Apple Computer Inc. on Tuesday unveiled its latest consumer desktop machine, the 20-inch flat panel iMac. The new iMac joins the 15-inch Combo Drive and 17-inch SuperDrive models in Apple’s consumer line-up.
“We’re actually surprised to see that our competitors have yet to come anywhere close to the original design of the iMac and now we just raised the bar even higher with the 20-inch model,” Tom Boger, Apple’s director of desktop product marketing Tom Boger told MacCentral.
The new iMac features a 1680-by-1050 resolution, two FireWire 400 and three high-speed USB 2.0 ports, support for 54Mbps AirPort Extreme 802.11g wireless networking and optional built-in Bluetooth for wireless connectivity.
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.
While the iMac screen size has been revved twice now, Apple said the design of the iMac did not need to be altered to accommodate the larger screens.
“From the very beginning we designed the iMac to accept larger displays. The same fluid motion customers are used to with the 15-inch and 17-inch models will also be the experience with the new model,” said Boger.
Apple indicates that all models are available immediate from the Apple Store — the 20-inch model will cost US$2,199; the 17-inch model will be $1,799 and the 15-inch iMac will cost $1,299.
Update: Added information from interview with Apple executives.