Might 6, 1998: Steve Jobs unveils the iMac G3, a brightly coloured, translucent pc that can assist save Apple. Coming simply 10 months after Jobs’ new administration crew takes over, the unique iMac launch loudly declares that the times of Apple quietly fading into the background are over.
The colourful pc marks the beginning of a really profitable run for Cupertino.
Authentic iMac launch: A pc from a very good planet
It’s troublesome to overstate simply how completely different the iMac seemed when in comparison with different computer systems on the time. Subsequent to the grey or beige containers constructed by rivals, it actually stood out.
“It looks like it’s from another planet,” Jobs mentioned on the time. “ planet. A planet with higher designers.”
The designer answerable for the iMac G3 was Jony Ive, then simply 31 years outdated. Ive had been at Apple for a number of years earlier than Jobs’ return, however he was on the verge of quitting. As an alternative, he discovered a lot in frequent with Jobs that his deliberate resignation was the pair creating a breakthrough new machine.
The iMac G3 was very a lot an replace of the philosophy that drove the original Macintosh in 1984. On the time, Apple’s most reasonably priced pc price $2,000, nearly twice what a typical Home windows PC ran. Jobs initially needed one thing stripped-down and reasonably priced, by way of which customers may entry the web.
Nonetheless, simply as occurred with the unique Mac, the challenge turned extra bold and morphed into a press release pc. With its translucent sea-blue design (named Bondi Blue after the water at an Australian seashore), the iMac G3 seemed accessible and straightforward to make use of.
Not everybody preferred it, although. Some individuals thought it seemed too toylike, particularly with its terrible “hockey puck” mouse. However everybody acknowledged its distinctiveness.
iMac G3 specs: A smash hit for Apple
By way of specs, the iMac G3 boasted a 233 MHz PowerPC 750 (G3) processor, 32MB of RAM, a 4GB EIDE onerous drive, and a alternative of both ATI Rage IIc graphics with 2MB of VRAM or ATI Rage Professional Turbo graphics with 6MB of VRAM.
Two different items of iMac G3 {hardware} additionally benefit a point out. The machine got here with a built-in phone modem at a time when most computer systems included these solely as elective extras.
It additionally, notably, didn’t include a floppy disk drive at a time when this was customary. Like Apple’s elimination of the 3.5mm headphone jack from the iPhone years later, this induced an uproar — till everybody realized Cupertino made the precise name.
The iMac went on sale in August 1998 just a few months after Jobs’ unveiling. By this time, the all-in-one pc had racked up 150,000 preorders. The excessive stage of curiosity drove Apple’s inventory worth to greater than $40. This marked its highest level in three years.
The iMac G3 kicked off a brand new Apple period
The iMac’s colourful design later made its way to the iBook laptop, which additionally proved immensely fashionable. As well as, Apple launched a sequence of iMac G3 fashions in various colours, together with oddball patterns like Flower Power and Blue Dalmatian.
Apple moved away from the ultra-colorful look a few years later, starting with the distinctive white iPod. For years, the look most related to the trendy iMac was a single skinny slab of aluminum.
In 2021, Apple launched the primary iMac powered by the corporate’s speedy (and proprietary) M1 chip. Other than a large efficiency increase from the Apple silicon, the primary M1 iMacs also ushered in a top-to-bottom redesign. And so they got here in seven completely different colours — a throwback to when the Bondi Blue iMac G3 was the best pc round.
Did you personal the iMac G3? What did you consider it while you first noticed it? Tell us within the feedback beneath.