Apple Unveils New iMac
In another move to best its competitors, Apple Computer Inc. unveiled an even more sophisticated version of its highly successful iMac line.
The company on Tuesday also debuted a new operating system designed to make it easier for users to search the Internet, download files and maintain security.
A little more than a year after reversing its fortunes with the brightly colored iMac computer, interim chief executive Steve Jobs showed off a redesigned line aimed at attracting new and repeat customers ahead of the important holiday shopping season.
The new iMac is slightly smaller than its best-selling predecessor, allows a user to insert a compact disc into a slot instead of the typical sliding opening that exposes the optics to dust, contains built-in high fidelity speakers and removes the cooling fan in favor of a convection air process.
The updated version also adds a second port for connecting devices such as printers and digital cameras and updated digital graphics.
"I think I am more in love with this product than the original Macintosh we shipped two decades ago," Jobs said during a presentation at a college near the company's Cupertino headquarters. "The day after we shipped the original iMac, we started working on this product."
The machine, which begins shipping immediately, runs at 350 megahertz and retails for $999. Extending the iMac family line, Apple also is selling the iMac DV, a 400MHz, $1,299 model that lets users play and edit DVD movies; and a special-edition machine for $1,499 that comes in a clear gray color and is more powerful.
Apple is hoping the added features prove more attractive than sub-$1,000 offerings from such competitors as Compaq and Hewlett-Packard Co., said Mitch Mandrich, the company's vice president of worldwide sales.
"We've pushed the envelope here to satisfy our customers in giving them the maximum value at a low price," Mandrich said. "One can always find something cheaper, but you get what you pay for."
Analyst Daniel Kunstler at J.P. Morgan called the new iMac line "a dazzler."
"Here's an industry and a company where you unveil a new product and the first question is 'What are you going to do for an encore?'" Kunstler said. "They've shown, 'we know how to do encores and can do encore after encore' and that the hyperbole really isn't."
But Kunstler said the real question is whether Apple will be able to meet demand for the various iMac configurations.
Apple's Mandrich said the company expects to ship "tens of thousands" of new iMac in all colors each week and should be able to meet demand.
On the software side, Apple also unveiled a new operating system, which runs a computer's basic functions. The operating system incorporates Apple's Sherlock 2 search engine and gathers information from all other search engines on the Internet and auction sites. The operating systealso includes biometric technology that allows a user to encrypt files and folders and open them with voice passwords instead of traditionally typed passwords. The system upgrade retails for $99 and is expected to be available next month.