Print this article
: Photo: AppleApple released its first iMac on Aug. 15, 1998. The cute, translucent blue, all-in-one PC was easily the most influential personal computer of the 1990s, heralding a return to simplicity and ease of use and briefly sparking an industrial design fad around clear, colored plastic.
It also marked the return of Steve Jobs as the visionary, design-obsessed leader that Apple desperately needed. Its strong sales reversed Apple's dire mid-1990s financial situation and enabled the company to get back on the road to relevance.
Over the years, the iMac's trendsetting arc has continued, with a total of four distinct models (and a close family member), some of which shipped in a handful of flavors.
Here's a look at the evolution of the iMac: past, present and future.
Left: The iMac wasn't Apple's first PC to feature a display and motherboard integrated into the same case; the original 1984 Macintosh (top center) shared a similar form factor. Apple resurrected its quiet, appliance-like qualities 14 years later.
The Power Mac G3 all-in-one (lower left) was the closest Apple ever came to a beige iMac. Released in early 1998, its specs were similar to the iMac's, but were available only to educational institutions.
The haughty design of the 20th Anniversary Macintosh (1997, lower right), foreshadowed later LCD-display iMacs. With a $7,499 price tag ($10,277 in today's money) and limited-edition status, it stood conceptually opposite the universally accessible iMac.
: Photo: AppleReleased in August 1998, the original "Bondi blue" iMac (its color reportedly named after the waters off an Australian beach) blew beige boxes out of the water. Among its novel technical features, the iMac ditched the then-ubiquitous floppy drive in favor of built-in home networking. It also introduced USB to the masses. But the G3-powered computer's greatest innovation lay in its eye-catching appearance. Apple designer Jonathan Ive took PC industrial design to new heights with the iMac's colorful teardrop case. Amazingly, much of the consumer design world came along for the ride.
: Photo: AppleBondi blue wasn't good enough. In 1999, Apple introduced five new color schemes for the iMac: blueberry, strawberry, lime, tangerine and grape.
The next time you see an appliance with a translucent plastic case, or available in multiple candy colors, you can thank Apple. Everything from vacuum cleaners to paper towel dispensers to George Foreman grills stole a page from the iMac's design playbook. Apple has since moved on to new design motifs, but the early iMac's influence still echoes in the industrial design world.
: Photo: AppleNever content to stand still, Apple continued to cycle through various iMac colors until the end of the G3 line in 2003. Along the way, the iMac gained a few significant external changes. While the original iMac contained a fan, later iMacs were convection-cooled -- making them blessedly silent. Apple also replaced the iMac's tray-loading optical drive with a slot-loading model in 1999.
Seen here are two of Apple's most-whimsical designs (top), called "flower power" and "blue dalmatian" (2001). Stretched across, below, is a line of new colors released in 2000: indigo, ruby, sage, graphite and snow.
: Photo: AppleAfter revolutionizing the PC design world with the original iMac, Apple struck again: this time with a PC that bore an uncanny resemblance to a table lamp. The company unveiled the radically novel iMac G4 in 2002. It featured a flat-panel LCD display mounted on an adjustable metal arm, which, in turn, connected to a sturdy base containing the computer's other components. Somehow, the design actually worked, though it was not without controversy.
Tiring of the multicolor iMac parade (by then widely imitated), Apple chose a clean, frosty white color scheme for this new PC. Through its lifetime, the iMac G4 was available in three different display sizes (seen here from left to right): 15-inch, 17-inch and 20-inch.
: Photo: AppleThe iMac G4's flat-panel display bumped the computer's price just beyond the reach of the educational market in which Apple traditionally flourished. Apple's solution was to place the iMac G4's guts into an all-in-one PC with a less-expensive CRT monitor. The result was the eMac ("e" for "education"), a critically acclaimed Mac released in 2002.
The eMac shipped in two slightly different cases: The original 2002 design (left), and a 2003-on version (right) with a milky-white appearance and white speaker grilles. Apple sold the eMac until 2006.
: Photo: AppleWith the long-awaited iMac G5 (2004), Apple turned back the clock to a time before swing-arms and released a monolithic flat-panel PC that mimicked the traditionally white iPod in appearance. It was, by far, Apple's most minimalist computer design to date, and it sold in two display sizes, 17-inch and 20-inch (bottom).
The iMac G5 later included a built-in iSight camera, although that model was indistinguishable from the one you'll see next.
: Photo: AppleIn early 2006, Steve Jobs dropped a bombshell: Apple would be migrating to Intel processors across its entire computer line. The switch was shocking enough without any major exterior design changes, so Apple stuck with what worked: a white enclosure nearly identical to the iMac G5 before it. And unlike the original iMac G5, these models contained built-in iSight cameras above the display.
