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27-inch iMac Review: Performance

The 27-inch iMac in this review uses the Intel Core 2 Duo processor running at 3.06 GHz, as opposed to the i5 and i7 models, which both use quad-core Intel processors. Nevertheless, this iMac is no slouch in day-to-day use. We put the iMac through its paces by running Geekbench and CINEBENCH benchmarks, which together gave us a rough idea of overall performance.

Geekbench

• Overall: 4709

• Integer: 4295
• Floating Point: 6691
• Memory: 3208
• Stream: 2226

CINEBENCH

• CPU Single Core: 3504
• CPU Both Cores: 6529
• Multiprocessor Speedup: 1.86
• Shading (OpenGL): 6919

Benchmarks, no matter how well designed, aren't the same as using your favorite applications, so we ran Parallels 5 and Fusion 3 desktop virtualization systems to see how responsive Windows 7 was. We also performed a few video edits with iMovie, and used both iPhoto and Photoshop to perform image edits. And of course we had to have iTunes running in the background the whole time.

Without a hiccup, the iMac kept up to pace. While the raw performance numbers would seem to indicate that graphics professionals who need tip-top performance would be better served by a Mac Pro, amateur, hobbyist, and home users may find that performance is more than they need for most applications.

27-inch iMac Review: Keyboard, Mouse, and Peripherals

The 27-inch iMac ships with Apple's wireless keyboard and Magic Mouse. You can order your iMac, with wired versions of the keyboard, or the older Mighty Mouse, if you prefer.

But we chose the standard issue keyboard and Magic Mouse.

I've already looked at the Magic Mouse in a separate review; the wireless Apple keyboard was new for us. Keyboards are very subjective. Let me start by saying I don't like wireless keyboards in general, and the one that came with the iMac didn't change my mind. I liked neither the feel nor the spacing of the keys, which are a bit tight for my big fingers. (My wife, who has a love for laptops I don't share, didn't mind the keyboard, although she opted to keep her current one.) My other dislike was the power button. The button gives no indication of its state; you can't tell whether it's on or off by looking at it. Needless to say, the Apple wireless keyboard has taken up residence in a drawer. Many Mac users love this keyboard, though, so to each his/her own.

Peripherals

The iMac has four USB 2.0 ports and a single FireWire 800. It also has a Mini DisplayPort that can be used to drive an external display, including your giant HDTV, or used as a digital video input, so your iMac's screen can serve as a display for other devices.

Apple currently only supports the iMac as a display for other Apple products that use DisplayPort technology, most notably MacBooks and MacBook Pros. But with the right adapter, any device with a digital signal that uses the DisplayPort specification should work.

27-inch iMac Review: Expansion

Like all iMacs, the newest model only supports memory expansion. With four easy access memory slots, the iMac supports up to 16 GB of RAM, using four 4 GB memory modules. The default iMac memory configuration is 4 GB, using two 2 GB modules. This leaves two open memory slots, making expansion to 8 GB a simple matter of adding two 4 GB memory modules. To move beyond 8 GB, you will need to discard the original modules.

Hard Drive

To be honest, I had hoped that the 27-inch iMac would bring with it easy hard drive access. After all, the chassis is huge. Surely there's enough room to make the hard drive accessible by a door of some kind. But alas, Apple chose to keep the hard drive locked up and not easily replaceable by most users. This limits drive expansion to external devices. For this, Apple provides a single FireWire 800 port and a USB 2.0 port. If you're going to add an external drive, by all means use the FireWire 800 port, which is significantly faster than USB 2.0.

An eSATA port, with its ability to connect an external hard drive at or near the native speed of the drive itself, would have been a welcome addition. Perhaps we will see eSATA in the next iteration of the iMac.

SD Card Slot

The SD card slot works directly with SD and SDHC memory cards. It can also accept MiniSD, MicroSD, MiniSDHC, and MicroSDHC cards, provided the physical adapter conforms to the width and thickness of a standard SD card. The slot supports speeds of up to 240 Mbits/s, and can be used as a bootable device.

27-inch iMac Review: Conclusion

At $1699, the base 27-inch iMac commands a $200 premium over the comparably equipped 21.5-inch model. What you get for that $200 is a big, beautiful display, and the ability to use the display as an external monitor. Otherwise, the two models deliver the same performance.

The Core 2 Duo-equipped 27-inch iMac performed well in our bench tests, and has proven to be exceptionally enjoyable and competent in day-to-day use. It is more than able to perform well at every task we throw at it. That being said, if you're a heavy multimedia content creator or graphic designer, you may wish to look at the i5 or i7 versions of the 27-inch iMac. Both provide two additional processor cores, for a total of four cores, and a significant performance boost for any applications that can take advantage of multiple cores.

While we like the 27-inch iMac, and will happily recommend it to anyone who cares to listen, we do have a few criticisms. We don't like the stock Apple keyboard, and we wish that the internal hard drive were a user-accessible part. We would also like to have an eSATA port, something Apple has yet to provide on any of its current Macintosh systems. Finally, we were a bit surprised at the lack of a Blu-ray option, and less than pleased to discover that the CD/DVD has a top speed of only 8X.

Even with a few negatives, we find this iMac to be one of the best desktop Macs yet. By the way, did I mention the display is gorgeous?