The iMac G4 was a computer that was produced by Apple from the beginning of 2002 to mid 2004. It replaced the aging iMac G3. The computer had a new design compared to older Macs. It had a 15-inch LCD which was mounted on an adjustable arm above a hemisphere containing a full-size, tray-loading optical drive and a fourth-generation CPU (the PPC 74xx-series). This LCD computer was known and sold as The New iMac throughout its production life, while existing egg-shaped iMac was renamed the iMac G3 and continued to be sold for a few months. After the New iMac was discontinued, it was retroactively labelled iMac G4 to distinguish itself from the succeeding iMac G5.

Apple advertised it as having the flexibility of a desk lamp and it was nicknamed the "iLamp", similar to "Luxo Jr.", who was featured in a short film produced by Pixar, another venture of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. It was featured in an ad, sitting in a store window and "reacting" to every move made by a passer-by on the street. At the end, when the man sticks out his tongue, the iMac responds by opening its optical drive.

The Apple iMac G4/800 (Flat Panel) features an 800 MHz PowerPC 7445 (G4) processor with the AltiVec "Velocity Engine" vector processing unit and a 256k on-chip level 2 cache, 256 MB of RAM (PC133 SDRAM), a 60.0 GB Ultra ATA/66 hard drive (5400 RPM), a tray-loading "SuperDrive", and NVIDIA GeForce2 MX graphics with 32 MB of DDR SDRAM (AGP 2X support).

The internal components are housed 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. This model shipped with MacOS X 10.1 and MacOS 9.2 installed with MacOS X selected as the default, as well as an ice white Apple Pro Keyboard, Mouse, and Speakers. Unlike some earlier iMac models that are convection-cooled, the iMac "Flat Panel" series is cooled by a quiet internal fan.

Manufacturer: Apple
Date: 2002

This exhibit has a reference ID of CH3934. Please quote this reference ID in any communication with the Centre for Computing History.