Apple iMac (24-inch, Late 2006) vs Apple iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020)

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iMac (24-inch, Late 2006) compared with iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020)

	AppleiMac (24-inch, Late 2006)	AppleiMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020)
Overview
Released
Released	September 2006	August 2020
Performance
Processor
Processor	Intel Core 2 Duo T7400 or Intel Core 2 Duo T7600	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	NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT (128 MB GDDR3) or NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT (256 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	1 GB, 2 GB or 3 GB	8 GB, 16 GB, 32 GB, 64 GB or 128 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	250 GB to 500 GB	256 GB to 8 TB (better)
CPU
CPU	2.16 GHz Core 2 Duo T7400, configurable to 2.33 GHz T7600; 4 MB shared L2 cache and 667 MHz system 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	NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT with 128 MB GDDR3, configurable to GeForce 7600 GT with 256 MB GDDR3 with either processor	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 SO-DIMM slots for PC2-5300 (667 MHz) DDR2 SDRAM; 1 GB standard as two 512 MB modules, configurable to 2 or 3 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	250 GB 7200 rpm Serial ATA hard drive, configurable to 500 GB; slot-loading 8x SuperDrive with 2.4x double-layer DVD burning. Maker lists processor, memory, storage and graphics upgrades independently.	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	400 nits	500 nits (better)
Display type
Display type	Widescreen TFT active-matrix LCD, millions of colours; typical contrast 700:1 and 178° horizontal and vertical viewing angles. Panel technology and refresh rate unpublished.	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 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	802.11g; 54 Mbps AirPort Extreme	802.11ac
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	2.0 + EDR	5.0
Camera
Camera	iSight camera	1080p FaceTime HD
Back ports
Back ports	Three USB 2.0 ports on the computer and two USB 1.1 ports on its keyboard; one FireWire 400 and one FireWire 800 port sharing 15 W, mini-DVI, Gigabit Ethernet, headphone/optical digital output and line-in/optical digital input	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 Apple Remote; optional wireless keyboard and 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	574 × 207 × 523 mm	650 × 203 × 516 mm
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Size and weight detail
Size and weight detail	Maker weight 24.7 pounds (11.2 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 220 W; 100–240 V AC, 50–60 Hz single phase	100–240 V AC, 50–60 Hz, single phase
Materials
Materials	–	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, power cord, install/restore DVDs and documentation; Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, iLife '06, Front Row, Photo Booth, Microsoft Office 2004 Test Drive and iWork trial	iMac, Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2, power lead, Lightning to USB cable and polishing cloth