Apple spec bumps iMacs, minis, adds 24-inch iMac

Well done, Steve, you've surprised us yet again. While we were sitting around bracing for another day filled with Apple rumors (e.g. "OMG! What's he gonna announce on the 12th? iPhone!!!!), Cupertino has gone and released some actual products today, including upgrades to the entire lineup of iMacs and minis. Most exciting, perhaps, is the all-new 24-inch iMac (we were all looking out for a 23-incher), complete with a 2.16GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 1,920 x 1,200 resolution, 1GB of RAM, 250GB HDD capacity, FireWire 800, and some of that sweet nVIDIA GeForce action in the form of a 128MB 7300GT graphics chipset. Besides the 24-incher, both the 17-inch and 20-inch models now come with Core 2 Duo standard (ranging from 1.83GHz to 2.16GHz), 160GB or 250GB worth of hard drive space, 512MB or 1GB of RAM, 8x dual-layer SuperDrive, and ATI Radeon X1600 graphics (except for the low-end 17-incher, which sports integrated graphics and just a 24x Combo drive, plus no bundled remote or Bluetooth 2.0). As for the minis, they're all part of the dual core family now as well, featuring 1.66GHz or 1.83GHz Core Duo CPUs, 512MB of RAM (2GB max), up to 160GB of hard drive capacity, either a Combo drive or a SuperDrive, but still just integrated graphics. Available immediately from Apple online or retail, pricing on the new models is as follows: $999 for the 1.83GHz 17-inch iMac, $1,199 for the 2.0GHz 17-incher, $1,499 for 20 inches of iMac goodness, and $1,999 for the 24-inch monster, while the minis start at $599 and $799, respectively, depending on the processor. So now the big question is: what IS going to be announced at the "It's Showtime" event? Damn, guess we're in for another week of rumors after all...

Read - iMac
Read - mini
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 6th 2006 5:40PM]

Quote "if you want a real Mini PC then get something like these units". Have you seen the price, the specs and the design.
It was probably a joke..

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 6th 2006 6:12PM]

Why not 1920x1200 instead of 1900x1200?

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 7th 2006 2:19PM]

evan, thats not getting screwed over, thats a budget priced computer. less features= less $. duh

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 6th 2006 9:40PM]

You know, I NEVER hear anyone walking through the halls at work talking about buying a PC...it's ALWAYS about how they want to 'get a Mac.'

Engadget is filled with gadget mayhem...at least Apple gets it right...they give us something to look forward to....a SURPRISE.

By the time M$ next product(s) ship, it's OLD NEWS and boring. At least with Apple's announcements, I have something to look forward to, and it's usually cool.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 6th 2006 10:07PM]

It's too bad I have a G5 tower cos these things are so cheap it's like putting chocolate next to the checkout in the supermarket: you just want to grab one and go.


waddo
http://www.waddo.net/

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 7th 2006 5:21PM]

Hi Steve, I am looking for a good iPod that i can use for reading eBooks that Google churns out.

Pls keep that ready for Sept 12.

OR

I am going to wait for it until next time.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 7th 2006 4:16AM]

7 days ago I purchased 2 x 20" iMacs making the jump from WinXP PCs. Good to see Apple's policy of secrecy rewarded me for making the switch 7 days too soon. Cheaper price and faster machines. *sigh*

What's Apple's policy in the UK for upgrades?

Scott

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 7th 2006 6:36AM]

hey scott

enjoy your great new macs and stop moaning. tell me which manufacturer announces a chip upgrade in advance???? It's tech stuff: buy it if you think it's good. Don;t buy it if you think it's not. there will always be a new version around the corner. I think you know that, right????

And welcome to the best computing experience available.

waddo
http://www.waddo.net/

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 7th 2006 8:16AM]

waddo:

http://www.intel.com/products/roadmap/index.htm

http://www.amdboard.com/amdroadmap.html

And unless you live in a bubble you might of heard of:
Nintendo Wii
Sony PS3
Microsoft Vista
..

Granted the dates slip, but least we know its coming and have the option of waiting or buying older tech now.

Apple has two motives:

1) Make sure they don't get stuck with stock
2) Make sure they never break promises because they don't make any.

I don't regret the purchase, just the timing as I would of saved cash and got "50% faster performance" over the iMac I'm using now. If you can't empathise with that..

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 7th 2006 7:07PM]

I believe Apple has a 14 return policy. There is a 10 % re-stocking fee on opened merchandise tho.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 10th 2006 10:06PM]

Well,

if you are looking for the brazilian scene of gadgets and new releases of consumer eletronics, the better way is acess http://theblogtech.blogspot.com

Currently, the blog is all in portuguese, but I'll show up an english version soon.

Engadget still the best, but I'ill get there

See Ya!

Felipe B
[e-mail]