So it would seem that this is the new iMac G5…
‘Ugly’ springs to mind. As does ‘Mistake’.
Personally I would want the G4 model over the G5 any day of the week, if the hardware wasn’t so much better in the G5.
Update: This is how it looks like orthographically (nearly) and hi-res.
More Reading:
Apple’s Paris Expo Page (With Keynote video)
Photos from the Expo
Andy Budd has a look at the new iMac G5
Legendary Jonathan Ive talks iMac G5
Ehm… Apple’s sighted in films…
Is the mobo, cpu, everything in that screen? Seems like G5 PB’s might not be so far off – unless I’m misreading the depth from the image?
From the iMac Homepage:
I hope, G5 Powerbooks are coming soon!
Another thought, give it a touch screen and a Lion battery and you’ve got a tablet/slab. ;)
I don’t think it’s that bad…
Granted, I liked the G4 version better but certainly neither ugly nor a mistake? Considering it a piece of furniture, I’d much rather have an iMac like this on my table than any other computer.
Well, I’m actually slowly getting accustomed to it now. Still not a G4 by a long shot, but I could perhaps see myself getting one to replace ol’ Zombie (that’d my PC)…
What I really like about it, is that with a wifi keyboard and mouse as well as a wifi net connection… You’ve got one wire running out the back. One!
I’ve wanted that ever since I got my first computer!
Actually, this is the iMac I’ve been dreaming of. Super thin, wall mountable, near zero footprint, clean lines.
My sister has the Dome and loves it but that just wouldn’t work for me. I have little enough desk space as it is.
I like the new design … it simple yet very functional to me. The only thing that the old one could do was swivel horizontally, which is not very useful to most people since you should be sitting right in front of it anyways. Heh, the new one is WALL MOUNTABLE … and can handle wireless keyboad and mouse … which opens it up to some interesting possibilities. Too bad all the ports are on the back, as opposed to the side. Anyhow, the guts are great (G5, new mobo, gfx, bus etc.) and the new screens should be an improvement over the old ones.
agree with Mark’s comment: just one step away from turning the thing into a tablet, although i wonder if it will get even hotter than the lapburning laptops and what the implications of that may be…
i bet in a year’s time they’ll also release it in pastel and neon colours. what always gets me about these systems (the same holds true for my view on laptops in general): how upgradeable is it?
An Apple tablet would be really bad for my economy, lemme tell you!
About upgradability: I can understand people’s woes about it, but I think it’s important to realize that while the new iMac seems to be easier upgraded than what’s come before. The iMac has never been about that. Like the Cube before it (God, please be fair and bring back the Cube, thank you), it’s a package deal.
And since these machines aren’t aimed at gamers, their lifetime is often much longer than you would normally anticipate, especially if you’re a PC user.
Indeed, Michael. There are still many peopl who use the 1999 iMac and are satisfied (running all of their apps and with OS X) with it. A Mac just has a bigger lifespan. I don’t see many 333 MHzs around anymore, just because it’s getting outdated. I’ll try to convince my father of the power of Apple.
The fact that this is a relatively vertical design allows better cooling than a laptop design which would (unless Apple has something very unusual up their sleeves) put the processor under the keyboard, flat. My guess is that this new design will run cooler than the snowcone (G4) design as well because the boards are horizontal there too.
I too am waiting for a G5 Powerbook but the heat of the G5 as it is is what’s preventing one I’m sure.
I don’t think its ugly and the wall mountability coupled with Apple’s great move into home entertainment (Airport express which I use every day and love) might allow it to become or morph into more of a computer/TV than any other computer around.
I wouldn’t buy an iMac either, if upgradability was an issue.
Alex — It’s wall mountable (cool!) but with ports on the back!? Now that sounds like a mistake to me!
I really like the design and the technique features of the products offered by Apple – i call a 20G iPod my own and i love this little masterpiece – but there`s one fact i still don`t understand completly:
Why are Apple products that expensive? I`ve payed about 350 – something € for my iPod and i really want to own a Apple Notebook (Longhorn is comming, you know), but i can`t efford it because i`ve to spend about 2000 € for a 15” notebook.
Heh, I’m not even going to try and throw myself into that discussion full-heartedly. But I can tell you that my experience is that money given away on Apple hardware is much more likely to live up to my expectations, than any other hardware out there.
Barring their bluetooth mouse and their in-ear headbuds, I haven’t purchased a single Apple component that I don’t love.
Joen: Good point about the ports on the back vs. wall mount, I wonder how that works?!
Maybe there should be a little distance between the iMac and the wall because of air circulation and with the existence of this distance you maybe have enough space to use the ports on the back?
Ugly?!
I like it very much. Very simple, clean lines, practically no space taken. Gadget to wish for.
Well, I let out a laugh when I read your post this morning.
I saw the iMac news and immediately posted my gut reaction. The word: “ugly” was used. Of course I expected to be the only one who thought so. Clearly, I was wrong.
I just don’t think I can bring myself to like this. The cube was soooo much prettier!
I’m a big proponent of form and function and when something drops the ball on one half of that equation I end up being disappointed. Sure the iMac G5 looks like it has all the hardware to perform up to standard but it looks awful!
Michael wrote:
well, it’s not just gamers who need increasing performance. heck, when i started doing video editing a few years back, my then quite powerful machine was more than enough. now, it’s grinding to a halt with newer versions of the editing software / OS / etc. new processor, new mobo, and off i go…no need to re-buy a completely new package if 80% of the current machine is still ok.
but yes, each to their own. if i had the cash, i’d consider a mac. it’s just a tool, just as the pc is. if it helps me get the job done, then even better :)
Patrick: (I wonder what happened to that blockquote, hmm).
