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Apple iMac G4 (15-inch, Flat Panel) vs Apple iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020)

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

Better figure, where one is clearly better

AppleiMac G4 (15-inch, Flat Panel)AppleiMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020)
Overview
ReleasedJanuary 2002August 2020
Performance
ProcessorMotorola PowerPC G4 700 MHz (iMac Flat Panel) or Motorola PowerPC G4 800 MHz (iMac Flat Panel)Intel Core i5-10500, Intel Core i5-10600, Intel Core i9-10910 or Intel Core i7-10700K
CPU cores16, 8 or 10
CPU threads–12, 16 or 20
GraphicsNVIDIA GeForce2 MX (32 MB)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)
Memory128 MB, 256 MB or 1 GB8 GB, 16 GB, 32 GB, 64 GB or 128 GB
Storage40 GB to 60 GB256 GB to 8 TB
CPU700 or 800 MHz PowerPC G4 with 256 KB on-chip L2 cache and 100 MHz system bus. Generic maker-clock chip records retain the single-core identity cross-checked with exact EveryMac sources; an uncertain silicon revision is not inferred.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.
GPUNVIDIA GeForce2 MX with 32 MB dedicated DDR video memory and AGP 2x support.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 typeSDRAM, expandable to 1 GB, with one 168-pin DIMM and one user-accessible SO-DIMM slot. Launch CD-RW base: 128 MB; Combo and SuperDrive bases: 256 MB. Configurations conservatively show those published bases and the maker's maximum.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 typeLaunch combinations: 700 MHz with CD-RW and 40 GB hard drive; 700 MHz with Combo drive and 40 GB; 800 MHz with SuperDrive and 60 GB. Optical options on the 700 MHz model account for its different base memory. Drives use Ultra ATA. Combo reads DVDs and writes CDs; SuperDrive writes DVDs and CDs.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 size15″27″
Resolution1024 × 7685120 × 2880
Panel–IPS LCD
Brightness200 nits500 nits
Display typeTFT active-matrix LCD with millions of colours and typical 300:1 contrast. Panel technology and refresh rate are not established by the exact maker sheet.LED-backlit Retina 5K display; IPS panel confirmed by EveryMac. Apple does not publish native refresh rate in the specification sheet.
Display featuresTypical viewing angles: 120° horizontal and 90° vertical. Articulated arm adjusts the display's height and angle.Wide colour (P3), one billion colours and True Tone; standard glass or optional nano-texture glass
Connections
Ports3 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack2 × Thunderbolt 3, 4 × USB-A, SD card slot, Ethernet, headphone jack
Ethernet0.1 Gb/s1 Gb/s
External displays–Up to 2
Wi-Fi–802.11ac
Bluetooth–5.0
Camera–1080p FaceTime HD
Back portsThree 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.90 modem, headphone jack and Apple speaker minijack. Original AirPort 802.11b card is optional; wireless networking is not standard.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 displaysMini-VGA provides video mirroring through an optional VGA adapter: 640 × 480 at 60 Hz, 800 × 600 at 75 Hz or 1024 × 768 at 75 Hz. The original model does not list S-video or composite output.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.
SpeakersBuilt-in speaker and microphone; selected configurations include Apple Pro Speakers rated at 9 W each with an internal 18 W amplifier.Stereo speakers
Microphones–Three-mic array with directional beamforming; supports Hey Siri
Keyboard and mouseApple Pro Keyboard and Apple Pro Mouse; Apple Pro Speakers are included with the Combo and SuperDrive launch configurations.Rechargeable Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse 2; optional numeric keyboard and Magic Trackpad
Design and power
TypeAll-in-oneAll-in-one
Weight9.7 kg8.92 kg
Width × depth × height–650 × 203 × 516 mm
Operating systemmacOSmacOS
Size and weight detailAdjustable maker ranges: height 329–509 mm, width 384–415 mm and depth 270–415 mm; base diameter 270 mm. The reference weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process, so no single fixed-position dimension is selected.Dimensions include the stand; weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process. A built-in VESA mount version was also available.
Power supply90–264 V AC, 47–63 Hz, single phase; maximum continuous power 130 W.100–240 V AC, 50–60 Hz, single phase
Materials–Recyclable, low-carbon aluminium enclosure; arsenic-free glass and mercury-free LED backlight
In the boxLaunch software: Mac OS X 10.1.2 and Mac OS 9.2.2, with iTunes, iMovie and iPhoto; iDVD requires SuperDrive. The 800 MHz SuperDrive configuration was stated to ship in late January 2002, the 700 MHz Combo in February and CD-RW in March. The release month records the first configuration, not the 7 January announcement.iMac, Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2, power lead, Lightning to USB cable and polishing cloth

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