The base model of the 21.5-inch iMac has a full HD (1,920-by-1,080-pixel) non-touch display, while all other models feature a 4K (4,096-by-2,304-pixel) panel. The 4K version is incredibly bright (500 nits), displays razor-sharp text, and supports 1 billion colors.

The sole adjustment that the stand allows is tilting. You cannot tweak the height, and you can't lay the iMac nearly flat on the desk as you can with the Microsoft Surface Studio 2 or Dell XPS 27.

Apple includes a wireless Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse 2 as the standard peripherals for the iMac. They're upgradable to a larger Magic Keyboard (the version with the number pad at right) and a Magic Trackpad 2.

The meaty black borders around the screen make up the most recognizable, "classic" part of the iMacs. But if you're used to the vanishingly thin screen borders of Apple's iPhone XR and iPad, you might think of the nearly inch-thick strips here as more antiquated than classic.

While the iMac Pro has a Space Gray exterior that matches one of the color options of the Apple MacBook Pro, the iMac is available only in silver.

The I/O complement is adequate, if not overly generous. You get four USB 3.0 Type-A ports, two USB Type-C ports with Thunderbolt 3 support, a 3.5mm audio jack, a full-size SD card slot, and a Gigabit Ethernet connector.

A small vent hidden behind the stand helps cool the interior components, which in our test unit include an Intel Core i5 8th Generation CPU and an AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 graphics chip.