New iMac: Apple reveals colourful new desktop computers with its own chips inside

Apple has revealed an entirely new version of the iMac, including a completely overhauled, colourful design.

It is the first major redesign for its desktop PC in years. It is also the first iMac to make use Apple’s own chips, which debuted in its MacBook Air, Pro and Mac Mini last year.

Apple said it was the first computer to be designed around that chip, and that the new and smaller size of the new computer would not be possible without the new technologies inside that chip.

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But perhaps the most striking part of the redesign is the vast array of colours that it comes in. The iMac comes in a range of pastel shades.

(Apple)

The display is 24-inches, but it is only slightly larger than the existing 21.5-inch model, thanks to the reduced size around the screen, Apple said.

It is the first significant redesign for the iMac since 2012. And the various colours as well as Apple’s introduction video recall the original iMac, released in 1998 and the last to make such bold use of different hues.

It retains the “chin” of its predecessor underneath the screen, though loses the Apple logo that usually sat there. Otherwise, the design is entirely different: much slimmer, more square and with the swooping design of its back removed.

(Apple)

Apple is also offering new keyboards, with three different options, including two that bring TouchID to the Mac for the first ever time. Those come in an array of colours that match the new designs of the Mac, and the Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad will also be released in the new hues.

The computer has also been changed on the inside, however.

That includes a new camera in the top of the display, which Apple said was built with an awareness of the number of video calls that users have been conducting, and comes after sustained criticism of the camera in its other devices. It also has an array of microphones that it said makes the voice sound better during video meetings.

The camera and other tools borrow the power of the M1 chip, the first that Apple made itself. It noted that the addition of that chip will bring all the features that made the new MacBook Air and Pro so well-regarded by reviewers, including fast performance and the fact it will instantly turned on.

The computer has an array of USB-C connections, as well as a new magnetic power cable.

There will be two versions of the new computer: one costs $1,299 and comes in two colours, and a upgraded version that features all seven colours and includes a range of other upgrades. Apple did not immediately give international pricing but the cost is usually roughly the same amount of pounds.

They will be available at the end of May.