Apple iMac 2010: more attractive, better performances

Veritable boon for Apple, the iMac is now available in its 2010 version. On the menu is a complete range of Intel Core i processors and across the board roll-out of ATI graphics cards.

Last year, the iMac was accompanied by the new Magic Mouse, entirely touch-orientated and wireless. It also came with a new 16:9 IPS panel. Apart from a few problems with the 27-inch version, the image quality was excellent and there's no reason to think things will be any different in the new models.

Core i and ATI for everyone

No great changes this year, but there has been an update to configurations which makes the range more coherent. You get a Core i3 for the entry-level model and all the graphics cards are now made by ATI! This means better 3D performance, which is good news for anyone taking advantage of the increasing choice of games available for Macs: Steam and Starcraft 2 have just come out for Apple machines!

Like with the MacBook Pros recently, pricing has unfortunately gone up, though you do get the spec to match. Note once again the exorbitant cost of options such as RAM, which is priced extremely high! You can also opt for an SSD in addition to, or in place of the hard drive. This'll set you back £480 for 256 GB.

Here's a look at what's available:

	Apple iMac 21.5 inch Find the best price
iMac 21.5 inch @ 3.06 GHz Processor Intel Core i3 @ 3.06 GHz Graphics card ATI Radeon HD 4670 256 MB RAM 4 GB (8 GB: + £160) Hard drive 500 GB Screen 21.5'' (1920 x 1080 pixels) Dimensions 528 x 451 x 188.5 mm Price £999	iMac 21.5 inch @ 3.2 GHz Processor Intel Core i3 @ 3.2 GHz (3.6 GHz : + £160) Graphics card ATI Radeon HD 5670 512 MB RAM 4 GB (8 GB: + £160) Hard drive 1000 GB (2 TB: + £120) Screen 21.5'' (1920 x 1080 pixels) Dimensions 528 x 451 x 188.5 mm Price £1,249

Apple iMac 27 inch Find the best price

iMac 27 inch @ 3.2 GHz Processor Intel Core i3 @ 3.2 GHz (3.6 GHz: + £160) Graphics card ATI Radeon HD 5670 512 MB (ATI Radeon HD 5750 1 GB: + £120) RAM 4 GB (4 x 2 GB: + £160) (2 x 4 GB: + £320) (4 x 4 GB: + £800) Hard drive 1000 GB (2 TB: + £120) (SSD 256 GB: + £480) (1 TB + SSD 256 GB: + £600) (2 TB + SSD 256 GB: + £720) Screen 27'' (2560 x 1440 pixels) Dimensions 650 x 517 x 207 mm Price £1,399

iMac 27 inch @ 2.8 GHz (Quad-Core) Processor Quad-Core Intel Core i5 @ 2.8 GHz (Core i7 @ 2.93 GHz : + £160) Graphics card ATI Radeon HD 5750 1 GB RAM 4 GB (4 x 2 GB: + £160) (2 x 4 GB: + £320) (4 x 4 GB: + £800) Hard drive 1000 GB (2 TB: + £120) (SSD 256 GB: + £480) (1 TB + SSD 256 GB: + £600) (2 TB + SSD 256 GB: + £720) Screen 27'' (2560 x 1440 pixels) Dimensions 650 x 517 x 207 mm Price £1,649

> Test: Apple iMac 27-inch 3.06 GHz
> Test: Apple iMac 24-inch 2.66 GHz

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