Tuesday morning , I seat with a roomful of journalists at Apple as Steve Jobs introduced a redesigned iMac , as well as new versions of iLife and iWork . I took Jobs ’ proclamation that all product were “ shipping today ” with a caryopsis of common salt , since that ordinarily means products start send out to shop on that date and are n’t always available to customers until a few day after .
To my surprisal , by the time I get back to the office , the Macworld Lab had already pimp all three of the standard iMac form . As the somebody who ’ll be writing the iMac inspection later this week , I snagged one from the laboratory and ( after wolfing down a salad for lunch ) unpacked it at my desk .
Placing the 20 - column inch model in front of me , the chassis was very familiar but the design was quite dissimilar . The aluminium body looks like the Mac Pro and MacBook Pro — sure not a happy stroke . And instead of the same color all the fashion around the front and the sieve , the new iMac has a black border about one inch thick all around the screen .
The essence is such that it make the screen look larger than the same sizing spyglass on the former model . The silvery Apple logotype has been replaced by the same black that borders the screen .
The iMac , in all its gloriole
The other noticeable dissimilar is the glossy screenland , similar to that on the MacBook bloodline . It ’s highly reflective and makes the iMac look a lot like an LCD boob tube . ( The darker color and black edge do n’t hurt either in that regard . ) Apple even includes a black chamois ( a larger version of the one in theiPhonebox ) for cleaning off the smudges that will for sure appear on the nice display .
Turning on the iMac give me the chance to see the burnished , glossy display in action , which take care more pleasing than the previous iMacs . The build - in iSight camera is the same black gloss as the ring around the screen in which it ride — that , combined with its unexampled round shape , make it blend in very well instead of being obvious as with the previous iMac .
The iMac ’s ports
The back of the iMac is coated in a matte black that give it a very unlike look from behind . The ports go in well , and the only veridical difference seems to be the FireWire 800 port that now graces every iMac . ( Only the 24 - inch iMac had a FireWire port prior to this round of updates . )
Inside the box , I line up the familiar Mighty Mouse , as well as the entirely exotic new keyboard . It shares the same brush metallic look of the iMac , and face like it was lifted from a MacBook and send away onto a piece of very thin aluminum . The keys are the same aim as those on Apple ’s newest laptops , but there are now Exposé , Dashboard , and iTunes medium control functions on keys that double as function key . There ’s also a full keypad . The front bound of the keyboard itself support only about one - third of an inch above your desk , defecate it blend in more than any other Apple keyboard to date .
The iMac ’s keyboard
I could go on and on , but to be fair , I ’ll give it a few days before the full inspection . ensure to curb back on Macworld.com for the inspection plus the answer of the Lab ’s tests . In the meanwhile , visitour photo galleryto see more iMac and iLife images .
