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Apple Businesses

Pictures of New iMac 159

Posted by Roblimo from the keeping-up-with-the-macjoneses dept.
webslacker writes "Those snoops over at Apple Insider have gotten their hands on some blueprints of the new iMac. Not a drastic change, but it now uses a short-neck CRT and the new trayless DVD drive is very very cool. Check it out."
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Pictures of New iMac More

Pictures of New iMac

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  • Why there's no G4 imac (Score:2)

    by Anonymous Coward
    G4 has been running into production problems... this is why Motorola recently entered into a deal with AMD to manufacture its chips. Those G4's have to be saved for the ultra powerful new desktops, which are in short enough supply as it is.
  • There are ways of posting without insulting people, although, I admit, examples of such posts are difficult to find here sometimes.

    - A.P.
    --


    "One World, one Web, one Program" - Microsoft promotional ad

  • The trend of making everything see-thru is, in my opinion, kinda disturbing, especially in computers, where there's *really* nothing to look at. Nothing moves! The G3s and the G4 -- heck, even the original iMac -- aren't bad because they're at least opaque-ish. What's so sexy-looking about the electron guns on a monitor, though?

    - A.P.
    --


    "One World, one Web, one Program" - Microsoft promotional ad

  • Duh...

    Apple is in the process of taking everything that isn't industry-standard and either changing it to match the standard (e.g. SVGA monitor ports going from DB-15 to HD-15) or throwing it out entirely (e.g. 8-pin mini-DIN serial ports). At the same time, they're taking industry standards (USB, IEEE 1394, IEEE 802.11a) and pushing them forward. What incentive would hardware vendors have to create USB peripherals if Apple hadn't sold 800,000 iMacs in three months with no other way to connect to anything?
  • I remember hearing a rumor that Apple was talking to nVidia or somebody, but I don't recall the details and don't expect to hear anything definite within the next 6 months.
  • However, if you don't like the Rage Pro that comes with the box you can always run out and buy a 3Dfx Voodoo card

    Not for an iMac, you can't. So it'll lag well behind the fastest PCs at 3-D graphics, with no possibility of fixing that problem. You'll have to move up to a Blue&White or G4 for Voodoo3 speed.
  • Hopefully around January, realistically probably a bit later.

    The sad thing about OS X is that Apple has finally also got the MacOS to a useable state w/ 8.5/8.6/9.0

    Back at 7.5.3 it crashed many, many times a day. Now, it can stay up for days at a time(mine does). OS X is actually less necessary now that Apple finally fixed MacOS.

    But I'm still looking forward to it. And there are a lot of people who wouldn't consider getting a Mac until it's out, so Apple should get it out ASAP.
  • err, disassemble for yourself :)

    The only mac that I've ever had that I haven't disassembles was my original 128k--and if it hadn't gone off to my little brother years ago, I would have upgraded it by hand.

    And I lost track of how many times I've replaced fuses in my 180, or resoldered the power receptacle in my backlit portable. Hmm, and how many macs I've owned :)

    But then I found LyX, and traded my macs for linux. I'll certainly take another look at a mac for the kids if and when macos/X client is out--at least if it can run my collection of darkside 3.1 cd's with kid stuff.

  • >the high-end "best" model described seems to
    >conflict with the low end G4s

    Recall the SE/30? It was a IIx in an SE box--which happened to make it the fastest machine apple built at the time, since it didn't pay the overhead for nuBus by the simple expedient ofnot having one :)

    It's a strategy that apple *should* have used several times since: heavy horsepower in a basic box.

  • Macintouch claims announced on October 5th. I'd think, after the G4 mess, Appls is likely to ship very soon after that.
  • Yeah, if they're shipping with 64 mb RAM, that means that OS 9 requires 128.

    I extrapolated this from the previous formula:
    OS 8 required 64 mb, therefore, the iMac shipped with 32.

    (I'm being facetious, lack of sufficient RAM was my main grip about iMac too!).

    "The number of suckers born each minute doubles every 18 months."
  • I didn't mean to say that the TECHNICAL MINIMUM for OS 8 was 64 megs. I was just saying that the practical minimum is 64 megs. It's slow ass virtual memory drags everything down at less than 64. It was a dig at whatever idiot decided that the iMac would ship with an impractical amount of RAM. (most people I talked to who bought an iMac thought it was too slow - they were non-technical and didn't understand how much speed they'd pick up if they'd just upgrade it to 64 meg).