The iMac Core Duo was available in three display sizes (bottom): 17-inch, 20-inch and the iMac's largest display yet, a monster 24-inch LCD.
: Photo: AppleAs 2007 rolled around, Mac fans speculated on what sort of wild new iMac design Apple would unveil next. Then Apple raised the curtain on the iPhone in June, which quickly stole the spotlight from any potential iMac upgrades.
In August 2007, Apple announced a new iMac design sporting an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, a thinner form factor, aluminum and glass construction, and a black and gray color scheme similar to that of the iPhone. It's currently the latest in the iMac line, and it's available only in 20-inch and 24-inch display sizes (bottom).
: Illustration: Nuno TeixeiraWhat does the future hold for the iMac? Frankly, no one knows but Apple. The company's notorious love of secrecy means that it's left to the imaginations of Apple fans to fill in the gaps. And fill the gaps they do -- many with photorealistic computer renderings of Mac concepts; new ones tend to proliferate just before Apple product announcements every year.
Seen here is a fanciful design dubbed the iView by its creator, Nuno Teixeira. It imagines an iMac with a large curved display that would envelop the user and eliminate the need for disjointed dual-display setups.
: Strawberry, tangerine, grape, lime, Bondi Blue -- no, we're not talking about Lifesavers, but rather the iMac's 1999 lineup of G3 computers. Sporting a 15-inch screen and 333MHz processor, the 40-pound boxes of colorful joy were more popular in school computer labs than people's homes.
: When the iMac adopted the G4 chip in 2002, it ditched its fruity color scheme for a more widely approved silver-and-white aesthetic, looking something like a sexy desk lamp. The iMac G4's most distinguished feature was its highly adjustable swivel flat screen, allowing you to angle it however you wished.
The excitement over the new iPhone this Friday is global, but we want you to act locally and show us your photos of this highly coveted gadget. We want to see outrageous shots from the line, disappointed faces after the phones sell out and most of all, the star of the show itself. We'll award the best photo a subscription to Wired magazine and display the top 10 photos in a gallery on Wired.com.
Use the Reddit widget below to submit your iPhone 3G photo and vote for your favorite among the other submissions. Some of the submissions will later appear in a gallery on the Wired.com homepage.
The photo must be your own, and by submitting it you are giving us permission to use it on Wired.com and in Wired magazine. Please submit images that are relatively large, the ideal size being 800 to 1200 pixels or larger on the longest side. Please include a description of your photo, which may include exposure information, equipment used, etc.
We don't host the photos, so you'll have to upload it somewhere else and submit a link to it. If you're using Flickr, Picasa or another photo-sharing site to host your image, please provide a link to the image directly and not just to the photo page where it's displayed. If your photo doesn't show up, it's because the URL you have entered is incorrect. Check it and make sure it ends with the image file name (XXXXXX.jpg).
Vote on iPhone 3G photos submitted by other readers.
Show entries that are: hot | new | top-rated. Submit your iPhone 3G photo.
Submit your iPhone 3G photo.
(No more than one every 30 minutes. No HTML allowed.)
: Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.comSAN FRANCISCO, California — It's finally here. After months of waiting, salivating and prognosticating, the iPhone 3G finally became available worldwide today.
Lining up in front of the San Francisco Apple store during the wee hours on Friday morning, Wired.com correspondents talked to a litany of fascinating iPhone fans, geeky tech-heads and even some cynics. Here's a smattering of some interesting faces we encountered from that crowd, plus a few glimpses of other queues from around the world.
Left: The line outside the downtown San Francisco Apple store stretched around the block by 7 a.m. While Apple claimed its mandatory in-store activation would only take 15 minutes, technical problems caused the morning's early setups to drag on for 45 minutes or more.
: Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.comMany patrons who got in line early for the iPhone 3G came prepared with hammocks, sleeping bags and tents. Here, an unidentified member of the queue grabs a few winks before the phone went on sale at 8 a.m.
: Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.comJT, a web designer from San Francisco and his dog, Chaya, literally cheese for the camera, simultaneously showing off their love for Apple communication devices and partially hydrogenated cheddar-flavored products spewed from pressurized cans.
: Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.comLane, an Alameda, California, resident and iPhone line holder exercises some capitalist muscle, offering his spot near the front of the queue for $100. Lane had no takers at the time this photo was taken at 7:30 a.m.
: Photo: Emily Lang/Wired.comIn the space of an hour, the line outside the AT&T Wireless store in downtown San Francisco nearly tripled before doors opened at 8 am.
: Photo: Ed Ou/Associated PressA customer, right, purchases a new Apple iPhone 3G in New York's Apple Store. IPhone buyers had waited in lines around a city block and happily counted down the final 30 seconds before launch.
: Photo: Alexander Zemlianichenko/Associated PressFuture iPhone owners wait in the line outside Japanese mobile carrier Softbank's flagship store in Tokyo's Omotesando shopping district late Thursday, July 10, 2008, before the first sales of Apple's iPhone in Japan Friday.
