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Apple hike the processor in its 20 - in iMac to 2.16GHz . And this is n’t just a bare jump in clock speed — the sometime Core Duo check has been replaced with a next - genesis Core 2 Duo that boosts the amount of shared L2 memory cache to 4 MB . Other than the larger screen size of it , faster processor and bigger hard drive , the spec on this exemplar match the 17 - column inch iMac Core 2 Duo/2GHz . Build - to - order selection include a 2.33GHz Core 2 brace central processing unit and a 500 GB knockout driveway .

Whenever Intel announces a new C.P.U. , it ’s only a thing of clock time before that cow dung stop up in a Mac . Apple ’s previous iMacs — two 17 - in models running at 1.83GHz and 2.0GHz , and the 20 - inch model at 2.16GHz — are the first Apple hardware to take vantage of Intel ’s Core 2 Duo mainframe .

With the raw iMacs , Apple has occupy out its all - in - one desktop line with four models ( see our review of the new 24 - inch iMac ) to fit almost every budget and desire for display size of it and features . However , carrying into action gain from the unexampled french-fried potatoes are modest compared with the previous Core Duo iMacs .

The models

The newfangled craw of iMacs supplant the $ 1,299 17 - inch 1.83GHz Core Duo good example and $ 1,699 20 - column inch 2.0GHz Core Duo mannequin with two 17 - inch versions and a 20 - inch version ( plus the 24 - in model ) . The new prices promise to attract to a blanket range of vendee .

The $ 999 17 - in 1.83GHz Core 2 Duo iMac — the first flat - panel iMac for less than $ 1,000 — is a stripped - down model . It has the same 2 MB of share L2 cache as the previous iMacs , and is the only iMac model to ship without work up - in Bluetooth 2.0 wireless networking , an Apple Remote , or a SuperDrive . It ’s very similar to the iMac that Apple sells to educational institution for $ 899 , except that the supernumerary $ 100 buys you a Core 2 Duo central processor instead of Core Duo processor ( running at the same speed ) and a 160 GB Serial ATA ( SATA ) hard driving instead of an 80 GB unvoiced crusade . It includes 512 megabit of 667MHz RAM on two 256 M DIMMs , a 24x Combo drive , AirPort Extreme wireless networking , and Intel ’s GMA 950 integrated graphics , which borrows the 64 MB of RAM it uses from independent memory , making a RAM advance a skilful approximation on this good example . You may want to drop the extra $ 75 to get 1 GB of RAM ( the maximum is 2 GB ) .

The $ 1,199 17 - in 2.0GHz and $ 1,499 20 - column inch 2.16GHz manikin are nearly identical except for their dissimilar C.P.U. fastness , hard - movement capacities ( 160 GB versus 250 GB ) , and display size — their covert feature 1,440 - by-900 - pixel resolution and 1,680 - by-1,050 - pixel resolution , respectively . Both have 4 MB of partake L2 stash , 8x duple - layer SuperDrives , ATI Radeon X1600 computer graphic with 128 MB GDDR3 memory , ramp up - in AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0 wireless networking , and an Apple Remote . Both models also come with 1 GB of 667MHz RAM , split between two 512 MiB SODIMMs .

It ’s peachy that Apple has made 1 GB of RAM the monetary standard on these two models . unluckily , whereas correspond pairs of RAM are essential for the $ 999 iMac — which improve graphics performance because of its integration with the system RAM — the other iMacs do n’t gain anything from having two equalize DIMMs instead of one ( it does presumptively pull through Apple money , however , as two smaller DIMMs are generally cheaper than one declamatory one ) . So advance RAM ( up to the uttermost of 3 GB ) requires removing one let in DIMM to gain a devoid RAM time slot — ready it more expensive and wasteful to elevate random-access memory on your own .

Each of the three models has a build - in iSight video camera , Gigabit Ethernet , an Apple Keyboard and Mighty Mouse , three USB 2.0 ports ( plus two USB 1.1 ports on the keyboard ) , two FireWire 400 ports , built - in stereoscopic photograph speaker with 12 - watt of digital elaboration , a built - in mike , and analog and digital audio input and output ( the previous generation of iMac had analogue - only audio input in gain to analog and digital audio output ) .

Performance

To see how well the new iMacs perform , the Macworld laboratory put them through our standard retinue of mental test . All the newfangled iMacs perform strongly and bested the previous top iMac — the 20 - column inch 2GHz Core Duo example — in most tests . The 17 - column inch Core 2 Duo iMac , running at the same processor speed as the older 20 - inch framework , scored 10 percent high in our Speedmark suite , while the 20 - in 2.16GHz Core 2 pair was 17 percent estimable — and both fashion model cost hundreds of dollars less .

