Apple iMac G5 (20-inch, 2004) vs Apple iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020)

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iMac G5 (20-inch, 2004) compared with iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020)

	AppleiMac G5 (20-inch, 2004)	AppleiMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020)
Overview
Released
Released	September 2004	August 2020
Performance
Processor
Processor	IBM PowerPC G5 1.8 GHz (iMac 2004)	Intel Core i5-10500, Intel Core i5-10600, Intel Core i9-10910 or Intel Core i7-10700K
CPU cores
CPU cores	1	6, 8 or 10
CPU threads
CPU threads	–	12, 16 or 20
Graphics
Graphics	NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra (64 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)
Memory
Memory	256 MB or 2 GB	8 GB, 16 GB, 32 GB, 64 GB or 128 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	160 GB to 250 GB	256 GB to 8 TB (better)
CPU
CPU	1.8 GHz PowerPC G5 with 600 MHz frontside bus and 512 KB on-chip L2 cache. Generic maker-clock chip record retains the single-core identity; 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.
GPU
GPU	NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra with 64 MB dedicated DDR video memory and AGP 8x 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 type
Memory type	256 MB PC3200 (400 MHz) DDR SDRAM standard, expandable to 2 GB in two slots. Configurations conservatively list the published base and maker 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 type
Storage type	160 GB 7200 rpm Serial ATA hard drive, with a 250 GB build-to-order option confirmed by maker launch press. Slot-loading SuperDrive DVD-R/CD-RW writes DVD-R at 4x and reads DVDs at 8x; writes CD-R at 16x and CD-RW at 8x.	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	20″	27″
Resolution
Resolution	1680 × 1050	5120 × 2880 (better)
Panel
Panel	–	IPS LCD
Brightness
Brightness	230 nits	500 nits (better)
Display type
Display type	Widescreen TFT active-matrix LCD with millions of colours and typical 350:1 contrast. Panel technology and refresh rate are not published in 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 features
Display features	Typical viewing angles: 170° horizontal and vertical.	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	0.1 Gb/s	1 Gb/s (better)
External displays
External displays	–	Up to 2
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	–	802.11ac
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	–	5.0
Camera
Camera	–	1080p FaceTime HD
Back ports
Back ports	Three USB 2.0 ports on the computer, up to 480 Mbps, plus two USB 1.1 ports on the keyboard; two FireWire 400 ports with 8 W shared power, Mini-VGA, 10/100BASE-T Ethernet, 56K V.92 modem, headphone/optical digital audio output and audio line-in. AirPort Extreme 802.11g card and internal Bluetooth module are optional, rather than 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 displays
External displays	Mini-VGA provides video mirroring on a VGA display or S-video/composite television through optional adapters. Output resolutions: 640 × 480 at 60 Hz, 800 × 600 at 75 Hz or 1024 × 768 at 75 Hz.	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, internal 12 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, Apple Mouse and modem cable.	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	11.4 kg	8.92 kg (better)
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	493 × 189 × 472 mm	650 × 203 × 516 mm
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Size and weight detail
Size and weight detail	Published metric size and reference weight; weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process.	Dimensions include the stand; weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process. A built-in VESA mount version was also available.
Power supply
Power supply	100–120 V AC or 100–240 V AC depending on country of purchase, 47–63 Hz, single phase; maximum continuous power 180 W.	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	Launch Mac OS X 10.3 Panther, iLife ’04 and bundled productivity software, with Classic environment support. The retained specification lists the later iLife ’05 bundle. Apple announced the model on 31 August 2004 and stated worldwide shipping would begin in mid-September; the release field therefore retains September month precision.	iMac, Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse 2, power lead, Lightning to USB cable and polishing cloth