At a media event at Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, California,
Steve Jobs revealed a range of new, updated iMacs computers. Last time when
Apple announced an update for its iMac line was last year in September, when
the company unveiled 24-inch version and said the entire line was migrated to
Intel processors.
The all-in-one desktop computers have a slimmer design and glossy
screens encased in elegant and professional aluminum and glass enclosures. Apple
decided to replace the plastic cases and has also used aluminum for the new,
ultra-thin Apple Keyboard.
"Two elements we've used in a lot of pro products:
aluminum and glass. Phenomenal materials. Take aluminum, we use this in our pro
products. Professionals love it. Glass, very elegant", explained Steve
Jobs during his speech.
But the fancy aspect is not the only novelty. Apple eliminated
the 17-inch display and the new iMacs will be shipped as 20-inch and 24-inch
versions. Also, the Cupertino
company has slashed the prices.
As Steve Jobs said the 20-inch iMac now starts at just
$1,199, $300 less than the previous 20-inch model, and the 24-inch iMac starts
at just $1,799, $200 less than the previous 24-inch model.
The new iMacs includes the latest Intel Core 2 Duo
processors running up to 2.8 GHz with 4MB of shared L2 cache and up to 4GB of
667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM memory.
As the graphic solution, Apple offers two options: the ATI
Radeon HD 2600 PRO with 256MB of GDDR3 memory and the ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT
with 128MB of GDDR3 memory.
Also, as we live in a digital entertainment era, Apple
packed inside its new iMacs up to 1TB of internal storage, which should be
enough (for the moment) for any library of movies, digital photos or music.
The iMac include also numerous connectivity options. A total
of five USB 2.0 ports (including two on the new Apple Keyboard), one FireWire
400, one FireWire 800 port and also a built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n WiFi
networking.
Of course, every iMac is delivered with iLife ’08 and Mac OS
X version 10.4.10 Tiger which includes Safari, Mail, iCal, iChat AV, Front Row
and Photo Booth.
"This new iMac is the most incredible desktop computer
we have ever made," said Apple chief executive Steve Jobs.
Last month, Apple reported astonishing results for the last
quarter. Sales of iPod music players and Macintosh computers spurred Apple's revenue
for the April to June quarter to 5.41 billion dollars, compared to 4.37 billion
dollars for the same period in 2006.
Apple said that it sold 1.76 million Macintosh computers
during the quarter -- reaching an all-time high for Mac sales in one quarter --
and up 33% from a year ago. Mac sales included 1.13 million MacBook and MacBook
Pro notebook PCs and 634,000 desktop Macs. Profits for the quarter were up 73
per cent year on year, to 818 million dollars from 472 million dollars.