And although the 1.83GHz Core 2 Duo iMac clock eight points behind the previous 2GHz iMac Speedmark score , it beat the older iMac in several tests : it send a seven percent speed boost in Apple ’s Compressor MPEG-2 encoding trial and a 19 percent faster clip in the iTunes MP3 encryption test .

The one country in which the 17 - inch 1.83GHz iMac do importantly bad was in our Unreal Tournament 2004 Frame Rate tryout . Because this model uses the Intel GMA 950 integrated art or else of dedicated high - speed nontextual matter processing , the low - ending Mac could litigate only 21.7 underframe per second—60 percent fewer than the onetime iMac , and 67 percentage to 73 per centum fewer than the other newfangled iMac models . The integrated graphic also induce detectable differences in Nanosaur 2 ( movement seemed less fluid ) , and opening and closing multiple Finder window was n’t nearly as smooth as with the other Core 2 Duo iMacs . However , the 1.83GHz manakin was able to diddle HD film lagger without dropping frames . The other two models have much better frame rates of 65.5 ( 2.0GHz ) and 74.4 ( 2.16GHz ) , which beat the old 20 - in iMac ’s 54.1 frames conveniently — even though they all apply the same ATI Radeon X1600 graphics central processing unit with the same amount of RAM .

All three new iMacs were between nine percent and 24 percent faster than the old 20 - inch iMac in our Adobe Photoshop CS2 entourage of tests , which runs in Rosetta displacement because Photoshop is n’t yet an Intel - native software . Even the scummy - end iMac shaved 14 seconds off the old model ’s clip of 2 min and 31 seconds .

In general , there was very little difference between the 2.0GHz and 2.16GHz models in terms of hand - on feeling — both were nipping and reactive at most tasks . The $ 999 iMac , however , definitely suffer from its deadening central processor and less amount of RAM : launch apps took a little longer and applying transitions in iMovie was slow , for model . And the greater screen brightness of the 20 - inch model was obtrusive , but not a Brobdingnagian departure .

Core 2 Duo iMac Benchmarks

Best results inbold . extension system initalics . * denotes build - to - ordering modelling with upgrade picture circuit card

Speedmark 4.5 musical score are proportional to those of a 1.25GHz Mac mini , which is portion a score of 100 . Adobe Photoshop , Cinema 4D XL , iMovie , iTunes , and Finder scores are in min : seconds . All systems were running Mac OS X 10.4.7 with 1 GB of RAM , with processor performance set to Highest in the Energy Saver preference pane when applicable . The Photoshop Suite test is a set of 14 scripted tasks using a 50 MB filing cabinet . Photoshop ’s retention was fix to 70 pct and History was place to Minimum . We register how long it took to render a scene in Cinema 4D XL . We used Compressor to encode a 6 - minute and 26 - 2d DV single file using the videodisc : Fastest Encode 120 second – 4:3 context . In iMovie , we applied the elderly TV effect to a 1 - second moving-picture show . We commute 45 minutes of AAC audio files to MP3 using iTunes ’ High Quality setting . We used Unreal Tournament 2004 ’s Antalus Botmatch average - frames - per - second score ; we tested at a resolution of 1,024 - by-768 pixels at the Maximum background with both audio frequency and graphic enable . We created a Zip archive in the Finder from a 1 GB folder.—Macworld Lab testing by James Galbraith and Jerry Jung

Macworld’s buying advice

The public presentation difference between the Core Duo and Core 2 Duo makes these upgrades fundamentally rush bump rather than entirely new iMacs , but Apple does give you more Mac for less money . And now that Apple offers many iMac models , you have a better chance of finding one that precisely suits your needs and budget . If you want a broken - cost iMac to have around the home for everyday use ( with iLife and some higher - end apps ) , the 1.83GHz iMac is a nice system for the price ( even factoring in a RAM ascent from Apple ) . It also makes for an appealing system for many students , who can buy one for the same $ 899 price as the education iMac ( ) .

But if gambling is your thing , or you plan to use graphics - intensive applications on a steady groundwork , you should spend the $ 200 more for the faster 17 - in theoretical account . If you ’re take care for a bigger screen , the 20 - in theoretical account provides more than just additional pixels — it also give you carrying into action that is very similar to the 24 - in iMac ( which , if you need the with child , brightest blind and can justify spending the money , is a great choice ) .

[ Jonathan Seff isMacworld ’s senior tidings editor in chief . ]