The iMac G3 is a line of personal computers developed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Computer from 1998 to 2003. Noted for its innovative design via the use of translucent and brightly colored plastics, it was the first consumer-facing Apple product to debut under the recently returned interim CEO Steve Jobs. It was updated over time with new hardware and colors, until being supplanted by the iMac G4 and eMac in 2002.
The iMac G3, among other factors, was responsible for Apple's turnaround from financial ruin in the late 1990s and revitalized the Apple brand as design-oriented and simple. It was, nevertheless, criticized for abandoning then-current technological standards like the floppy drive and the Apple Desktop Bus connector in favor of the emerging USB standard.
History
Steve Jobs reduced the company's large product lines immediately upon becoming Apple's interim CEO in 1997. Toward the end of the year, Apple trimmed its line of desktop Macs down to the beige Power Macintosh G3 series, which included the iMac's immediate predecessor, the Power Macintosh G3 All In One, which featured nearly identical specifications and was sold only to the educational market. Having discontinued the consumer-targeted Performa series, Apple needed a replacement for the Performa's price point. The company announced the iMac on May 6, 1998 and began shipping the iMac G3 on August 15, 1998.
Internally, the iMac was a combination of the MacNC project and Common Hardware Reference Platform (CHRP). Although the promise of CHRP has never been fully realized, the work that Apple had done on CHRP significantly helped in the designing of the iMac. The original iMac used a PowerPC G3 (PowerPC 750) processor, which also ran in Apple's high-end Power Macintosh line at the time, though at higher speeds. It sold for US$1,299, and shipped with Mac OS 8.1, which was soon upgraded to Mac OS 8.5.
The iMac was continually updated after its initial release. Aside from increasing specifications (processor speed, video RAM and hard-disk capacity), Apple replaced Bondi Blue with new colors. Throughout its lifespan, the iMac was released in a total of thirteen colors.
A later hardware update created a sleeker design. This second-generation iMac featured a slot-loading optical drive, FireWire, "fanless" operation (through free convection cooling), a slightly updated shape, and the option of AirPort wireless networking. Apple continued to sell this line of iMacs until March 2003, mainly to customers who wanted the ability to run the older Mac OS 9 operating system. USB and FireWire support, and support for dial-up, Ethernet, and wireless networking (via 802.11b and Bluetooth) soon became standard across Apple's entire product line. The addition of high-speed FireWire corrected the deficiencies of the earlier iMacs.
The iMac CRT model, now targeted at the education market, was renamed the iMac G3, and kept in production alongside its iMac G4 successor until the eMac was released. As Apple continued to release new versions of its computers, the term iMac continued to be used to refer to machines in its consumer desktop line.
Design
- The thirteen 'flavors' of the iMac G3.
The iMac was dramatically different from any previous mainstream computer. It was made of translucent "Bondi Blue"-colored plastic, and was egg-shaped around a 15-inch (38.1Â cm) CRT display. The case included a handle, and the peripheral connectors were hidden behind a door on the right-hand side of the machine. Dual headphone jacks in the front complemented the built-in stereo speakers. Sir Jonathan Ive, currently Chief Design Officer at Apple, is credited with the industrial design. Its unique shape and color options helped ingrain itself into late 1990s pop culture. The iMac was the first computer to exclusively offer USB ports as standard, including as the connector for its new keyboard and mouse, thus abandoning previous Macintosh peripheral connections, such as the ADB, SCSI and GeoPort serial ports.
A further radical step was to abandon the 3½-inch floppy disk drive which had been present in every Macintosh since the first in 1984. Apple argued that recordable CDs, the Internet, and office networks were quickly making diskettes obsolete, however, Apple's omission generated controversy. At the time of iMac's introduction, third-party manufacturers offered external USB floppy disk drives, often in translucent plastic to match the iMac's enclosure. Apple had initially announced the internal modem in the iMac would operate at only 33.6 kbit/s rather than the new 56 kbit/s speed, but was forced by consumer pressure to adopt the faster standard.
Components such as the front-mounted IrDA port and the tray-loading CD-ROM drive were borrowed from the Apple laptops. Although the iMac did not officially have an expansion slot, the first versions had a slot dubbed the "mezzanine slot". It was only for internal use by Apple, although a few third-party expansion cards were released for it, such as a Voodoo II video card upgrade from 3dfx and SCSI/SCSI-TV tuner cards (iProRAID and iProRAID TV) from the German company Formac. The mezzanine slot was removed from later iMacs, though according to an article in the German computer magazine c't, the socket can be retrofitted on revision C iMacs.
The keyboard and mouse were redesigned for the iMac with translucent plastics and a Bondi Blue trim. The Apple USB Keyboard was smaller than Apple's previous keyboards, with white characters on black keys, both features that attracted debate. The Apple USB Mouse was mechanical, of a round, "hockey puck" design which was derided as being unnecessarily difficult for users with larger hands. Apple continued shipping the round mouse, adding a divot to the button in later versions so that users could distinguish proper orientation by feel. Eventually, a new capsule-shaped optical mouse, known as the Apple Mouse (formerly "Apple Pro Mouse"), replaced the round mouse across all of Apple's hardware offerings.
