iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017)
Quick look
Each figure is from the source marked1 unless it carries its own number.
Specifications
Body
- Dimensions
- 450 x 528 x 175 mm
- Weight
- 5.66 kg
- Ports
- Two Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports, four USB 3 ports, SDXC card slot, Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45), 3.5 mm headphone jack
- Thunderbolt ports
- 2
- Thunderbolt version
- Thunderbolt 3
- USB-A ports
- 4
- HDMI
- No HDMI port.5
- SD card slot
- Yes
- Headphone jack
- Yes
- Keyboard
- Magic Keyboard
- Touch ID
- No Touch ID.5
Display
- Display size
- 21.5 in
- Resolution
- 4096 x 2304
- Display type
- Retina 4K display
- Brightness
- 500 nits
- Wide colour (P3)
- Yes
Chip and memory
- Chip
- 3.0GHz quad-core Intel Core i5
- Apple silicon
- Intel processor, not Apple silicon.6
- CPU cores
- 4
- Graphics
- Radeon Pro 555 with 2GB of VRAM
- Chip options
- 3.0GHz quad-core Intel Core i5, 3.4GHz quad-core Intel Core i5, or 3.6GHz quad-core Intel Core i7
- Memory (base)
- 8GB
- Memory (maximum)
- 32GB
- Memory options
- 8GB, 16GB or 32GB
- Memory upgradeable by user
- No, as Apple documents7
- Storage (base)
- 1TB
- Storage (maximum)
- 1TB
- Storage options
- 1TB hard drive, 1TB Fusion Drive, or 256GB, 512GB or 1TB SSD
Connectivity
- Wi-Fi
- 802.11ac Wi-Fi
- Bluetooth
- 4.2
- Ethernet
- 10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45)
- External displays (base)
- 2
Camera and audio
- Camera
- FaceTime HD camera
- Speakers
- Stereo speakers
- Microphones
- Microphone
Platform
An iMac has no battery, so battery rows do not apply.
Software support
Previous and next model
Previous model
What changed
- Weight
- 5.68 kg iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, Late 2015)5.66 kg iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017)
- Ports
- Two Thunderbolt 2 ports, four USB 3 ports, SDXC card slot, Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45), 3.5 mm headphone jack iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, Late 2015)Two Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports, four USB 3 ports, SDXC card slot, Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45), 3.5 mm headphone jack iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017)
- Chip
- 3.1GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, Late 2015)3.0GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017)
Next model
What changed
- Weight
- 5.66 kg iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017)5.48 kg iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2019)
- Ports
- Two Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports, four USB 3 ports, SDXC card slot, Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45), 3.5 mm headphone jack iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017)Two Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports, four USB-A ports, SDXC card slot, Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45), 3.5 mm headphone jack iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2019)
- Chip
- 3.0GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017)3.6GHz quad-core Intel Core i3 iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2019)
- Storage (base)
- 1TB iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017)256GB iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2019)
- When does the iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017) stop getting updates?
- Should I upgrade my iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017)?
- Which Macs run macOS 27?
- Which Macs run macOS Ventura?
- Which Macs run macOS Monterey?
- Which Macs run macOS Big Sur?
- Which Macs have an SD card slot?
- How many external displays does each Mac support?
- Can I upgrade the memory or storage in my Mac?
- Ports, displays and chargers for every Mac
Comparisons
Against its own line
Against the rest of the range
- iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017) vs MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports)
- iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017) vs MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports)
- iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017) vs MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Two Thunderbolt 3 ports)
- iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017) vs MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2016)
Sources
Apple Support (UK) — iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017) - Technical Specifications ·
↩- ↩
Not published by Apple.
↩endoflife.date — Apple macOS ·
↩No HDMI port. No Touch ID.
↩Intel processor, not Apple silicon.
↩Apple Support (UK) — Install memory in an iMac ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Identify your iMac model ·
↩Apple Support (UK) — Identify your iMac model ·
↩Geekbench Browser (Primate Labs) ·
↩Feature updates: end date not published by Apple.
↩This is endoflife.date’s cycle end for Ventura, not necessarily the day of Apple’s last patch. The newest macOS Apple lists this Mac for is macOS Ventura. endoflife.date records security updates for Ventura as ended on 15 September 2025.
↩
Not published by Apple
iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017). Apple doesn’t publish for this Mac: colours, pixel density, refresh rate, nano-texture option, GPU cores, storage upgradeable by user, maximum continuous power, the macOS it shipped with. Geekbench 7 Metal: the Mac chart has no Metal score for this Mac (chart read 10 Oct 2026). Pages checked: Apple Support (UK) — iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017) - Technical Specifications; Apple Support (UK) — Identify your iMac model; Apple Newsroom (UK) — iMac receives major update featuring more powerful graphics, faster processors, Thunderbolt 3 and brighter displays, read 9 Oct 2026.