    "The number of suckers born each minute doubles every 18 months."
  • I have seen almost a dozen comments asking "Why not a flat screen?" or "What about more powerful graphics systems?" or commenting "I would buy one if it had a G4 at 500mHz". That is completely missing the point. The iMac is Apple's cheaper computer. Adding these things would add on to the cost. At prices between $1099 and $1599 (predicted), Apple cannot add these things.

    I want these types of things and I know that I will have to buy a G4/Sawtooth to get them.

    As for the Apple-bashing/Linux-loving, it is a given that any non-Linux, non-*BSD OS is bound to get bashed by the Slashdot community (except maybe PalmOS). I have commented in the past that Slashdot is "News about Linux, Stuff that is GPLed." The Linux exclusiveness around here bothers me often.

    The most ironic part of it all is that you can run Linux on a Mac (I have my LinuxPPC partition, do you?)

    In response to keeping the hardware closed, remember which company brought you CD-ROM drives, SCSI, USB and FireWire. While these technologies may have been developed by other companies, it was Apple that made them (semi-) popular by putting them on all of their machines.
  • Can someone please grab these images from their cache? It seems that they had to take them down. Which probably means they're not fake.
  • It's more like:

    1.) Apple bad, Linux good (the majority)
    2.) Apple good, Linux good (a minority)
    3.) Apple good, Linux bad (a small minority)

    The types of anti-Apple post I think are the most annoying are the ones that dis the colors and design of a computer and then end it by saying, "well I hate MacOS anyway. That's why I haven't used it since 1990".
  • I just got a new 400mhz G4 here at work. I had a blue and white G3, so I had the option of using my old ADB keyboard and mouse. I don't have that option with this G4.

    The new Apple USB mouse has a little notch on the button so it's easier to find the top. It took a couple of days of getting used to, but the mouse actually isn't that bad.

    I still don't like the keyboard though....
  • Well, maybe they would if such a thing existed :-) Problem is, there isn't any such thing as a TNT3 Ultra. Or any TNT3 for that matter...there are TNT2 Ultras (the best consumer cards out there right now), and the next thing from nVidia is called the GeForce 256 (cards based on it are coming this fall).
  • He did his research. The fact is that the Rage 128 Pro (that which is in the G3/G4) is a very mediocre video card these days. Nothing near what you'd get with a TNT2 based card, or even a Voodoo3.

    You'd think Apple would get a deal going with nVidia or 3dfx to get something better. This is one area where Apple could definitely improve their offerings.



  • Hmm...an iMac with a built-in urinal. Nifty idea. :-)
  • my PC has rounded corners :-p

    And I really don't much resemblance between the lean looking Enterprise and the squat iMac. :)
  • Actually, the non-opened-minded folks here on /. seem to fall into 2 categories:

    1.) Apple bad, Linux good (the majority)
    2.) Apple good, Linux bad (a minority)

    I should also note that the skit wasn't really bashing Apple so much as Steve Jobs (at least, that's how it seemed to me). And Jobs isn't exactly Mr. Innocent, from all accounts he's an ass. Great marketer/"interim" CEO, certainly, but on a personal level he seems to act like a real ass at times. And so there are those who dislike Jobs for that reason (I admit to being among that group). There are also those who feel Apple is extremely misleading in its advertising, and who dislike Apple for that (yep, that's me too). And then there are those who feel that the OS, on a technical level, "sucks" (me again, though that very well may change if/when I get a chance to play with OS X). And then there are those who just like to bash Apple 'cause they think it's the cool thing to do (not me).

    My point here is mainly that having a dislike for Apple and/or Mr. Jobs does not make one closed-minded. I personally can see some good things about Apple systems, as well as areas where they could improve. I wouldn't take the Apple jokes too seriously, most companies in the spotlight get them (witness the plethora of M$ jokes, those about Slowlaris, etc)
  • Just picking a minor nit:

    The Visor has a slot for SpringBoards, so it
    does have the tinker factor. :)

  • AppleInsider just posted a press shot of the new iMac [appleinsider.com].

  • A while ago, apple produced a powerbook with swapable inserts to change the look of the book. It was kinda neat.
  • If the rumor stated by Apple Insider is true, then Apple has finally addressed my biggest gripe about the iMac, namely the shortage of RAM and too small a hard drive.

    With 64 to 128 MB of RAM and a 10 GB or larger hard drive, not to mention the incorporation of the ATI Rage 128 chipset, this means the new "Kihei" iMac's will finally have the computing power that will satisfy even demanding users. It'll be interesting to see how much Apple will price this machine.
  • Sorry, Industrial design != advance in technology.

