Amaya Toman Apple introduced its iMac G4 in 2002. It was an all-in-one successor to the highly successful iMac G3 in a completely new design. The iMac G4 was equipped with an LCD monitor, mounted on a movable "leg", protruding from a dome-shaped base, equipped with an optical drive and containing a PowerPC G4 processor. Unlike the iMac G3, Apple placed both the hard drive and the motherboard in the bottom of the computer instead of its monitor.
The iMac G4 also differed from its predecessor in that it was sold only in white and in an opaque design. Along with the computer, Apple also supplied the Apple Pro Keyboard and Apple Pro Mouse, and users had the option of ordering Apple Pro Speakers as well. The iMac G4 was released at a time when Apple was transitioning from Mac OS 9 to Mac OS X, so the computer could run both versions of the operating system. However, the version of the iMac G4 with the GeForce4 MX GPU could not cope with the Mac OS X operating system graphically and had minor problems, such as the absence of some effects when launching the Dashboard.
The iMac G4 was originally known as "The New iMac", with the previous iMac G3 still being sold for several months after the new iMac was launched. With the iMac G4, Apple switched from CRT displays to LCD technology, and with this move came a significantly higher price. Shortly after its launch, the new iMac quickly earned the nickname "iLamp" due to its appearance. Among other things, Apple promoted it in an advertising spot in which the new iMac, displayed in a store window, copies the movements of a passerby.
All internal components were housed inside a rounded 10,6-inch computer case, the fifteen-inch TFT Active Matrix LCD display was mounted on a chrome stainless steel stand. The computer was also equipped with internal speakers. The iMac G4 from 2002 exists in three variants - the low-end model cost approximately 29300 crowns at the time, was equipped with a 700MHz G4 PowerPC processor, had 128MB of RAM, a 40GB HDD and a CD-RW drive. The second version was the iMac G4 with 256MB RAM, CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo Drive and a price in conversion of around 33880 crowns. The high-end version of the iMac G4 cost 40670 crowns in conversion, it was equipped with an 800MHz G4 processor, 256MB RAM, 60GB HDD and a CD-RW/DVD-R Super Drive drive. Both of the more expensive models came with the aforementioned external speakers.
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Reviews of the time praised the iMac G4 not only for its design, but also for its software equipment. Together with this computer, the popular iPhoto application made its debut in 2002, which was replaced a little later by the current Photos. The iMac G4 also came with the AppleWorks 6 office suite, the scientific computing software PCalc 2, the World Book Encyclopedia, and the action-packed 3D game Otto Mattic.
Despite the relatively high price, the iMac G4 sold very well and did not lose its popularity until it was replaced two years later by the iMac G5. During that time, it received a number of significant improvements both in terms of capacity and speed. There were also new variants of display diagonals – first a seventeen-inch variant, and a little later a twenty-inch variant.
Source: Macworld
