So how about that new iMac, huh? There has been plenty of talk around Internet about the new machine – set to be announced August 31 at the Apple Expo in Paris, according to most rumors – including this speculative design by fantasy Mac render man Isamu Sanada. All signs are pointing to a pizza box-style unit, like the Sony VAIO W700G all-in-one unit, but thought differently, natch. Sometimes-useful Mac rumor site Think Secret has a long list of specs, including information that the new G5-powered units will come in 17- and 20-inch flavors, with the entry-level “Education” model coming in at $1,300 and without optical drive (so those pesky kids can’t steal music or install software, sources say). It all looks sort of interesting, I suppose, but in my heart of hearts I wish that the new iMac were just a plain white box, sans monitor, that could bring the power of G5 into homes and schools for $1,000 a pop. I know this isn’t going to happen, but I can dream.
More details and links, including an Apple “colored chameleon case” patent application, after the jump.
And then it doesn’t make anything easier to figure out when The Register discovers another patent application from Apple, this time documenting a system of colored, software-controlled LEDs that could be used to change the external case color and pattern of a machine, in a method very similar to a patent Apple had previous applied for back in the fruity colored iMac days. I wouldn’t expect this on the new iMac G5s, however (if ever).
So who knows, right? All I know is I’m not getting my cheap G5, so nothing is going to make me happy until I inevitably see the new iMac and decide I must have it right then and there.
Read – Is This What the New IMac Will Look Like? [TheCultOfMac]
Read – Exclusive specs: New 17 and 20-inch G5 iMacs to offer 1.6 and 1.8GHz speeds [ThinkSecret]
Read – Apple patents ‘chameleon’ computer case [TheRegister via SlashDot]
Related
Apple Plays Nice, Announces New iMac Early; Details Slim [Gizmodo]
iMac G5, or the G5 Mini [Gizmodo]
https://gizmodo.com/apple-plays-nice-announces-new-imac-early-details-sli-17145
Update: Reader Brian Erst writes:
That color changing patent the Register “discovered” isn’t exactly news – Apple filed the patent two years ago. The Register simply discovered an amended version of the patent.
Both of these are simply updates for the original patent applications:
“Active Enclosure for a Computing Device” (#60/298,364) June 15, 2001
“Computing Device with Dynamic Ornamental Appearance” (#60/315,571) August 28,2001
Every couple of years, Apple extends and updates the patent applications, some publication trumpets the “discovery” (see macNN from 2002: http://www.macnn.com/news.php?id=17843) and people start speculating about a new iPod with pretty colors.
Nothing new to see here folks, move along…
p.s. A pulsating, glowing iPod would be pretty sweet, though…
