While the insides of the iMac have gotten a compete overhaul, the outside is almost exactly the same as the 2010 version. But we certainly don't count that as a bad thing. Like all of Apple’s products, the iMac’s design is sleek and minimalist. It's encased in a single-piece aluminum enclosure, much like Apple's other laptops and desktops now sport, giving the whole Mac family a unified look.
On the right side of the screen is an SD-card reader (which also supports the SDXC format) and a slot-loading optical drive. Other than the power button (which sits almost invisibly on the lower-back-left side of the body) and a little patch of ports, you won't find any other features to interrupt the iMac's mostly bare rear panel.
On the rear of the iMac, you'll find a strip of ports, the power connection, a power cord, an Apple logo...and that's about it.
The minimalist design helps draw your eyes to the gorgeous 27-inch LCD, which is glossy and LED-backlit. Its wide-screen aspect ratio (16-to-9) and 2,560x1,440 native resolution make for an impressive HD viewing experience. Unfortunately, the iMac doesn't come with a Blu-ray player option, which would have been great to pair with such a stunning screen. Like all glossy screens, this one picks up a bit of glare off of ambient lighting, but colors represent nicely, and, unsurprisingly, we noted no motion blur when viewing video. However, considering this beautiful screen, notably absent from the iMac (apart from the Blu-ray player) is an HDMI port for connecting a gaming console. That said, we've yet to come across another AIO with a 2,560x1,440 native resolution screen. And while this system's asking price may sound pricey, you'd have to pay at least close to $1,000 to get a comparable 30-inch monitor, or $999 for Apple's 27-inch LED Cinema Display. For those considering such a large screen anyway, that makes the price tag of this $1,999 iMac a lot easier to swallow.
The iMac’s body sits nicely on an aluminum base that provides a sturdy rest for the screen and components. The display is tiltable, and the adjustment motion is refined and smooth. There's no left/right swivel adjustment, but Apple claims that its iMacs have a 178-degree off-center viewing angle, and that minimizes the need for fine swivel adjustments. (Based on our testing, we believe it; we noted no appreciable deterioration of color or viewability when we looked at both video and still images far off center.)
One new feature that comes to the iMac with this generation is a built-in ambient-light sensor. (You'll find it on the top strip of the screen bezel, next to the Webcam lens, but it's almost invisible to the eye.) This sensor adjusts the brightness of the screen depending on the brightness of the room you are in. (You can turn it off if you're not a fan of this option.) We applaud Apple for bringing this feature, which has been on its MacBooks for a few generations, to its desktops. (You'll know the value of this feature if you've ever tried looking at a bright screen in a dark room. Talk about an instant headache.)
The iMac ships with either Apple's Magic Mouse or the company's Magic Trackpad. You previously had to pay an extra $69 to get the Magic Trackpad separately; now, you can get it bundled with your iMac instead of the Magic Mouse, for no additional charge. The Magic Mouse works almost like the touch pad of a laptop. Looking like a tiny spaceship, the Magic Mouse has no buttons—or rather, like its MacBook touch-pad counterpart, it’s one big button. (Click here for our full review of the Apple Magic Mouse.) The Magic Trackpad, on the other hand, is actually the is the touch pad of a laptop, lifted off and made a free-standing peripheral. If you've used the touch pad on a MacBook Pro, you'll be very familiar with how this unique pointer works. (Click here for our full review of the Magic Trackpad.)
Along with your choice of pointing peripheral, the iMac also ships with a wireless Bluetooth keyboard that adheres nicely to the Apple minimalist aesthetic. About three-quarters the size of a traditional keyboard (partly thanks to the lack of a numeric keypad), it’s almost totally flat except for a rounded area in the back that holds the batteries and props up the keyboard slightly.
Despite its tiny body, we didn’t find the keyboard hard to type on. Like the mouse, it bears a striking resemblance to Apple’s laptops, with the Chiclet-style keys rising only slightly from the body of the keyboard. It's tiny and may take some getting used to, but if you're an Apple fan, it will definitely fit your style.
The super-thin keyboard comes with built-in Bluetooth and requires two AA batteries.
Apple's new 720p FaceTime HD camera lives in the middle of the top of the screen bezel, along with a camera-indicator light, which lights up to warn you when the camera is on. The FaceTime camera features three times the resolution of the iSight camera that came on previous iMacs. We first used the FaceTime camera when it made its debut on the latest line of MacBook Pro laptops, and we immediately noticed the huge improvement in video quality. As far as using the camera, we noticed no lag, and it performed well even in a dimly lit office. You can make FaceTime calls to other Mac devices that have a camera and the FaceTime app installed. (You can download the app from the Mac App Store for 99 cents; it also comes loaded for free on new iMacs and MacBooks.)
The built-in speakers are located on the underbelly of the bezel. They deliver a loud, bass-filled sound that could easily fill a small room. You'll want to consider hooking up some external speakers, though, if you plan on pumping music from the iMac to entertain at a party, as it doesn't quite have the sound to fill a large room.
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