IMac





The iMac is a line of all-in-one Apple Macintosh computers produced by Apple
Computer, aimed at the consumer and education market.

The original iMac was unveiled on May 7, 1998 by Apple Computer and went on
sale in August of that year. At the time, it was an innovation in computer
design: the first personal computer design which considered aesthetics as
one of its primary goals. The machine was an all-in-one design, in which
monitor and CPU were contained within one object -- this carried on from the
previous Performa line of the 1990s. It was powered by a 233 MHz G3 PowerPC
processor, and came in a white and Bondi Blue color scheme. This design was
attributed to Jonathan Ive, now VP of Industrial Design at Apple.

The iMac was the first move in a general turnaround in public perception and
financial success for Apple. It was the first of many future innovations
introduced by the then interim CEO Steve Jobs. Despite Apple's small
relative market-share, the iMac left a large imprint in the public
consciousness, and inspired several imitators.

The iMac was the first "New World" Macintosh. The Mac OS (toolbox) ROM was
loaded into RAM from the hard drive unlike previous (Old World) ROM soldered
onto the motherboard. The iMac was also the first Macintosh to feature USB
ports, instead of the legacy Apple Desktop Bus and Geoport serial ports.
Apple also took the bold move of omitting a floppy disk drive: while the
floppy disk was already falling into disuse, PC manufacturers still included
them as a legacy component.

The first-generation design was adapted from the MacNC project. Parts were
taken from PowerBook models, including the CD-ROM drive which featured the
optical mechanism in the tray. The second generation iMac featured a
slot-loading CD-ROM or DVD drive, fanless operation, and the option of
AirPort_networking.

In January 2002, after much speculation over its look and specification, a
flat panel iMac was launched with a completely new design. A 15" LCD display
is mounted on an adjustable arm above a half-dome containing a tray-loading
disc drive and CPU. The processor in the new iMac is a PowerPC G4. Apple
kept the CRT model in production, primarily for educational markets.

In July 2002, Apple announced the 17" widescreen iMac, with a a screen that
would go on to be used in the new 17" PowerBook.

In April 2002, the eMac was introduced for the education market. Following
the traditional iMac form factor, the eMac has a 17" CRT display but also
includes the PowerPC G4 processor.

The CRT iMac was discontinued in March 2003.

Models

First Generation iMac

   * August 15, 1998 - Revision A. 233 MHz processor. Available in Bondi
     Blue only.
   * October 17, 1998 - Revision B. Minor update featuring new Mac OS 8.5,
     RagePro (6 megabytes)
   * January 5, 1999 - Revision C. ("Five Flavors"): 266 MHz processor.
     Available in Strawberry (red), Blueberry (blue), Lime (green), Grape
     (purple), and Tangerine (orange). Price reduced $100.
   * April 14, 1999 - Revision D. 333 MHz processor.

Second Generation iMac

   * October 5, 1999 - iMac / iMac DV / iMac DV SE. 350 or 400 MHz
     processor, slot-loading optical drive, Special Edition in Graphite
     colour.
   * July 19, 2000 - iMac / iMac DV / iMac DV+ / iMac DV SE. 350 or 400 or
     450 or 500 MHz processor, colours Indigo (blue), Ruby (red), Sage
     (green), Snow (white) and Graphite (grey).
   * February 22, 2001 - (patterns). 400, 500 (G3CXe), or 600 (G3CXe) MHz
     processor. Available in Indigo, Graphite, and "Blue Dalmatian" or
     "Flower Power" patterns.
   * July 18, 2001 - (Summer 2001). 500, 600, or 700 MHz (G3CXe) processor.
     Available in Indigo, Graphite, and Snow.

LCD iMac

   * January 7, 2002 - The entire iMac line is revamped. Contain 700 or 800
     MHz G4 processors. Only available in white.
   * July 17, 2002 - 17" screen. New models are available with 17" LCD. 800
     MHz or 1 Ghz processors for new model. The newer machines have a larger
     hard disk (up to 80 gigs) and an updated graphics card( a Gforce4 Mx,
     which is sodoled onto the logic board).
   * February 4, 2003 - The line is slimmed down to two models, one with a
     15" LCD and one with a 17". Airport Extreme as well as Bluetooth are
     available on the 17" models. There are no notable aesthetic changes.