EVOLUTION OF iMac WITH THEIR SPECIFICATIONS, PRICE
The iMac was the first all-in-one Macintosh computer
announced by Steve Jobs in 1998. Although the first iMac computer only had 32
megabytes of RAM and a hard drive with a storage of only 4 gigabytes. The iMac
is evolved to become one of the fastest and most reliable computers today.
Evolution of iMac
The first Apple personal computer was the Macintosh 128k
released on January 24, 1984 for $2,495 dollars. It had a 9-inch display and
extremely low specifications, but all the time these specifications were
impressive and that led to strong sales of the Macintosh.
Within a few months 70,000 units were sold. Apple made many
more computers, including the Apple Performa series. Unfortunately for Apple
these led to a series of setback, with more consumers choosing a Windows
computer instead.
Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1996, and realized that
things at Apple had to change. He saw the internet as a real opportunity to
build an internet computer. And iMac comes from the marriage of the excitement
of the internet with the simplicity of Macintosh.
1. iMac G3
So just 2 years later, in 1998, Apple announced the iMac G3.
No one had imagined that a company struggling to keep up with its competitors
would design and build something that would change the personal computer
industry.
The first advantage of this
computer had was that it gave the users faster access to the internet. Unlike what
we have today, the internet was just becoming mainstream and devices were not optimized
for internet use. In fact, it become one of the selling points of the iMac G3
with the popular catchphrase “There’s no step 3!”, meaning that users only had
to go through two steps to connect to the internet. This may not sound like a
big deal now, but it was back then.
Specifications
Also, at the time many computers were simply boxes and
towers. The iMac G3 looked completely different with a translucent “Bondi Blue”
egg-shaped chassis with a 15-inch screen that Forbes Magazine described as an “industry-altering
success”. The G3 also used a CD drive instead of a floppy disk drive which was
a controversial change. The iMac G3 featured a G3 PowerPC processor, 32 Megabytes
of RAM, 2 megabytes of video RAM, 4 GIGABYTES of storage and a price of $1,299
dollars.
It was a huge success and it sold more than 280,000 units in
the first 6 weeks after its launch. In 1999 a new model of the G3 was launched
with more colors. The RAM, video RAM and storage were all upgraded. One year
later another model of the G3 was released with significantly better
specifications.
Did You Know iMac, I stand for internet? Ken Segall proposed
this name and Steve Jobs didn’t agree at first because he wanted to call it, the“MacMan”.
2. iMac G4
In 2002, Apple introduced the iMac
G4 with an improved design. The CTR monitor in the iMac G3 was replaced with a
flat panel screen in the iMac G4.
The screen was supported by a stainless-steel
arm attached to a hemisphere base. The design gave this new computer a unique
look that made it seem as if the screen was floating in the air. This time
customers could choose between 15-, 17- and 29-inch models. The G4 featured a
faster processor, improved RAM and video RAM, 40 GIGABYTES of storage and it
had a starting price of $1,299 dollars.
3. iMac G5
two years later, Apple completely
changed the design of the iMac with the iMac G5. This was the first iMac that
had its entire computer hidden behind a flat-screen. The flat screen was
supported by an aluminum stand, and it was considered the “thinnest” desktop
computer at the time. The G5 was available in 17- and 20-inch displays and
specifications were improved significantly.
The
lower-end model cost $1,299 dollars while the more expensive 20 inch was sold
for $1,899 dollars. In 2005, the iMac G5 received an integraded iSight camera. The
RAM, video RAM and storage were also improved. It had a base storage of 160
GIGABYTES, but was also available in 250 or even 500 GIGABYTES.
2006 saw the arrival of the first
iMac to use Intel Processors and this started a historic partnership between
the world’s leading chip innovator and in my opinion, the world’s most
innovative computer company.
Just when you think that Apple has
nothing new to offer, they’ll always surprise you with an outside-of-box
innovation.
4. iMac Aluminum
In 2007, they replaced the world polycarbonate
plastic that has been used in the previous models with aluminum and a black
bezel around the display in the iMac Aluminum. This model was more aesthetically
pleasing, and it was the first to use the wireless keyboard and magic mouse.
The iMac Aluminum was the first to
have 1 GIGABYTES of RAM and storage options ranging from 250 GB to 1 Terra bytes.
Surprisingly, the starting price was lowered to $1,199 dollars, that is $100
dollars less than all previous models.
5. Unibody
In 2009, Apple further improved
the iMac Aluminum by introducing the Unibody. Unlike previous models, it was
the first one to have an end-to-end glass screen with a larger screen size of
21.5 inches. Also unlike previous models, it had a 16 to 9 widescreen aspect
ratio, which since became an international standard for computer monitors.
All the features were upgraded, with
significantly more RAM, video RAM and 500 GIGABYTES of storage.
6. iMac Slim Unibody
In 2012, Apple released the iMac
Slim Unibody. It was indeed much slimmer than all previous models. The processor
was upgraded to a Core i5 processor, making it much faster. That’s not all, it
also had 7 GIGABYTES of memory and it had a whopping 1 terra byte of Fusion
Drive storage. This type of Storage combines a Hard Disk Drive with a Solid-State
Drive and offers a substantial speed boost compared to the Hard Disk Drive used
in previous models. The 21-inch model cost $1,299 dollars, and a few months
later the 27-inch model was released for $1,799 dollars.
7. iMac with a 5k Retin Display
In 2014, Apple launched the first
iMac with a 5k retina display. With 14.7 million pixels, this goes way beyond
HD. It gives the ultimate all one computer the ultimate display. Although the appearance
did not change much compared to its predecessor. Some specifications like the 2
GIGABYTE Graphic Card were greatly improved. The price however was increased to
a whopping $2,499 dollars.
8. 4K iMac
A more affordable model came to
market one year later with the 21.5-inch 4K iMac.
9. iMac Pro
The iMac Pro is what would be
later known as the “most powerful Mac ever”. This model was introduced in 2017
and it is the last iMac that would have an intel processor. The iMac Pro also
has a 27-inch 5K retina display and is equipped with powerful processors and
graphic cards. All these features come at a very high starting price of $4,999
dollars. In 2019 options of an astonishing 256 GIGABYTES of memory and a 16
GIGABYTES Radeon Pro Vega 64X graphics card became available, making it not
just the most powerful iMac ever, but also one of the most powerful PCs in the
world.
If you would buy the iMac Pro with
all of the best specs, the price would have been a massive $14,299 dollars.
10. iMac 2021
In April 2021 the new iMac was
announced. It is available in 7 different colors and it is very thin. It can be
thin because of the new M1 chip. This chip combines CPU and GPU, and it is expected
to be 85% faster than the iMac Pro. It’s the M1 chip, it makes the new iMac
fast. Like your apps open instantly fast. The new iMac comes with a 24 inch
4.5K retina display, 8 GIGABYTES of unified RAM, 256 GIGABYTES of Solid-State
Drive storage and starting price of $1,299 dollars.
It is very impressive to see how
the iMac has evolved throughout the years.