I am looking to get a retina Imac. The 27 inch is just too big for my desk space. The 21 inch doesn't have the skylake chip. I didn't want to rush out and get the current one if skylake was coming soon to the 21 inch. Has anyone heard about when skylake might be available on the 21 inch Imac? Thanks.
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Skylake for the 21 inch Imac
- Thread starter carl43m
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Skylake isn't revolutionary over Broadwell, offering only 5% gain in CPU performance at the same clock frequency. At the same time, the Broadwell offers GT3e integrated graphic card (e stands for the 128MB eDRAM cache), the highest performance of all intel GPUs. There is no Skylake SKU offers integrated GT3e at present. I think this is the main reason why Apple opt for Broadwell on 21-inch iMac.
Clearly, Apple doesn't want to use dGPU on the 21-inch model. So when Skylake might be available on 21-inch iMac depends on when intel wish to offer Skylake with a powerful integrated GPU.
Personally, I wouldn't care about the difference between Broadwell and Skylake. It is the lack of discrete GPU and the 5400rpm hard drive that make the 21-inch less favorable. If you absolutely need the 21-inch form factor, you should get it now. But be sure to upgrade to a SSD.
Clearly, Apple doesn't want to use dGPU on the 21-inch model. So when Skylake might be available on 21-inch iMac depends on when intel wish to offer Skylake with a powerful integrated GPU.
Personally, I wouldn't care about the difference between Broadwell and Skylake. It is the lack of discrete GPU and the 5400rpm hard drive that make the 21-inch less favorable. If you absolutely need the 21-inch form factor, you should get it now. But be sure to upgrade to a SSD.
I see that I can get a fusion drive on the 21 inch. The reason I was looking for skylake chip is I thought with that apple would offer discrete graphics with the machine. I guess I'll just hold off a couple of more months to see if new info becomes avaiklable.
the soldered RAM on the 21" is a factor to be considered ...
IMHO the only iMac you should consider is the 27".
In a couple of months you aren't going to discover anything about future Apple's plans.
Since they just rolled out the new 21" iMacs, they'll not replace these for a while at the very least. The reason why Apple opted for Broadwell, is because it has a better iGPU then the current skylake chipsets.
If 27" doesn't fit your needs, then I'd get the 21" now rather then wait because I think you'll be waiting a long time.
It's not looking likely at all, in fact I'd say it's not going to happen, if apple consider broadwell IRIS pro graphics to be good enough then the better graphics that will come with skylake will make the need for a dGPU even less likely. Dedicated graphics cards are the biggest reason for computer failure other than HDD and apple will avoid that wherever they can. I would be willing to bet we won't get an upgrade until next autumn either.
I would advise against getting the Broadwell based 21". As someone else pointed out, the iGPU will be much stronger with Skylake -- along with other enhancements. If Apple sticks to its recent pattern, you'll probably see it next October. If you can't wait until then, get a bigger desk!