    To the non-believer, avant-garde industrial design seems to be Apple's answer to the question of "How do we innovate?" You can have it.



  • trayless DVD = gimmick

    2xAGP = this is a feature?! I thought it was standard equipment for some time now?

    Airport = neat, albeit gimmicky in a desktop

    better monitor = old news (now if they had cinema aspect screens at reasonable prices, that'd be something)

    Firewire = dying a slow death. Not to mention it's old hat.

    Intel isn't doing it's best to kill Firewire, it chose not to support it. That's not "doing their best to kill it" that's opting for another standard.

    So by not having a trayless DVD (I can get all those other options (that didn't come standard on my low-end machine, that is) at a fraction of what Apple will sell them for) and airport (err.. can somebody say wavelan?) I'm being left behind? hmmm. Smoke less pot, dude.


  • They make a machine that's gray colored, sort of iron gray

    They call that color graphite(tm)

  • The reason we bash is because you all react in some very amusing ways. It's ALMOST no fun to bait for flame here, because all you got to do is say "Steve Jobs is abandons his children" and you all rush to his defense like he's Elvis or something.

    Mac's are just machines, no better or worse than other computers, but the mac enthusiasts believe that they are really special, and that we all should agree with them, because of the obvious truths which they preach (incessently, I might add)

    They're just computers. They crash a lot, about the same as Win98 machines, and you can forget about multi-homing them (my personal beef). The technology isn't spectacular, it's average. And, Steve Jobs will arbitrarily kill off product lines that he didn't creat to satisfy his big, fat, child-abandoning ego. ttthhhhppppt!
  • PC_Builder:Well sir, here is your shiny new computer...
    Buyer:It's grey.
    PC_Builder:Yes it is, but its got...
    Buyer:Can I get it in blue? My carpet is blue.
    PC_Builder:Umm, no. But it does come with your choice or more ram/less ram, more hard drive/less hard drive and any flavor of Windows you would like.

    Buyer: oh, then I guess I'll go to over a hundred other PC manufacturers and get a blue machine from one of them, assuming Apple hasn't sued them for selling blue machines, yet.


    I have never run into an independent re-seller that forced anyone to buy an OS with their machine, and I have dealt with dozens. I think your story is more hype than reality. Do you research.

    Laptops are a different story though. Buying desktops with no OS are cake. Hell, CompUSA will put one together for you, if you want to pay their prices.



  • So, you haven't ever seen a VAIO box in CompUSA, get out of the cave once in a while, Trog.
  • It's fairly obvious the AVERAGE consumer isn't particularly interested in Linux, so you can go to the specialty shops, where you get good deals on quality equipment.

    http://www.a-top.com/color/color.html
    http://www.colorcase.com/
    http://www.techstyle-com.com/
    http://www.futurecase.com/


  • I tend to exagerate, I admit, with both my descriptions and my jibes. There are two companies that are coming out with Imac form factor PCs. E-machines and a Korean company who's name eludes me. Both are being sued by Apple.

    PS Technically, a Troglodyte, by definition, lives in a cave.

    PPS The Carrot Top sig is bait... You been fished in!

  • Can't you see what's revolutionary about this new design?!?! It's a work of art! It'll warp the fabric of the universe!

    IT'S AVAILABLE IN GRAPHITE(TM)!


    It'll be years before the Wintel manufacturers can copy this Earth Shattering new technology.



  • The reason your CD gets hot in your car stereo is because they are cramming in a hundred or so watts of power amplification in with the CD mechanism, just to power the speakers. Try it out on a PC with a slot-load CD/DVD drive, it's cool, man.

  • Who says the new iMac isn't a major change?

    It uses the exact same, vastly improved core chipset (UniNorth, Key Largo, PMU99) that you find in the new Power Macintosh G4 (with AGP) models. This is also the same motherboard chipset found in the iBook. Essentially, the new iMac (and the iBook) is a G4-class machine without the G4 chip and its MaxBus bus technology. This is all a part of Apple's "Unified Motherboard Architecture" strategy.

    In my book, that's a significant change. The new iMac (with 2 FireWire ports, 2 seperate USB buses, 2X AGP graphics, and the new chipset) isn't just a dressed up first-gen iMac with a short-neck CRT and slot-loading DVD drive.

    bAz

  • It's nice that Apple is actually trying to go beyond square PC boxes running Windows.

    But while an alternative is good, I personally don't like this particular alternative: I don't like the look, I don't like the pointing device or keyboard, and I don't like the software. Imagine Apple would take over the market and all computers would come in semi-transparent rounded lumps with trim in various colors. I'd find it pretty awful.

