MWSF - Apple Introduces New Flat-Screen iMac

by , 2:00 PM EST, January 7th, 2002

At MACWORLD Expo today, Steve Jobs announced Apple's new iMac. Based upon a G4 processor and 15-inch flat-screen, the iMacs design is revolutionary. According to Apple:

“The new iMac ushers in the age of flat-screen computing for everyone. The CRT display is now officially dead,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “And with its powerful G4 processor and SuperDrive, everyone can now affordably create and burn their own custom DVDs and CDs.”

The new iMac’s stunning 15-inch LCD flat screen has a resolution of 1024 by 768 and offers approximately the same viewing area as a 17-inch CRT display. It’s also twice as bright and three times as sharp as old-fashioned CRT displays, and it’s much easier on the eyes, with zero flicker.

Inside the new iMac’s ultra-compact base lives the fastest iMac ever, with a Pentium-crushing 800 MHz* G4 processor with Velocity Engine™; a SuperDrive for playing and burning custom CDs and DVDs; up to one gigabyte of memory; up to a 60GB hard drive; and NVIDIA GeForce2 MX graphics with 32MB of DDR memory, which triples the 3D performance over previous models.

The new iMacs are designed to be the ultimate center of our emerging digital lifestyle and run Apple’s award-winning suite of software for digital photography, music and video. All new iMac models include iMovie™ 2, the world’s easiest to use video editing software; and iTunes™ 2, the amazing digital music software that lets users put an entire music collection on their Mac®, burn custom CDs and seamlessly sync to Apple’s new iPod™ portable digital music player. And, all new iMac models equipped with a SuperDrive include iDVD 2, so users can easily create and burn their own custom DVDs that play in consumer DVD players.

Every new iMac is also designed to run Apple’s new iPhoto software —the missing link in digital photography (available as a free download at www.apple.com). With iPhoto, users can easily import images directly from digital cameras; organize and manage a photo collection containing thousands of photos; view cross-dissolved slide shows of their photos on iMac’s stunning flat screen; automatically create a professional-looking web page of their photos; order professional-quality Kodak prints and enlargements; and even create and order a custom-printed, linen-bound book of their photos.

Additional features of the new iMac line include:

• 2 FireWire® and 5 USB ports for fast, simple, plug-and-play connections to digital devices such as digital MP3 players, still cameras and DV camcorders;
• built-in 10/100BASE-T Ethernet and 56K V.90 modem;
• an internal 18-watt digital amplifier for great stereo sound and Apple Pro speakers on selected models;
• a collection of productivity and entertainment titles including Quicken Deluxe 2002; and
• Mac® OS X version 10.1.2, Apple’s next-generation operating system pre-installed as the default OS, as well as Classic Mac OS 9.2.2.

Pricing & Availability
The new iMacs will be available starting with the release of the 800 MHz iMac with SuperDrive in late January. The 700 MHz iMac with the Combo drive will be available in February, and the 700 MHz iMac with the CD-RW drive will be available in March. All new iMacs will be available through The Apple Store® (www.apple.com), at Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers. Pricing and further details for each of the three standard configurations are listed below.

The 800 MHz iMac, for a suggested retail price of $1,799(US), includes:

• DVD-R/CD-RW SuperDrive optical drive;
• 256MB SDRAM;
• 60GB Ultra ATA hard drive; and
• Apple Pro Speakers.

The 700 MHz iMac, for a suggested retail price of $1,499(US), includes:

• DVD-ROM/CD-RW Combo optical drive;
• 256MB SDRAM;
• 40GB Ultra ATA hard drive; and
• Apple Pro Speakers.

The 700 MHz iMac, for a suggested retail price of $1,299(US), includes:

• CD-RW optical drive;
• 128MB SDRAM; and
• 40GB Ultra ATA hard drive.

Build-to-order options for the new iMac include additional memory, Apple Pro Speakers, AirPort® Base Station and AirPort Card and the AppleCare Protection Plan.

The Mac Observer Spin:

Well, this is what we were all waiting for. This device has to be seen to be fully appreciated, and we expect that it will sell quite nicely for Apple, if they can indeed deliver on their promised schedule. Time will tell, of course, and we expect the rest of the computing industry to follow suit. One ugly thought -- can you imagine what eMachines' knock-off of this thing would look like? We shudder to think.

Apple