iMac (Intel-based)
The Intel-based iMac is a series of Macintosh desktop computers designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Inc. since 2006. It is one of three desktop computers in the current Macintosh lineup, serving as an all-in-one alternative to the Mac Mini, and sits below the performance range Mac Pro. It was sold alongside the Xeon-based iMac Pro from 2017 to 2021.
Pre-2009 iMac models featured either a white polycarbonate enclosure or an aluminum enclosure. The October 2009 iMac model featured a unibody aluminum enclosure, a version of which can still be seen on the current model. The current iMacs released since October 2012 also feature a much thinner display, with the edge measuring just 5 mm.[1]
The Intel-based iMac was succeeded by the iMac with Apple silicon beginning in 2021 as part of the Mac transition to Apple silicon. On April 20, 2021, Apple discontinued the 21.5-inch Intel iMac with 4K Retina Display following the release of a 24-inch model based on the Apple M1 processor, and discontinued the remaining non-Retina models in October 2021.
At the Macworld Conference and Expo on January 10, 2006, Steve Jobs announced that the new iMac would be the first Macintosh to use an Intel CPU, the Core Duo. The introduction of the new iMac along with the Intel-based MacBook Pro was the start of the Mac transition to Intel processors. In the following months, the other Mac products followed, including the introduction of the Intel Core-powered Mac mini on February 28, 2006, the MacBook consumer line of laptop computers on May 16, 2006, the Mac Pro on August 7, 2006, and the Xserve in November 2006, completing the transition.
The features, price, and case design remained unchanged from the iMac G5. The processor speed, however, according to tests run by Apple using SPEC,[2] was declared to be two to three times faster than the iMac G5.
On June 22, 2020, Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference keynote included the announcement that future Macintosh computers would transition yet again to Apple's own ARM-based system-on-chips;[3] in April 2021, Apple unveiled a redesigned iMac based on its M1 system-on-chip.[4]