  • Oops, I just saw Configutions 2 and 3. Config 2 comes in wrong color, and Config 3 will cost too much. Argh, it's frustrating to see Apple come sooo close and then blow it.

    They need to make it cheap as possible (no DVD or firewire, smallest HD they can get, but include networking) and boring-looking yet attractive (i.e. grey), and it'll be ready to attack Wintel in the office. C'mon, Apple, go for it!


    ---
    Have a Sloppy day!

  • If they would

    1. Forget about the "5 flavors" and sell 'em in the same smokey grey as the new G4 minitowers
    2. Lose the DVD and use a cheap CD-ROM instead
    Then this would be an excellent office machine and could go head-to-head with Wintel. Why doesn't Apple try to do this?!!? Don't they want the money?

    OTOH, at least now that they are selling 'em with Rage-128 and DVD, they should be good machines for home use.


    ---
    Have a Sloppy day!
  • The new iMacs also come with a slot for an Airport card.
  • I recall reading somewhere about how all ATI cards having some kind of color-calibration abilities that other cards don't. I suppose you can see that that would be very important to the publishing/multimedia professionals that the Powermacs are aimed towards.

    Of course, even though that's the target audience of Powermac users, I'm pretty sure that most Powermac owners haven't used any sort of color calibration at all. If you really need gaming on a Mac, 3Dfx has announced that they've begun work on AGP cards for the G4's.
  • As some people have noted, Apple Insider [appleinsider.com] now has actual photos of the new graphite iMac.

    Also, MacOS Rumors [macosrumors.com] has several pictures of the new iMacs in all their fruity glory.
  • Has it's bonuses. If everyone is so contrary, then being reasonable gets you some karma points because, well, you're reasonable.

    Not to abuse the system, but if the system encourages us to be reasonable, hey, that's good right?


    -AS
  • Well yeah, in that case, the iMac has a USB port.

    Not much tinkering, I think, as much as utility.

    I concede your point, but just a little. If someone knows how to make and debug USB devices, they'd be able to play with the iMac as well.


    -AS

  • More of the same... (Score:3)

    by Anonymous Shepherd ( 17338 ) on Monday September 27, 1999 @04:56AM (#1657932) Homepage
    And rumors at that!

    Oh well.
    I'd imagine, if I were Steve Jobs, which I am not, that the iiMac would include:

    Video camera + mic for video conferencing, if we're going to try to push the internet concept.

    Airport of course. Imagine video conferencing without the hassle of networking, wires, or setup?

    Touch screen, of course! It's as natural as voice recognition, which will come with OS9. Point, tap, speak!

    Voice recognition with OS9. Voice passwords and such.

    People recognition. Not just powering up when you touch the keyboard or mouse, but when you move or sit down in front of the computer. Like those new men's urinals that require no hands to operate? It'd be nifty.

    Anything else? There must be other people here who have ideas!


    -AS

  • What's with this Apple bashing? (Score:3)

    by Anonymous Shepherd ( 17338 ) on Monday September 27, 1999 @05:02AM (#1657933) Homepage
    Just because you don't like iMacs?

    What Apple seems to be doing is offering a *reasonable* configuration in an (my opinion) an attractive case with a useable OS.

    The point is not configurability, which is what the B&W G4/G3s offer, but single-minded ease of use. Like a playstation or dreamcast. Unlike a home stereo system made of any number of components, wires, and boxes. Which can also be used to describe the modern PC.

    Apple is targeting a market which doesn't value the tinker factor as much as it values the use and 'feel' factor.

    Would you complain similarly of the Palm or Visor in how limited they are?


    -AS
  • I extrapolated this from the previous formula: OS 8 required 64 mb, therefore, the iMac shipped with 32.

    No, OS 8 does not require 64 megs of memory; I belive the bare minimum is 12. I have an old Quadra running 8.1 with 16 megs. Incidentaly, 8.1 was the last version of the Mac OS to run on 68k machines.

    iMacs will run Mac OS X. They'll just run it better if you up it to at least 64 megs of ram, which IMO is the bare bones minumum for a new computer. :)
  • That doesn't have anything to do with the loading mechanism, which just gets out of the way when the disk is actually being played.

