20 years ago, Apple introduced the first iMac

Apple celebrates the 20th anniversary of the first iMac, presented on May 6, 1998, soon after returning to Steve Jobs. He "forever changed the way people think about computers," Tim Cook wrote in his Twitter.

Behind looks better than other PCs in front

The original iMac in a translucent package with bright inserts stood out among the boring gray computers on the market. The design was developed in collaboration with Joni Ive, who today is responsible for the appearance of all key Apple products.

Technically, the iMac was not too different from its predecessors. It was equipped with a 15-inch CRT monitor, not the fastest 233-MHz Power PC 750 G3 processor, from 32 MB of RAM and ATI Rage IIc graphics accelerator or ATI Rage Pro. To carry a PC weighing more than 17 kg on the body there was a pen.

It was the first computer with a built-in USB port, in addition, the company abandoned the drive and installed only an optical drive. Another iMac chip is a modem for accessing the network. Only the proprietary mouse in the form of a hockey puck turned out to be terribly inconvenient.

iMac became really a personal computer and had a resounding success. Thanks to him, Apple was able to fix the financial situation (when Jobs again headed the company in late 1997, everything was bad). Monoblocks iMac G3 with a "classic" design were produced until 2003. At that time, a new model G4 with a flat screen and a casing-base in the form of a hemisphere already appeared on sale.

In 2004, iMac G5 came out with a motherboard for the display. In 2007, there was a model with an aluminum front panel, and since 2009 computers are manufactured in the all-metal case.

The current line of iMac includes versions of 21 and 27 inches, as well as a powerful iMac Pro.