Apple iMac G3 (Summer 2001) vs Apple iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2019)

Every spec side by side, from each maker's published figures.

Only show differences

Better figure, where one is clearly better

Share comparison

iMac G3 (Summer 2001) compared with iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2019)

	AppleiMac G3 (Summer 2001)	AppleiMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2019)
Overview
Released
Released	July 2001	March 2019
Performance
Processor
Processor	PowerPC G3 500 MHz (iMac), PowerPC G3 600 MHz (iMac) or PowerPC G3 700 MHz (iMac)	Intel Core i5-8500, Intel Core i5-8600, Intel Core i9-9900K or Intel Core i5-9600K
CPU cores
CPU cores	1	6 or 8
CPU threads
CPU threads	–	6 or 16
Graphics
Graphics	ATI RAGE 128 Ultra (16 MB)	Radeon Pro 570X (4 GB GDDR5), Radeon Pro 575X (4 GB GDDR5), Radeon Pro 580X (8 GB GDDR5) or Radeon Pro Vega 48 (8 GB HBM2)
Memory
Memory	128 MB, 256 MB or 1 GB	8 GB, 16 GB, 32 GB or 64 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	20 GB to 60 GB	256 GB to 3 TB (better)
CPU
CPU	500, 600 or 700 MHz PowerPC G3 with 256 KB on-chip L2 cache at processor speed; 100 MHz system bus. Clock-only chip records do not infer a silicon supplier.	Six-core Core i5 at 3.0 GHz (Turbo Boost 4.1 GHz), 3.1 GHz (Turbo Boost 4.3 GHz) or 3.7 GHz (Turbo Boost 4.6 GHz); upper two bases configurable to 3.6 GHz eight-core Core i9 with Turbo Boost up to 5.0 GHz. Exact K-suffix CPU identities follow Geekbench’s model database; Macworld instead lists KF suffixes.
GPU
GPU	ATI RAGE 128 Ultra with 16 MB SDRAM in every configuration; AGP 2x.	Radeon Pro 570X or 575X with 4 GB GDDR5, or Radeon Pro 580X with 8 GB GDDR5; only the upper base supports Radeon Pro Vega 48 with 8 GB HBM2
Memory type
Memory type	500 MHz: 128 MB; 600/700 MHz: 256 MB PC100 SDRAM. Two DIMM slots support up to 1 GB. The configurations preserve the base processor/drive ties at base and maximum memory.	2666 MHz DDR4; 8 GB standard as two 4 GB modules in four user-accessible SO-DIMM slots. Lower base configurable to 16/32 GB; upper two bases to 16/32/64 GB.
Storage type
Storage type	500 MHz: 20 GB, Indigo or Snow. 600 MHz: 40 GB, Snow or Graphite. 700 MHz Special Edition: 60 GB, Snow or Graphite. All have an 8x/4x/24x CD-RW drive; no DVD reading. Apple says 500/600 MHz available immediately on 18 July; 700 MHz expected in August.	570X base: 1/2 TB Fusion Drive or 256/512 GB/1 TB SSD. 575X base: 1/2/3 TB Fusion Drive or 256/512 GB/1 TB SSD. 580X/Vega base: 2/3 TB Fusion Drive or 512 GB/1/2 TB SSD.
Display
Screen size
Screen size	15″	27″
Resolution
Resolution	1024 × 768	5120 × 2880 (better)
Panel
Panel	–	IPS LCD
Brightness
Brightness	–	500 nits
Refresh rate
Refresh rate	75 Hz	–
Display type
Display type	15-inch nominal shadow-mask CRT, 13.8-inch viewable diagonal and 0.28 mm dot pitch.	LED-backlit Retina 5K display; IPS panel confirmed by EveryMac; Apple does not publish native refresh rate in this model’s specification sheet
Display features
Display features	1024 × 768 at 75 Hz, 800 × 600 at 95 Hz and 640 × 480 at 117 Hz. Main refresh describes the highest-resolution mode.	Wide colour (P3); supports one billion colours
Connections
Ports
Ports	2 × USB-A, Ethernet, 2 × headphone jack	2 × Thunderbolt 3, 4 × USB-A, SD card slot, Ethernet, headphone jack
Ethernet
Ethernet	0.1 Gb/s	1 Gb/s (better)
External displays
External displays	–	Up to 2
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	–	802.11ac
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	–	4.2
Camera
Camera	–	FaceTime HD
Front ports
Front ports	Two headphone jacks.	–
Back ports
Back ports	Two FireWire 400 ports, two USB ports at 12 Mbps each, VGA mirroring, 10/100BASE-T Ethernet, 56K V.90 modem and audio line-in/out. Keyboard USB ports are excluded from chassis counts. Optional 11 Mbps AirPort card; not built-in wireless.	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; SDXC, Gigabit Ethernet and 3.5 mm headphone jack; Kensington lock slot. Thunderbolt 2, HDMI, DVI and VGA require separately sold adapters.
External displays
External displays	VGA output mirrors the built-in screen.	Built-in display at full native resolution alongside one 5120 × 2880 display at 60 Hz with one billion colours, two 3840 × 2160 displays at 60 Hz with one billion colours, or two 4096 × 2304 displays at 60 Hz with millions of colours
Speakers
Speakers	Odyssey stereo sound system designed with Harman Kardon; built-in microphone.	Stereo speakers
Microphones
Microphones	–	Built-in microphone
Keyboard and mouse
Keyboard and mouse	Apple Pro Keyboard and optical Apple Pro Mouse.	Rechargeable Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse 2; optional Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad and Magic Trackpad 2
Design and power
Type
Type	All-in-one	All-in-one
Weight
Weight	15.8 kg	9.42 kg (better)
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	381 × 435 × 381 mm	650 × 203 × 516 mm
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Size and weight detail
Size and weight detail	Maker publishes height 38.1, width 38.1 and depth 43.5 cm; weight 15.8 kg.	Dimensions include the stand; weight varies by configuration. A built-in VESA mount version was also available.
Power supply
Power supply	Maximum continuous power 150 W.	100–240 V AC, 50–60 Hz, single phase
Materials
Materials	–	Recyclable aluminium enclosure; arsenic-free glass and mercury-free LED backlight
In the box
In the box	Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X supplied with iTunes, iMovie 2 and Disc Burner. Later software revisions described in reviews are not launch firmware.	iMac, Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2, power lead and Lightning to USB cable