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Apple Computers iMac has taken to the big screen.
The Cupertino, Calif., computer maker on Sept. 6 unveiled a 24-inch iMac model powered by Intels new dual-core Core 2 Duo processor. The company also updated its 17-inch and 20-inch screen iMac models with the Core 2 Duo processor. The Core 2 Duo, which succeeded Intels Core Duo, arrived on July 27.
The technology updates extend Apples all-in-one iMac desktop, which was the first of the companys computers to ship with an Intel processor inside. That machine, an iMac based on the Intel Core Duo, arrived in January 2006. The new Core 2 Duo-equipped machines offer up to 50 percent more performance, while the 24-inch iMac, with its 1,920-by-1,200-pixel resolution screen, offers 30 percent more real estate, Apple officials said in a statement.
“The new 24-inch widescreen iMac is the fastest, biggest and brightest iMac weve ever made,” Philip Schiller, Apples senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, in Cupertino, Calif., said in the statement.
All told, Apple will offer four Core 2 Duo iMac models, ranging in price from $999 to $1,999.
Aside from the $1,999 24-inch machine, which sports a 2.16GHz Core 2 Duo, the company is offering 17-inch iMac models with either a 1.83GHz or a 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo, and a 20-inch iMac with a 2.16GHz Core 2 Duo.
The 24-inch iMac comes with 1GB of RAM, a 250GB hard drive, a multiformat DVD-writing SuperDrive and Nvidias GeForce 7300GT graphics processor with 128MB of video memory, as well as Apples AirPort Extreme wireless networking and its iSight video camera built-in.
The new 20-inch model, priced at $1,499, will also come with 1GB of RAM, the DVD-writing SuperDrive and a 250GB hard drive, along with an ATI Technologies Radeon X1600 graphics processor with 128MB of video memory, Airport Extreme and iSight.
The new 17-inch iMac models include a 2.0GHz machine priced at $1,199 and a 1.8GHz machine priced at $999. The 2.0GHz machines features include 1GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, the DVD-burning SuperDrive and an ATI Radeon X1600 graphics processor with 128MB of video memory. The 1.83GHz model comes with components such as 512MB of RAM, a combination CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive and a 160GB hard drive, according to the company.
Apple, which first announced its intention to move from IBM and Freescale-manufactured PowerPC processors to Intels x86 processors in June 2005, gave no indication of upgrade plans for its other Core Duo-based systems, such as the MacBook and MacBook Pro.
However, Apple has recently updated its Mac mini with faster Core Duo chips.
The company is now offering a choice between a 1.66GHz Core Duo in its $599 mini or 1.83GHz Core Duo in its $799 mini, its Web site shows. When it first arrived in February 2006, the Intel-processor-based Mac mini offered either a 1.5GHz Intel Core Solo or a 1.66GHz Core Duo.
Intel has said that the Core 2 Duo is capable of replacing the Core Duo in existing systems with a simple software upgrade.
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