Can Apple finally decide ditching 1080p for 4K?

Jun 29, 2015 09:27 GMT  ·  By

Although not especially rich in consumer-facing features, the latest version of the OS X El Capitan beta for developers gives small details of a future 4K 21.5-inch iMac.

Alongside this 4K iMac, it appears another 5K model could also come later this year, Apple bringing for the first time the big guns, read 4K Retina Display, to a market already saturated with UHD and 4K monitors, some of excellent quality.

Although Apple did come with a 5K Retina Display iMac last year, a 4K product has been postponed until info about it has surfaced in the El Capitan beta OS that is expected to be launched officially in October.

Keeping in mind that Apple did manage to fit 5K resolutions into a 27-inch iMac, 4K is quite likely to arrive in a 21.5-inch format. Although the size might not impress anyone, such a high resolution will need a powerful graphics unit to run such resolutions properly. Provided in the leaked code, courtesy of 9to5Mac, of the El Capitan OS, new tech from AMD and Intel is the hardware that will run such an impressive resolution. We're looking at a Broadwell based Intel Iris Pro Graphics 6200, with upgrade solutions including AMD Radeon R9 M300 series.

Can AMD catch up and help Apple?

Showing unnatural conservatism, Apple insists on keeping small 21.5- and 27-inch real estate screens worthy of 1080p resolutions rather than 4K worthy 37-inch surfaces. Moves like these are surprising as competitive screen builders like Dell, BenQ and Samsung already moved to the massive 32-inch monitors that are better suited at representing such resolutions.

However, these small steps are probably taken by Apple in order to wait for AMD technology to catch up the 4K train on mobile and compact format. As issues with 5K resolutions on the newest iMacs are reported, it's clear that maybe the new R9 M300 series from AMD could provide a strong launch platform for a reliable 4K-only iMac.

However, it's better to wait until October to clearly see if Apple finally ditches its 1080p screens for 4K resolutions, or we'll keep seeing limited implementations of what it already seems an ominous resolution among high-end monitors.

Secrets in the code revealed
Secrets in the code revealed

El Capitan iMac leaks (2 Images)

Can we finally look at a reliable Apple 4K?
Secrets in the code revealed
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