Everyone who joking referred to the keynote Steve Jobs gave in January as the critical moment of the iPhoneWorld conference just got a lot more ammunition, as a large number of Mac-related expected announcements that never surfaced back then just dropped together: Sexy aluminum, thin, iMacs; a new version of iLife; a new version of iWork; and some new features for .Mac. A random August product launch is the new MacWorld.
Many of the rumor-mongers were right on the money about the iMacs. They’re thin as could be, they use the exact keyboard that leaked to the web the other week, and their fronts recall almost exactly the back face of the iPhone. It’s a clever design move, extending the iMac as big brother of the iPod metaphor to a new iMac as big brother to the iPhone. That said, it’s hard to describe these as being a radical leap forward. They’re virtually the same design as the last generation, only thinner, hotter, faster. The desktop market is ripe for disruption.
The additions to iLife are similarly unexciting. As excited as I am that iPhoto now has event-organized cataloging, and the Magic GarageBand feature that can turn music played on a guitar into a trumpet or otherwise. But the new Web Gallery features on .Mac aren’t that different from what came before — they’re just much more appealing and creative than what came before. Definitely not a big enough shift.
iWork has finally been fleshed out into a real office suite, offering Numbers, a spreadsheet program that has been rumored at least since Columbus landed in the Caribbean. It looks very appealing, and I think I’m finally going to invest in it. I love Keynote, and Pages looks improved (hey, Apple realized that people want to write, not just lay out text!).
78 responses to “Apple Announces Aluminum iMacs, iLife 08, iWork 08, Web Gallery for .Mac”
No mention of the update to the mini (though modest it may be)? I’ve heard people screaming as much about this as they have updated iMacs.
iLife is unexciting? Did you see this demo site?
http://gallery.mac.com/emily_p…
Play around with it. I’ll be buying iLife 08 JUST so I can make sites like this. Any other improvements are just a bonus. (As a Final Cut editor I don’t need iMovie, but it looks to be drastically improved to. Another bonus.)
iLife is unexciting? Did you see this demo site?
http://gallery.mac.com/emily_p…
Play around with it. I’ll be buying iLife 08 JUST so I can make sites like this. Any other improvements are just a bonus. (As a Final Cut editor I don’t need iMovie, but it looks to be drastically improved to. Another bonus.)
Boy, Apple Rumor sites really showed up the professional Apple pundits who wrote things like, “Apple’s consumer machines do not come with metallic finishes. That’s reserved for the “pro†level machines. If the iMac has a new case, it will be made of plastic and will come in black, white or maybe other fruity colors.” Oops.. sorry. :-)
Don’t forget that the “I’m not quite dead yet!” (Monty Python) Mac mini got upgraded to the Core 2 Duo processors. That’s a nice bump. Now, if only there were a way to improve the graphics card we’d be pretty close to the mini Pro tower that lots of folks want.
At the new flat keyboard will be cleaner. The previous ones had a 5mm gap under the keys that quickly filled with debris.
The iMac updates now bring the design together into a more cohesive look and feel. Lets hope that the Mini and the next gen iPods go the same way.
I don’t know, I’m not feeling it at all. it’s OK I guess, It’s just not as distinctive as the glossy white design.
Where do I begin with this monstrosity? Cold, uninviting, unimaginative… everything a Mac is supposed to NOT be. It’s pretty obvious they’ve been pouring all their resources into the iPhone, because this is a dud. It strikes me as being a brand extension instead of an inspired product refreshing. The mock up you showed is a much better use of the iPhone paradigm.
The aluminum box is an individual choice – it’s striking, but I might feel a little depressed staring at that thing at 8 in the morning. It’s an individual choice, I guess. On the other hand, the black bezel is a horror. The black (plastic?) back looks like a base-model japanese car from the eighties, where they charged you extra to paint the bumpers to match the fenders. Why isn’t it aluminum all around?. That black Apple logo might as well be a skull & crossbones. This generation should have a case bezel that all but disappears from around the screen not wider and more prominent, especially with the change to a glass screen. What year is this, 1995?
And what’s the deal with the keyboard? Never mind the horrible chiclet keys (but, gee, it worked so well for the PC jr!) or the bizarre rearrangement of the keys – it would be silly to use the same layout as the notebooks, or even the ridiculous plastic key/aluminum body. Why, in the name of Wozniak is this thing a USB keyboard (and mouse)? At the very least, standard wireless bluetooth would be a statement about technology.
I get the feeling Apple had an intern do a mashup of their new styling cues instead of using an actual design team.
This is all style and no substance.
