iMac G5 and eMac Lines Refreshed
Shortly after releasing new Power Mac G5 models (see "Apple Speed Bumps Power Mac G5" in TidBITS-778), Apple announced updates to two of its consumer desktop lines, the iMac G5 and the eMac.
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iMac G5 Improved — Apple bumped up the processor, graphics card, and built-in memory of the flat-panel iMac G5. As before, it’s available in two sizes and three standard configurations. The low-end 17-inch model, at $1,300, is outfitted with a 1.8 GHz PowerPC G5 processor (up from 1.6 GHz) with a 600 MHz frontside bus, 160 GB hard drive, and a slot-loading Combo Drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW). The mid-range 17-inch model ($1,500) and the 20-inch model ($1,800) both include a 2.0 GHz processor (up from 1.8 GHz) with a 667 MHz frontside bus and an 8x dual-layer SuperDrive. The 17-inch configuration includes the 160 GB hard disk, while the 20-inch beastie is equipped with a 250 GB hard disk.
All three configurations now ship with 512 MB of RAM (with support for up to 2 GB), and an ATI Radeon 9600 graphics card with 128 MB of memory, as well as the original iMac G5’s complement of ports: two FireWire 400, three USB 2.0, VGA output, and S-video output. All models also come with built-in AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR wireless networking; previously, the Bluetooth was a build-to-order option. Each runs Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger and includes iLife ’05.
eMac Sees Boost — The CRT-screen-based eMac continues to be Apple’s quiet inexpensive workhorse, and that’s even more true thanks to last week’s improvements to the all-in-one computer. The new eMac configuration includes a 1.42 GHz PowerPC G4 processor, 512 MB of memory, a Radeon 9600 graphics card with 64 MB of memory, and an 8x dual-layer SuperDrive. The $800 low-end configuration now sports an 80 GB hard disk, while the $1,000 model has a 160 GB hard disk. They both ship with Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger and iLife ’05.