Apple Unveils 'Twice As Fast' iMac With Intel Inside
January 10, 2006
San Francisco, CA - Apple today announced the first of a new generation of Macs featuring Intel processors that Apple will roll out during 2006. The company also said they achieved a new record in overall quarterly revenues of $5.7 billion dollars in the fourth quarter. The figure includes sales of 14 million iPod music and video players for the quarter (compared to 4.6 million for Q4 last year), bringing the total iPod sales to 42 million to date.
At Macworld's packed-house conference in San Francisco, Apple unveiled the first new iMac featuring Mac OS X (version 10.4.4 “Tiger”) running on the new Intel dual core processor which Apple says delivers performance that is two to three times faster than that of its predecessor.
The company said a new line of high-speed Intel-based laptops, named MacBook Pro, will be released in February ($1,999 with a 1.67GHz processor, 80GB hard drive and 15-inch screen; and $2,499 with a 1.83GHz processor and 100GB hard drive). The inch-thin MacBook Pro is said to run up to four times faster than previous Apple laptops.
The new iMac line starts shipping today, about six months ahead of the 2006 schedule set last June when Apple shocked the computer world by announcing its transition from PowerPC chips, produced by IBM and Motorola, to Intel.
Along with Intel's dual-core processors, the new iMac features the built-in iSight Web cam for video conferencing out-of-the-box, Front Row media software and Apple's remote control, which lets users view video, listen to tunes, or check photos from across a room.
Starting at $1,299, the new iMacs are also equipped with new iLife ’06, the next generation of Apple’s suite of digital lifestyle applications featuring upgrade versions of iPhoto, iMovie® HD, iDVD, GarageBand, and the new iWeb tool--the suite's biggest addition--which allows quick and easy creation of websites with photos, blogs, audio/video, and Podcasts.
The updated version of iLife also includes the ability to edit high-definition video. Plus, Apple's iPhoto upgrade now includes a "photocasting" application for creating photo albums on the Web that others can subscribe to (like they do with blogs or podcasts) and receive automatic downloads when changes are made to the albums. The new version of iPhoto is also faster with the ability to process some 250,000 photos, which Apple says is about 10 times greater than the previous version.
“The iMac has already been praised as ‘the gold standard of desktop PCs’, so we hope customers really love the new iMac, which is up to twice as fast,” said Apple's Chief Executive Steve Jobs, whose keynote address opened the 2006 Macworld Conference today. Jobs welcomed Intel CEO Paul Otellini (dressed in a chip factory "clean room" suit) on stage and used a large, gold colored mock-up of the new Intel chip to focus on iMac's new processor.
“With Mac OS X plus Intel’s latest dual-core processor under the hood," said Jobs, "the new iMac delivers performance that will knock our customers’ socks off.” (To watch Apple's QuickTime movie of today's keynote address by Jobs, Click Here).
This revolutionary bit of technology is actually two processors built into a single chip. According to Apple, "more than an evolution of processor design, the Intel Core Duo is an order-of-magnitude leap forward. It’s the first Intel chip born of the new 65-nanometer process, which allows for the creation of transistors so small, you could fit a hundred inside a single human cell. With two powerful processors designed to share resources and circuitry so unimaginably small, Intel Core Duo achieves far higher levels of performance while actually consuming less power."
Apple’s built-in iSight video camera takes advantage of the Intel processor to deliver up to four times the resolution over the previous model. Each iMac also includes Photo Booth, Apple’s application that lets users take quick snapshots with the built-in iSight video camera, add entertaining visual effects and share their pictures at the touch of a button.
The new iMac comes standard with a SuperDrive for burning professional-quality DVDs, 512MB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM memory expandable to 2GB, hard drive storage capacity up to 500GB, and ATI Radeon X1600 PCI Express-based graphics with 128MB of GDDR3 memory for outstanding graphics performance and realistic game play.
With the latest high-performance connectivity options, the new iMac includes built-in 10/100/1000 BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet for high-speed networking, built-in AirPort Extreme for fast 54 Mbps wireless networking, built-in Bluetooth 2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate), a total of five USB ports (three USB 2.0) and two FireWire 400 ports.
The new iMac also includes a mini-DVI video output to connect up to a 23-inch Apple Cinema HD Display. With mini-DVI and the new iMac’s extended desktop mode feature, users can more than double their available screen real estate.
Systems At-a-Glance
The new 17-inch 1.83 GHz iMac ($1,299) includes:
• 17-inch widescreen LCD display;
• 1.83 GHz Intel Core Duo processor;
• 512MB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM expandable to 2GB;
• 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW);
• PCI Express-based ATI Radeon X1600 with 128MB GDDR3 memory;
• built-in iSight video camera;
• built-in AirPort® Extreme wireless networking & Bluetooth 2.0+EDR;
• 160GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 7200 rpm;
• mini-DVI out (adapters for DVI, VGA and Composite/S-Video sold separately);
• built-in stereo speakers and microphone; and
• the infrared Apple Remote, Mighty Mouse and Apple Keyboard.
The new 20-inch 2.0 GHz iMac ($1,699) includes:
• 20-inch widescreen LCD display;
• 2.0 GHz Intel Core Duo processor;
• 512MB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM expandable to 2GB;
• 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW);
• PCI Express-based ATI Radeon X1600 with 128MB GDDR3 memory;
• built-in iSight video camera;
• built-in AirPort Extreme wireless networking & Bluetooth 2.0+EDR;
• 250GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 7200 rpm;
• mini-DVI out (adapters for DVI, VGA and Composite/S-Video sold separately);
• built-in stereo speakers and microphone; and
• the infrared Apple Remote, Mighty Mouse and Apple Keyboard.
In addition, build-to-order options and accessories include up to 2GB DDR2 SDRAM, 250GB and 500GB Serial ATA hard drives, up to 256MB of GDDR3 video memory on the 20-inch iMac, iWork™ ’06 (pre-installed), AirPort Express and AirPort Extreme Base Station, Apple Wireless Keyboard, Apple Wireless Mouse, Apple USB Modem and the AppleCare Protection Plan.
For more information visit: Apple
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