The Apple iMac Snell is an all-in-one machine that features a 27-inch display and comes with a range of upgrades, including Thunderbolt 3 support. This may not seem like a huge deal at first, but it really is a big deal because the iMac is traditionally not upgradable.

Under the third generation of iMacs, which was introduced in 2017, you get two Thunderbolt 3 ports right next to the rest of the I/O from the rear of the machine. This allows you to expand the iMac capabilities using external peripherals with just one cable. For instance, you can connect a single Thunderbolt 3 cable and connect to an external storage device like this.

One of the reasons why I valued the entry-level 5k iMac so much is because the RAM is upgradable out of the box. This means you don't have to go and splurge on Apple's ridiculously overpriced Ram modules; you can simply go out and buy your own, like I've done here. By going with third-party RAM after-market upgrades, I was able to save a significant amount of money. In fact, I went from eight gigabytes of RAM to 40 gigabytes of RAM, which was way cheaper.

Another great thing about Mac OS High Sierra is that there will be built-in support for external GPUs, which is perfect for Thunderbolt 3 connectivity found on the 5k iMac. In this example, I'm connecting to my MacBook Pro, which also has Thunderbolt 3, and you can see it's connected to an external display and it's being driven by the AMD RX 580 and the external GPU box.

In the future, hopefully, we'll be able to drive the internal display of the 5k iMac with an external GPU, which would be really the ultimate setup. However, it's super promising as is. The mid-2017 entry-level 5k iMac includes a cable, and this features a quad-core processor – the i5 version – which has a base clock of 3.4 gigahertz and it turbos up to 3.8 gigahertz.

When you need that extra boost of speed, it can be a little bit faster. However, it only makes sense considering this is the entry-level 5k iMac. The 5k iMac is actually available with four different quad-core processors – you have the entry-level 3.4 gigahertz model, the 3.5 gigahertz model, and the 3.8 gigahertz model. There's also one other processor, which is the i7 model – it's Intel Core i7 7700K, also a seventh-generation Kaby Lake processor.

The i7 model starts with the base clock of 4.2 gigahertz and turbos up to 4.5 gigahertz and it also includes hyper-threading, so like all of the quad-core chips, there are four cores right, but with hyper-threading you get two threads per core for a total of eight threads and that increases the efficiency of those cores.

So, there's no mistaking that the i7 model is the best model out there. However, the i5 model is no slouch, and I find that it handles 4k video editing or whatever else I throw at it surprisingly well. That's not to say that the iMac is perfect; the biggest gripe that I have is with design – the design is looking a little dated right now.

