Home Desktops Apple iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2009) Apple · iMac
iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2009) Released October 2009
A Full HD IPS all-in-one with a Core 2 Duo processor, shared or dedicated graphics, an SD card slot and wireless input devices.
Compare with another desktop Compare with… iMac 24″ (M4) (2024) iMac 24″ (M3) (2023) iMac 24″ (M1) (2021) iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020) (2020) iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2019) (2019) iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2019) (2019) iMac Pro (2017) (2017) iMac (21.5-inch, 2017) (2017) iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017) (2017) iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017) (2017) iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2015) (2015) iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, Late 2015) (2015) iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015) (2015) iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Mid 2015) (2015) iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014) (2014) iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2014) (2014) iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2013) (2013) iMac (27-inch, Late 2013) (2013) iMac (21.5-inch, Early 2013) (2013) iMac (27-inch, Late 2012) (2012) iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2012) (2012) iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2011) (2011) iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2011) (2011) iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011) (2011) iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2010) (2010) iMac (27-inch, Mid 2010) (2010) iMac (27-inch, Late 2009) (2009) iMac (20-inch, Mid 2009) (2009) iMac (20-inch, Early 2009) (2009) iMac (24-inch, Early 2009) (2009) iMac (20-inch, Early 2008) (2008) iMac (24-inch, Early 2008) (2008) iMac (20-inch, Mid 2007) (2007) iMac (24-inch, Mid 2007) (2007) iMac (17-inch, Late 2006) (2006) iMac (20-inch, Late 2006) (2006) iMac (24-inch, Late 2006) (2006) iMac (17-inch, Mid 2006) (2006) iMac (17-inch, Early 2006) (2006) iMac (20-inch, Early 2006) (2006) iMac G5 (17-inch, iSight) (2005) iMac G5 (20-inch, iSight) (2005) iMac G5 (17-inch, Ambient Light Sensor) (2005) iMac G5 (20-inch, Ambient Light Sensor) (2005) iMac G5 (17-inch, 2004) (2004) iMac G5 (20-inch, 2004) (2004) iMac G4 (20-inch, USB 2.0) (2003) iMac G4 (15-inch, USB 2.0) (2003) iMac G4 (17-inch, USB 2.0) (2003) iMac G4 (15-inch, Early 2003) (2003) iMac G4 (17-inch, Early 2003) (2003) iMac G4 (17-inch, Flat Panel) (2002) iMac G4 (15-inch, Flat Panel) (2002) iMac G3 (Summer 2001) (2001) iMac G3 (Early 2001) (2001) iMac G3 (Summer 2000) (2000) iMac G3 (Slot Loading, 1999) (1999) iMac G3 (Mid 1999) (1999) iMac G3 (Early 1999) (1999) iMac G3 (Revision B) (1998) iMac G3 (1998) (1998) Mac mini (M6 or M5 Pro) (2026) Mac Studio (M5 Max or M5 Ultra) (2026) Mac Studio (M4 Max or M3 Ultra) (2025) Mac mini (M4 or M4 Pro) (2024) Mac Pro (M2 Ultra) (2023) Mac Studio (M2 Max or M2 Ultra) (2023) Mac mini (M2 or M2 Pro) (2023) Mac Studio (M1 Max / M1 Ultra) (2022) Mac mini (M1) (2020) Mac Pro (2019) (2019) Mac mini (2018) (2018) Mac