While it’s a little hard to tell from the front, the new Apple iMac ($1,200 – $2,000) has changed a lot from its predecessor. Available with either a 21.5- or 27-inch 16:9, glass-covered LED backlit display, a fully aluminum back panel, 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processors standard with quad-core 2.66GHz Core i5 or 2.8GHz Core i7 processors as options, a built-in SD card slot, up to 16GB of RAM, an included Apple Wireless Keyboard and new multi-touch Magic Mouse, and more. You’ll be waiting until November if you want a Core i5 or i7 model.
Apple finally updated its long-in-the-tooth non-aluminum laptop today with the release of the new MacBook ($1,000). Bringing it up to speed with its Pro counterparts, the new base-level MacBook features a polycarbonate unibody design with a non-skid bottom surface, an LED-backlit 13.3-inch display, a 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, NVIDIA 9400M graphics, Apple’s latest built-in battery technology for up to seven hours of battery life, and a glass multi-touch trackpad. Sadly, there’s no black option this time around.
Apple’s Magic Mouse ($69) eschews mechanical buttons and scroll wheels, letting you navigate using the same Multi-Touch technology used on the iPhone and MacBook trackpads. The sexy, seamless, touch-sensitive device works as a single or multi-button mouse with advanced gesture support, allowing you to scroll, pan, or swipe with ninja-finger skill. Works for lefties too.
Apple also announced a new Apple Remote that has aluminum niceness and works with the iPhone, iPods with the Universal Dock, and iMacs introduced since 2005 that have a built-in infrared receiver. According to Apple, the remote “gives you total command of your music, photos, videos, and DVDs from anywhere in the room. It works with Front Row to make accessing the digital content on your Mac as simple as navigating your iPod.” On an iPod or iPhone connected to a dock with IR you can “experience your songs, slideshows, and more from across the room. Plug your iPod into the Universal Dock and choose a playlist, slideshow, or video. Then sit back, relax, and enjoy. Ready to move on to the next song? No need to get up. Just press the Next button on the Apple Remote. Getting a call on your iPhone? Press Pause, then pick up where you left off.”