    Car CD players run hotter because they cram a bunch of electronics (and power amplifiers) into a dinky little box which is installed in a big plastic dashboard with poor ventilation. All that excess heat has to go somewhere...
  • He meant "ps a", the unix command to show all user processes:

    [amalmin@skaro amalmin]$ ps a
    PID TTY STAT TIME COMMAND
    373 3 SW 0:00 (mingetty)
    374 4 SW 0:00 (mingetty)
    375 5 SW 0:00 (mingetty)
    376 6 SW 0:00 (mingetty)
    22398 2 SW 0:00 (mingetty)
    30593 1 SW 0:00 (mingetty)
    2796 S3 S N 0:00 heyu_relay 16 off
    22011 p2 S 0:00 bash
    22027 p4 S 0:00 bash
    22491 p4 S 0:00 emacs wow
    22539 p4 R 0:00 ps a

    Although he probably meant "pa aux", which shows all processes (user or daemons) on a machine...
  • That's most likely Netscape's fault. :P

    Communicator 4.61 is the most stable version I've used here on System 8.6, and 4.7 is due soon.

    Still not as fast rendering pages as Netscape 3, but there ya go.

    PPoe
  • Um, do some research before you bitch, please :)
    The RAGE 128 is the exact SAME card that's shipping in the G3/G4 series of Macs (less video memory, tho), so this is quite the upgrade for the iMac.
    It'll make gaming MUCH more viable than the RAGE Pro line in the old ones.

    PPoE
  • Lookin solid. Having the "best" one would be really cool.. 400 g3, 128 ram, dvd, 13 gig hd, and the "graphite" case of the g4's.. Plus it's supposedly lighter and smaller now. I dont know about you folks, but I would love to have one of them :)
    Let's just hope they can deliver the things on schedule.. when are they supposed to arrive anyways?
  • As the first comment sort of pointed out, yes, Yellow Dog Linux should run on these. It runs on current iMacs just fine. I don't know why one would believe it wouldn't... after all, USB keyboard and mouse support has been working for quite some time now. So, you're question is null, Yellow Dog Linux is an option.
  • I agree with you...the design appears to remain pretty much the same
    as the old iMac but with the hardware upgrade they should perform a bit
    better. My question to Apple is why not release a G4 version of the iMac ? Now that I would buy.
  • Nonsense. Interface transfer speed is the least important specification on a drive. You STILL can't get 10,000 RPM IDE drives, which is what you need for real performance.
  • I'm writing a database and a functional language, and I just bought a Powerbook G3. So there. I'd never owned (or even used extensively) a Mac before, but I'm pleasantly surprised how far they've come on recently.

    It's a pretty damn good machine at a reasonable price. It's now got an X server and GNU Emacs, so I'm happy. Once OS X comes out, we'll see a few more non-Mac users moving over.
  • Why would Apple not want the pictures on the site? (In case you haven't checked, all the pictures on AppleInsider have been replaced by gifs which read "This image has been removed at Apple Legal's Demand". :P) Seems silly to me---I mean, it's good publicity, no?
  • Changing the looks cuts it for them people who like it if somebody comes into their apartment and say: "Cute, an iMac", or "Cool, a [blue/grey] G3/G4". Nobody says "cool" or "cute" about a beige miditower with TNT3 Ultra, Dual Pentium III 600, 512MB ram, SCSI-3 and whatever inside. The only way for those would be an 18'' TFT. Or a Sun Ultra 10, they look good too.

  • Trayless DVD-ROM Drive (Score:3)

    by IntelliTubbie ( 29947 ) on Sunday September 26, 1999 @09:53PM (#1657946)
    Now iMacs are even more attractive to newbies: they won't make the embarrassing mistake of confusing the CD-ROM tray with a cupholder.

    Tech-support professionals, rejoice!
  • Look's like I got here too late! All the pix have been clobbered at Apple's request. Rob, update your headline!
  • First of all, why is five flavours (am I the only one that thinks of ice cream?) when it comes to the Better configuration, and only one for the others? I mean, you'd think the Best configuration would sport the most colours and such (is there actually any real difference in shape, etc. to make it so the Good and Best ones can't just use the other colours? I mean, a switch between DVD to CD or more RAM and what not isn't gonna change the chassis...)

    Which brings me to another point, why for Good change the DVD to CD? I dunno about the States, but here in Canada (as a retailer) a good 6x/40x DVD is only $100 and a 48x CD is $80... What's 20 bucks when it comes to showcasing a great (?) computer? I mean, having a DVD and video-mirroring, albeit both not very useful at this moment for most normal folks, will more then luckily catch people... Ah well, maybe that's just me...