mini (Late 2014) (2014) Mac Pro (Late 2013) (2013) Mac mini (Late 2012) (2012) Mac Pro (Mid 2012) (2012) Mac mini (Mid 2011) (2011) Mac Pro (Mid 2010) (2010) Mac mini (Mid 2010) (2010) Mac mini (Late 2009) (2009) Mac mini (Early 2009) (2009) Mac Pro (Early 2009) (2009) Mac Pro (Early 2008) (2008) Mac mini (Mid 2007) (2007) Mac mini (Late 2006) (2006) Mac Pro (2006) (2006) Mac mini (Early 2006) (2006) Power Mac G5 (Late 2005) (2005) eMac (2005) (2005) Power Mac G5 (Early 2005) (2005) Mac mini (2005) (2005) Power Mac G5 (Late 2004) (2004) Power Mac G5 (June 2004) (2004) eMac (USB 2.0, 2004) (2004) Power Mac G5 (2003) (2003) Power Mac G4 (Mirrored Drive Doors 2003) (2003) eMac (ATI Graphics, 2003) (2003) Power Mac G4 (FW800) (2003) Power Mac G4 (Mirrored Drive Doors 2002) (2002) eMac (2002) (2002) Power Mac G4 (QuickSilver 2002) (2002) Power Mac G4 (QuickSilver 2001) (2001) Power Mac G4 (Digital Audio) (2001) Power Mac G4 Cube (2000) Power Mac G4 (Gigabit Ethernet) (2000) Power Mac G4 (PCI Graphics) (1999) Power Macintosh G3 (Blue and White) (1999) Power Mac G4 (AGP Graphics) (1999) Power Macintosh G3 Desktop (1997) Power Macintosh G3 Mini Tower (1997) Power Macintosh 8600/300 (1997) Power Macintosh 9600/300 (1997) Power Macintosh 9600/350 (1997) Power Macintosh 4400/200 (1997) Power Macintosh 5400/200 (1997) Power Macintosh 5500/225 (1997) Power Macintosh 5500/250 (1997) Power Macintosh 5500/275 (1997) Power Macintosh 6500/225 (1997) Power Macintosh 6500/250 (1997) Power Macintosh 6500/275 (1997) Power Macintosh 6500/300 (1997) Power Macintosh 7300/166 (1997) Power Macintosh 7300/180 (1997) Power Macintosh 7300/200 (1997) Power Macintosh 7600/200 (1997) Power Macintosh 8600/200 (1997) Power Macintosh 8600/250 (1997) Power Macintosh 9600/200 (1997) Power Macintosh 9600/200MP (1997) Power Macintosh 9600/233 (1997) Power Macintosh 4400/160 (1996) Power Macintosh 6300/120 (1996) Macintosh Performa 5400/160 (1996) Macintosh Performa 6360 (1996) Macintosh Performa 6400/180 (1996) Macintosh Performa 6400/200 (1996) Power Macintosh 5260/100 (1996) Power Macintosh 5260/120 (1996) Power Macintosh 5400/120 (1996) Power Macintosh 5400/180 (1996) Power Macintosh 7200/100 (1996) Power Macintosh 7200/120 (1996) Power Macintosh 7600/120 (1996) Power Macintosh 7600/132 (1996) Power Macintosh 8200/100 (1996) Power Macintosh 8200/120 (1996) Power Macintosh 8500/132 (1996) Power Macintosh 8500/150 (1996) Power Macintosh 8500/180 (1996) Power Macintosh 9500/150 (1996) Power Macintosh 9500/180MP (1996) Power Macintosh 9500/200 (1996) Macintosh LC 580 (1995) Macintosh Performa 5200CD (1995) Macintosh Performa 5300CD (1995) Macintosh Performa 6300CD (1995) Power Macintosh 6100/66 (1995) Power Macintosh 6100/66 DOS Compatible (1995) Power Macintosh 6100/66AV (1995) Power Macintosh 6200/75 (1995) Power Macintosh 7100/80 (1995) Power Macintosh 7100/80AV (1995) Power Macintosh 7200/75 (1995) Power Macintosh 7200/90 (1995) Power Macintosh 7500/100 (1995) Power Macintosh 8100/100 (1995) Power Macintosh 8100/100AV (1995) Power Macintosh 8500/120 (1995) Power Macintosh 9500/120 (1995) Power Macintosh 9500/132 (1995) Macintosh Quadra 610 DOS Compatible (1994) Power Macintosh 6100/60 (1994) Macintosh LC 550 (1994) Macintosh