iMac – fastest seller

Beauty by the inch.

Photos, movies, games, videos, and applications with palettes. Anything you see on the 20- or 24-inch glossy widescreen display will be a pixel-perfect experience. iMac features a flat-panel LCD screen with 1680-by-1050 resolution (20-inch) or 1920-by-1200 resolution (24-inch), giving you vivid colors and breathtaking high-definition clarity. And there’s nothing quite like seeing your life’s events on the big screen, thanks to the new iLife ’09 built into every iMac

Greener than ever.

iMac is designed with the environment in mind. It’s created with highly recyclable glass and aluminum. It’s free of harmful toxins such as brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). iMac is so energy efficient, it meets ENERGY STAR 5.0 requirements and has earned the EPEAT Gold rating.

Power duo.

The latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors run at speeds starting at 2.66GHz with options up to 3.06GHz. And they include 6MB of shared L2 cache. Translation: iMac runs your applications faster and more efficiently than ever before.

Fast, faster, or fastest?

Every new iMac includes high-performance NVIDIA graphics standard. Now games run smoother, photos load faster, and pro applications have even more power. The 20-inch iMac with the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics processor delivers up to 2.3x faster graphics performance.¹ The 24-inch iMac gives you even more graphics options. The NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics processor makes viewing web pages and searching through your iPhoto library smoother and more efficient. Or you can choose NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 discrete graphics to take 3D graphics up a notch. For 3D graphics-intensive games or pro applications like Aperture and Motion, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 130 and ATI Radeon HD 4850 processors deliver the fastest graphics performance yet.

Massive storage.
More memory standard.

iMac now has up to 4GB of 1066MHz DDR3 memory standard so you can run more applications simultaneously. And with a Serial ATA hard drive up to 1TB,² load up on photos, videos, music, and more. That’s a remarkable amount of storage for just about anything and everything.

Reasons Behind Apple’s Strategic Shift Into Chip Design

The Wall Street Journal explores the reasons why Apple has been moving towards designing their own chips rather than using off-the-shelf components. This strategic shift was first revealed when Apple acquired chip-designing company P.A. Semi last April. That news has since been followed by a number of new hires from AMD as well as online job postings looking for individuals to test “Apple developed silicon.”

According to individuals “familiar with the matter”, Apple’s current chip plans include lower power designs to prolong battery life in the iPhone and iPod Touch as well as improved graphics circuitry for better gaming and HD video playback. In additional to whatever competitive advantage Apple might get with their own custom designed chips, another benefit would be the ability to maintain more secrecy over their products.

People familiar with Apple’s thinking say executives have expressed concern that some information shared with outside vendors could find its way into chips sold to Apple competitors

Jobs reportedly told P.A. Semi engineers that he specifically wanted to develope chips within Apple to prevent knowledge of them leaking out. Apple, of course, is well known for their secrecy. This secrecy has been harder to maintain in recent years due to the number of partners Apple must work with in launching a product. With the iPhone, we’ve seen rumors coming from both component suppliers as well as mobile carriers who need to be briefed about upcoming releases. 

The Wall Street Journal points out, however, that this trend is contrary to most big electronic firms who have moved towards outsourcing components in an effort to reduce costs. Apple is not expected to launch products based on these internally designed chips until next year at the earliest.