Well, Vincent is at the Apple Town Hall meeting and first on the agenda is… you guessed it… new iMacs! I hope you’ve been saving, because these beasties look gorgeous and go on sale today: as predicted the 17-incher has gone, making way for new 20 and 24-inch models complete with thinner, aluminium casings and glossy glass screens.
Inside there’s an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU running at 2.8GHz and up to 4GB of RAM, together with up to 1TB of storage space, 802.11n WiFi and Bluetooth 2.0. Upgrading memory is made easy with a one-screw access panel.
That Bluetooth will come into its own when you add Apple’s new wireless keyboard. It also turns out the leaked pictures were the real deal – the new wired aluminium ’board is just 0.33-inches thick and has dedicated media transport controls.
On the rear, all the I/O ports are happily lined up, including USB 2.0, FireWire in 400 and 800 flavours and gigabit ethernet. There’s also a slot-loading SuperDrive and built-in iSight webcam.
In terms of price, the range starts with a 20-inch model at $1199, then another 20-inch at $1499, with the 24-incher coming in at $1799.
Interestingly, when questioned about the possibility of MultiTouch on future iMacs, Jobs was dismissive:
“[MultiTouch] makes sense for the iPhone, not sure it makes sense in the Mac. Classifiy that as a research project”
Whether that means it’s a research project Apple are undertaking or merely a complete dismissal, I guess we’re yet to discover!
