Apple iMac G4 (15-inch, Early 2003) vs Apple iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2019)

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iMac G4 (15-inch, Early 2003) compared with iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2019)

	AppleiMac G4 (15-inch, Early 2003)	AppleiMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2019)
Overview
Released
Released	February 2003	March 2019
Performance
Processor
Processor	Motorola PowerPC G4 800 MHz (iMac Flat Panel)	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	NVIDIA GeForce2 MX (32 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	256 MB, 512 MB or 1 GB	8 GB, 16 GB, 32 GB or 64 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	60 GB	256 GB to 3 TB (better)
CPU
CPU	800 MHz PowerPC G4, 100 MHz system bus and 256 KB on-chip L2 cache. Single-core maker-clock record is reused only for the same published clock and G4 family; uncertain silicon identity is not inferred.	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	NVIDIA GeForce2 MX with 32 MB dedicated DDR video memory and AGP 2x support.	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	256 MB SDRAM standard; factory options 512 MB or 1 GB. One 168-pin DIMM and one user-accessible SO-DIMM slot. Apple supports up to 1 GB.	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	60 GB 7200 rpm Ultra ATA/66 hard drive and 32x Combo DVD-ROM/CD-RW. Combo reads DVDs at 8x, writes CD-R at 32x and CD-RW at 10x. No unsupported storage option is paired with this processor.	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	200 nits	500 nits (better)
Display type
Display type	TFT active-matrix LCD with millions of colours and typical 300:1 contrast; panel technology and refresh rate unpublished in the exact maker sheet.	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	Typical viewing angles: 120° horizontal and 90° vertical. Articulated display arm adjusts height and angle.	Wide colour (P3); supports one billion colours
Connections
Ports
Ports	3 × USB-A, Ethernet, 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
Back ports
Back ports	Three USB 1.1 ports on the computer, plus two on the keyboard; two FireWire 400 ports with 8 W shared power, Mini-VGA, 10/100BASE-T Ethernet, 56K V.92 modem, headphone jack and Apple speaker minijack. The 15-inch model has no audio line-in. Optional AirPort 802.11b card; Bluetooth requires a separate USB adapter, unlike the 17-inch internal option.	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	Mini-VGA video mirroring through an optional adapter: 640 × 480 at 60 Hz, 800 × 600 at 75 Hz or 1024 × 768 at 75 Hz. S-video and composite output are absent on the 15-inch model.	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	Built-in speaker and microphone; Apple Pro Speakers rated at 9 W each and internal 18 W amplifier.	Stereo speakers
Microphones
Microphones	–	Built-in microphone
Keyboard and mouse
Keyboard and mouse	Apple Keyboard, Apple Mouse, Apple Pro Speakers and modem cable.	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	9.7 kg	9.42 kg (better)
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	–	650 × 203 × 516 mm
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Size and weight detail
Size and weight detail	Adjustable maker ranges: height 329–509 mm, width 384–415 mm and depth 270–415 mm; base diameter 270 mm. Reference weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process.	Dimensions include the stand; weight varies by configuration. A built-in VESA mount version was also available.
Power supply
Power supply	90–264 V AC, 47–63 Hz, single phase; maximum continuous power 130 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 X 10.2 Jaguar and iLife, with AppleWorks and other bundled applications. Classic environment supports older applications; the exact EveryMac model source confirms it cannot boot Mac OS 9, unlike the original 2002 revision. Maker launch confirms immediate availability on 4 February 2003.	iMac, Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2, power lead and Lightning to USB cable