By AppleInsider Staff

Published: 01:15 PM EST (10:15 AM PST)

At Macworld Expo on Tuesday, Apple unveiled the new iMac featuring Mac OS X running on the new Intel Core Duo processor, delivering performance that is up to twice that of its predecessor.

The widely praised iMac design now features dual-core processors, a built-in iSight video camera for video conferencing out-of-the-box, and the breakthrough media experience of Front Row with the Apple Remote for a simple, intuitive and powerful way for consumers to enjoy their content from across the room.

Starting at $1,299, every new iMac comes with iLife ’06, the next generation of Apple’s award-winning suite of digital lifestyle applications featuring major new versions of iPhoto, iMovie HD, iDVD, GarageBand and introducing iWeb, a new iLife application that makes it super-easy to create websites with photos, blogs and Podcasts and publish them on .Mac for viewing by anyone on the Internet with just a single click. The new iMac is shipping today, and is the first of a new generation of Macs featuring Intel processors that Apple will roll out during 2006.

“The iMac has already been praised as ‘the gold standard of desktop PCs’, so we hope customers really love the new iMac, which is up to twice as fast,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “With Mac OS X plus Intel’s latest dual-core processor under the hood, the new iMac delivers performance that will knock our customers’ socks off.”

The new iMac features Apple's Front Row media experience and the Apple Remote, a simple way for users to enjoy the content they have on their iMac—including songs from their iTunes music library, photo slideshows from iPhoto, videos including TV shows, Podcasts, iMovies and DVDs, and popular movie trailers streamed from apple.com—all from across the room.

Every new iMac comes with a built-in iSight video camera for out-of-the-box video conferencing using Apple’s award-winning iChat AV software, or recording a video Podcast or iMovie using iLife '06. The built-in iSight video camera takes advantage of the Intel Core Duo processor to deliver up to four times the resolution over the previous model. Each iMac also includes Photo Booth, Apple’s fun-to-use application that lets users take quick snapshots with the built-in iSight video camera, add entertaining visual effects and share their pictures with the touch of a button.

The new iMac comes standard with a SuperDrive for burning professional-quality DVDs, 512MB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM memory expandable to 2GB, hard drive storage capacity up to 500GB, and ATI Radeon X1600 PCI Express-based graphics with 128MB of GDDR3 memory for outstanding graphics performance and realistic game play. With the latest high-performance connectivity options, the new iMac includes built-in 10/100/1000 BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet for high-speed networking, built-in AirPort Extreme for fast 54 Mbps wireless networking,** built-in Bluetooth 2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate), a total of five USB ports (three USB 2.0) and two FireWire 400 ports. The new iMac now includes mini-DVI video output to connect up to a 23-inch Apple Cinema HD Display. With mini-DVI and the new iMac’s extended desktop mode feature, users can more than double their available screen real estate.

The new iMac was designed to be the perfect computer for iLife '06, the next generation of Apple’s award-winning suite of digital lifestyle applications featuring major new versions of iPhoto, iMovie HD, iDVD, GarageBand and introducing iWeb, a new iLife application that makes it super-easy to create amazing websites with photos, blogs and Podcasts and publish them on .Mac for viewing by anyone on the Internet with just a single click. All the iLife '06 applications are Universal applications that run natively on the new Intel-based iMacs for maximum performance.

Every new iMac comes with the latest release of the world’s most advanced operating system, Mac OS X version 10.4.4 “Tiger” including Safari, Mail, iCal, iChat AV, Front Row and Photo Booth, running natively on Apple’s first Intel-based desktop. Mac OS X Tiger includes an innovative software translation technology called Rosetta that lets customers run most Mac OS X PowerPC applications seamlessly.

Pricing & Availability

The new iMac is shipping today and will be available through the Apple Store, Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers.

The new 17-inch 1.83 GHz iMac, for a suggested retail price of $1,299 (US), includes:

• 17-inch widescreen LCD display;


• 1.83 GHz Intel Core Duo processor;


• 512MB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM expandable to 2GB;


• 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW);


• PCI Express-based ATI Radeon X1600 with 128MB GDDR3 memory;


• built-in iSight video camera;


• built-in AirPort Extreme wireless networking & Bluetooth 2.0+EDR;


• 160GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 7200 rpm;


• mini-DVI out (adapters for DVI, VGA and Composite/S-Video sold separately);


• built-in stereo speakers and microphone;
and

• the infrared Apple Remote, Mighty Mouse and Apple Keyboard.

The new 20-inch 2.0 GHz iMac, for a suggested retail price of $1,699 (US), includes:

• 20-inch widescreen LCD display;


• 2.0 GHz Intel Core Duo processor;


• 512MB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM expandable to 2GB;


• 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW);


• PCI Express-based ATI Radeon X1600 with 128MB GDDR3 memory;


• built-in iSight video camera;


• built-in AirPort Extreme wireless networking & Bluetooth 2.0+EDR;


• 250GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 7200 rpm;


• mini-DVI out (adapters for DVI, VGA and Composite/S-Video sold separately);


• built-in stereo speakers and microphone;
and

• the infrared Apple Remote, Mighty Mouse and Apple Keyboard.

Build-to-order options and accessories include up to 2GB DDR2 SDRAM, 250GB and 500GB Serial ATA hard drives, up to 256MB of GDDR3 video memory on the 20-inch iMac, iWork ’06 (pre-installed), AirPort Express and AirPort Extreme Base Station, Apple Wireless Keyboard, Apple Wireless Mouse, Apple USB Modem and the AppleCare Protection Plan.