Apple iMac (4th gen) review

Apple iMac (4th gen) Review

Reviewed by: Rich Brown

Reviewed on: 9 August 2007

CineBench
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

Rendering Multiple CPUs

Rendering Single CPU

HP Pavilion Media Center TV m8120n

1241 

400 

Velocity Micro Vector Campus Edition

923 

503 

Apple iMac

754 

400 

Velocity Micro ProMagix E2035

733 

400 

Dell Inspiron 531

654 

354 

Sony Vaio TP1 Living Room PC

546 

299 

Despite its new ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro graphics chip, the iMac still isn't very well suited to playing 3D games. On our Quake 4 test, at a forgiving 1,024x768-pixel resolution, the iMac turned in an only marginally acceptable 39 frames per second (fps). We were surprised by that, since Quake 4 sits on the tail end of what we consider current 3D games.

Comparable Windows PCs from Dell and Velocity Micro perform much better. You should be able to play less-advanced 3D games on the iMac, but we're still disappointed that Apple doesn't want to take gaming seriously.

Quake 4 performance (in frames per second)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

1,024 x 768 (4x AA, 8x AF)

Velocity Micro Vector Campus Edition

94.1 

Velocity Micro ProMagix E2035

83.7 

Dell Inspiron 531

69.5 

Apple iMac

39.2 

HP Pavilion Media Center TV m8120n

15.5 

Conclusion
We have reservations about the iMac's operating system. Our biggest complaint with this new system is that, even though Apple's new Leopard operating system is only two months away, Apple hasn't offered any information about its upgrade plans. We find that oversight irksome and inconsiderate, especially since in the past, major operating system updates have cost extra cash. As much as we like this system, we think you'd be smart to wait until October to buy one, when the new OS would presumably be included at no extra cost.

Our other gripe, that Apple's support is lacklustre, is far from news. That you get only 90 days of phone support with an Apple always feels like a slap in the face when we read it. At least the year-long warranty for parts and labour meets the industry standard. Apple's user community has also proven itself a useful resource, and you can find tonnes of helpful troubleshooting tips on Apple's forum.

Aside from those relatively minor concerns, Apple's new iMac is the most complete and most attractive mainstream desktop on the market, all-in-one or otherwise.

Additional editing by Kate Macefield