Apple updated the iMac over time to feature different colors. January 1999 saw the launch of Blueberry, Grape, Tangerine, Lime and Strawberry. Graphite was shortly thereafter made available as a Special Edition colour. The five fruit colours were later replaced with Ruby, Sage, Indigo and Snow. Ruby and Sage were later replaced by two limited-edition designs, "Blue Dalmatian" and "Flower Power" patterns. The final lineup consisted uniquely of Indigo, Snow and Graphite, later limited to Snow only before being discontinued.
- A closer look at the iMac G3
Revision history
Tray-loading model
The first iteration of the iMac G3 featured a 15-inch (13.8-inch viewable) CRT display, 233Â MHz processor, ATI Rage IIc graphics, 4 GB hard drive, tray-loading CD-ROM drive, two USB ports, a 56 kbit/s Modem, built-in Ethernet, infrared port, built-in stereo speakers, and two headphone ports. The CPU and memory were located on the same 'Daughter Card', which installed directly onto the motherboard. It came exclusively in a translucent "Bondi Blue" plastic, and was known as Revision A. On October 17, the iMac was updated with ATI Rage Pro graphics. This updated Revision B model maintained its predecessor's original price of $1299. The iMac had its infrared and mezzanine features removed with the introduction of the Revision C model on January 5, 1999, dropping in price to US$1199. Hard drive capacity increased and a faster processor was added. The Bondi Blue color was discontinued and replaced by five new colors: Strawberry, Blueberry, Lime, Grape, and Tangerine. A final update, Revision D, was released on April 14, 1999, which maintained its previous specifications save a faster processor.
In some cases, it is possible to interchange parts between different revisions or install third-party internal parts. For example, the iMac G3 in Bondi Blue shown below had its motherboard replaced with one from a 266Â MHz Grape model, while the CD-ROM drive was replaced with a CompactFlash memory card reader that is running Mac OS X Tiger.
Slot-loading model
On October 5, 1999, Apple discontinued the tray-loading iMac. The new iMac built upon the Revision D's success with a faster processor, double the RAM, improvements to the built-in speaker system, a slot-loading optical drive, faster ATI Rage 128 VR graphics, a slightly updated case, and support for Apple's 802.11b AirPort wireless networking card. The iMac was joined by two additional standard configurations, the iMac DV ("digital video") and iMac DV Special Edition. Designed to support home movie editing, the iMac DV had a more powerful processor, a VGA-out port, DVD-ROM drive, larger hard drive, and two FireWire ports for US$1299, in new shades of all five Revision D colors. The iMac DV Special Edition doubled the RAM again and increased hard drive capacity to 13 GB at US$1499, and was available in an exclusive Graphite color. All iMac (slot-loading) models featured convection cooling, keeping them nearly silent during operation.
On July 19, 2000, Apple reduced the price of the entry-level iMac to US$799. Hardware changes were minimal; the AirPort card slot was removed (for the base configuration), the USB Mouse was replaced with an Apple Pro Mouse, the ATI Rage 128 VR graphics were upgraded to an ATI Rage 128 Pro version, and it was made available in a darker shade of blue called Indigo, replacing Blueberry. The iMac DV was reduced to US$999, dispensing with the DVD-ROM replaced by a CD-ROM drive, and was available in Indigo and Ruby. At the former price point of the iMac DV, the iMac DV+ was introduced, sporting faster processor and larger hard drive than its predecessor in Indigo, Ruby, and the exclusive Sage. The iMac DV Special Edition remained at the same price but gained a 500Â MHz processor, 30 GB hard drive, and was available in Graphite and the exclusive Snow.
On February 22, 2001, Apple consolidated its configurations to three. The iMac DV was renamed iMac and made the base-entry configuration; it was available only in Indigo at US$899. A second entry-level configuration was introduced with a 500Â MHz processor, new ATI Rage 128 Ultra graphics, and 20 GB hard drive in Indigo, along with two patterns: Flower Power and Blue Dalmatian that were molded into the plastic exterior. The iMac DV Special Edition was renamed iMac Special Edition and was available in Graphite and the two new patterns, with a faster processor, double the RAM, and a 40 GB hard drive at the same US$1499 price.
The final revision, released July 18, 2001, kept the three model line now with a 500, 600, or 700Â MHz processor, available in Indigo, Graphite, and Snow. Following the introduction of the faster iMac G4 in January 2002, the 700Â MHz model was discontinued. The 500Â MHz Indigo and 600Â MHz Graphite models were subsequently discontinued later in 2002, leaving only the 600Â MHz Snow model available for sale until March 2003, when the release of the low-cost eMac replaced it.
Timeline of Macintosh models
Legal action
Apple protected the iMac design with legal action against competing computer makers who attempted to imitate the iMac, such as eMachines’ eOne. Some manufacturers added translucent plastics to existing designs after the iMac, following the trend started in 1997 by Dyson. In 1999, Apple obtained the registered domain name appleimac.com from Abdul Traya, after legal intervention. The website now automatically redirects to the company's website.
References
External links
