Apple puts the squeeze on new iMac

by Guest Contributor | Aug 31, 2004 2:22:00 PM

Takeaway: All of the new iMac G5 fits inside what the company calls an "enchanting" flat-screen display.

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By John G. Spooner
Staff Writer, CNET News.com

Apple Computer's fall fashion statement, direct from the runways of Paris, is a svelte design for the new iMac.

The new all-in-one iMac G5 desktop tucks all of its components, including its hard drive, processor and DVD drive, behind a wide-screen liquid crystal display. The machine, which is about 2 inches thick and is mounted on a curved metal stand, has proportions similar to those of the company's Cinema Display flat panels.

The computer maker unveiled the design--its third all-in-one iMac--on Tuesday at the Apple Expo in Paris, and in doing so it ended considerable speculation. Apple had kept the specs of the iMac G5 a secret, but that didn't stop a number of Web sites from having a say on the possibilities.

The unveiling also marks something of a change in emphasis for the company, whose designs for desktop computers in recent months have been overshadowed by the look and feel of its iPod digital music player. On its Web site, Apple suggests that the iMac G5 could make life "as fun and useful" as does the iPod, whose design team also came up with the new iMac.

"What would the creators of the iPod do for their next computer?" Phil Schiller, Apple's senior VP of worldwide product marketing, said at the Paris unveiling to describe the rationale behind the latest addition to the Mac family.

The iMac line could probably use some of the iPod's cachet. While sales of the music player have been scorching, sales of the previous version of the desktop have cooled off markedly.

And the company would have liked to unveil the machine earlier. Apple first confirmed that a new iMac was on the way in July. At that time, it said that it had stopped taking orders for iMac G4 models and that it had hoped to have an all-new model available before G4 stocks ran out. Instead, Apple was hampered by a shortage of a component--which turned out to be the G5 processor.

Although Apple began taking orders for the iMac G5 on its Web site Tuesday and plans to ship the systems in mid-September, the gap in timing has left the company without a consumer-oriented desktop to sell for a good portion of the 2004 back-to-school season.

Still, the new desktop's iPod-like profile and finish could serve to bring in some new blood from among the millions of iPod owners, one analyst said.

"I think what Apple is recognizing is that at least right now the iPod is going to drive its brand and they want to take advantage of that," said Steve Baker, an analyst with NPD Techworld. "Why does this look like the iPod? Because it's clearly positioned as the consumer PC for people who own iPods but don't own an Apple desktop."

The iMac G5 still faces some obstacles, including its starting price, which at $1,299 is higher than that of typical consumer-oriented desktop PCs, which cost about $500 to $700, and 17-inch LCD displays, which cost around $400. But Apple and others such as Gateway have shown that there is a market for all-in-ones despite their price and the fact that a display can outlive a desktop PC by years.

"To Apple, price isn't the most important thing. Instead what make its products valuable are the price and the brand--price is a secondary issue," Baker said. "A car is a car, but a BMW is a BMW. The value in an iMac is not in the hard drive, it's in the design and the ease of use--at least that's what they'll tell you--so why would you sacrifice design to cram another 256MB of RAM in there?"

Previous models included the iMac G4, introduced in 2002, whose swing-arm-mounted flat screen drew comparisons to a desk lamp, and the first-generation CRT-based machine from 1998, whose form is still emulated by the eMac.

What it packs
In spite of the new iMac's slim profile, Apple squeezed a fair amount of power into the machines. All three models include a G5 processor, otherwise known as IBM's PowerPC 970, and two come with Apple's SuperDrive DVD burner.

The most basic $1,299 model will include a 1.6GHz processor and a 17-inch screen, with a resolution of 1,440 by 900 pixels. It also comes with 256MB of RAM; an 80GB, 7,200-rpm hard drive; a combination CD-burner/DVD-ROM drive; Nvidia's GeForce FX 5200 Ultra graphics chip; and 64MB of dedicated graphics memory. Apple's Mac OS X version 10.3 operating system is also included.

The intermediate model, priced at $1,499, has the same screen but offers a faster 1.8GHz processor, whose data pipeline to and from memory also accelerates to 600MHz from 533MHz. It comes with the Apple SuperDrive combination DVD-burner/CD-burner.

The $1,899 model's 20-inch screen offers a resolution of 1,680 by 1,050 pixels. This iMac also includes the 1.8GHz chip, a 160GB, 7,200-rpm hard drive and the SuperDrive.

Customers who purchase any of the machines direct from Apple can add more memory and a larger hard drive and can opt for add-ons such as an Apple AirPort Extreme wireless card. When fitted with 1GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive and an Airport card, the 20-inch model costs about $2,300, Apple's site shows.

As part of its efforts to keep the iMac G5 trim, Apple used design tricks such as incorporating the machine's power supply, making for a less bulky power cord arrangement; many thin desktops use a brick-like external power supply. Apple also included a complement of audio- and video-out, USB, Firewire and Ethernet ports, but gives customers the option of adding Bluetooth, the short-range wireless networking technology for connecting peripherals.

The Bluetooth module alone adds $50, while a module plus a keyboard and mouse adds $99 to the price of an iMac purchased directly from Apple.

Specifications aside, it's the design that Apple hopes will sell the system.

"Everyone is going to be asking, 'Where did the computer go?' The entire computer (now) floats in the air," said Schiller. Apple, he said, is aiming for a machine that people will be "proud to have in their den, their living room or in the front of small business."

Jo Best of Silicon.com in London contributed to this report.

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