First UK review: New Apple iMac
'Pretty much everyone was desperate to have a play with it'
Our colleagues at MacFormat have just posted the first UK review of the gorgeous new 20-inch Apple iMac.
Its anodised aluminium and glass enclosure make a real design statement, and - as MacFormat puts it - "it's a testament to the look of the new iMac that pretty much everybody was desperate to have a play with it".
The full review is available on the MacFormat blog, complete with speed tests, but here are some of the highlights:
Graham Barlow, editor: "It's a much more serious looking Mac than its predecessor. It's darker, slimmer, sexier and has a more professional feel.
"The iMac from Apple came packed with music, and the sound is a vast improvement on the old iMac's speakers.
"On paper the specs look fantastic, and our first speed tests are impressive. Overall this is one amazing iMac."
Christopher Phin, deputy editor: "I'm not yet completely sold on the predominance of black, though the thick black border that surrounds the screen seems to work much better in real life than in photographs.
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"The new keyboard - and I confess this was the bit I was most excited about - seems a little less sprightly than the one on my MacBook.
"For most people, I think that the 20-inch is the perfect size, but, particularly with its living-room-friendly colour scheme, the 24-incher is a cracker. Now, where did I put my Visa card?"
James Ellerbeck, reviews editor: "Our first impressions of the new iMac design are nearly all positive. One of our benchmarking tools, Xbench, put it at approximately 18 per cent faster than the white iMac it replaced.
"Ours, the 20-inch 2.4Ghz model with 1GB of RAM, matched a year-old quad core 2 x 2.66Ghz Mac Pro in everything other than a threading test.
"One improvement not getting many review column inches is the speaker upgrade. The sound quality on the new iMac is quite superb and much louder than before."
As usual with a new Apple release, the iMac is attracting plenty of attention. But its appeal is more than just cosmetic. Few will argue that it looks great, but on paper it's also slimmer, cheaper and more powerful.
The new iMacs are available now from Apple's online store.