Technical Specifications
The iMac G4 included Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X due to it being released the year Mac OS 9 was discontinued. The computer was separate from the previous, half egg shaped G3 models.
New features included a flat-panel LCD screen, with diagonal measurements up to 20 inches (released Nov 18 2003), and a tray loading DVD+CD drive. The floating monitor was adjustable, and stood at any angle around the dome-shaped bottom. Unlike previous iMac models, the iMac G4 came only in white, and was not translucent like the iMac G3s.
The Gateway Profile attempted to compete with the iMac G4 in the all-in-one LCD computer market. A reviewer noted that the Profile had better processing power, due to its Intel Pentium 4, whereas the iMac was hampered because its G4 chip lacked the 1MB L2 cache that the Intel chips had. The iMac had clear advantages in LCD screen quality (it uses a digital LCD as opposed to an analog LCD), aesthetics (particularly the flexible monitor arm), and multimedia.
The reviewer concluded that the iMac was good for introducing users to a Macintosh, but he noted that their (relatively) high prices were approaching that of laptops, which are actually portable and have higher resolution LCD screens. The Profile would also be undercut by numerous OEM offerings (including one from Gateway) that bundled an LCD screen with the box containing a Pentium 4.
When running newer versions of Mac OS X (Tiger and Leopard), the iMac G4's GeForce4 MX GPU is not capable of Core Image rendering. This causes some minor graphical issues. One such issue would be the lack of the Dashboard (Mac OS) ripple effect when a widget is introduced. Another would be an opaque menu bar in Mac OS X Leopard.
- January 7, 2002 — Apple introduces a new iMac line with three models. It has a new futuristic form factor and contains a 700 or an 800 MHz G4 processor, and is only available in white. The display is now a 15-inch LCD, easily positioned by the "swing arm" attaching it to the base. (15-inch, 800 MHz model is M8535LL/A)
- July 17, 2002 — A new 800 MHz model with a 17-inch screen and an updated GPU is added to the line. (M8812LL/A)
- February 4, 2003 — The line is slimmed down to two models, one with a 15-inch LCD and a new 1.0 GHz model with a 17-inch LCD (M8935LL/A). AirPort Extreme as well as Bluetooth are available on the 17-inch model. The 15-inch model is largely identical to the January 2002 models.
- September 8, 2003 — The iMac 15-inch and 17-inch models are upgraded to a 1.0 GHz and 1.25 GHz G4 processors, respectively (M9285LL/A, M9168LL/A). New features are USB 2.0 and DDR memory, and they both now support AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth.
- November 18, 2003 — 20-inch screen model (M9290LL/A) is added that is capable of a 1680 x 1050 pixel screen resolution, and features a 1.25 GHz G4 processor.
| Component | iMac G4 | iMac G4 (Mac OS X Only) | iMac G4 (1Ghz, DDR) | iMac G4 (USB 2.0) |
| Release date | January 7, 2002 (15"), July 17, 2002 (17") | February 4, 2003 | September 8, 2003 (15 & 17"), November 18, 2003 (20") | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | ||||
| 15" TFT LCD, 1024 × 768 | 15" TFT LCD, 1024 × 768 | |||
| 17" TFT Widescreen LCD, 1440 × 900 | 17" TFT Widescreen LCD, 1440 × 900 | |||
| 20" TFT Widescreen LCD, 1680 x 1050 | ||||
| Processor | 700 MHz or 800 MHz PowerPC G4 (7450) | 800 MHz PowerPC G4 (7450) | 1.0 GHz PowerPC G4 (7445) | 1.0 GHz (15"), 1.25 GHz (17 & 20") PowerPC G4 (7445) |
| Cache | 64 KB L1, 256 KB L2 (1:1) | |||
| Front Side Bus | 100 MHz | 133 MHz | 167 MHz | |
| Memory | 128MB, 256MB of PC133 SDRAM Expandable up to 1GB via one factory installed memory module in a 168-pin DIMM slot and one 144-pin user-accessible SO-DIMM slot. |
256MB of PC133 SDRAM Expandable up to 1GB via one factory installed memory module in a 168-pin DIMM slot and one 144-pin user-accessible SO-DIMM slot. |
256MB of PC2100 (266 MHz) DDR SDRAM Expandable up to 2GB via one factory installed memory module in a 184-pin DIMM slot and one 200-pin user-accessible SO-DIMM slot (officially only 1GB is supported) |
256MB of PC2700 (333 MHz) DDR SDRAM Expandable up to 2GB via one factory installed memory module in a 184-pin DIMM slot and one 200-pin user-accessible SO-DIMM slot. (officially only 1 GB is supported) |
| Graphics | nVidia GeForce 2 MX with 32MB of DDR SDRAM (15"). nVidia GeForce 4 MX with 32MB of DDR SDRAM (17") | nVidia GeForce 2 MX with 32MB of DDR SDRAM | nVidia GeForce 4 MX with 64MB of DDR SDRAM | nVidia GeForce 4 MX with 32MB of DDR SDRAM (15"). nVidia GeForce FX 5200 Ultra with 64MB of DDR SDRAM (17 & 20") |
| Hard drive | 40GB, 60GB, 80GB | 60GB | 80GB Supports Hard Drives larger than 128 GB |
80GB Supports Hard Drives larger than 128 GB |
| Internal Combo drive | 8x DVD and 32x CD read; 32x CD-R and 10x CD-RW write | N/A |
12x DVD and 32x CD read; 32x CD-R and 24x CD-RW write 1Ghz only |
|
| Internal SuperDrive | 6x DVD and 24x CD read; 2x DVD-R, 8x CD-R, and 4x CD-RW write | N/A |
10x DVD and 32x CD read; 8x DVD-R, 24x CD-R, and 10x CD-RW write | 12x DVD and 32x CD read; 8x DVD+/-R, 4x DVD+/-RW, 2.4x DVD+R DL, 24x CD-R, 8x CD-RW write |
| AirPort | Built-in antennas and card slot for optional 11 Mbit/s AirPort Card; IEEE 802.11b compliant | Built-in antennas and expansion slot for optional 54 Mbit/s AirPort Extreme Card | ||
| Standard Features | 3 Built-in USB 1.1 and 2 Firewire 400 ports, Built-in microphone, headphone/audio out, mini-jack for external Harmon Kardon speakers, Built-in modem, 10/100Base-T Ethernet, Mini-VGA Port | 3 Built-in USB 2.0 and 2 Firewire 400 ports, Built-in microphone, audio in, headphone/audio out, mini-jack for external Harmon Kardon speakers, Built-in modem, 10/100Base-T Ethernet, Mini-VGA port | ||
| Maximum Operating System | Mac OS X 10.4 “Tiger” and Mac OS 9.2.2 Unofficially, can run Mac OS X 10.5 “Leopard” |
Mac OS X 10.4 “Tiger”. Unofficially, can run Mac OS X 10.5 “Leopard” |
Mac OS X 10.5 “Leopard” | |
| Weight | 15": 21.3 lbs. / 9.7 kg, 17": 22.8 lbs. / 10.4 kg | 21.3 lbs. / 9.7 kg | 22.8 lbs. / 10.4 kg | 15": 21.3 lbs. / 9.7 kg, 17": 22.8 lbs. / 10.4 kg, 20": 40.1 lbs. / 18.2 kg |
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