Apple iMac (24-inch, Early 2008) vs Apple iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020)

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iMac (24-inch, Early 2008) compared with iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020)

	AppleiMac (24-inch, Early 2008)	AppleiMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020)
Overview
Released
Released	April 2008	August 2020
Performance
Processor
Processor	Intel Core 2 Duo E8235 or Intel Core 2 Duo E8435	Intel Core i5-10500, Intel Core i5-10600, Intel Core i9-10910 or Intel Core i7-10700K
CPU cores
CPU cores	2	6, 8 or 10
CPU threads
CPU threads	–	12, 16 or 20
Graphics
Graphics	ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO (256 MB GDDR3) or NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS (512 MB GDDR3)	Radeon Pro 5300 (4 GB GDDR6), Radeon Pro 5500 XT (8 GB GDDR6), Radeon Pro 5700 (8 GB GDDR6) or Radeon Pro 5700 XT (16 GB GDDR6)
Memory
Memory	2 GB or 4 GB	8 GB, 16 GB, 32 GB, 64 GB or 128 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	320 GB to 1 TB	256 GB to 8 TB (better)
CPU
CPU	2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E8235, configurable to 3.06 GHz E8435; 6 MB shared L2 cache and 1066 MHz frontside bus. Exact processor identities cross-checked with EveryMac.	Six-core Core i5 at 3.1 GHz (Turbo Boost 4.5 GHz) or 3.3 GHz (4.8 GHz), or eight-core Core i7 at 3.8 GHz (5.0 GHz). Upper two bases configurable to 3.6 GHz ten-core Core i9 (5.0 GHz). Exact CPU identities follow Geekbench. Apple specifies a 5.0 GHz Core i7 limit in this iMac, while Intel lists 5.1 GHz for the chip itself.
GPU
GPU	Either processor supports ATI Radeon HD 2600 PRO with 256 MB GDDR3 or optional NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS with 512 MB GDDR3	Radeon Pro 5300 with 4 GB GDDR6 on the two Core i5 bases. Upper base has Radeon Pro 5500 XT with 8 GB GDDR6, optionally Radeon Pro 5700 with 8 GB or 5700 XT with 16 GB GDDR6.
Memory type
Memory type	Two user-accessible SO-DIMM slots for 800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM; 2 GB standard, configurable to 4 GB	2666 MHz DDR4; 8 GB standard as two 4 GB modules. Four user-accessible SO-DIMM slots; configurable to 16/32/64/128 GB on every base.
Storage type
Storage type	320 GB 7200 rpm Serial ATA hard drive with either processor, configurable to 500 GB, 750 GB or 1 TB; slot-loading 8x SuperDrive with 4x double-layer DVD burning	Lower base: fixed 256 GB SSD. Middle base: 512 GB/1/2 TB SSD. Upper base: 512 GB/1/2/4/8 TB SSD.
Display
Screen size
Screen size	24″	27″
Resolution
Resolution	1920 × 1200	5120 × 2880 (better)
Panel
Panel	–	IPS LCD
Brightness
Brightness	385 nits	500 nits (better)
Display type
Display type	Glossy widescreen TFT active-matrix LCD, millions of colours; typical contrast 750:1 and 178° horizontal and vertical viewing angles. Panel technology and refresh rate unpublished and omitted.	LED-backlit Retina 5K display; IPS panel confirmed by EveryMac. Apple does not publish native refresh rate in the specification sheet.
Display features
Display features	Optional 24-inch VESA Mount Adapter kit	Wide colour (P3), one billion colours and True Tone; standard glass or optional nano-texture glass
Connections
Ports
Ports	3 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack	2 × Thunderbolt 3, 4 × USB-A, SD card slot, Ethernet, headphone jack
Ethernet
Ethernet	1 Gb/s	1 Gb/s
External displays
External displays	Up to 1	Up to 2 (better)
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	802.11n draft; compatible with 802.11a/b/g	802.11ac
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	2.1 + EDR	5.0
Camera
Camera	iSight camera	1080p FaceTime HD
Back ports
Back ports	Three USB 2.0 ports on the computer, plus two on the supplied keyboard; one FireWire 400 and one FireWire 800 port, each rated 7 W; mini-DVI output, Gigabit Ethernet, headphone/optical digital output and line-in/optical digital input. FireWire, mini-DVI and audio input described here.	Four USB-A ports; two Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports with DisplayPort, Thunderbolt up to 40 Gb/s and USB 3.1 Gen 2 up to 10 Gb/s; UHS-II SDXC, Gigabit Ethernet and 3.5 mm headphone jack; Kensington lock slot. Optional 10Gb Ethernet supports 1/2.5/5/10Gb connections. Thunderbolt 2, HDMI, DVI and VGA require adapters.
External displays
External displays	One external display in extended desktop or mirroring mode; digital resolutions up to 1920 × 1200 and analogue up to 2048 × 1536. DVI, VGA, S-video and composite adapters sold separately.	One 6K or 5K external display, or two 4K displays; two 6K displays require Radeon Pro 5700 or 5700 XT. All listed external modes run at 60 Hz.
Speakers
Speakers	Built-in stereo speakers with internal 24 W digital amplifier and built-in microphone	Stereo speakers
Microphones
Microphones	–	Three-mic array with directional beamforming; supports Hey Siri
Keyboard and mouse
Keyboard and mouse	Apple Keyboard, Mighty Mouse and infrared Apple Remote; optional wireless keyboard and wireless Mighty Mouse	Rechargeable Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse 2; optional numeric keyboard and Magic Trackpad
Design and power
Type
Type	All-in-one	All-in-one
Weight
Weight	–	8.92 kg
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	569 × 207 × 520 mm	650 × 203 × 516 mm
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Size and weight detail
Size and weight detail	Maker weight 25.4 pounds (11.5 kg), varying by configuration and manufacturing process; shared scalar weight omitted	Dimensions include the stand; weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process. A built-in VESA mount version was also available.
Power supply
Power supply	Maximum continuous power 280 W; 100–240 V AC, 50–60 Hz single phase	100–240 V AC, 50–60 Hz, single phase
Power use
Power use	Apple environmental report for MB325 at 230 V records 1.65 W off, 2.58 W sleep and 36.2 W idle with display off or 113.2 W with display on; display on means full brightness	–
Materials
Materials	Recyclable aluminium and glass enclosure; arsenic-free display glass, majority of circuit-board laminates free of brominated flame retardants and PVC-free internal cables	Recyclable, low-carbon aluminium enclosure; arsenic-free glass and mercury-free LED backlight
In the box
In the box	iMac, Apple Keyboard, Mighty Mouse, Apple Remote, cleaning cloth, power cord, install/restore DVDs and documentation; Mac OS X Leopard and iLife '08	iMac, Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2, power lead, Lightning to USB cable and polishing cloth