    Being Canadian, I'm proud that ATI is the video card company for Apple (although I don't use any Apple computers), but the thing is, yes, ATI is a good company, but ATI Rage 128 is, I'm sorry to say, pretty behind the times now... Looking at the Mac Products on ATI's website, are we talking about the Nexus, Rage Orion or XCLAIM VR? I just hope its similar to ATI's Rage 128 Pro for the PC... *shrug*

    Ah well, as it were, my opinion is that although they are cute, the iMacs and G*'s just don't seem like great computers (although they are, I know, but the looks make them seem otherwise)... And although they are great computers, I can still buy a comparable IBM PC and still get to use Photoshop and games for Windows and load up Linux whenever I feel like it... Until Apple comes out with something different (like they did oh so many years ago), changing the looks just doesn't cut it for me... FireWire, yes, was good.. but its obvious (good or bad) that USB is here to stay.. Anything else?

  • Re:DVD Drive (Score:3)

    by rabidMacBigot() ( 33310 ) on Sunday September 26, 1999 @10:06PM (#1657949)
    IIRC, the reason the lens is in the tray is because the CDROM drive itself (along with the SODIMM RAM form factor, and much of the motherboard) in the original and current iMacs is basically the same as that of the PowerBook G3 series as a cost-saving measure. Of course, that still doesn't make an exposed-lens CDROM a good idea...

  • You are wasting your breath. The majority of people here on Slashdot don't discuss Apple with an open mind. Apple is bad, Linux is good. They remind me of gear heads defending their Fords at the expense of all Chevys, you can't change their minds.

    cheers,

    Matthew Reilly
  • I wouldn't count on the AppleInsider specs as being the final word, or even expect the new iMac to come multiple variations. Steve Jobs has a deep burning hatred for the rumors sites and has been known to spread disinformation to them from time to time. the high-end "best" model described seems to conflict with the low end G4s at this point so I'm wary about that prediction actually coming to fuition.
  • I doubt if you really see the humor in your comment. YES it will be years before the Wintel world will be able to catch up with the simple premise of good industrial design. Not so much of an affirmation of Apple's brilliance as a confirmaton of the MEDIOCRITY(TM) of the Wintel product.
  • Have they corrected the problem of cds heating up in the trayless systems ? I know when ever I take a cd out of my car stereo its pretty hot.
  • Hey. I'm a research molecular biologist. can't get much more nerdy than that. And i just *love* that apple stuff. Crazy company, crazy guys. Ain't that right gang? Now if only they'd hurry up and deliver my damn iBook. The swine!
  • Hey that new iMac looks great imho.. but mind youu these are still rumors! They do mean good news, but stop for a second. This is AppleInsider. If they are legit, Apple is not going to be happy about this one...

    DVD... cool. They trayless bit makes me feel better, because its no longer a bunch of g3 laptop parts puut together... at least one original part! Now they should put that feature in the g4 laptops too... And I think even newbies have seen a car stero and can understand that floppies don't fit there. Maybe musci CD'swill more often be seen playing on newbie iMacs?

    128MB ram in the high end version? I doubt it but would be very nice. Same deal with the rage 128, which I also doubt... but again would be nice. I wish apple would ditch the rage altogether and go for some other card... a voodoo4 maybe which sounds nice... (read about that t-buffer at 3dfx.com!)

    13GB hard drive is the big one I'm doubting. That's gonna cost apple a little more than the 6GB one. Just a tad.

    Oh and graphite doesn't smell. Sniff your pencil whoever said that. Maybbe its a subliminal message that says this thing can be used for work, or word processing, like a pencil. Whatever.

    I'm still kinda pissed it doesn't have a 17" screen, being a graphic designer. Aww heck, I shouldn't even consider the gumdrop, gotta get me a g4 laptop...

    Um.... thats about it. =)

    -Curt
  • I admit, the keyboard really bites, but the mouse isn't so terrible bad. It's quite small, being only about 1.5" in diamter. The mouse is very smooth and light to the touch, making it easy to use with your fingertips instead of your whole hand. I actually like it more than my tradational Apple mouse.
  • The other posts didn't quite nail it. The reason there isn't a G4 iMac is rather simple--the iMac is a machine targeted at the consumer market and, hence, gets the smaller, slower, less expensive (and cooler) chip.

  • He Does have his facts straight. The Rage 128 Pro is the replacement for the Rage 128. And yes the rage 128 is a major disappointment for gamers. It would have been a faboo card if it had been released in 98, in 99 it's mediocre and the PC drivers suck. I wish I'd bought a Voodoo 3500.


    --
  • But then, he's 8 yo. So, it's not such a silly idea.

    Luckily I saw him do that and "cured" him of that habit.

  • If you don't love it, leave it. That's all I have to say.

