21.5-Inch Apple iMac With 4K Resolution Launch Tipped For Fall 2015

The Apple iMac's 21.5-inch version has not seen a successor in a long time. But a new report says a replacement is in the offing.

Hidden data ferreted out of the latest OS X El Capitan beta indicates that a 21.5-inch iMac will be released soon, says 9to5Mac. The site has found references to Mac support for many different screen resolutions in the second beta of OS X 10.11. One of them points to a coming 21.5-inch iMac packed with a 4K display. The second beta version of the OS X 10.11 was released to developers earlier this week.

Gurman says, “Likely destined for a refreshed version of the 21.5-inch iMac, which currently does not have a Retina display, the new El Capitan beta references Mac support for a new 4096 x 2304 resolution Apple-made display panel.”

The relatively expensive and bigger 27-inch iMac comes with an impressive 5K display. Therefore, the smaller 21.5-inch screen clad iMac may get a facelift with a 4K resolution, says 9To5Mac. In the meantime, BGR says, the 21.5-inch iMac with 4K screen resolution, also referred as Apple’s consumer-oriented desktop, will hit the store shelves in this fall, ahead of the holiday shopping season.

Apart from the 4K display panel reference, an image of the software upgrade cites a new Intel graphics chip called “Iris Pro 6200.” This brand new Broadwell-integrated GPU is believed to be part of the coming 4K iMac.

The code also has citations to a slew of AMD Radeon R9 processors, namely the M380, M390, M395 and M395X. This means, other than the 21.5-inch iMac, there could be more variants of the desktop. If not, these references could point to iMac upgrade options, says 9To5Mac. There is also reference to a brand new Bluetooth Remote control in the code.