First impressions of the new Apple iMac
[intro]I've had Steve's sales pitch, and now I've managed to get hands on with Apple's new desktop. Here's what I reckon.[/intro]
Apple’s new iMac isn’t revolutionary. It’s not a radically different design or huge technical leap into the future. But meet it face-to-face and I challenge you not to be smitten: this thing is beautiful.
Once again, Apple’s design team has excelled, ditching the white, slabular design of the previous iMac in favour of a skinner, more gracefully curved iMac finished in aluminium and shiny glass. The result is an iPhone-styled machine that oozes sophistication – and makes its plastic predecessor look cheap and trashy in comparison. Which is quite a feat, considering the old iMac was the most stylish machine of its generation.
And it’s clear that Apple is playing a generation game here - the iMac may be in an icon, but in this age of portable computing it was beginning to look like anachronism. Dressing the new desktop up like a smartphone might only be a temporary fix but, together with a price cut of around £200, it’s one that will work well for Apple in the short term.
Indeed, the lure of a 24-inch all-in-one for £1149 may well be strong enough to persuade people to ditch the idea of a laptop altogether. (The lure would be stronger still if we Brits didn’t have to pay an extra £150 on top of the US price, but I’ll save that rant).
The heart of the new iMacs hasn’t altered much – that happened with last year’s Intel transition – and there’s no space for an iPhone-style touch-and-gesture interface. “? “We think Multi-Touch makes sense on the iPhone,” said Jobs. “We’re not sure it makes sense on the Mac.” I kind of agree – with the caveat that I’d love to see a touch-sensitive MacBook Mini.
The biggest technical advance is the inclusion of FireWire 800 – hardly the most groundbreaking (or popular) of connections, but useful for connecting external drives. If you need them: you can now spec out your iMac with a terabyte of disk space built in, as well as a 2.8Ghz Intel processor, and 4GB of RAM. (That pimped iMac daddy will set you back £2200)
Problems? Well, the new ultra-thin, low-profile keyboard is very similar to the MacBook’s, and while it looks fabulous, I’d be concerned about using it on a daily basis (I do a lot of writing). I hope Apple doesn’t adopt this keyboard for their professional range - it could be like the ‘puck’ mouse debacle all over again.
The iMac’s other potential glitch is its highly reflective screen. Again, it’s gorgeous to look at – unless you happen to be sitting by a window.
But these are small niggles: the iMac’s transformation has breathed new life into an iconic line that stretches back to the Bondi Blue, boiled-sweet iMac. I’ve owned every iteration – and you can be sure I’ll buy one of these, too. (The UK Apple Store says they’ll be available a week or two, depending on configuarations. I’d better start saving).
It’ll be interesting to see what happens to the remaining dregs of Apple’s white era – are we soon to see the MacBook and iPod given glossy black-and-aluminium paintjobs? Let the rumours begin!
PS I’ll let you know about iLife and iWork once I’ve had a proper play. And a proper sleep.
Read our Apple iMac news story
Read my live blog coverage of the iMac launch
PPS - I've finally got round to claiming my blog in for my Technorati Profile
Comments
The Creative Life
5 years ago
It really is a glorious looking design - I could see this Mac pushing the balance back towards desktops, for a while at least. And surely the high end 2.8ghz version is a seriously rival to the MacPro? I'm really excited about the new iLife, it does look like it could be the answer to many of my iWishes! I've been running a popular(ish) blog for about a year, but I've not been able to reap the benefits of Google Ads, hopefully that'll change soon. And how amazing does iMovie look, that's a gutsy move, I'd be really interested on your thoughts on this app - does it import old iMovie projects? How well does it handle HDV? Nice reporting, thanks Tom. Did you get to ask his Highness a question in the Q and A?
Tom Dunmore
5 years ago
Beauty is subjective, DY, but see the iMAc in the flesh and you might change your mind. Creative Life - I had a quick play with iMovie and it is a gutsy move. I'll be honest, I'm a little disappointed because it doesn't offer some of the features that the current version does, such as the ability to extract audio from clips. Which means I'm going to have to use Final Cut Express to edit my roving reports from now on. However, the new version does make the process of making movies very very simple - and that was the point of it.
GaryPollard
5 years ago
Gorgeous as always. Surely better to wait a little while to get it with Leopard though?
andrewldownie
5 years ago
Looks lovely, I wish I could have seen the live presentation by Steve. Tom's comments of an iMac being anachronistic have put me off a little though. To be honest though combining an iMac in the den with a macbook pro for mobility is the best option all round probably. Not much point waiting for Leopard - why not buy now, enjoy iLife 08, then you'll have something else mac related to look forward to when you can install Leopard! On a more geeky level, it looks like the graphics card upgrade option is a desktop card, rather than the mobility version used in the previous 20 inch. Also, this time it apears that the 24 inch has the same graphics card upgrade option as the 20 inch. I think this is a good move. Any thoughts on this?
BenRoach
5 years ago
Andrew head over to the Apple homepage...there you can view his KeyNote! iWork and iLife are being delivered tomorrow (apparently) so looking forward to having a play around. Keynote looks lovely! Just watchin the iLife 08 demonstation from the Apple website..really does look, well, amazing! Ive never really got myself stuck into iMovie as it looked pretty daunting...but it should be a little easier for me now then. Is anyone here running Safari 3 beta? I installed it a while back but it screwed some of my apps, like MSN Messenger for example, so I uninstalled it? Whats it like?
The Creative Life
5 years ago
I'm started to get nervous about iMovie . . . but, 'the proof of the pudding' as they say. I'll find out tomorrow, I have some HDV footage waiting to be composed in double quick time - I hope!!
BenRoach
5 years ago
...its here! My new iLife and iWork have been delivered.. and they are instaling now :D Excited...good times :D
mike.bignell
5 years ago
I've just ordered myself a 20" iMac and looking forward to getting it! It'll be my first ever Mac. Unfortunately, the estimated delivery date is 24th September but that's what you get for ordering the wireless keyboard!
GaryPollard
5 years ago
As a new Mac user (well I haven't got one at all at the minute but will be getting a new iMac to replace my Vaio) If I buy now what's the typical (historic ball-park / best-guess) cost for upgrading to Leopard when it comes if I buy a iMac now? Anyone know how much the Panther to Tiger upgrade was? Ten? Hundreds? Any value in waiting til it's launched?
BenRoach
5 years ago
Im not actually sure mate, but I think ive read the last upgrade cost £89! I dont think itll change as iLife 06 cost the same as the 08 version. Whatsmore, didnt Steve Jobs announce the Leopard price at one of his previous keynotes? He made a joke about 3 versions all costing the same?!? I think Hope that helps