iMac G4 Q&A - Updated January 20, 2009
The iMac G4 featured an LCD mounted on an adjustable arm above a hemisphere containing a full-size, tray-loading optical drive and a fourth-generation PowerPC G4 74xx-series processor. The internals such as the hard drive and motherboard were placed in the 'dome' instead of the LCD panel as it would be too heavy. 20 Macs for 2020: #9 – iMac G4 The original iMac was defined by the shape of the CRT display at its heart. Fairly early on in the process of designing it, Apple decided to set aside an alternative version that used a laptop-style flat-panel display as being too expensive and impractical. A friend of mine has an iMac G4. Fully functional, running Leopard, he's gonna throw in an Apple wired keyboard and mighty mouse (new ones) and the original speakers. It's the 15' Version, with 1Ghz PowerPC, 768MB RAM, 80GB HDD, built in Airport (presume 802.11a/b?) With iWork 08 and (I think. Apple’s iMac is a design icon, but the latest version is looking tired. One designer redesigned the iMac G4 to bring it up to date - and it looks incredible.
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What are the differences between the original iMac G4 'Flat Panel' models?
Please note that the original iMac G4 'Flat Panel' models were introduced on January 7, 2002 and discontinued on February 4, 2003.
The original iMac G4 models -- the iMac G4/700 (FP) and G4/800 (FP) -- have G4 processors, PC133 SDRAM, an Ultra ATA/66 hard drive, and GeForce2 MX graphics packaged in an attractive 10.6' half-sphere, ice white case with a chromed stainless steel neck that supports a 15' TFT Active Matrix LCD display. On July 17, 2002, Apple added a 17-Inch model to the lineup -- the iMac G4/800 17-Inch (Flat Panel) which had a higher performance video card -- a GeForce4 MX -- in addition to a larger display.
When shipped, these models were configured with both MacOS X 10.1 and MacOS 9.2 pre-installed and MacOS X selected as the default operating system.
The major differences are summarized below for your convenience:
iMac G4 'FP' | |||
Processor: | 700 MHz | 800 MHz | 800 MHz |
System Bus: | 100 MHz | 100 MHz | 100 MHz |
On-chip L2: | 256k | 256k | 256k |
Memory Type: | PC133 SDRAM | PC133 SDRAM | PC133 SDRAM |
Std. RAM: | 128 MB, 256 MB* | 256 MB | 256 MB |
Max. RAM: | 1.0 GB | 1.0 GB | 1.0 GB |
Display: | 15.0' TFT | 15.0' TFT | 17.0' TFT |
Resolution: | 1024x768 | 1024x768 | 1440x900 |
Video Card: | GeForce2 MX | GeForce2 MX | GeForce4 MX |
Video RAM: | 32 MB | 32 MB | 32 MB |
Hard Drive: | 40 GB | 60 GB | 80 GB |
Optical Drive: | CD-RW/Combo* | 'SuperDrive' | 'SuperDrive' |
AirPort: | Optional | Optional | Optional |
Bluetooth 1.1: | None | None | None |
Expansion: | Airport | Airport | Airport |
Model No: | M8672LL/A*† | M8535LL/A† | M8812LL/A |
Orig. Price: | US$1299, $1499 | US$1799 | US$1999 |
* This model was available with a CD-RW drive and 128 MB of memory (M8672LL/A) and a 'Combo' drive for US$1299, 256 MB of memory, and a set of Apple Pro speakers (M7677LL/A) for US$1499.
† On July 17, 2002, to correspond with the introduction of the iMac G4/800 17-Inch (Flat Panel), Apple changed the model numbers to 'B' from 'A', but the configurations were identical.
Please refer to the Ultimate Mac Comparison feature to compare any iMac G4 model to any other G3 or later Mac.
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