M

Power Consumption

Thermal Output

Idle

CPU Max

Idle

CPU Max

80W

214W

274 BTU/h

729 BTU/h

iMac (27-inch, Late 2013)

27-inch display, 3.2GHz Intel Core i5, 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM, 1TB Serial ATA Hard Drive, NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M

Power Consumption

Thermal Output

Idle

CPU Max

Idle

CPU Max

78W

180W

268 BTU/h

615 BTU/h

Which Imac Should I Buy Quiz

iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2011)

21.5-inch display, 3.1GHz Intel Core i3, 2GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB, 250GB Serial ATA hard drive, AMD Radeon HD 6750M graphics

Power Consumption

Thermal Output

Idle

CPU Max

Idle

CPU Max

80W

101W

273 BTU/h

345 BTU/h

iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2011)

21.5-inch display, 2.5GHz Intel Core i5, 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB, 500GB Serial ATA hard drive, AMD Radeon HD 6750M graphics

Power Consumption

Thermal Output

Idle

CPU Max

Idle

CPU Max

81W

106W

276 BTU/h

362 BTU/h

iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2011)

21.5-inch display, 2.7GHz Intel Core i5, 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB, 1TB Serial ATA hard drive, AMD Radeon HD 6770M graphics

Power Consumption

Thermal Output

Idle

CPU Max

Idle

CPU Max

85W

114W

290 BTU/h

389 BTU/h

iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011)

27-inch display, 2.7GHz Intel Core i5, 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB, 1TB Serial ATA hard drive, AMD Radeon HD 6770M graphics

Power Consumption

Thermal Output

Idle

CPU Max

Idle

CPU Max

135W

170W

461 BTU/h

580 BTU/h

iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011)

27-inch display, 3.1GHz Intel Core i5, 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB, 1TB Serial ATA hard drive, AMD Radeon HD 6970M graphics

Power Consumption

Thermal Output

Idle

CPU Max

Idle

CPU Max

139W

195W

474 BTU/h

665 BTU/h

iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011)

27-inch display, 3.4GHz Intel Core i7, 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB, 1TB Serial ATA hard drive, AMD Radeon HD 6970M graphics

Power Consumption

Thermal Output

Idle

CPU Max

Idle

CPU Max

142W

200W

485 BTU/h

682 BTU/h

iMac (Mid 2010)

21.5-inch display, 3.6GHz Intel Core i5, 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB, 1TB Serial ATA hard drive, ATI Radeon 4670 graphics

Power Consumption

Thermal Output

Idle

CPU Max

Idle

CPU Max

94W

241W

321 BTU/h

822 BTU/h

iMac (27-inch, Mid 2010)

27-inch display, 3.2GHz Intel Core i3, 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB, 1TB Serial ATA hard drive, ATI Radeon 5670 graphics

Power Consumption

Thermal Output

Idle

CPU Max

Idle

CPU Max

*

365W

*

1,245 BTU/h

iMac (27-inch, Mid 2010)

27-inch display, 3.6GHz Intel Core i5, 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB, 1TB Serial ATA hard drive, ATI Radeon 5670 graphics

Power Consumption

Thermal Output

Idle

CPU Max

Idle

CPU Max

145W

365W

495 BTU/h

1,245 BTU/h

iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2009)

21.5-inch display, 3.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB, 500GB Serial ATA hard drive, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics

Power Consumption

Thermal Output

Idle

CPU Max

Idle

CPU Max

104W

241W

355 BTU/h

822 BTU/h

iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2009)

21.5-inch display, 3.2GHz Intel Core i3, 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB, 1TB Serial ATA hard drive, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics

Power Consumption

Thermal Output

Idle

CPU Max

Idle

CPU Max

104W

241W

355 BTU/h

822 BTU/h

iMac (27-inch, Late 2009)

27-inch display, 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB, 1TB Serial ATA hard drive, ATI Radeon 4670 graphics

Power Consumption

Thermal Output

Idle

CPU Max

Idle

CPU Max

*

365W

*

1,245 BTU/h

iMac (27-inch, Late 2009)

27-inch display, 3.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB, 1TB Serial ATA hard drive, ATI Radeon 4670 graphics

Power Consumption

Thermal Output

Idle

CPU Max

Idle

CPU Max

*

365W

*

1,245 BTU/h

Which

iMac (27-inch, Late 2009)

27-inch display, 2.66GHz Quad-core Intel i5, 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB, 1TB Serial ATA hard drive, ATI Radeon 4850 graphics

Power Consumption

Thermal Output

Idle

CPU Max

Idle

CPU Max

145W

365W

*

1,245 BTU/h

Which Imacs Support Target Display Mode

Which

iMac (20-inch, Early 2009)

20-inch display, 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x1GB, 320GB Serial ATA hard drive, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics

Power Consumption

Thermal Output

Idle

CPU Max

Idle

CPU Max

60.7W

108.9W

206.4 BTU/h

371.6 BTU/h

iMac (24-inch, Early 2009)

24-inch display, 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB, 640GB Serial ATA hard drive, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics

Power Consumption

Thermal Output

Idle

CPU Max

Idle

CPU Max

104.4W

151.5W

355 BTU/h

515.2 BTU/h

iMac (24-inch, Early 2009)

24-inch display, 2.93GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB, 640GB Serial ATA hard drive, NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 graphics

Power Consumption

Thermal Output

Idle

CPU Max

Idle

CPU Max

116.4W

192.2W

395.8 BTU/h

653.5 BTU/h

Which imac is best for video editing

Which Imac Should I Get

iMac (24-inch, Early 2009)

24-inch display, 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB, 1TB Serial ATA hard drive, NVIDIA GeForce GT 130 graphics

Power Consumption

Thermal Output

Idle

CPU Max

Idle

CPU Max

113.9W

208.9W

387.3 BTU/h

710.3 BTU/h

iMac (24-inch, Early 2009)

24-inch display, 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB, 1TB Serial ATA hard drive, ATI Radeon HD 4850 graphics

Power Consumption

Thermal Output

Idle

CPU Max

Idle

CPU Max

125.5W

215.7W

426.7 BTU/h

733.4 BTU/h

* Information not available.

Notes

  • Power consumption data (watts) is measured from the wall power source and includes all power supply and system losses. Additional correction isn't needed.
  • CPU Max is defined as running a compute-intensive test application that maximizes processor usage and therefore power consumption.
  • These numbers reflect a 23°C (73.4°F) ambient running environment. Increased ambient temperatures require faster fan speeds which increases power consumption. At 35°C (95°F), 50W should be added to reflect increased power consumption.