Is Apple Working On An Ultra HD 5K iMac?

News
By Kevin Parrish
published

Last week, Dell revealed that it's launching the world's first Ultra HD 5K monitor. Called the Dell UltraSharp 27, the panel will measure 27 inches and have a resolution of 5120 x 2880 (218 PPI). The panel is aimed at professionals, packing an anti-smudge, anti-reflective "edge-to-edge" screen, a color depth of 1 billion colors, a miniDisplay Port for 4K input and more.

Apple apparently isn't going to sit and let Dell take all the credit. LCD market research firm WitsView, by way of DigiTimes, reports that the fruity iPhone company plans to release a 27-inch iMac model with a 5120 x 2880 resolution. This iMac, along with a number of displays, is expected to heat up the Ultra HD market this year and into 2015.

According to the report, 28-inch Ultra HD monitors (3840 x 2160) had an average retail price of $630 as of August. Additional panel makers are expected to reveal Ultra HD solutions before the end of the year, and in various sizes. WitsView believes that most display vendors are expected to focus on 27-inch, 28-inch and 32-inch Ultra HD units.

Dell's 27-inch 5K monitor solution will arrive in 4Q 2015 and cost a hefty $2,499.99. There's speculation that the monitor will be powered by Multi-Stream Transport (MST), which combines two 2560 x 2880 panels. WitsView's report really doesn't say anything about Apple providing a similar display save for the Ultra HD 5K iMac.

If you want to go shopping for a new high-resolution display, keep in mind that Ultra HD is 3840 x 2160, Ultra HD 4K is 4096 x 2160 and Ultra HD 5K is 5120 x 2880. The naming can definitely get very confusing, especially when so many Ultra HD names are thrown into one topic.

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Kevin Parrish
25 Comments Comment from the forums
  • jn77
    Eh, the standards are "Standard" 480 lines, Low Def (720p), High Def (1080p), 4k, and 8k. There is also a 15k standard. what is 5k? lol Only apple.
    Reply
  • Icaraeus
    They're actually 480p Standard Def, 720p High Def, 1080p Full High Def, 1440/1600/1800p Quad HD then 4k and 5k. Anything else isn't available for consumers.
    Reply
  • TechyInAZ
    5k is such a high resolution for apple, that they will need to put in a very expensive GPU in their to make that display a comfortable viewing experience for movie watching and other stuff.
    Reply
  • therealduckofdeath
    Eh, the standards are "Standard" 480 lines, Low Def (720p), High Def (1080p), 4k, and 8k. There is also a 15k standard. what is 5k? lol Only apple.
    Dell released a 5k display a little while ago.

    5k will arrive before 8k. The k "standards" are really not exact science, just resolution near even 1000's, as we are too lazy to say things like 2880p.
    Reply
  • CaptainTom
    It's pretty obvious that UHD is anything above 1080p, and that QHD is 4k and up.
    Reply
  • alidan
    Eh, the standards are "Standard" 480 lines, Low Def (720p), High Def (1080p), 4k, and 8k. There is also a 15k standard. what is 5k? lol Only apple.
    Dell released a 5k display a little while ago.

    5k will arrive before 8k. The k "standards" are really not exact science, just resolution near even 1000's, as we are too lazy to say things like 2880p.

    no to lazy, 4k sounds more impressive than 2160p
    Reply
  • nitrium
    I'm sure it must be a bit confusing to avergae consumers that they first measured resolution VERTICALLY (e.g. 720p, 1080p), and now suddenly do a 90 degree turn and measure it HORIZONTALLY (4k, 5k etc).
    Reply
  • turkey3_scratch
    @nitruim: Yes I noticed that naming gimmick, too, because at first I thought 4K had 16X the pixels than 1080p rather than actually 4X.

    I don't see why they are introducing 5k when 4k has not even popularized enough yet, is still too expensive, and is too much for a typical graphics card to handle well. We need a good 5 years until 4k is normal.
    Reply
  • amk-aka-Phantom
    It's pretty obvious that UHD is anything above 1080p, and that QHD is 4k and up.

    NO. UHD is 3840x2160 and nothing else. 4K is 4096x2160, it's a cinema standard whose name has been stolen for marketing a consumer one.

    I'm sure it must be a bit confusing to avergae consumers that they first measured resolution VERTICALLY (e.g. 720p, 1080p), and now suddenly do a 90 degree turn and measure it HORIZONTALLY (4k, 5k etc).

    "avergae" consumer deserves that for being uneducated about something as simple as screen resolutions.
    Reply
  • vmem
    I don't see why they are introducing 5k when 4k has not even popularized enough yet, is still too expensive, and is too much for a typical graphics card to handle well. We need a good 5 years until 4k is normal.

    5X is essentially 4 times 2560x1440p, or QHD. For the past couple of years 1080p has been marked as the consumer standard, and QHD for "graphic professionals". now that 4K is being marketed as the new consumer standard, graphic professionals need their QHD doubled on both axis as well :-)
    Reply