[im_noahselby]

"Where no PC has gone before..."

Does anyone remember this quote Apple posted on their website prior to the iMac G4 unvieling. Everyone got all worked up over it and I remember a lot of people saying that the official unveiling didn't live up at all to the hype Apple generated over the phrase.

I don't think Apple had announced that they would be updating the iMac, so some users pondered that this comment could refer to new "G5's". I remember the majority however, certain that this comment refferred to new iMac's and I agreed with them. People seemed split as to whether Apple would be using faster G3's or slower G4's.

I remember comments like:

"Apple would likely use 667mhz G4 chips, as they are in the PB's. They would never make them faster than the PowerMacs."

"Apple will use G3's! G4 is a pro user chip! I would take a faster G3 chip over a slower G4 chip any day!"

I was expecting a SuperDrive model, due to a comment Steve Jobs made earlier in the year. Therfore, I had ruled out G3's being used in the new iMac. I was personally expecting speeds across all new iMacs to be 733Mhz G4. As that was the lowest PowerMac speed at the time. 800Mhz G4 was just icing on the cake.

_________

This time however, we know that it will be a G5, but that is the only concrete thing we are sure of. The rumors would have us believe that what we're in store for isn't nearly as innovative or unique as was the original iMac G3 or iMac G4. With tomorrows unvieling their is little hype surrounding the event. The mood so far seems rather quiet coming from Apple.

What does everyone else think?

[jcadam]

All we know is: a new iMac is coming. Apple has done a pretty good job of keeping the rest a secret this time around. As opposed, to say, the PowerMac G5

My guess is we'll be a little surprised with whatever is announced.

[chrisutley]

The iMac G4 launch was effectively a flop. It was abundantly clear that Steve over-hyped the machine, and while it had limited success it certainly could never live up to the marketing hype.

Unless this new iMac can cure cancer and predict winning lottery numbers with regularity, I doubt they would have the balls to hype it much. I guess what I'm trying to say is this could be a really cool machine, despite the low key launch.

They still have some time to capture some back to school sales, so I would anticipate heavy advertising starting tomorrow unless IBM won't be able to prime the pump.

[im_noahselby]

One possibility is that Apple knows that they wont be able to ship these new iMac's until October/November, thanks to IBM, and therefor has opted not to make a big spectacle of the release. They realize they have to show something though... Maybe they'll decide to give people who pre-order the new iMac free copies of .Mac or something for their loyalty and patience...

You bring up some good points chrisutley. I don't think the iMac G4 ever quite captured the spirit (or $$$) of the original, but it was great none the less...

Noah