As an owner of the just-replaced iMac form factor (albeit with a G5 processor) I actually like the styling, but I have major reservations about what’s going on inside the machine. The Radeon 2600Pro with DDR2 video card performed like an absolute dog. Although I suspect using DDR3 is going to improve matters, I can’t see it providing the necessary dramatic improvements to make this machine an obvious advance on the previous iMac model, let alone something that is going to last me for 2-3 years. I’ll await the benchmark results to hit the Web before making a decision on whether this is the machine for me to leap over to Intel, but I have to say at first impressions the signs aren’t good.
Lots of criticism but HD movies via iTunes are just around the corner. The new 24″ iMac will scream “buy me, I’m a neat TV” at switchers once Apple starts shipping HD movies.
We will see.
I fully agree. The new iMac looks cold and uninviting. Infact, it reminds me of a PC.
imajoebob: what a slam! This is a gorgeous new machine. OK, I agree about the keyboard (not yet having touched one, though). But the black bezel looks pretty cool.
I think the real issue here has to be that whenever Apple creates one of these events expectations are so high. I like the updated look and the keyboard (am I the only one?) but it is certainly not revolutionary (nor are the iLife changes). A welcome revision which would have been greeted a whole lot better if Apple hadn’t set the bar so high previously. I guess they’re damned if they do and damned if the don’t…
“That black Apple logo might as well be a skull & crossbones.”
Thanks for the idea. I’m going to call Apple and see if I can get that feature with a new iMac. It would be quite fitting; “Pirates of Silicon Vally” anyone?
As far as your review, you’re out of your freakin mind. You should do something about that.
I wouldn’t go as far as calling it a monstrosity but it definitely lacks the ‘friendliness’ of previous iMac models. Perhaps they’ll bring it out in different colours — like the nano?
Still, what was wrong with good-old-friendly heart-warming white?
I disagree with imajoebob, the new Macs look incredible! Also, the keyboards now have the flatter keys used on the MacBooks, which are incredibly quiet and feel nice and smooth. As for iWork, i’ve never really used it, so I wont comment on it.
My one complaint is I’m worried they may have watered down iMovie too much. I understand they have to make video-editing programmes as user friendly as possible (they’re always difficult to master). The new iMovie merits on that, but the worry is that they may have made the potential of what you can do much lower. I make some films on iMovie, and now I have understood it fully, they always turn out incredibly good! I know a person who edits video for TV (for the BBC, so pretty big stuff) and he always says he is surprised at how powerful iMovie is. He uses Final Cut, but he can see direct components of it in iMovie. The new version of iMovie smacks of Windows Movie Maker. Too much so. The whole thing with the video library, clips coming up as weird thumbnails and no proper timelines (I have not seen one in the new iMovie yet). A message to Apple; timelines are very powerful tools for video editing. Make sure you include them (the one in iMovie HD is very good!). Also, the way iMovie HD handled effects and rendering them (creating actual QuickTime clips) was strange at first, but once understood, perhaps the most powerful thing about it. So I won’t buy it just yet (£55 is very cheap), I’ll try and use it first to get the feel of it.
I’m just about to take my first leap into the MAC world, having had a PC for 15 years. I have been looking at the previous revision of the iMac and was impressed with the clean, white design. Then I saw the new version with the aluminium case and have fallen completely for it. All I have to do is choose which screen size I go for. All I can say is fantastic job Apple you have a new converted (Ex) PC owner.
This reflects my reaction pretty well. I’m severely underwhelmed by iLife 08, and will be buying iWork 08 as soon as I have the money to do so. The new iMacs, IMHO, are very attractive, although as always the in-person impression is what really counts there.
Off topic, but: anyone notice Apple’s infatuation with the number 5? It just occurred to me, after the five-sided shape of iLife and iWork, and the curve of five iMacs, and the 5 shuffles in the vertical ad on this very site … it’s like they’re trying to tell us something! Problem is, I just can’t imagine what. Of course, it could just be someone has a personal love for all things five-sided in the marketing department …
Just talking about the imac appearance. A good progression. I like the black logo and the aluminum case. Nice contrast. Time to move on from all this white!
So the rear is black. I don’t mind as long as it is a quality material and the whole imac is built well.
Black and aluminum is a great combo. The most interesting thing to come out of this launch is what is Apple strategy with the pro machines now that the imac is in the same finish.
Can we expect a totally new material & finish to Differentiate the two product lines?
Something to think about.
C :-)
I’m glad that they moved the the ‘chiclet’ keyboard — it is a HUGE improvement over the old keyboard. I’ve been using my macbook over my G5 simply because of the keyboard, even though the monitor is only about half the size.
My only complaints is that I wish that they had made the keys metallic as well – the white plastic doesn’t fit the design of the rest of the computer. Also agree that a wireless keyboard (and mouse) had come standard.
Finally, it would have been nice to see a aluminum mouse – it looks out of place with the new system.
