Apple Computer on Monday introduced faster iMacs and larger-capacity versions of its iPod digital music player.
The two new iMacs boast speeds of up to 1.25GHz, up from a top speed of 1GHz on the prior top-of-the-line model. The two largest iPods now feature capacities of 20GB and 40GB, up from 15GB and 30GB. Apple said the iMac line is designed for handling media files like music, photos and video and that the goal of the latest upgrade was to improve the components that could improve performance of those tasks. "That"s really what that was about--how to make the ultimate digital hub even faster," said Greg Joswiak, Apple"s vice president of hardware product marketing.
The prices for the new iPods remain at the same levels as previous models, at $399 for the 20GB version and $499 for the 40GB version. A 10GB version was not updated and still sells for $299. As for the iMacs, in addition to the faster processor, the new models include USB 2.0 ports as well as faster 333MHz double data rate (DDR) memory and improved graphics. One version comes with a 15-inch liquid-crystal display (LCD) and sells for $1,299. It has a 1GHz G4 processor, 256MB of memory, a combination drive that can play DVD movies and burn CDs, and Nvidia GeForce4MX graphics.