One question that many people have asked me about the new 21.5-inch iMac is - Why Apple chose to use last generation ATI Radeon HD 4670 graphics card, that too with just 256MB GDDR3 memory. The same question has puzzled me also since Apple updated the iMac lineup last month.

If you look at any all-in-one desktop priced around $1,200 they all come with at least 512MB graphics card. In fact, I wasn’t able to find any desktop with 256MB discrete GPU, even desktops with integrated GPU offered 512MB video memory. The surprising thing was Apple’s GPU supplier ATI doesn’t have a single 256MB discrete graphics card on their website in HD 4600 series and HD 5000 series. The minimum available video memory published by ATI is 512MB for all discrete graphics cards.

Also, Apple’s use of last generation HD 4670 graphics card in new iMac was surprising because the price difference between 512MB HD 4670 ($75) (I didn’t find any 256MB HD 4670) and HD 5670 ($85) is just $10. So why not give better graphics card to the customers in the first place?

The answer lies in the pricing of the two 21.5-inch iMac models. If Apple would have given 512MB graphics card on lower end model they wouldn’t have been able to charge $300 upgrade fee for 3.2GHz iMac model. Apple did the same thing with MacBook Pro update and I wrote an article about that titled “Are the new MacBook Pro worth buying?”

Like the 13-inch MacBook Pro models, Apple is charging  $300 for a $40 upgrade on $1,499 iMac model. The price difference between 3.02GHz Core i3 and 3.2GHz Core i3 processor is $20, 500GB hard drive and 1TB hard drive is $10 and graphics card is about $10.

Most computer makers have stopped using 256MB graphics cards since 2009, but Apple is the only company still using them. And from what I understand after seeing above details, Apple is trying to maintain price points for their product lineup, rather than offer features. Specially, when it comes to 13-inch MacBook Pro, 21.5-inch iMac and lower-end 15-inch MacBook Pro.

Performance-wise iMac is one of the best all-in-one desktop available on the market today, but Apple could have easily made it better.