iMac(17-inch Flat Panel, 1GHz)

Background

Announced in May 1998 and shipped in August, the iMac was Apple's computer for the new millennium. Aimed at the low-end consumer market and designed with the internet in mind, the iMac was positioned by Apple as the most original new computer since the original Mac in 1984, and came in a stylish new case design, with translucent "Bondi Blue" plastics. The iMac included a 4 Mbps IrDA port, and an internal 56Kbps modem (a 33.6 kbps modem was originally announced in May, but was upped to 56Kbps at MacWorld.), used two 12 Mbps Universal Serial Ports (USB) as its only means of external expansion, and included a newly-designed USB keyboard and mouse. While it had no other serial or SCSI ports, many manufacturers promised to make a variety of USB peripherals available by the time it shipped in August, and by and large they delivered on that promise. A "Rev B." model was released several months later, with 6 MB of VRAM, and several hardware bug-fixes. The iMac sold for $1,299 U.S. This Rev. B iMac was replaced by the Rev. C in January 1999.