As the holidays approach, supplies of the Retina iMac appear to be improving somewhat, and as of this week, shipping estimates for both standard and custom Retina iMac configurations have improved to 1 to 2 weeks in the United States (via MacGeneration). Shipping estimates have also improved to 1 to 2 weeks in many other countries, but custom configurations may carry higher shipping times outside of the United States.
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Retina iMac stock has been significantly constrained since the machine launched on October 16, slipping to 3 to 5 days shortly after release then moving to 7 to 10 days before dropping to 3 to 4 weeks in mid-November.
The base Retina iMac, with a 3.5GHz processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 1TB fusion drive is in stock at many retail Apple Stores around the country and can be picked up same day, but when ordered from the online store, it ships in 1 to 2 weeks like all custom configurations. With the newly improved shipping estimates, Retina iMacs ordered today will arrive well ahead of the Christmas holiday.
Equipped with a 5120 x 2880 "5K" Retina screen, Apple's newest iMac has received largely positive reviews for its impressive display, and configured with a 4.0GHz processor and 32GB of RAM, the higher-end Retina iMac models are able to outperform the low-end Mac Pro.
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Warning: After using a Retina iMac you may find yourself randomly browsing for 4K monitors. My 1080 2nd & 3rd displays are offensive to my eyes now. :eek:
The people shown on the screens in Apple advertisements, such as the one on the 27" screen image above, seem to engage in such fun activities.
New Retina iMac: So detailed, you'll never have to leave the house again.
If I wanted two displays, could I use two 5K macs together as two connected displays such as plugging in a iMac to a Thunderbolt Display?
No. You could run them separate OSes, with, eg, Safari on one and Lightroom on another but there would not be any direct file sharing or copy and paste (though for both, solutions can be found, eg, via Dropbox or applications that synchronise copy and paste).