Apple Updates the iMac line and introduces Magic Trackpad

Posted In Hardware - By joshua.combs On Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 With 0 Comments

Apple has finally released an update to the iMac platform. This has been months in the making for many graphic designers who have been waiting to upgrade or to buy a new system. Today Apple has announced that the iMac family of computers will now have the option with the new Intel Core i3, i5, and i7 processors, and alongside the processor upgrade the graphic cards have been upgraded to an discrete ATI Radeon HD graphics card. These processors were introduced in January 2010. This is uncharacteristic of Apple to wait so long to refresh their line up. With Apple releasing the iPad, iPhone4 and just trying to keep the supply and demand just right it was not the right time to refresh their core computers. Apple has been neglecting the iMac desktops for a while now, with the last update to the iMac family being the release of the 27 inch screen, while keeping the same hardware specs that were already out there.

Apple has also refreshed the iMac Pro. The systems are available with either quad-core or six-core Xeon processors, which means customers can buy a Mac Pro with either 4, 6, 8 or 12 cores, depending on their power needs. The processors run at speeds up to 3.33 GHz and include Intel’s Turbo Boost and Hyper-Threading technologies. The former feature can boost processor speeds to up to 3.6 GHz, depending on workload, while the latter creates two processing streams, or threads, per core.

For discrete graphics, the systems are available with either an ATI Radeon HD 5770 or the faster HD 5870. Both have 1 GB of memory. Configure-to-order options include up to two HD 5770 cards, four 1TB or 2TB hard drives and two 18x SuperDrives.

Magic Trackpad

The largest Multi-Touch trackpad ever.

Magic Trackpad is just like the trackpad on the MacBook Pro — but bigger. It’s made with the same advanced touch-friendly and wear-resistant glass surface. But with nearly 80 percent more area, it’s the largest Multi-Touch trackpad made by Apple. So there’s even more room for you to scroll, swipe, pinch, and rotate to your fingers’ content. And since the entire surface is a button that clicks, you can use it in place of a mouse.

It fits in perfectly.

Magic Trackpad features the same sculpted aluminum design as the Apple Wireless Keyboard, and side by side the two sit flush at the same angle and height. Go from typing to gesturing in one motion, or do both at the same time. How perfect is that?