Representatives from Apple yesterday held a media event to brief the media on the recently announced products. The hero of the event was undoubtedly the iMac, which Apple touts as ‘The ultimate all-in-one. Now with the ultimate display’.

Product Marketing Manager for Desktops (Asia Pacific), Melvyn Chan, was on hand to tell us all about the new iMacs. A quick summary of its top features:

• New 21.5-inch (1920×1080 pixels) and 27-inch (2560×1440 pixels) configurations with 16:9 display
• LED backlight with IPS technology for a 178 degree viewing angle
• The entry level iMac comes with 3.06 GHz Intel C2D, 4GB RAM (expandable to 16GB), NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics card and 500GB HDD (expandable to 2TB). It only goes up from here.
• Wireless Keyboard & Magic Mouse now comes standard with all iMacs

Apple stressed that the new iMacs give you greater bang for your buck. The new entry level iMac costs RM4,299 compared to RM4,499 of the previous entry level iMac. The savings are event greater for the 27-inch iMac compared to the old 24-inch iMac–RM6,999 to RM8,199.

The higher end 27-inch iMacs can be configured with the quad-core Intel Core i5 or i7 “Nehalem” processor, which features four processor cores on a single chip. Trick out an iMac like that and the Mac Pro will start to feel a little worried. In fact, I asked Melvyn if the iMac would cannibalize Mac Pro sales and he responded that the iMac was aimed squarely at consumers and power users while the Mac Pro’s niche is more of the professional film production studios. Still, the new iMacs pack a lot of punch into it’s slender package.

The new iMacs will be available on November 11 through the Apple Online Store and Apple Authorized Resellers. The Intel Core i5 and i7 quad-core iMacs are available for order and will begin shipping this November.

Personal thoughts

The new iMac definitely lives up to its billing of being the ultimate all-in-one. It will look great on your study desk and deliver great performance in a designer’s studio. Once again Apple’s commitment to high-quality design and products stands out in the iMac. Just view the iMac video and you’ll be blown away by the attention to the smallest detail.

It also just looks super cool–like something that came out of the future. Indeed, more and more of Apple’s products seem so futuristic and far ahead of other technology today. Just think of the iPhone, and now the new iMac and Magic Mouse.

The event

I was really fortunate to be invited by Apple/Rantau PR to the event. Apple’s PR manager even said she reads the blog which was a big ego-boost I just want to say thanks for the opportunity and I hope to see more Apple activities and events in Malaysia.

See also the hands-on of the Magic Mouse and new MacBook.