: Photo: Sang Tan/Associated PressCustomers queue inside the Apple retail store on Regent Street, London, for the phone's launch.
: Photo: Emily Lang/Wired.comAngelique Guillermo, left, assistant manager of the downtown-S.F. AT&T store, explains to Mark Hogenson, right, and Ellen Davis, center, that after a long morning of waiting in line, they may not get an iPhone due to dwindling supplies. "It's probably not looking too good," Davis commented on her chances of getting a new phone today. "I really have to pee, so I'm debating what's more important at this point."
: Photo: Kin Cheung/Associated PressModels hold the new iPhones today in Hong Kong. Dealers and buyers said it's only a matter of time -- maybe as little as a few days -- before the popular device hits the region's thriving underground marketplace.
: Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.comTechnology "evangelist" Robert Scoble (center, wearing pistachio-colored shirt) showed up at San Francisco’s iPhone 3G launch, documenting the event digitally, of course.
: Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.comDominic Sagolla, organizer of iPhoneDevCamp, literally takes a whiff of his new iPhone 3G. Sagolla was the first customer to emerge from the Apple store in San Francisco with the new device in hand.
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comSAN FRANCISCO -- As conferences go, Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference ranks low on the sexiness factor. It's a good bet that, without the promise of a new, iPhone 3G, the programmer-centric conference would not have drawn the hundreds of broadcast, print and blog journalists that it did.
Fortunately, Apple CEO Steve Jobs did have a new iPhone up his sleeve, and after spending an hour selling the company's new iPhone development tools and previewing some of the platform's forthcoming apps, Jobs delivered what we all came for: the new phone.
The iPhone 3G, as it will be called, will cost $200 for an 8-GB version, $300 for a 16-GB version. Both will be available in a new, slightly rounded case with a shiny black-plastic back. The 16-GB version will also be available with a white back.
Breaking with Jobs' keynote tradition, the iPhone 3G is not yet available: Both models will go on sale July 11 in 22 countries. Apple plans to make the phone available in 75 countries within several months.
For details, check out our full coverage of the WWDC 2008 keynote, or browse these slides for the highlights.
Left: Jobs' normal "reality-distortion field" seemed to be at ebb during today's keynote, which many observers noted was less exciting than a typical Jobs presentation. Indeed, Jobs -- looking thinner than ever in his trademark black mock-turtleneck -- let his deputies take most of the stage time. More than one audience member noticed that Jobs seemed to be looking a little wan and have less energy than usual. And maybe it's time for a new turtleneck? This one was looking a little gray, not to mention baggy.
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comApple's Phil Schiller, a regular fixture at Apple keynotes, touted the phone's new integration with Microsoft Exchange using "ActiveStink -- I mean ActiveSync." Was that an intentional dig at the Cupertino company's sometime competitor, sometime partner? Or was it a true Freudian slip, indicating Schiller's habitual distaste for the nearly ubiquitous Microsoft standard?
It's not clear. One thing is sure, though: Apple has provided deep and meaningful enterprise tools in the 2.0 version of the iPhone software, including the ability to "push" e-mail, calendar and contact updates. The company has also given IT managers the ability to zero out any data on a corporate iPhone, remotely -- handy when one of them goes missing.
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comApple executive Scott Forstall demonstrates how easy it is to create an iPhone application using the software development kit's new tools. You just drag in this snippet of code here, drop a button there and presto! Instant contact manager.
Like other software-development demos, this one had a lot in common with cooking demonstrations on TV: So much depends on having everything set up just right, ahead of time. In real life, you'd spend half a day doing prep work before you got to do the five minutes of dragging-and-dropping that Forstall showed onstage.
Still, developer after developer testified to the ease of developing iPhone apps. It's clear that if you're used to coding OS X apps, the iPhone should be a cakewalk.
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comOne of the applications shown at the March preview of the iPhone SDK was Sega's popular Nintendo DS title Super Monkey Ball. This game will be available for the iPhone for $10 -- once the iPhone App Store opens -- and will feature all four cute little monkeys and more than 100 different levels. Players control the rolling monkeys simply by tilting the iPhone this way and that.
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comDevelopers who want to create location-aware applications have plenty to drool over with the new iPhone 2.0 operating system, which has plenty of support for geographic data. In addition to the first-generation iPhone's ability to do geolocation by triangulating nearby WiFi hotspots and cell towers, the iPhone 3G will also have a GPS receiver, giving the device the ability to track its movements with great precision.
In this demo by location-sensitive social network Loopt, the orange pin denotes the user's location, while blue pins show nearby friends. Looking for someone to have lunch with? Loopt can help you hook up with someone and can even help recommend a cute little local cafe. (Friends not included.)
