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Manufacturer | Apple Computer |
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Type | All-in-one |
Release date | August 31, 2004 |
Introductory price | US$1,299(equivalent to $2,095 in 2023) - US$1,899(equivalent to $3,063 in 2023) [1] |
Discontinued | January 10, 2006 (17" model) March 20, 2006 (20" model) |
Predecessor | eMac iMac G4 |
Successor | Intel iMac |
Related | |
Website | www.apple.com/imac/ at the Wayback Machine (archived September 1, 2004) |
The iMac G5 is an all-in-one personal computer that was designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from August 2004 to March 2006. It is the final iMac to use a PowerPC processor, making it the last model that could natively run Mac OS 9 (Classic) applications.
The iMac G5 was announced at the Apple Expo 2004 in Paris in August of 2004. [2]
The iMac G5 replaced the iMac G4 and was succeeded in January 2006 by the first Intel-based iMac.
In August 2004, the iMac design was overhauled. By this time, the PowerPC 970 (G5) processor had been released and was being used in the Power Mac G5. Famously, the Power Mac G5 needed multiple fans in a large casing (or else liquid cooling, an innovative solution Apple adopted for the highest-end Power Mac G5s) because of the high heat output from those CPU's.
Apple's new iMac managed to incorporate the PowerPC 970 into an all-in-one design with a distinctive form factor. The computer used the same 17 and 20-inch widescreen LCDs found in the iMac G4, with the main logic board and optical drive now mounted directly behind the LCD panel; this gave the appearance of a thickened desktop LCD monitor. The approximately two inches deep enclosure is suspended above the desk by an aluminum arm that can be replaced by a VESA mounting plate. The iMac G5 uses an advanced cooling system controlled by the operating system; at low CPU loads this rendered the iMac G5 virtually silent. Apple boasted that it was the slimmest desktop computer on the market.
The iMac G5 was updated in March 2005 to the Ambient Light Sensor (ALS) revision. It included a handful of configuration differences – more RAM, a larger hard drive, improved graphics, Gigabit Ethernet, and standard AirPort Extreme (802.11g) and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR.
In October 2005, the final revision was released, adding an integrated iSight webcam mounted above the LCD and Apple's Front Row media interface. Other improvements included faster processors, more RAM, larger hard drives, and improved graphics. Notably this became the first Apple computer to use the PCI Express expansion bus and DDR2 SDRAM, with these features appearing shortly before they were incorporated into the Power Mac G5. It was declared "The Gold Standard of desktop PCs" by Walt Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal . [3]
Although the iMac G5 iSight looked outwardly similar to the two previous revisions, it had a slimmer, internally new design. Improvements included superior cooling and performance increases. The stand could no longer be replaced with a VESA mount. This case, unlike the previous models, opened only from the front and requires the LCD screen to be removed before internal components can be accessed. Apple recommend no user service items other than RAM, which is accessible through a small door at the base of the housing. In the intervening years, many guides have been posted on the internet to support replacing other components including the hard drive and optical drive, though doing would have at one time voided any remaining Apple warranty.
The iMac G5 was succeeded by the Intel-based iMac on January 10, 2006, beginning the 6-month transition of Apple's entire line of computers to the Intel architecture.
Model | Official name | iMac G5 | iMac G5 Ambient Light Sensor | iMac G5 iSight | |||||
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Codename | "Hero" [4] | "Q45C", "Q45D" | "Q87" | ||||||
Timetable | Released | August 31, 2004 | May 3, 2005 | October 12, 2005 | |||||
Discontinued | May 3, 2005 | October 12, 2005 | January 10, 2006 | ||||||
Model | Model identifier | PowerMac8,1 | PowerMac8,2 | PowerMac12,1 | |||||
Model | A1058 (EMC 1989) | A1076 (EMC 2008) | A1058 (EMC 2055) | A1076 (EMC 2056) | A1144 (EMC 2081) | A1145 (EMC 2082) | |||
Order number | M9248 | M9249 | M9250 | M9843 | M9844 | M9845 | MA063 | MA064 | |
Enclosure | White polycarbonate | ||||||||
Display | Widescreen 16:10, matte display | ||||||||
17", 1440 × 900 | 20", 1680 × 1050 | 17", 1440 × 900 | 20", 1680 × 1050 | 17", 1440 × 900 | 20", 1680 × 1050 | ||||
Performance | Processor | PowerPC G5 970FX | |||||||
Clock speed | 1.6 GHz | 1.8 GHz | 2.0 GHz | 1.9 GHz | 2.1 GHz | ||||
Cache | 64 KB (instruction), 32 KB (data) L1,512 KB L2 (1:1) | ||||||||
HyperTransport | 533 MHz (3:1) | 600 MHz (3:1) | 667 MHz (3:1) | 633 MHz (3:1) | 700 MHz (3:1) | ||||
Memory | 256 MB of 400 MHz PC-3200 DDR SDRAM Expandable to 2 GB | 512 MB of 533 MHz PC2-4200 DDR2 SDRAM Expandable to 2.5 GB | |||||||
Graphics | nVidia GeForce FX 5200 Ultra graphics processor with 64 MB of DDR SDRAM nVidia GeForce 4 MX graphics processor with 32 MB of DDR SDRAM (Education Only) [5] | ATI Radeon 9600 graphics processor with 128 MB of DDR SDRAM | ATI Radeon X600 Pro with 128 MB of DDR SDRAM | ATI Radeon X600 XT with 128 MB of DDR SDRAM | |||||
AGP 8x | PCI Express | ||||||||
Storage | HDD | 80 GB | 160 GB | 250 GB | 160 GB Optional: 250 or 500 GB | 250 GB Optional: 500 GB | |||
Serial ATA 7200-rpm Parallel ATA 5400-rpm (Education Only) | |||||||||
Optical drive Slot-loading | 17-inch models (1.6 GHz and 1.8 GHz, without iSight): Combo drive All other models: SuperDrive | ||||||||
Input/output | Connectivity | Optional AirPort Extreme 802.11b/g 10/100BASE-T Ethernet 56k V.92 Modem Optional Bluetooth 1.1 | In addition to prior: Airport Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR integrated Gigabit Ethernet | No built-in modem (Apple Modem or third-party modem sold separately) In addition to prior: Built-in infrared (IR) receiver for Apple Remote | |||||
Peripherals | 3x USB 2.0 2x FireWire 400 Audio input/audio output | 3x USB 2.0 2x FireWire 400 Audio input/audio output Ambient Light Sensor | |||||||
Camera | None (iSight Camera or third-party camera sold separately) | Integrated iSight Camera (640 × 480 0.3 MP) | |||||||
Video out | Mini-VGA | ||||||||
Operating System | Original | Mac OS X 10.3.5 "Panther" | Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger" | Mac OS X 10.4.2 "Tiger" | |||||
Maximum | Mac OS X 10.5.8 "Leopard" | ||||||||
Weight | 18.5 lbs. (8.4 kg) (17"), 25.2 lbs. (11.4 kg) (20") | 15.5 lbs. (7 kg) (17"), 22 lbs. (10 kg) (20") |
Timeline of iMac and eMac models (sorted by screen sizes) |
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