New iMacs

iMac 2007

Before I start, I have to say that I hate the ad slogan for the new iMacs, which is “You can’t be too thin. Or too powerful.” I felt like puking the moment I saw it.

At Apple headquarters in Cupertino today, Steve Jobs announced a new line of iMacs, or at least differently designed imacs of the same line. They are made of aluminum and glass. Interesting looking. I am generally a fan of shiny things, but I really love the look of the white imacs. Why did they have to put that huge black border around the new displays? I’m not too fond of the big black apple logo either.

There does not appear to be a 17″ offering this time around. There are two 20-inch configurations and one 24-inch configuration. The new iMacs will still run on Intel Core 2 Duo processors and will now hold up to 4GB of RAM. There are still only two RAM slots, so prior planning of RAM needs should done if you don’t want to end up with an unused 1GB SO-DIMM or two.

Prices run from $1,199 to $1,799 for the 2GHz and 2.4GHz models. There is a 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme processor available on configure-to-order imacs. Hard drives sizes are 250GB for the 2.0GHz imac and 320GB for the 2.4GHz 20 and 24-inch models. 500GB, 750GB, and 1TB drives are available on configure-to-order models.

The new displays are glossy widescreen TFT active-matrix LCDs. The keyboard has been redesigned to match the new look and has a few special function keys added for convenience. The new version of iLife (iLife ’08) was also announced today and a copy is included with all new imacs.

9 thoughts on “New iMacs”

  1. Lori:

    What kind of Mac would you recommend for an 11 year old autie/aspie boy who has his own PC-based desktop and laptop, but has been enjoying using my MacBook (newly converted thx to ppl like you)? He’s interested in making little movies and such.

    Any and all suggestions would be helpful. I’ve been following all your Mac posts with great interest since switching and thanks much for the tip you posted (ctr/opt/apl_8) several month ago. Don’t know what I’d do without that!

    Reply
  2. How do you like your macbook? I am still happy about switching almost every day. Especially the days that I run windows xp and IE6 in Parallels to test websites.

    I would recommend an imac for a desktop or a macbook for a laptop.

    A mini would work for little movies too. If you already have a monitor and mouse and keyboard, that would be the least expensive option.

    If you need to buy those things too, the price can get pretty close to an imac. If that happens or if the difference in price is not a concern, go for the imac.

    If you get a used one, I would go for an intel core 2 duo model of some sort. Regular Core Duo is good too. Get at least 1G of RAM no matter which mac you get him.

    That is great that he likes computers so much. Let me know when he starts putting the movies on the web 🙂

    Reply
  3. Personally, I’m most interested in the announcement of iWork ’08 with Numbers. Probably not up to MS Office levels yet (I’ve downloaded the shareware demo to test it out and see), but having another alternative to Excel for number-crunching is definitely a Good Thing.

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  4. i don’t like the black border either, didn’t like it first second i saw it.

    also, i don’t understand why apple, who’s always been pretty in tune with matters of usability, is suddenly putting glossy screens in the majority of their displays. i will not, ever, buy a computer with a glossy screen, and if apple makes all their screens apple, i’m gonna have to find some other solution.

    and yeah, a pretty bad slogan.

    Reply
  5. I think the glossy screens are really beautiful for watching movies and looking at pictures, but it is hard to imagine working on one of them. I will have to see one in person to decide.

    Could be a dealbreaker, but since I can’t even afford a mac pro on credit and parallels keeps grinding my 2G maxed RAM imac to a halt, I will probably be using one in the not so distant future.

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  6. For those that use Geethree iMovie plugins, please be aware that Apple’s new iMovie program is but a shell of HD6’s capability. GeeThree plug-ins will not work in the new 08 iMovie, which is a huge oversight on the part of Apple. I wonder if Apple did this to cripple GeeThree and force people to use Final Cut Pro Express?

    I understand from the GeeThree people that 08 iMovie leaves HD6 on your hard drive and does not over write it, which is a good thing. Apple took a good thing in my opinion and weakened it by trying to make iMovie more accessible to the general public. Hard core users like myself were left out of this update. Gee Three Transitions is a very sophisticated yet very easy to use bundle of software.

    Reply

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