iMac G5 was released recently. The thing basically looks like the Apple Cinema Displays except that their white, and cost a bit more. Oh yeah they have a 1.6 or 1.8 GHZ G5 processor in them! From the pictures and the keynote speech I think the new iMacs look gorgeous. Alot of people have been complaining that the front looks too much like an eMac, or that its not as revolutionary a design as the original iMac and "desklamp" iMac were, I agree somewhat. It's not really a revolutionary, but more of an evolutionary design. For me the next logical step for the iMac was to get rid of the base.
There are 2 models, a 17" and a 20". The 17" is available in 1.6 or 1.8 Ghz configurations. The 20" is only available as a 1.8 Ghz model. The two 1.8Ghz models come with a VERTICAL SuperDrive while the 1.6 comes with a Combo. The 1.6 Ghz model comes with a 533 mhz bus while the 1.8 Ghz model comes with a 600mhz bus. The GPU is an NVIDIA FX5200 with 64MB of Video RAM. Prices have gone down, 1.6Ghz models start at $1299 all the way up to the 20" 1.8Ghz at $1899. Shipping is expected mid-september.
Rants:
1. GPU, GPU, GPU. The FX5200 is NVIDIA's bottom of the line card. I'm not sure if it was for heat or space considerations, but a better video card would make the new iMac more future proof. At the very least I thought they would have a BTO option.
2. System BUS. These processors' busses are at a 3:1 ratio, instead of the PowerMac's 2:1 ratio. A 533 and 600mhz bus is nothing to sneeze at, but we've been spoiled by the 900, 1ghz and even 1.25ghz buses of the new PowerMacs. A good thing about this situation is that it more clearly defines the "pro" lines and the "consumer" lines.
3. 1.8ghz for the top of the line 20" iMac? I'm not sure about Apple's reasoning for putting the entire iMac line below even the slowest of PowerMacs. It could be a move to further seperate the lines. Maybe they just couldn't find enough 2.0 GHz chips.
4. The ports. They look great when nothing's plugged into them. But what if you actually start to use those ports? I can see it getting mighty messy with 2-3 USB devices, a FW HD or so, and some external Speakers. Then again, all I've seen are pictures, and pictures rarely do apple products justice. I'll just have to head to Irvine to take a look in person.