New 21.5″ Entry-Level iMac Benchmarks Released [Geekbench]

Earlier today, Apple unveiled a new member of its iMac line, a 21.5” entry-level model starting at $1,149 and already, we have the initial benchmarks of the new machine showing up online. According to MacRumors, the new iMac’s relatively low 32-bit scores of 2820 in single-core mode and 5435 in multi-core mode are primarily due to the chip used in this low-end model being a dual-core chip, compared to the older low-end model featuring a quad-core processor.

“These scores are marginally better than the 2476/4690 scores posted by the current-generation MacBook Air running the same chip and actually fairly close to single-core scores from the previous low-end iMac model, which remains available, at 2882. But where this new low-end iMac falls far short of the previous low-end model is in multi-core performance, where the older model clocks in at 9204.”

It must however be kept in mind that the new low-end iMac costs $200 less than the previous entry-level model. The other 21.5-inch and 27-inch iMacs are still available at the previous price.

The new 21.5-inch iMac uses the same Core i5 1.4 GHz (2.7 GHz Turbo Boost) and Intel HD Graphics we have seen in the MacBook Air. It has 8 GB of RAM, a 500 GB hard drive, four USB 3 ports, an SDXC housing, Ethernet 10/100/1000 Base-T; and Wi-Fi, Bluetooth LE and Thunderbolt ports.