Product Review

The iMac "Core i5" 2.9 27-Inch Aluminum (Late 2012) features a 22 nm Quad Core 2.9 GHz Intel "Core i5" I5-3407S (Ivy Bridge) processor with four independent processor cores on a single chip, a 6 MB shared level 3 cache, 8 GB of 1600 MHz DDR3L SDRAM (PC3-12800) installed in pairs (two 4 GB modules), a 1 TB (7200 RPM) hard drive, and a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M graphics processor with 512 MB of dedicated GDDR5 memory. It also has a built-in "FaceTime HD" webcam and stereo speakers, but lacks an optical drive. This model has a 27" 2560x1440 LED-backlit 16:9 widescreen IPS display with the "cover glass fully laminated to the LCD and anti-reflective coating." The rear of the case is aluminum and is thicker in the middle and tapers to a razor thin 5 mm at the edges. Connectivity includes four USB 3.0 ports, dual Thunderbolt ports, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11n, and Bluetooth 4.0. In addition to a thinner case design, the "Late 2012" iMac models have faster processors, faster architectures, faster RAM (although it cannot be upgraded in the 21.5-Inch models), faster graphics, as well as different connectivity than the "Mid-2011" iMac line replaced. The "Late 2012" iMac models include a compact aluminum Apple Wireless Keyboard and the choice of either a multi-touch "Magic Mouse" or a multi-touch "Magic Trackpad" that "enables users to scroll smoothly up and down a page with inertial scrolling, pinch to zoom in and out, rotate an image with their fingertips and swipe three fingers to flip through a collection of web pages or photos."