PARIS (Reuters) – Apple Computer has unveiled its new iMac desktop computer design, which integrates all disk drives and processors into a flat display less than two inches thick.
“Now we have the world’s thinnest desktop computer,” Phil Schiller, head of worldwide product marketing, said in a keynote presentation at the annual Apple Expo here on Tuesday.
Shipping from mid-September, Apple said the computer would be available in versions with a 17-inch and a 20-inch display, with a wireless keyboard and mouse.
Apple said in July the launch of the new iMac would be delayed until September.
Retail prices will start at $1,299 for the 17-inch model, or 1,399 euros in Europe. The more expensive and slightly thicker 20-inch model will cost $1,899, or 2,059 euros.
The model will take over from the current iMac, which created a buzz of its own when launched a few years ago with its minimalist design featuring a thin display perched on a stainless steel pole above a white hemispherical base.
Sales of the iMac have slowed in recent quarters, however, while Apple’s portable notebook computers were doing well.
The new iMac, designed by the same team that developed the iPod portable music player, works on G5 microprocessors.
