iMac with Retina 5K display has the world's highest resolution display -- and a hefty price tag

In addition to the expected iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3, Apple today announced the latest update to the iMac range. The iMac with Retina 5K display's killer feature is the screen which packs a breath-taking 14.7 million pixels into its 27 inches. With a resolution of 5120 x 2880, the new iMac has two thirds more pixels than a 4K display, and four times the number of pixels found on a regular 27 inch iMac. Despite the colossal number of pixels involved, Apple has switch to ultra-efficient LEDs to keep power consumption, and heat production, down.

The system comes with AMD Radeon R9 M290X graphics as standard, but this can be upgraded to AMD Radeon R9 M295X graphics. This is backed up by 8GB of RAM and a 1TB Fusion Drive, and there is the option of upgrading various components if you're happy to part with a little extra cash.

"A little extra", might not be entirely accurate. The baseline price for the new iMac with Retina 5K display is $2,499. For this money you get a system with a 3.5GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 offering Turbo Boost up to 3.9GHz, 8GB RAM, 1TB Fusion Drive, 2GB graphics card, and -- of course -- the newly unveiled Yosemite. Two Thunderbolt 2 ports each provide a data transfer rate of 20Gbps. But $2,499 is just the starting price; you can pay much, much more if you are willing and able.

Fancy a 4.0GHz CPU? That'll be an extra $150. Bump the RAM up to 32GB? An extra $600. Add a larger hard drive, upgrade the graphics card, and the price soon adds up. Take advantage of all of the possible hardware upgrades -- including adding flash storage -- and the price rockets to $4,547. That's a lot of money, but you get a lot of computer for your cash.

Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing said:

Thirty years after the first Mac changed the world, the new iMac with Retina 5K display running OS X Yosemite is the most insanely great Mac we have ever made. With a breathtaking 14.7 million pixel display, faster CPU and graphics, Fusion Drive, and Thunderbolt 2, it’s the most beautiful and powerful iMac ever.

If you like the idea of getting your hands on one, head over to the Apple store and have your credit card at the ready.