From the Lab: Penryn iMacs show promise

Macworld Lab has begun testing the new iMacs released Monday, and we’ve got results for the entry-level 2.4GHz model as well as the build-to-order 3.06GHz machine.

Intel Provides early 'Montevina'-Like Technology to iMac

Today's iMac updates provided a few surprising upgrades to the existing iMacs. The key changes include: - Faster Penryn processors (2.4GHz-3.06GHz), up from 2.0-2.8GHz Merom processors. - 1066MHz Front Side Bus, up from 800MHz....

Apple Updates iMac

CUPERTINO, California—April 28, 2008—Apple

MacMall offering $100 rebates on new iMacs, in stock now

MacMall, Apple's largest direct reseller, is offering up to $100 in rebates on the just-announced Penryn-based iMacs, each of which comes with free shipping, a free printer, and a free copy of Parallel's Desktop 3.0. The reseller is claiming stock...

The philosophy of iMac

Let me tell you something about my mindset. When I bought an iPhone, one of my first thoughts was: "How do I hook up a bluetooth keyboard to this thing?" It's that kind of thinking that has always stood between me and the iMac. Because in this world, there are two kinds of people[1]: the iMac people and the tower people. iMac people love the all-in-one package that their system brings. It's hard to look at an iMac and not think that it's smiling at you. The iMac delivers the entire computing experience in a single friendly unit. Customization? They do it at the store. Buyers decide what kind of memory and hard drive space they want. And then they buy it. And they're done. Tower people don't think that way. Memory, drives, peripherals -- these are all things that ebb and flow throughout the lifetime of the unit. More USB ports? Throw in a card. Widescreen monitors just went on sale? Buy one and eBay the current screen. Coming from an tower perspective, the iMac has always puzzled me. It makes people happy without ever needing to be disassembled and reassembled. Sure, there are hobbyists who do exactly that but they are usually tower people playing with iMac-shaped toys. Most iMac users I know are perfectly happy to use their Apple system for the entire lifetime of that unit -- often a very long lifetime indeed -- and never crack it open and mod it. Ever. Astonishing. So here I am raising a glass to the iMac on its birthday and to all the iMac users whose lives have been enriched by this little puzzling unit. May your systems be reliable and long-lived. And may you continue to enjoy your all-in-one system. Cheers! [1] That is, other than the people who divide people into two kinds of people and the people who don't.Permalink | Email this | Comments

iMac turns 10

It was ten years ago today that Steve Jobs mounted the Flint Center auditorium near Apple's campus and revealed the product that would save Apple, and become the best selling computer of all time: the iMac. It is hard to believe that this cute little guy is ten years old, but it is true.The original iMac came stocked with a 233MHz G3, 32MB of SDRAM (though you could bump it up to a whopping 128MB), a 4 gig harddrive, 2 USB ports, a CD-ROM drive (not a CD burner, Apple was late to that party), and an IrDA port. These specs might not make your heart skip a beat nowadays, but the iMac is the product that started Apple's amazing turn around. It was the first mainstream computer to break with the past and offer only USB ports, no legacy connectors here. And it is worth noting that the iMac can also be attributed as the killer of the floppy disk.I recall the howls from the tech community about the iMac's lack of a floppy drive. 'People love their floppies!' 'This is nothing more than an expensive toy!' All charges leveled against the iMac, but the decision actually helped create a market for USB accessories as most people bought their iMac and a USB floppy drive (I know I did. I used that floppy drive twice: once to make sure it worked, and another time to copy a file).The iMac wasn't available for purchase until August of 1998 (for the base price of $1299), but today is a date that should be circled in Bondi Blue for any true Mac fan.Check out our gallery of screenshots that show Apple's website the day after the iMac announcement. All screenshots was taken using the Wayback Machine.Gallery: iMac 1998Thanks, Shane, for reminding us of the date!Permalink | Email this | Comments