Apple has taken the unusual step of introducing what has heretofore been considered a pro display to its consumer line of iMacs. The company has rolled out a new 20" iMac that will be added to the 15" and 17" models already for sale. The new unit comes configured exactly like the 17" model with a 1.25 GHz G4 processor, a SuperDrive, 256MB of 333 MHz DDR SDRAM, an 80 GB drive, NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra graphics processor with 64MB video memory, and a set of Apple Pro Speakers. The press release from Apple:
Apple today introduced the amazing new 20-inch iMac, the largest flat-panel display ever offered in an all-in-one desktop. The new 20-inch iMac joins the 15- and 17-inch models in the popular consumer desktop line and offers twice as much screen area as the 15-inch display model, enabling users to view more than two full pages side-by-side. The new iMac also includes Apple’s latest operating system, Mac OS X version 10.3 "Panther," pre-installed, offering over 150 breakthrough new features, including Exposé for instantly viewing all your open windows at once; iChat AV, the ground-breaking video teleconferencing software; and Fast User Switching, to easily enable the iMac to be shared among multiple users.
The new 20-inch iMac with its widescreen display and pixel resolution of up to 1680-by-1050 is ideal for tasks such as video editing, creating or watching DVDs or browsing the web with multiple pages open at once. The brilliant LCD display gives you flicker-free images with twice the brightness, twice the sharpness and twice the contrast ratio of a typical CRT display.
The iMac line sports PowerPC G4 processors running at 1.25 GHz in the 20- and 17-inch model and 1.0 GHz in the 15-inch model. All models include 256MB of fast 333 MHz DDR SDRAM and an 80GB Ultra ATA/100 hard disk drive running at 7200 rpm. The 20- and 17-inch models also include NVIDIA’s GeForce FX 5200 Ultra graphics processor with 64MB of DDR video memory, for incredible graphics performance.
Pricing & Availability
The new 20-inch iMac, in addition to the 15- and 17-inch models, are available immediately through the Apple Store, at Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers.
The 20-inch widescreen flat-panel iMac, for a suggested retail price of US$2,199, includes:
- 1.25 GHz PowerPC G4 processor with Velocity Engine;
- 256MB of 333 MHz DDR SDRAM;
- 4x SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW) optical drive;
- NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 Ultra graphics processor with 64MB video memory;
- Two FireWire 400 and three USB 2.0 ports;
- Internal support for AirPort Extreme wireless networking and Bluetooth;
- 80GB Ultra ATA/100 hard drive running at 7200 rpm; and
- Apple Pro Speakers.
Build-to-order options and accessories include additional memory, AirPort Extreme Card, AirPort Extreme Base Station, Bluetooth, Apple Wireless Keyboard and Apple Wireless Mouse, 160GB Ultra ATA hard drive and the AppleCare Protection Plan.
You can find more information on the new unit at Apple’s Web site. You can order it directly at the Apple Store. For other online retailers, check out our Help TMO Grow page for retailers with TMO affiliate programs.
The Mac Observer Spin:
We are already hearing moans and groans from some quarters about an essentially disposable computer for US$2199. For those who think that’s silly, don’t buy it. Get a tower and a standalone display instead. In our opinion, however, what you are getting for that US$2199 is worth the price. A 20" display is a 20" display, and that price is a good one for a Mac with a 20" display.
As we said in the intro, 20" displays have until now been considered professional displays, and Apple has effectively redefined that idea. That’s a very cool thing.
That said, we’d like to see Apple up the RAM to 512 MB on its high-end machines, even the high-end consumer machines. That’s not anything that’s limited to Apple, of course, as all PC vendors tend to skimp on RAM. It’s also a minor quibble, and we repeat that we are excited about this new machine.