8 Cores, 4x 4.05 GHz “M3” High Performance Cores: 768K L1i, 512K L1d, 64MB L2, 8MB System Level Cache 4x 2.75 GHz “M3” energy e…
all-in-one desktop computer designed and built by Apple Inc. with M3 chip
Apple gave the iMac a fresh new look in April 2021, the first major iMac redesign in a long, long time. While the new Apple Silicon iMacs are a multicolored throwback to the PowerPC era, they still retain an aluminum body with a glass screen, with a starkly different appearance. The new look changes the glass border to a white color, the aluminum and peripherals are offered in two color tones, and is far thinner than its predecessors. The main difference in the M3 iMac versus the M1 iMac, is the chip in and of itself. The entirety of the physical rest of the machine and options are all the same as the previous generation.
At entry level, there’s 4 choices of color: Silver/Green/Blue/Pink, no ethernet, an 8-core GPU, and Two USB-C style thunderbolt 3 ports. Ethernet is a $30 option, like the previous M1 iMac. By default, a color-matching mouse and keyboard are included with the iMac, and Touch ID is a $50 option. Touch ID is included standard on the $1499 model, as well as Ethernet. The new M3 iMac features updated 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6E, updated Bluetooth 5.3, Thunderbolt 3 with USB 4/3.1 Gen 2 support, a 16-core neural engine, and a 10-core GPU as an option. Getting an 8-core 3nm CPU, 8-core GPU, with a 4.5K screen complete with peripherals is a pretty solid deal for $1299.
The M3 chip introduces Hardware Accelerated Ray Tracing. It is a technique used in computer graphics to create highly realistic lighting and shadows by simulating the way light interacts with objects in a scene. Unlike traditional rasterization, which processes polygons and textures to render images, ray tracing follows the path of rays of light as they travel through a scene. The idea is to create realistic shadows, detailed reflections, and make gaming more life-like without as much of a performance hit.
1.83/2.0 GHz Intel Core Duo Yonah, Socket M makes upgrades possible (see CPU Upgrade Options for 2006 iMacs )
Clock speed
1.83–2.00
Introduced
January 2006
Discontinued
September 2006
family of Macintosh desktop computers designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Inc.
Apple refers to these as iMac (Early 2006), but we also call them iMac Core Duo, the first iMacs based on Intel’s Core Duo processor.
Three months earlier, had Apple introduced an updated iMac G5 – slimmer, lighter, a bit faster, with built-in iSight and sporting a remote control. In January 2006, Apple replaced it with what looks like essentially the same computer from the front, but with an Intel Core Duo CPU instead of a single-core PowerPC G5.
There was a lot of debate about which model would be the first with Intel inside, and the iMac is a good choice. The Core Duo processor offers 2-3x the power of the G5, and it would be unseemly for the new Intel-based Mac mini to outperform the iMac. Which raises the question: Will the new Intel iMac outperform the Power Mac G5 Dual ?
Specs (via Low End Mac)
Cpu: 1.83/2.0 GHz Intel Core Duo Yonah, Socket M makes upgrades possible (see CPU Upgrade Options for 2006 iMacs )
Ram: 512 MB, expandable to 2 GB using two PC2-5300 DDR2 SODIMMs
L2 Cache: 2 MB shared cache on CPU
Hard Drive: 160/250 GB 7200 rpm SATA drive
Vram: 128 MB GDDR3 SDRAM (expandable to 256 MB on 20″ model)
Display: 17″ 1440 x 900 flat panel display 20″ 1680 x 1050 flat panel display
Ethernet: 10/100/gigabit
Usb: 3 USB 2.0 ports
Model Identifier: iMac4,1
Latest Efi Version: EFI 1.1
Geekbench 2: 2542 (2.0 GHz), 2363 (1.83 GHz)
Graphics: ATI Radeon X1600 with PCI-Express support, supports up to 23″ external display and monitor spanning
Video Out: mini-DVI, VGA, S-video, composite (requires adapter)
Hard Drive Bus: 1.5 Gbps SATA Rev. 1
Optical Drive Bus: Ultra ATA/100 (operates at ATA/33)
Superdrive: writes DVD±R discs at up to 8x speed, dual layer at up to 2.4x; DVD±RW at up to 4x; reads DVDs at up to 8x, writes CD-R discs at up to 24x, writes CD-RW discs at up to 8x, reads CDs at up to 24x
Firewire 400: 2 ports
Modem: optional 56 kbps USB modem supports v.92
Wifi: 802.11g AirPort Extreme included
Ir Receiver: supports Apple Remote (included)
Microphone: internal
Power Supply: 180W
See: Online resources and links for the iMac (Early 2006)
