Apple iMac - New & Improved

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Anthony Fiti
Kurtis
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Aug. 7, 2007

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Apple iMac - New & Improved, Cont'd...

The iMacs and be built-to-order however, and upgrades include up to 4GB of RAM, 1TB hard drive, and an upgrade to the 2.8GHz Core 2 Mobile Extreme dual core CPU on the 24" models. It wasn't long ago that Intel released this chip - the press release was dated July 16, 2007, less than a month ago. There is a model that starts at $2299, but comes with a 500GB HD and 2GB of RAM compared to a 320GB drive and 1GB of RAM for the baseline 24" iMac.

What is somewhat underwhelming is the use of AMD's ATI graphics parts in the new iMac. Had Apple gone with the 8600M GT series chips (similar to what is found in the MacBook Pros), no one would have questioned the choice, but given the lackluster performance of the 2000-series of GPUs from AMD (at least on the desktop side), plenty of folks were asking why Apple made this choice.

Apple made a big deal about more games at their Developer Conference back in June. But they don't seem to back it up with putting better GPUs in their computers - or making them available through custom BTO options at higher prices. The key here of course is that the mobile video chips are being asked to power displays at 1680x1080 and 1920x1200, which really isn't feasible for any game made since 2004.

Along with the new iMac, Steve also introduced a new keyboard, along with a new Bluetooth wireless keyboard. The keyboards are 1/3" of an inch thin and the wired variant has two USB ports, while the wireless lacks a number pad and is almost identical in terms of layout to my MacBook's keyboard. The wireless keyboard requires three AA batteries (as opposed to a built-in lithium-ion rechargeable battery pack), which is a little disappointing in that you'll be replacing or recharging batteries.

Apple's new statement is that thin is in. Today they introduced thin iMacs and thin keyboards. Hopefully Apple continues the tradition and introduces some ultra thin notebooks in the next few months.

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2 User Comments

1 - Posted by Buffy635 on August 8, 2007 - 3:24 pm

cause the nVidia hardware is so much better:wink:

2 - Posted by handrail on August 8, 2007 - 4:15 pm

darns, i'll be using the old style 24" imac at my new job. guess i'll survive.

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