I am so glad that I got conned into buying a new iMac a couple weeks ago by Apple when they knew this was being released this week. And the new iMac is hundreds of dollars cheaper than the old version. I had no idea I had to make a research project out of buying a new Mac, just to make sure I wasn’t getting ripped off by one of Apple’s deceptive marketing ploys to boost their stock. My new iMac is not only the ‘old version’, but hundreds of dollars over-priced compared to the new iMac of this week. And OF COURSE you can’t return anything. Great products, but I guess when you’re on top, you don’t give a crap about your customers.
The black plastic and aluminum??? If you read it properly, it stated aluminum and glass, (a non scratch) purely for the apple greener recycling issues.
I love the design and concept of the new iMac and would considering buying one, I have waited for this as I was not too keen on the last iMac…all plastic and bulky and not green!
What makes me laugh is people moaned about it, if they think they can do better then why haven’t they designed one!
The black logo feels conspicuous, immodest. Combined with the heavy black bezel, the gloss and the metal, the vibe is slick, ostentatious, showy — a big shift from the previous restrained, sophisticated, beautiful-yet-modest design. The iMac now flaunts its sexiness — becoming less charming, less approachable, less alluring.
“You can’t be too thin. Or too powerful.” I see the humor there, but the sentiment is too Paris Hilton for my taste.
I’m actually quite disappointed in this revision. It took them a year to go from white to aluminum. Why no bigger screen sizes? Why no full-size keyboard with bluetooth? Why accentuate the fact that they couldn’t fit it into a smaller enclosure by making the bezel black?
The only non-disappointment is the addition of a Core 2 Extreme option.
I think it looks great. Give it some time and people would love it
Has anyone else purchased iLife and given it a test drive yet? I disagree very strongly that iPhoto is a step forward–the new UI is confusing and counterintuitive. I’m trying to figure a way to roll back this app to the ’06 version!
I want a new iMac.
And my new iLife and iWork arrive tomorrow :)
I agree about the skull and crossbones simile – the logo is too dark, in both senses. Otherwise, the case looks great. I’m not sure about the keyboards – both USB and Bluetooth designs look like style over substance – ergonomics may well suffer. I’m glad they’ve finally labeled the the Command and Option keys!
I dropped into my local Apple Store and tried the new iMac keyboard and I love it! I has a nice feel and works well.
RdeS
ONCE YOU GO MAC THERES NO GOING BACK
you lot are masturbating over a computer! good grief, go and save the planet or something more interesting; help an elderly person cross the road, you little desk monkeys.
Didn’t the first iMac mark the start of a paradigm shift for desktops away from the cold, impersonal grey box? Seems we have come full circle.
I agree the wireless keyboard layout is a pain and won’t be buying one of those. The ultra thin keys probably don’t gie a lot of tactile feedback such as the old wireless keybaord did (which I won and love along with the wiresless mighty mouse which is brilliant). Having a numerical keypad on the side is a must in this day and age. I also agree that the black plastic at the rear is a bit tacky, but apart from that it looks nice enough. I think the Apple should have given the consumer a choice though of either the standard white plastic or the aluminium, or even why not glass black like the iPods?
I like the new keyboard (and you always need a wired one handy in case your bluetooth one needs setting up or runs out of batteries).
But I’m not sure if the mighty mouse matches the new design, not even a mouse colour change to show they’ve made an effort.
Once 10.5 is released I’ll get one.
I saw a Phillips TV today that looked just like the new iMac.
I’m shocked to say it but I’m glad I didn’t wait (switched last month).
In one word: Dull.
@imajoebob: “I don’t like it so it’s CRAP! CRAP I TELL YOU! WHY AREN’T YOU LISTENING TO MEEEEEEEE?!!!!?”
There we go. A one-glance reaction summed up in about two sentences. :)
The skull & cross bones cut is dead on, funny that is. iThink the new iMacs look great. Moreso for what is under the hood really, the graphics card and speed mang. The iWork update is cool is you are a nerd and most normal people will like the iLife update, the garageband update is nerdy tho, i haven’t tried it, but “code red lame” comes to mind if someone practices that more than plays real instruments. iHear Axl is getting the band back together! Yowsa!
I know most of the attention is on the iMacs (which although not revolutionary, seem like a nice upgrade after using one for a while at the Apple Store), but to me an extremely important thing was the launch of Excel 2011, er, I mean Numbers ’08. I bought it as quickly as I could and I’ve been using it for about a week, it really is the best spreadsheet in many different respects, it just provides an entirely different and more useful approach to the spreadsheet, finally the only real upgrade to this app class since Lotus 123 came out in the early 80s.
I can just see MSFT’s team of Excel developers getting their new iMacs with iWork installed ready to copy the entire thing, of course it will take them a while as usual, and they’ll call it “A true revolution in spreadsheets”