    No one is forcing you to read Slashdot. (If someone is, you've got a captor with a sense of taste. ;-)

    My $0.02, minus taxes.

  • Well - looks like the imac pictures are removed.
    any chance someone can mirror them? i'm dying to see the pics
  • Shame on the moderator, this is NOT flamebait, perhaps you don't agree with it, but that is not the same thing. Find something better to do with your points.
  • Borg cubes are squares with sharp corners. Like PC cases...
    The iMac is lake the starship Enterprise, and the new G4 is like a Klingon bird of prey. ;)
    --
  • I think he meant post-script...
    --
  • Well, Apple has recently switched from SCSI to IDE on most of their models, as IDE has gotten faster. Macs also have pci slots, as some High-end hardware is compatable with both systems.


    ----------------------------------------------
  • One thing you do have to rember about the Macintosh train-of-thought is that mac users are *alot* less intrested in taking apart their computers and tinkering around with them. It would drive many typical PC users crazy if they couldn't tear their system apart whenever they feel the need. Those 'translucent rounded lumps' are perfect for someone who only needs functionallity with the least bit of hassle.

    Bear in mind that you will find Macs that are still in use after a decade or more of service. The are often purchased for one purpose, and can serve the same function for year to come.

    The only market for these 'lumps' in the PC world is users who want the simplicity in hardware and don't use the computer for any productive application, thereby runing a Windows PC.

    -------------------------------------------------

    ----------------------------------------------
  • Didn't the previous I-Mac have the lens in the tray, similar to many laptop cd drives? If so, a trayless drive would be great improvement. I'm sure there is nothing worse than scratching the hell out of the lens on your shiny new computer's dvd drive.


    ----------------------------------------------
  • -HumanSmoke
  • Hell yeah! That is the way to tell them!

    Even though the iMac is no great computer underneath its cool looking skin, it has sold like hot-cakes. That should be enough to shut you nerds up, but no, you are still too stupid to figure it out.

    Believe me, if I can respect the newbie, than so can you.

    EC
  • Officially, these things do not exist. So, naturally, there are no official plans to release them.

    If Apple really can't get enough G4 CPUs, I guess they have more capacity to build iMacs, so it may go fast.

  • We have these gateway machines here at work. They are TFT display PC's basicly. Floppy drive, CDROM, AMD K6, speakers etc. all built into the flatscreen monitor. Kinda cool, just not very fast (at least ours are not). It's called the Gateway Profile PC [gateway.com]. Right now they are only in our training rooms. Good space saver, but that's about it IMHO :)
  • Hey, I don't run the company, I just work there :)

    Given that these machines are in the training room there are a couple of reasons why to not get a laptop:

    1) Theft. It's much more difficult to walk off with one of these things.

    2) Durability. With no opening or closing of machines/screens, all the interaction the user has is with the keyboard.

    3) Clarity. These are far and away much much better displays than your average laptop.


  • what u need my friend is an ibook :)

  • Yep. (Score:1)

    by EXpunk ( 66988 )
    You are the only one that looks like a waste paper basket.

    ;)


  • Add a monitor to that 1000.00 and you've got a similar price......
  • The Scene... A long line of Mac users in front of Steve Jobs' desk, who is personally handing out all of the new iMacs.

    Jobs: "Here is your pre-configured box. We've decided everything that you might possibly need. You may change the configuration at your mortal peril. Give me $1500, and leave."

    Buyer: "Why, thank you sir! I have been blessed. All praise the intellectual force that is Herr Jobs! I will worship this sickly colored box forever! I will praise its merits to the ends of the Earth!"

    Jobs: "Next!"

    Buyer#2: Smiling ear-to-ear "It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Jobs. I have a ques..ques...question." Loses his smile "Could I get my iMac in bl...bl...black?"

    Jobs stares coldly at the young man, their icy gaze grabbing the buyer about the throat. Then, Jobs laughes loud and hard. The young man seems to relax, smiling again, looking sure of himself in the praise of his idol. With a flick of his wrist, Jobs releases the trapdoor under the poor fool's feet, his screams as he falls silenced only by the dull thud of the trapdoor locking shut.

    Jobs: "Next!"

  • I see, trayless DVD, 2x AGP, Airport, better monitor, Firewire, all this reduced to the addition of a new color.

    Since Intel is doing its best to kill Firewire, it will indeed be years before the drones in the clone world get the guts to buck Andy Grove and make Firewire standard on the motherboard.

    How does it feel to be left behind (once again) at the multimedia revolution.

    TML
  • There is a company that is offering free iMacs now based on a 3 year subscription. The market model will continue to be offered on both mac and wintel consumer machines.