You have that large chin at the bottom, you have those huge bezels and I mean just absolutely huge bezels that just look dated in 2017. Apple really needs to ditch those bezels get rid of the chin and give us an iMac that's all display.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enin this video we take a look at the entry-level mid-2017 5k iMac in my opinion this is the best bang for your buck as far as Mac computers go so in this video I'm going to explain my reasoning behind that thought and share with you several areas that make this computer one of the best values on the market today so let's get started of course the most noticeable thing about the 5k iMac is its namesake the 5k display it is incredible it's even better this time around it's brighter at 500 and it's brightness which is 43% brighter than the previous model and it also has better color reproduction but the big thing here is that you get a true 5k display 51 twenty by twenty eight eighty native resolution you can switch to that and of course LG produced a 5k display as well this is the LG ultra fine 50 display it costs about 1300 bucks and not only did this display have a few problems out of the gate but it also isn't going to win any design Awards when compared to the iMac there simply is no comparison the iMac is so much better looking and it's only about 500 bucks more or even less than that if you catch it on sale and considering there's a full computer inside the iMac I'd say it's a pretty good value for the very first time with the mid-2017 refresh the iMac Snell has Thunderbolt 3 support in tow you get two Thunderbolt 3 ports right next to the rest of the i/o from the rear of the machine now while this may not seem like a huge deal on the surface it really is a big deal because the iMac is an all-in-one machine it's not traditionally upgradable but under both three really does allow you to expand the IMX capabilities using external peripherals so all you need to do is connect a single Thunderbolt 3 cable like this for instance and connect to an external storage device like this and that's really just the tip of the iceberg you can connect to some really really fast external storage external GPUs etc now one of the reasons why I valued the entry-level 5k iMac so much is because the RAM is upgradable out of the box so that means you don't have to go and splurge on apples ridiculously overpriced Ram modules you can simply go out and buy your own like I've done here so by going with third party Ranma after market I was able to save a significant amount of money in fact I went from eight gigabytes of RAM to 40 gigabytes of RAM and it was way cheaper to go this route and one of the great things about Mac OS hi Sierra the upcoming version of Mac OS is that there will be built-in support for external GPUs which is perfect for Thunderbolt 3 connectivity found on the 5k iMac now in this example I'm connecting to my macbook pro which also has Thunderbolt 3 and you can see it's connected to an external display and it's being driven by the AMT rx 580 and the external GPU box there now in the future hopefully we'll be able to drive the internal display of the 5k iMac with an external GPU that would be really the ultimate set up but it's super promising as is and then lastly the mid-2017 entry-level 5k iMac includes a cable a quad-core processor this is the i5 version and this features a base clock of 3.4 gigahertz and it turbos up to 3.8 gigahertz so when you need that extra boost of speed it can be a little bit faster now it only makes sense considering this is the entry-level 5k iMac that it will be the slowest of the available models the 5k iMac is actually available with four different quad-core processors you have the entry-level 3.4 gigahertz model the 3.5 gigahertz model in a 3.8 gigahertz model and you can see the turbo boost speeds increase as well however there is one other processor and that is the i7 model it is Intel 7700 K also a seventh generation KB Lake processor and this AI 7 model starts with the base clock of 4.2 gigahertz turbos up to 4.5 gigahertz and it also includes hyper threading so like all of the quad core chips there are four cores right but with hyper threading you get two threads per core for a total of eight threads and that increases the efficiency of those cores so there's no mistaking that the i7 model is the best model out there however the i5 model is no slouch and I find that it handles 4k video editing or whatever else I throw at it surprisingly well that's not to say that the iMac is perfect the biggest gripe that I have is with design the design is looking a little a little dated right now you have that large chin at the bottom you have those huge bezels and I mean just absolutely huge bezels that just look dated in 2017 Apple really needs to ditch those bezels get rid of the chin and give us an iMac that's all display that said the entry-level 5k iMac is an awesome bang for the buck you also get the magic keyboard $99 value the Magic Mouse 2 $79 value and a lightning cable to charge the devices $19 value there's a lot of value built into this 5k iMac entry-level package and then you have the ability to upgrade the RAM ad fast external storage add an external GPU and you can see why the 5k iMac is a virtual still at its entry-level asking price let me know what you think in the comments this is Jeff with nine-to-five Macin this video we take a look at the entry-level mid-2017 5k iMac in my opinion this is the best bang for your buck as far as Mac computers go so in this video I'm going to explain my reasoning behind that thought and share with you several areas that make this computer one of the best values on the market today so let's get started of course the most noticeable thing about the 5k iMac is its namesake the 5k display it is incredible it's even better this time around it's brighter at 500 and it's brightness which is 43% brighter than the previous model and it also has better color reproduction but the big thing here is that you get a true 5k display 51 twenty by twenty eight eighty native resolution you can switch to that and of course LG produced a 5k display as well this is the LG ultra fine 50 display it costs about 1300 bucks and not only did this display have a few problems out of the gate but it also isn't going to win any design Awards when compared to the iMac there simply is no comparison the iMac is so much better looking and it's only about 500 bucks more or even less than that if you catch it on sale and considering there's a full computer inside the iMac I'd say it's a pretty good value for the very first time with the mid-2017 refresh the iMac Snell has Thunderbolt 3 support in tow you get two Thunderbolt 3 ports right next to the rest of the i/o from the rear of the machine now while this may not seem like a huge deal on the surface it really is a big deal because the iMac is an all-in-one machine it's not traditionally upgradable but under both three really does allow you to expand the IMX capabilities using external peripherals so all you need to do is connect a single Thunderbolt 3 cable like this for instance and connect to an external storage device like this and that's really just the tip of the iceberg you can connect to some really really fast external storage external GPUs etc now one of the reasons why I valued the entry-level 5k iMac so much is because the RAM is upgradable out of the box so that means you don't have to go and splurge on apples ridiculously overpriced Ram modules you can simply go out and buy your own like I've done here so by going with third party Ranma after market I was able to save a significant amount of money in fact I went from eight gigabytes of RAM to 40 gigabytes of RAM and it was way cheaper to go this route and one of the great things about Mac OS hi Sierra the upcoming version of Mac OS is that there will be built-in support for external GPUs which is perfect for Thunderbolt 3 connectivity found on the 5k iMac now in this example I'm connecting to my macbook pro which also has Thunderbolt 3 and you can see it's connected to an external display and it's being driven by the AMT rx 580 and the external GPU box there now in the future hopefully we'll be able to drive the internal display of the 5k iMac with an external GPU that would be really the ultimate set up but it's super promising as is and then lastly the mid-2017 entry-level 5k iMac includes a cable a quad-core processor this is the i5 version and this features a base clock of 3.4 gigahertz and it turbos up to 3.8 gigahertz so when you need that extra boost of speed it can be a little bit faster now it only makes sense considering this is the entry-level 5k iMac that it will be the slowest of the available models the 5k iMac is actually available with four different quad-core processors you have the entry-level 3.4 gigahertz model the 3.5 gigahertz model in a 3.8 gigahertz model and you can see the turbo boost speeds increase as well however there is one other processor and that is the i7 model it is Intel 7700 K also a seventh generation KB Lake processor and this AI 7 model starts with the base clock of 4.2 gigahertz turbos up to 4.5 gigahertz and it also includes hyper threading so like all of the quad core chips there are four cores right but with hyper threading you get two threads per core for a total of eight threads and that increases the efficiency of those cores so there's no mistaking that the i7 model is the best model out there however the i5 model is no slouch and I find that it handles 4k video editing or whatever else I throw at it surprisingly well that's not to say that the iMac is perfect the biggest gripe that I have is with design the design is looking a little a little dated right now you have that large chin at the bottom you have those huge bezels and I mean just absolutely huge bezels that just look dated in 2017 Apple really needs to ditch those bezels get rid of the chin and give us an iMac that's all display that said the entry-level 5k iMac is an awesome bang for the buck you also get the magic keyboard $99 value the Magic Mouse 2 $79 value and a lightning cable to charge the devices $19 value there's a lot of value built into this 5k iMac entry-level package and then you have the ability to upgrade the RAM ad fast external storage add an external GPU and you can see why the 5k iMac is a virtual still at its entry-level asking price let me know what you think in the comments this is Jeff with nine-to-five Mac\n"