Yeah, but the iMac is a home computer, not a video editing rig… You’d want a G5.
Michael — about the wallmounting and ports on the back — Ben makes a good point:
I have no idea how it should work, but it does make sense. However — how then should it be mounted, if it needs space? Oh well, I honestly can’t imagine they didn’t think about that.
Off-topic: I really miss your live javascript preview! You can steal mine if you want to — I stole it from somewhere else (hicksdesign?), and it works flawlessly. Oh and I’m sorry to say this but I’m not recieving any comment subscription notifications in my mail…
Joen: I’d love to have a proper preview. But until someone meshes Andy Budd’s live Textile preview with HTML, I’m not gonna go for it.
I spoke to Andy about it, and he seems to be hip to share his code, but I’m not quite the man for the job :)
I have to agree that I really prefer the look of the G4’s to the newer G5 tower. It just screams…well, brick to me, and not brick like the old Cube’s. I also wish that Apple would stick a decent video card in their systems for once. Use the full power of Quartz! An OpenGL rendering system shouldn’t be slaved to a card that’s three generations out of date already.
Granted, it probably works fine for most people but…I’m a geek. I want more power! :)
I actually like the new iMac, but I would think a budget cube would be a good idea also – especially considering the prices some Cubes were going for on ebay after apple annouced their discontinuation.
I really don’t understand the ‘ugly’ position. I know it’s all a bit of a matter of taste (and I’d be the last to claim that I have any taste when it comes to design), but what’s so wrong with the look? Isn’t it just simple?
I’m totally on board with the “small footprint = good” thing. I’ve gotta G4 iMac, and I loves it, but even at 10” I’d trade it for a footprint as small as this G5 looks to have.
Ports on the back are a drag, but I guess engineering them on the side would have been too tricky. Shame.
Wouldn’t get your hopes up for a G5 Powerbook though. The iMac is 8.4kg and 2”. The biggest Powerbook is currently 3.1kg and 1”. I don’t think chopping the iMac in half whilst still preventing it from melting is going to be an easy task.
I actually think the design of this one is better than the last G4 iMac. Whilst I agree that the last iMac had a charm, this design is far more integrated into Apple’s current hardware offerings. Sleek, simple, wall mountable. Where is the ugly? Now the Dell Dimension 3000 desktop, that’s ugly! I think we need to get a little space on the matter. Not perfect for Heilemann – granted, but ugly?
Small bevels make screens look bigger. Hence LCD’s with small bevels seeming bigger than they actually are (i.e. a “big” vs. a “small” 15” LCD — the difference is likely the bevel size).
Big bevels are ugly. This… computer… thing… has big bevels. I liked the older designs more…
The more I look at it, the more I dislike it :-(
btw Michael the live textile preview on my site is really just a slight reworking of the one on Jon Hicks’s site which uses a textile JS function developed by Jeff Minard and Stuart Langridge.
I think I’ve come to the conclusion, that I could live with it, but I don’t think it’s worthy of the Apple logo to be quite honest…
The iMac G4 is a design icon. It went against everything anyone had ever done before and was an instant classic. Not only that, it just looks amazing. The transparent frame around the monitor, the chrome arm… Everything just screams instant classic!
The iMac G5, to me, just seems like an extension of what most computer companies have tried to do for a few years now. Of course Apple manage to do it better than most companies I’ve seen try it, but still…
That, and you of course lack the vertical adjustment, which I always really like. Doesn’t matter if it’s mom, dad or the daughter who wants to work at it…
If they had upgraded that design to G5 and thrown in a slot-in DVD burner, I would’ve loved it…
Andy: Did you mention btw, that you were going to implement HTML previewing into the script? :)
Again, I think when you factor in where Apple is going with things like AirPort Express, this iMac will morph into a replacement for a TV set. The luxo design just wasn’t going there and I think that’s where apple is going with this line and maybe others as well.
When you compare 2K for a 20” iMac with what a similar LCD TV would cost and the TV is not a computer, the design and price look a bit different.
I’m a PowerBook guy myself so the only way I’d ever want one of these is to replace my (tube) TV. My wife loves the idea of the TV on the wall, out of the way and so do I. I’d bet that idea has influenced the form factor of the iMac as much as the industrial design overlap with their currnent line of monitors.
Stay tuned…
Oh, Joen, if it’s a TV on the wall, I doubt you’d need those ports for much so they could be flush. I’ve not seen how the power cord hangs minus the stand so am not sure how that would work or look.
I think you have to see it in real life, as I did on the Mac Expo in Paris. It actually is stunning. It even makes the iMac G4 look dated. Do not judge from the pictures on the Apple website. they are shite!
Mark: That’s good to know. I’m actually sort of warming up to it now… It could be kinda cool to have :)
Richard: I agree about the TV thing, the G5 iMac is a perfect TV replacement and I think apple missed a trick here.
If theyd have added 3 scart sockets for games consoles, cable/satellite tv etc and possibly an aeriel socket (though rather selfishly im not too bothered about that) i think theyd have a real winner on their hands.
I guess the thing though with these as with the ipod minis is that although they are possibly relativly expensive, it doesnt stop Apple having supply problems so I dont suppose they need more demand really.
It looks like Apple ran out of ideas.
This thing is a Notepad PC without the benefit of portability.
Hanging it on the wall is not practical given the location of the ports. Wireless keyboard/mouse is nice but you are never going to get away from cables.
Tho I usually love the design effort which Apple puts forth in their products, this one totally loses me. Its a square white brick. It has no charm, no character and no style.
And how much you want to bet that heat issues rear up once it gets out into circulation?
The fact they managed to put a G5 into a laptop sized notepad computer is no great miracle. The fact they made it so obviously a “quick and dirty” product is a sin.
I will stick to my powerbook.