Apple updates iMac lineup with Intel's 8th-gen and 9th-gen Core CPUs and AMD's Radeon Pro Vega GPUs; 21.5" starts at $1,299, 27" 5K at $1,799, available today
Nearly two years have passed since Apple last refreshed the iMac, but updates are finally here for both 4K and 5K models.
Context & Ripple Effects
This refresh closes a long gap: the 4K iMac arrived back in October 2015, and by March 2019 the lineup had gone nearly two years without new hardware. Apple's answer keeps the traditional recipe — Intel Core CPUs paired, for the first time at this tier, with AMD's Radeon Pro Vega graphics — while holding the entry price at $1,299.
In hindsight the timing matters more than the specs: one more Intel-era update followed in August 2020 with 10th-gen Core chips, and by April 2021 Apple had replaced the entire architecture with the M1 iMac at the same $1,299 entry point. This 2019 release is therefore the second-to-last act of the Intel iMac.
First-order effects
- Creative-pro buyers immediately gain workstation-class Vega graphics inside an all-in-one, with the 27-inch 5K model repositioned at $1,799 as the pro-leaning option against the $1,299 21.5-inch base.
- The two-year refresh drought ends for both 4K and 5K models on day one — hardware available today rather than a pre-announcement.
Second-order effects
- AMD secures a high-profile desktop GPU socket inside the best-selling all-in-one, deepening the Apple–AMD graphics pairing even as Intel retains the CPU slot for one more generation.
- Intel's 8th- and 9th-gen Core parts buy the iMac another cycle, setting up the 2020 refresh that would be the line's final Intel-based iteration.
Third-order effects
- Within two years Apple collapsed the Intel-CPU-plus-AMD-GPU split into its own silicon — the M1 iMac launched at the identical $1,299 entry price — making this update the clearest before-and-after marker of the Mac's transition away from third-party processors.
- If the pattern holds, all-in-one desktops stop differentiating on which vendor's chips they carry and start competing on integration of display, thermals, and custom silicon.
The trend: The iMac's late Intel generations show desktop lines cycling on third-party CPU/GPU combos right up until a platform owner replaces both roles with its own silicon.