“Apple announced a new lower-cost dual-core iMac [yesterday], and Geekbench 3 results for it are already appearing on the Geekbench Browser,” John Poole reports for Primate Labs. “When compared to the rest of the iMac lineup, the new iMac has reasonable single-core performance — it’s almost identifcal to the entry-level quad-core iMac. Multi-core performance is significantly lower due to the lower number of cores (2 cores vs 4 cores).”
“One interesting thing about the new iMacs is that they use a low-voltage i5-4260U ‘Haswell’ processor (the same processor is used in the MacBook Air). Why would Apple use a low-voltage dual-core processor in a desktop machine? The answer might be graphics,” Poole reports. “According to Intel, the HD 5000 [found in Apple’s new entry-level 21.5-inch iMac] is twice as fast as the HD 4600.”
“Apple may have sacrificed multi-core performance for GPU performance,” Poole reports. “Given the increasing importance modern user interfaces place on GPU performance, this may turn out to be a smart decision that extends the useful lifespan of the new iMac.”
See how the new iMac performs compared to other iMacs here.
Related articles:
Apple’s new 21.5-inch iMac too cheap? – June 19, 2014
Apple Introduces new entry level 21.5-inch iMac; starts at $1099 – June 18, 2014