LC 575 (1994) Macintosh LC 630 (1994) Macintosh Quadra 630 (1994) Power Macintosh 6100/60AV (1994) Power Macintosh 7100/66 (1994) Power Macintosh 7100/66AV (1994) Power Macintosh 8100/110 (1994) Power Macintosh 8100/80 (1994) Power Macintosh 8100/80AV (1994) Macintosh TV (1993) Macintosh Color Classic (1993) Macintosh Centris 610 (1993) Macintosh Centris 650 (1993) Macintosh Centris 660AV (1993) Macintosh LC 475 (1993) Macintosh LC 520 (1993) Macintosh LC III (1993) Macintosh Quadra 605 (1993) Macintosh Quadra 610 (1993) Macintosh Quadra 650 (1993) Macintosh Quadra 800 (1993) Macintosh Quadra 840AV (1993) Macintosh Quadra 950 (1992) Macintosh LC II (1992) Macintosh Quadra 700 (1991) Macintosh Quadra 900 (1991) Macintosh Classic II (1991) Macintosh Classic (1990) Macintosh IIsi (1990) Macintosh LC (1990) Macintosh IIfx (1990) Macintosh IIci (1989) Macintosh IIcx (1989) Macintosh SE FDHD (1989) Macintosh SE/30 (1989) Macintosh IIx (1988) Macintosh II (1987) Macintosh SE (1987) Macintosh Plus (1986) Apple IIgs (1986) (1986) Macintosh XL (1985) Macintosh 512K (1984) Macintosh 128K (1984) Macintosh 512Ke Macintosh Color Classic II Macintosh IIvi Macintosh IIvx Macintosh LC 630 DOS Compatible Macintosh LC III+ Macintosh Performa 600 Power Macintosh G3 All-In-One Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh NUC 15 Pro (2025) Desktop (AMD Ryzen AI Max 300 Series) (2025) OmniStudio X 31.5″ All-in-One (2024) IdeaCentre AIO 27IPH11 (2026) IdeaCentre AIO 27ARR9 (2024) Model history · 10 models, 2003–2009 2003 iMac G4 (20-inch, USB 2.0) Compare 2004 iMac G5 (20-inch, 2004) Compare 2005 iMac G5 (20-inch, Ambient Light Sensor) Compare 2005 iMac G5 (20-inch, iSight) Compare 2006 iMac (20-inch, Early 2006) Compare 2006 iMac (20-inch, Late 2006) Compare 2007 iMac (20-inch, Mid 2007) Compare 2008 iMac (20-inch, Early 2008) Compare 2009 iMac (20-inch, Early 2009) Compare 2009 iMac (21.5-inch, Late 2009)
Type All-in-one
Processor Intel Core 2
Memory 4 GB – 8 GB
Storage 500 GB – 2 TB
Screen 21.5″
Weight 9.3 kg What reviewers say Reviews praised the sharper display, viewing angles, design and fuller speakers. Macworld found modest overall speed gains but much stronger gaming from the dedicated graphics. The Independent liked the base model's everyday responsiveness; Macwelt found both sizes quiet, while criticising the absence of Blu-ray and the card slot's proximity to the DVD opening.
From macworld.com , the-independent.com and macwelt.de
Processor Intel Core 2 Duo E7600 or Intel Core 2 Duo E8600
CPU cores 2
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 9400M (256 MB shared DDR3) or ATI Radeon HD 4670 (256 MB GDDR3)
Memory 4 GB or 8 GB
Storage 500 GB to 2 TB
CPU 3.06 GHz Core 2 Duo E7600 with 3 MB shared L2 cache or optional 3.33 GHz E8600 with 6 MB; exact identities cross-checked with EveryMac
GPU Base model has NVIDIA GeForce 9400M with at least 256 MB DDR3 shared with system memory; higher model has ATI Radeon HD 4670 with 256 MB dedicated GDDR3
Memory type 4 GB standard as two 2 GB modules of 1066 MHz DDR3; four user-accessible SO-DIMM slots support up to 16 GB. Macworld and Macwelt report an 8 GB factory option for this size, distinct from the maker's 16 GB supported maximum.
