Apple announces 27" iMac Retina 5K display

Along with new iPads, today Apple announced the next step it it's line of iMacs, the 27" iMac Retina 5K display. The Retina 5K features the most powerful high resolution screen Apple has ever produced with 5120 x 2880 pixels; thats 14.7 million pixels. It offers seven times more pixels than the standard 1080p HDTV, and 67% more than 4K cinema displays.

All that pixel power is packed into a display that's just 5 mm thick, thanks to a custom made timing controller and advanced LED backlights. Photo alignment has been improved both on and off axis to give better contrast than ever before. Thanks to the included Thunderbolt 2 connector the machine can transfer up to 20Gbps.

Its cost is almost more impressive than its technical specs. A standard 4K display costs on average $3,000. The iMac Retina 5K starts at $2,499. The base model comes with 8GB of memory, a 1TB fusion drive, a 3.5 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5, and AMD Radeon R9 M290X. The Intel Core can be upgraded to an i7, and the AMD Radeon R9 M290X is upgradable to a M295X.

All of this is built into an environmentally friendly package, which has earned an Energy Star 6.1 rating. $2,499 is a lot for a computer, but considering the incredible advancements Apple has made with display technology you can bet professional photographers and video editors are already reaching for their credit cards. They won't have to wait long; you can order the iMac Retina 5K from Apple starting today.