iMac 2015 specs rumors: New iMac to feature 4K display

Apple's 27-inch iMac with Retina display[Photo credit: Apple]

Is Apple intending release a new iMac soon?

According to rumors, it seems that the Cupertino-based company is thinking of updating its iMac, one of the company's flagship products. 

Back in June, Pierre Dandumont and Mark Gruman of Apple fansite 9to5Mac discovered that a line of code in El Capitan, Apple's upcoming operating system, lists support for 4K display. Although the discovery could be a coincidence, recent speculations seem to indicate that Apple has intentions of coming out with a much-improved iMac.

Just recently, French site Consomac has also discovered that the newest beta preview of the upcoming El Capitan OS still includes the 4K, 21-inch iMac with Retina display in its line of codes, with an additional image of the supposed newer iMac. In addition, the discovery also includes a new 5K iMac, which suggests that Apple may also be intending to release a new 27-inch 5K iMac soon. 

If the rumors are true, Apple has picked a good time to upgrade its 21-inch iMac. The last update to the non-Retina version of the desktop was in 2013. Since then, most of the other products in Apple's different lineups have been refreshed, most recently releasing a much-updated iPod touch. However, the 21-inch non-Retina iMacs remained untouched. 

Specs-wise, the upcoming new 21-inch, 4K Retina iMac will double its resolution, coming out with a 4096 x 2304 screen, against the current 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution. Under the hood, it has been reported that the new iMac will benefit from the newly-announced quad-core Broadwell chipset, an upgrade over the recently-released 27-inch Retina iMac's Haswell processors. Meanwhile, there are also speculations that Apple may well wait first for the rumored more-powerful Skylake processor to ship out, and use it to power the new device. Graphics-wise, the new desktop will be using Radeon-based graphics, much like the higher-end iMacs currently on the market.