Intel's Coffee Lake Chips Bring Significant Speed Boosts to 2019 iMacs

Geekbench's John Poole this afternoon shared a series of 2019 iMac benchmarks, giving us a look at the performance boosts offered by Intel's 8th and 9th-generation Coffee Lake chips.

All of the new 27-inch 5K models offer superior performance compared to their 2017 counterparts, with single-core performance up an average of 6 to 11 percent and multi-core performance up 43 to 49 percent for six-core models. The higher-end models with 3.6GHz 8-core Core i9 chip offer the biggest boost in multi-core performance, with speeds up 66 percent.

2019imacmulticore
The highest-end iMac earned a single-core score of 6157 and a multi-core score of 32293, compared to the 5864/1971 single and multi-core scores of the equivalent high-end machine.

2019imacsinglecore
Even the base model 2019 27-inch ‌iMac‌ with a 3.0GHz 6-core 8th-gen chip saw notable gains, earning a single-core score of 5222 and a multi-core score of 20145, compared to the 4767/13682 scores the low-end 2017 models earned.

These chips are two years apart, so it is no surprise that even the mid-level chips are outperforming the higher-end chips from 2017.

6-core and 8-core chips in the 27-inch models are now competitive with the 2017 ‌iMac‌ Pro models with 8 and 10-cores. The high-end 8-core ‌iMac‌ offers 16 percent higher single core performance and just 10 percent lower multi-core performance than the 10-core ‌iMac‌ Pro.

Gains are more modest for the 21.5-inch 4K ‌iMac‌ models, but still significant. Single-core performance is up 5 to 10 percent, while multi-core performance has increased by 10 to 50 percent.

2019imac4ksinglecore

2019imac4kmulticore
As Poole points out, the performance gains in the 2019 ‌iMac‌ models are due to higher frequencies and core counts as the underlying architecture hasn't been updated.

Poole says that while there's a significant boost when it comes to multi-core performance in the new iMacs, along with a decent boost in single-core performance, the increase isn't enough to "justify upgrading from a 2017 ‌iMac‌."

Apple's newest ‌iMac‌ models were announced last week and have been arriving to customers this week. Aside from Intel's new 8th and 9th-generation Coffee Lake chips, Radeon Pro Vega graphics options, and faster RAM, there have been no other improvements to the 2019 ‌iMac‌ models.

Related Roundup: iMac
Buyer's Guide: iMac (Don't Buy)
Related Forum: iMac

Top Rated Comments

MacFather Avatar
52 months ago
Deleted.
Score: 56 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Not-Sure Avatar
52 months ago
I have decided, for 3D rendering, video editing and everything related to graphics and video... a PC. Way faster, upgradable and way cheaper. For audio, music apps and hanging on the internet... a Mac. I have a 2014 15" MBP and works just fine with an external monitor, Logic Pro, Ableton, everything! But I am not wasting money on an iMac, not worth it.


Attachment Image
Score: 32 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dspdoc Avatar
52 months ago
Typing this on my '19 i9 iMac right now. Couldn't be happier. Blazing fast, dead quiet and surprisingly cool. I find it quite humorous the amount of people taking the piss with a machine they do not have in their possession. Maybe it's jealousy, ignorance or trolling. Not sure which...?
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kobayagi Avatar
52 months ago
It's no suprise that newer chips are faster than 2 year old ones. What I'm interested in is what the temperatures are. The i7 2017 iMac gets really hot with heavy use. Wit the same internal cooling solution, does the i9 throttle?
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Martius Avatar
52 months ago
Hello throttling, my old friend...
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fokmik Avatar
52 months ago
Pathetic results, a Hackintosh with the same CPU (9900k) and proper cooling is about 25% faster.
for just 25% faster, we don't care about the hassle
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

dynamic island

iPhone 15 Dynamic Island to Include New Integrated Proximity Sensor

Friday March 24, 2023 12:27 am PDT by
This year, all iPhone 15 models will include Apple's Dynamic Island that unifies the pill and hole cutouts at the top of the display, but there will also be a material change to the feature that wasn't included in the iPhone 14 Pro models. According to a new tweet by Apple industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the proximity sensor on the iPhone 15 series will be integrated inside the Dynamic Island ...
apple park at night 1

Apple 'Tracking Employee Attendance' in Crackdown on Remote Working

Thursday March 23, 2023 3:41 am PDT by
Apple is tracking the attendance of its employees at offices using badge records in order to ensure they are coming in at least three times a week, according to Platformer's Zoë Schiffer. Since April 2022, Apple employees have been operating on a hybrid home/office work policy as part of a gradual return strategy following the pandemic, with staff required to work from the office at least...
iphone 14 pro max deep purple feature purple

iPhone 15 Pro Rumor Recap: 10 New Features and Changes to Expect

Thursday March 23, 2023 6:42 am PDT by
While the iPhone 15 series is still around six months away from launching, there have already been plenty of rumors about the devices. Many new features and changes have been rumored for the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max in particular. Below, we have recapped 10 changes rumored for iPhone 15 Pro models that are not expected to be available on the standard iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus:A1...
maxresdefault

Nothing Launches $149 Ear (2) Wireless Earbuds to Compete With AirPods Pro 2

Wednesday March 22, 2023 9:48 am PDT by
Nothing today announced the launch of its second-generation wireless earbuds, the Nothing Ear (2), which offer many of the same features as Apple's AirPods Pro 2 at a lower price point. We went hands-on with the Ear (2) earbuds to see whether they're a viable alternative to the AirPods Pro 2 for those who want to save some cash. The Ear (2) earbuds are the successor to the Nothing Ear (1),...
TMobile Sprint

Apple Stops Allowing Sprint iPhone Activations, Removes Sprint References From Online Store

Thursday March 23, 2023 12:06 pm PDT by
Apple is no longer allowing customers who purchase an iPhone, cellular iPad, or Apple Watch to activate a device with now-defunct mobile carrier Sprint. Apple has also removed remaining references to Sprint from its online store. When checking out with a new purchase, Sprint is no longer an option for connectivity, a change that Apple appears to have implemented today. Prior to now, Sprint...
iOS 16

iOS 16.4 for iPhone Nearing Launch With These 5 New Features

Monday March 20, 2023 11:50 am PDT by
Apple says iOS 16.4 is coming in the spring, which began this week. In his Sunday newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the update should be released "in the next three weeks or so," meaning a public release is likely in late March or early April. iOS 16.4 remains in beta testing and introduces a handful of new features and changes for the iPhone. Below, we have recapped five new features ...
Hero0009

Best Apple Deals of the Week: Samsung's Smart Monitor M8 Gets Massive $250 Discount, Along With Year's Best AirPods Prices

Friday March 24, 2023 10:23 am PDT by
We saw a lot of great deals on Apple products and related accessories this week, including Samsung's iMac-like Smart Monitor M8 for $250 off, a 30 percent off spring sale at Anker, and the year's best prices on numerous AirPods models. All of these deals are still available to purchase right now, so we're recapping them and more below. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these ...
top stories 25mar2023

Top Stories: iPhone 15 Pro Design Leak, iOS 16.4 Coming Soon, and More

Saturday March 25, 2023 6:00 am PDT by
We're still almost six months away from the official unveiling of the iPhone 15 lineup, but it seems like every day we're learning more about what to expect from the next-generation models. Notably, this week gave us our clearest look yet at what appear to be some changes for the volume and mute control hardware. iOS 16.4 and associated releases are also right around the corner with some new ...