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comMajor League Baseball's iPhone app takes advantage of the phone's fast 3-G and WiFi data connections to provide real-time game scores -- and "real-time video clips." That doesn't mean you'll be able to watch streaming video of the whole game, but highlight clips will be available for you to view within "minutes" after they happen, the MLB developer promised.
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comAmong the most impressive iPhone app demos of the day were graphics-intensive ones, including a medical-imaging program and this game, called Kroll, from Digital Legends. In the demo, a fully animated character ran through a beautifully rendered fantasy landscape, battling winged demons and an immense, scary-looking giant whose steps shook the very screen.
Like the many other developers who took the stage, Digital Legends touted the ease of porting its OS X software to the iPhone -- and also provided an impressive demonstration of the phone's built-in 3-D video capabilities. In terms of graphics quality, this game looked comparable to what you might find on a PlayStation 2.
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comPerhaps the biggest news of the day was a three-digit number: $199, the price of the 8-GB iPhone 3G. That's a significant drop from the current price for the 8-GB first-generation iPhone ($399), and a huge drop from the $600 that it cost when Apple first introduced the iPhone a year ago.
As if the mere figure weren't impressive enough, Jobs had the price stomp onto the screen with massive booming sounds, saving him from having to actually say the word Boom.
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comThe new iPhone 3G comes with a shiny black-plastic back, in contrast to the current model's matte aluminum. If you decide to spring for the more capacious 16-GB model (which will cost $299), you can also choose a shiny white-plastic back.
The iPhone 3G itself doesn't appear to be any smaller, thinner or lighter than the current version, although it has tapered, slightly rounded edges, which will either make it feel thinner or make it feel more like a bar of soap.
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.comJobs made his customary brief appearance in the middle of the crowd, surrounded by burly bodyguards, after the keynote wrapped up. However, he didn't spend any time chitchatting with the hoi polloi, and no one got any hands-on time with his shiny new gadget.
: The creative types that make up Apple's fan base have been busy dreaming up the ideal iPhone, Version 2. (Steve Jobs is expected to introduce the real thing on Monday.)
The release of a new Apple product is an opportunity for Apple fans to dream big -- and make fun of the company they love.
This collection of iPhone 2 mock-ups runs the gamut, from the mundane to the mind-blowing. Check out the iPhone Pico -- a mini-iPhone that's smaller than a pinkie fingernail. We wish!
These mock-ups were designed by the readers of iLounge, which held a competition to find the best ideas for the new iPhone. The full list of winners are included in iLounge's free iPod + iPhone Book 4.
iPhone See-through
Left: This mock-up by Robert Davis of Cornelius, North Carolina, is thin, lightweight and crystal clear. It runs a full version of Leopard (not a stripped-down one) and has a 5-megapixel camera. Not very realistic -- or practical -- but pretty.
: iPhone Pro
The iPhone Pro by A. Berio of Los Angeles is an iPhone for well, the pros. Boasting a 1024x768 display, the iPhone Pro also has Intel's latest Atom processor and runs OS X Leopard. Dream on!
: iPhone Mirror
The iPhone Mirror by an unnamed iLounge reader from Boston has two touch screens and two cameras -- one on either side. This makes video conferencing -- and also taking self-portraits -- very easy.
: iPhone Shuffle
The iPhone Shuffle by Michael Hornbek of Hornslet, Denmark, has no screen and calls random people. "Think Indifferent," Michael says.
: iPhone Pico
iPhone Pico. Smallest. iPhone. Ever.
: iPhone Classic and Mini
A lot of Apple watchers expect the iPhone line to diversify like that of the iPod: different models for different pocketbooks. Many except to see a smaller, slimmed-down iPhone -- like the iPhone Mini. By Frank Reinders, Venlo, Netherlands.
: iPhone 3-G Slider With Virtual Keyboard
This 3-G iPhone by Aaron Besson of Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago, is a slider with a difference. The slide-out keyboard is actually a second touch screen, and the keyboard its displaying is virtual. Clever.
: iPhone Air
The iPhone Air by Renato Ruiz of Oxnard, California, is the perfect complement to the MacBook Air. It's a clamshell and has two screens -- one for a virtual keyboard -- that are both protected when the device is closed. There's a third screen on the lid that shows what music is playing while the iPhone is being used as a media player.
: Two Trackballs
This next-gen iPhone has two home buttons, which are now trackballs for gaming and easier scrolling. It also uses the built-in accelerometers as game controls. Designed by an unnamed iLounge reader from Skokie, Illinois.
: iPhone Bio
The iPhone Bio has the usual 3-G for video calls and video chat, but also uses biometric fingerprint security to protect your sensitive data.
: iPhone Duo
The iPhone Duo is slimmer, slicker and a slider to boot. By I. Sugiharto of New Zealand.