    TML
  • After being beaten about for years, Apple transitions much of its hardware over to PC specs in order to be more compatible and drive down user costs. Now the complaints come that Apple is doing what users have demanded of them. Frankly, I'm glad that Apple was sensible enough to adopt decent technical standards that don't compromise the user experience that Apple promises (think ISA and MFM that Apple stayed away from). If only Intel would show the same sense and adopt Firewire support on their motherboards. After all, they are in the patent pool but noooo! Intel is pushing USB 2.0 which might, after several years, achieve the throughput that Firewire has today. TML
  • You can also run Darwin on the little beasties. http://www.apple.com/darwin

    Yup, open source mac software, who woulda thunk it.

    TML
  • Well, imagine the belly laugh I got watching a local newscast one day: The police dept. of a town was giving away free copies of content filtering software for concerned parents (I don't remember if it was NetNanny, CyberSitter, whatever.)

    After giving the obligatory "Protecting the Children" spiel, the not-so-tech-savvy officer proceeded to insert the CD-ROM into the 5" *floppy* slot on the ancient IBM clone in their office. He starts to flip the lever to lock down the "disk", but the scene cut just as you could see the first signs of resistance.

    Made my whole day. Just wish I could see the out takes, though...

  • AppleInsider is running a photo of what appears to be the graphite "Best" model.

    http://www.appleinsider .com/articles/9909/kihei-photo.shtml [appleinsider.com]

  • "As rumored in previous reports, the entire custom system software pack is indeed code-named "Borg." "

    Do I really have to explain why I think this is funny..?

    To take on a more "conventional" definition.. I always thought those pesky iMacs looked like they were built by space aliens..

  • Graphite...hmm...I never knew the name for that color until now.

    I find it amusing that the only color with the odor problem is the only color not named after fruit...I guess they didn't want any "Rotting Apple" nicknames...

    I suppose it's okay for minerals to stink, but if that is how grey Graphite smells, I'm gonna run like hell if I ever see a bright-yellow iMac sitting on someone's desk...=\

    My $1.00 - $0.98, not necessarily yours.

    - JoeShmoe

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  • Um, if you think user's confusing CD-ROM trays for cupholders is a bad...wait until you start getting calls from people who think Apple is finally putting floppy drives in iMacs.

    I work in an all-Compaq shop and a couple years ago, Compaq used tray-less CD-ROMs in all their Deskpro 2000 models. I loved them because finally I could orient my computer in any position and not have to fiddle with tabs or grooves.

    But then I started getting calls from users who would stick pretty much any removable media made after 1982 into the blank, label-less slot and the cost to continually swap out damaged drives just wasn't worth it.

    I mean, trays are annoying to some, but to the target audience of the iMac, only a CD/DVD will fit in the 5" depression on a CD/DVD-ROM tray so you only have to worry about it being right side up and the user education is over.

    Again, my $1.00 - $0.98 and not necessarily yours...

    - JoeShmoe

    -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
  • I honestly saw this move coming. Having these different colors is really impractical. Black and purple are clearly the "in" colors right now yet you hardly seen any products that them. The result is that no one is happy since customers can't get enough purple iMacs and retailers are not selling computers simply based on their style.

    What would be a smarter idea is for Apple et. al. to make cases where the colored parts are removable and made out of a white, permeable plastic. Then, include some dye packs and let the user find the exact shade that pleased them. I know some people suggest spray paint, but that only really works for metal cases that you can sand down and put on a primer. Paint on plastic just peels off so dyeable plastic is really the best solution.

    I think eventually Apple will have a color for each major model line and try to stick the most "elite" colors (purple and black) on the most expensive hardware. IE, if you pay toy prices it will look like a toy.

    And regarding the CD/DVD, don't forget that you are shopping for one, generic, PC drive and Apple is trying to find thousands of drives that are all compatible and will work with their cases's form factor. Pricing changes drastically as the number get larger but it's more probably that Apple simply doesn't have enough DVD drives to put in ALL the iMac models whereas they have a surplus of CD drives.

    - JoeShmoe

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  • First of all, why is five flavours (am I the only one that thinks of ice cream?) when it comes to the Better configuration, and only one for the others?

    It's called "upselling"; if you're looking at a "Good" configuration, but you'd really like to have it in Tangerine, then you start thinking about buying a "Better" iMac configuration.

    The "Best" comes in Graphite because it's probably intended for office environments where a Strawberry iMac would seem out of place. If businesses pay a little more, they get the conservative color.

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