At Apple’s headquarters, Steve Jobs introduced three new iMacs and updated iLife software. He touted the iMacs’ high quality glass, plastics and aluminum, as a way to give them a more professional look.
The new iMac comes in two sizes: 20 and 24-inch, both displays have a glossy finish.
The 20-inch comes with a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 1GB of memory, a 320GB hard drive and an ATI Radeon HD 2400 Pro for $1499. There is also a 20-inch model that comes 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo chip and a 250GB hard drive and will cost $1199.
The 24-inch model comes with a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 1GB memory, a 320GB hard drive and an ATI Radeon HD 2400 Pro. It will cost $1799.
For more details read Dan Farber’s blog and Jason D. O’Grady’s blog
iMac photos courtesy of Apple.
This chart summarizes features on the new iMacs.
The iMac from the side.
From the back
A look at the multiple input and output jacks on Apple’s new iMacs. Jobs said it was the first time ever Apple had put the FireWire 800 jack on an iMac.
Dan Farber took this photo of the new iMac at the announcement.
Apple compares its new iMac to a comparable desktop PC from Dell.
From left to right: Apple COO Tim Cook, Steve Jobs and marketing chief Phil Schiller announce the new Apple gear.
Apple has also redesigned the keyboard.
The left side
The right side
The iMacs have a built-in camera for video conferencing or just having fun.
At 6.5-inches square and 2-inches deep, the Mac Mini fits into your hands.
Here’s a look at some of the Mac Mini peripherals
Jobs also introduced a major revision to iLife, the company’s suite of home media software. The new version, iLife ’08, will cost $79 and come with new versions of iPhoto, iMovie, iWeb, iDVD and GarageBand, the five applications in the iLife suite.
iPhoto ’08 will come with the ability to upload photos to a new set of .Mac services, so home photographers can build Web pages with their photos. It also incorporates a new feature called “skimming,” which lets iPhoto users preview images in an album without having to open the album itself.
The most significant upgrade to the iLife suite was to the iMovie application, which changed so much the company decided to give it a new icon, Jobs said. Mac users can create short movies of their home videos with iMovie, but before this new version came out, it was very hard to create a short movie in a short amount of time, he said. The new version lets users drag and drop video clips into a movie template, where transitions and a soundtrack can be added.
The new version of GarageBand lets you create a customized background track for your vocals or instrumental prowess using several different templates, such as rock, blues, jazz, Latin, or reggae.
