Apple has updated its iMac range to create a flagship model that delivers a crisp 5K image.

The move, which well and truly takes it from the spare computer to a powerhouse for professionals, signals Apple's intent to deliver a "Retina display" on all its devices, giving professionals the ability to edit a 4K video on screen and still have space for their tools.

In the flesh and the screen is simply stunning. We looked at a range of different content from landscape photography to boring emails and the level of detail is lovely.

close up with the 5k imac and boy is it crisp image 3

At 5120 x 2880 or a 217ppi on the 27-inch, you are hard pushed to not see the detail which before would have been fuzzy on closer inspection.

It is the world's highest resolution desktop display screen and has more than seven times the pixels of a 1080p monitor or TV.

close up with the 5k imac and boy is it crisp image 11

Even up close, Yosemite, which has been tweaked to take advantage of Retina displays looks good, with zero pixelation noticeable. 

But it isn't just the display that is new, The iMac with Retina 5K display comes with a 3.5 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 3.9 GHz, and for the first time can be configured with a 4 GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 4.4 GHz for those looking to push things a little further. 

Every new iMac with Retina 5K display also comes with AMD Radeon R9 M290X graphics and can be configured with AMD Radeon R9 M295X graphics although it's worth noting that this isn't as powerful as the Mac Pro with its option of two graphics cards - it's okay that's not the intention and its still damn powerful anyway. 

The iMac with Retina 5K display comes standard with 8GB of memory and a 1TB Fusion Drive for the first time. Fusion Drive works by using Flash storage combined with standard hard drive technology to maximise speed. It's a case of storing the most used apps on the Flash drive, and the files you don't you use that often on the standard hard drive.

The new iMac can also be configured with up to 32GB of memory, a 3TB Fusion Drive, or up to 1TB of super-fast, PCIe-based flash storage. In addition, iMac with Retina 5K display includes two Thunderbolt 2 ports that deliver up to 20Gbps each, twice the bandwidth of the previous generation.

While our time with the new iMac was brief, it is clear that desktop publishers, web designers, and video editors, are going to be lusting after this computer for months to come. Fitting then that it comes 30 years after Apple introduced the first Mac computer.