Various rumors have suggested that Apple has a new family of iMac models on the way sooner rather than later. Ahead of the official release, new benchmarks have surfaced that allegedly show a new iMac powered by Intel’s Core i9-10910 CPU with the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 GPU.
The benchmark results were first shared by @rogame on Twitter and spotted by Tom’s Hardware as well. Tom’s Hardware explains that the 10-core Intel Core i9-10910 is likely a custom-tailored chip from Intel that will be exclusive to Apple. This follows the mainstream of the 10th Generation Comet Lake-S processors in April.
Being a member of the Core i9 family, the CPU comes with the same base specifications as the other variants. In this case, the processor sports 10 CPU cores, 20 threads and 20MB of L3 cache. Ultimately, the listed clock speeds are what differentiates the Core i9-10910 from its siblings.
The Geekbench results show that the Core i9-10910 runs with a 3.6 GHz base clock and 4.7 GHz boost clock. This suggests that it’s a higher clocked version of the Core i9-10900 with a 28.6% higher base clock. Tom’s Hardware speculates that the Apple-exclusive version of the chip is a 95W processor, putting it in between Intel’s other 65W and 125W options.
“Currently, Intel doesn’t have a true Core i9 95W processor in its Comet Lake-S portfolio and that would explain why the chipmaker could have cooked up a special part for Apple,” the report explains.
Why exactly would Apple would put in a custom order? It’s hard to say for sure. Cost could be a factor. The Core i9-10910 is probably using recycled silicon that doesn’t meet the requirements for the Core i9-10900K. That wouold make the unannounced CPU cheaper to produce.
It would also be more profitable for Apple to use a Core i9-10910 instead of a downclocked Core i9-10900K in its upcoming iMac. Furthermore, slapping a locked processor into the iMac would prevent users from overclocking.
The Geekbench test results also indicate that the forthcoming iMac will feature the yet-to-be-announced AMD Radeon Pro 5300 graphics card. This is likely to be a “desktop variant of the Radeon Pro 5300M that AMD announced last year” with a maximum clock speed of 1,650 MHz for the Radeon Pro 5300 and 4GB of onboard memory.
Currently, Apple’s 27-inch iMac is available in several different configurations, including 8th and 9th generation Intel Core processors. The 10th generation Intel Core i9-10910 seen here will likely be saved for the higher-end models.
Rumors had suggested Apple would debut its new iMac at WWDC, but that didn’t ultimately happen. During the WWDC keynote, however, Apple did tease that it still has new Intel Macs in the pipeline, despite the looming transition to Apple Silicon. It’s possible the new iMac lineup could be announced as soon as this month.
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