Storage type Base model has a 500 GB 7200 rpm hard drive; higher model has 1 TB, configurable to 2 TB. The model-specific storage upgrade division is cross-checked with Macworld. Slot-loading 8x SuperDrive with 4x double-layer DVD burning. Display
Screen size 21.5″
Resolution 1920 × 1080
Panel IPS LCD
Brightness 320 nits
Display type Glossy LED-backlit IPS widescreen LCD, millions of colours, 178° horizontal/vertical viewing angle and maker typical brightness 320 cd/m²; refresh rate unpublished and omitted Connections
Ports DisplayPort, 4 × USB-A, Ethernet, SD card slot, headphone jack
Ethernet 1 Gb/s
External displays Up to 1
Wi-Fi 802.11n
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
Camera iSight camera
Back ports Mini DisplayPort video output, four USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 800 at 7 W, Gigabit Ethernet, SD card slot, headphone/optical digital output and line-in/optical digital input. FireWire and audio input described here; the SD slot is not labelled SDXC.
External displays Full built-in resolution and one external display up to 2560 × 1600 simultaneously; extended desktop and mirroring, optional DVI/VGA/dual-link DVI adapters
Speakers Built-in stereo speakers with two internal 17 W amplifiers, microphone and support for Apple Stereo Headset microphones
Keyboard and mouse Apple Wireless Keyboard and Magic Mouse Design and power
Type All-in-one
Weight 9.3 kg
Width × depth × height 528 × 188.5 × 451 mm
Operating system macOS
Power supply Maximum continuous power 241 W; 100–240 V AC, 50–60 Hz single phase
Materials Aluminium and glass enclosure, arsenic-free display glass and mercury-free LED backlight; BFR-free and PVC-free components, with PVC-free external cables in North America only
In the box iMac, Apple Wireless Keyboard, Magic Mouse, cleaning cloth, power cord, install/restore DVDs and documentation; Mac OS X Snow Leopard and iLife '09 Configurations Processor Memory Storage Storage type Graphics Intel Core 2 Duo E7600 4 GB 500 GB Hard drive NVIDIA GeForce 9400M (256 MB shared DDR3) Intel Core 2 Duo E7600 4 GB 1 TB Hard drive ATI Radeon HD 4670 (256 MB GDDR3) Intel Core 2 Duo E7600 4 GB 2 TB Hard drive ATI Radeon HD 4670 (256 MB GDDR3) Intel Core 2 Duo E7600 8 GB 500 GB Hard drive NVIDIA GeForce 9400M (256 MB shared DDR3) Intel Core 2 Duo E7600 8 GB 1 TB Hard drive ATI Radeon HD 4670 (256 MB GDDR3) Intel Core 2 Duo E7600 8 GB 2 TB Hard drive ATI Radeon HD 4670 (256 MB GDDR3) Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 4 GB 500 GB Hard drive NVIDIA GeForce 9400M (256 MB shared DDR3) Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 4 GB 1 TB Hard drive ATI Radeon HD 4670 (256 MB GDDR3) Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 4 GB 2 TB Hard drive ATI Radeon HD 4670 (256 MB GDDR3) Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 8 GB 500 GB Hard drive NVIDIA GeForce 9400M (256 MB shared DDR3) Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 8 GB 1 TB Hard drive ATI Radeon HD 4670 (256 MB GDDR3) Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 8 GB 2 TB Hard drive ATI Radeon HD 4670 (256 MB GDDR3)
Pros and cons Pros + Full HD IPS display and iSight camera built in+ User-accessible memory slots+ Wireless keyboard and Magic Mouse includedCons − Glossy screen with no matte option− USB ports are limited to USB 2.0− Base graphics share system memoryPrevious model: iMac (20-inch, Early 2009) . Newer model: iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2010) .
