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First retina iMac
- Thread starter zoran
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Great source for this kind of stuff, btw: https://everymac.com/
The latest (2020) 5K iMac has a display with TrueTone technology, and also could be ordered with the Nano-texture surface on the display. 2020 also had up to 16GB graphics memory, so optional higher performance graphics card.
Whether any of those are of any significance on a several-year old computer would be entirely up to you to decide.
Whether any of those are of any significance on a several-year old computer would be entirely up to you to decide.
Have they announced any plans for a retina version?
I like the idea but the price is quite a lot more expensive than a driver board and by only supporting 2011 (not the others with same design) they target a very narrow audience.
No they haven't announced a retina version.
What do you mean "and by only supporting 2011..."
or the App Mactracker.
They don’t support any other model than iMac G4 and 2011.
”Right now we only offer support for the iMac G4 and 2011 iMac”
FAQ – Juicy Crumb Systems
juicycrumb.com
Not even models with same non-retina design. Having bought a driver board and converted my late 2009 to a monitor, I know you need the matching hardware to your specific panel. But still.
I think the 5k iMac got a wider-gamut P3 display in 2015 and a brightness boost in 2017.
Someone's already posted about the 2020 model.
All the info about 5K iMac monitor conversions is in the thread DIY 5K Monitor - Success 
forums.macrumors.com
The latter part of the thread has up to date info.
DIY 5k Monitor - success :-)
My "latest Macs" are a heavily upgraded 2009 Mac Pro (6c CPU, M.2 SSD, USB 3, RX580...) and more recently a 12c 2013 Mac Pro with an eGPU (Vega 56) - both machines with more than enough CPU power, GPU power and RAM for my needs, but I long aspired to upgrade to a nice 5k monitor to replace my...
forums.macrumors.com
The latter part of the thread has up to date info.
Quote: "Are there any display differences between the first Retina iMac and the last one?"
There have been eight different LG 5K iMac screen panels used by Apple:
Late 2014 - LM270QQ1 SD(A1), (A2), (A3). Max brightness 440 nits.
Late 2015 - LM270QQ1 SD(B1) Display P3 500 nits
Late 2017 - LM270QQ1 SD(C1) P3 500 nits
Late 2017 iMac Pro - LM270QQ1 SD(D1) P3 500 nits
Mid 2019 - LM270QQ1 SD(E1) P3 500 nits.
2020 - LM270QQ1 SD(F1) P3 500 nits. Plain or Nano glass. Inbuilt screen webcam.
Both 2019/20 have a backlight cable different from earlier panels.
EDIT: The Apple Studio Display uses an LG LM270QQ2 SD(A1). Spot the difference...
The LG 5K Ultrafine Display panels were also LM270QQ2.
There have been eight different LG 5K iMac screen panels used by Apple:
Late 2014 - LM270QQ1 SD(A1), (A2), (A3). Max brightness 440 nits.
Late 2015 - LM270QQ1 SD(B1) Display P3 500 nits
Late 2017 - LM270QQ1 SD(C1) P3 500 nits
Late 2017 iMac Pro - LM270QQ1 SD(D1) P3 500 nits
Mid 2019 - LM270QQ1 SD(E1) P3 500 nits.
2020 - LM270QQ1 SD(F1) P3 500 nits. Plain or Nano glass. Inbuilt screen webcam.
Both 2019/20 have a backlight cable different from earlier panels.
EDIT: The Apple Studio Display uses an LG LM270QQ2 SD(A1). Spot the difference...
The LG 5K Ultrafine Display panels were also LM270QQ2.
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People are talking about taking apart and retrofitting the older Retina iMacs (the 5K ones, I believe) so they can be used as standalone monitors.Can someone summarise in simple words what has happened here in this thread?
The idea is that they're very good displays but the iMac computers themselves are quite a few years old at this point. So repurposing the display gets you the rough equivalent of the Apple Studio Display, but much more cheaply.
(The one big drawback, from my understanding, is that these mods don't let you reuse the speakers, mic or camera from the old iMac, so you have to also budget for adding those things back in.)
"...gets you the rough equivalent of the Apple Studio Display"
With DP and HDMI inputs as well as USB-C.
Using the original speakers is easy - the conversion boards have an audio amp.
Having an internal mic (without a T2 DSP) is difficult for noise if you fan cool the conversion.
Repurposing the PCIe FaceTime camera is an unsolved problem.
Probably unsolvable unless you fit an A13 iPhone logic board in the case?
With DP and HDMI inputs as well as USB-C.
Using the original speakers is easy - the conversion boards have an audio amp.
Having an internal mic (without a T2 DSP) is difficult for noise if you fan cool the conversion.
Repurposing the PCIe FaceTime camera is an unsolved problem.
Probably unsolvable unless you fit an A13 iPhone logic board in the case?
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Although the retina displays of 2014 to 2020 iMac are nominally the same (or nearly so), there are significant issues with certain years.
The 2014 displays are notorious for developing image retention (I had one), and the 2015 displays for getting pink edges. Other years are not necessarily OK.
Both are solved by a USB web cam. E.g. Logitech 1080p which has better web cam (and mic?) than the internal.
A more correct term for burn-in on lcd displays, because they do not burn-in, but can develop similar symptoms. However afaik, it will sort it itself out, if left without power over a longer period.
The monitor saves some of what was on the screen before it. I had this on my 2014 and my 2015 has it though my screen is mostly static so it doesn't bother me. The 2015 model has the pink tinging on the display too. I have an iMac Pro right now and have not run into any screen issues with it. I haven't heard of these issues on the 2019 or 2020 models either.
Not sure about that. I had a 2014 iMac 5K and the image retention just got steadily worse over time. Fortunately the issue arose before my AppleCare ran out and I was able to get a new panel put in for free -- which did not have the same issue.
There might be difference in panels, but from the previous linked Wikipedia article
"Image persistence can be reversed by allowing the liquid crystals to relax and return to their relaxed state, such as by turning off the monitor for a sufficiently long period of time (at least a few hours)."
I had Garmin watch, which fixed itself from a white pixel spot after having been unused in my drawer a few months.