As with previous models, all of the components in the new iMac are housed in a single unit, the screen.  Apple's famous eye for design means that everything fits together perfectly, without the need for anything else besides a simple keyboard and mouse.

The version we're testing today boasts a 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, the lowest speed available on the 24'' iMac.

Handling
We probably don't need to mention how elegant Apple's products are, but despite the various failings we found with this computer, you certainly can't say that it's ugly.  The glass and brushed aluminium case makes a statement on any desktop, and is as much a stylish accessory as it is a serious computer. 


The keyboard and mouse, on the other hand, could both do with a little more work.  The compact keyboard doesn't take up much space, but it doesn't include a numeric keypad and has small, laptop-size keys.  When you order an iMac, you've got the option to upgrade to a larger, wired keyboard for free, and it's worth taking the time to do so.  The Mighty Mouse connects to one of the two USB ports on the keyboard.

Typical webcam shot

There is almost no sound at all from the iMac while it's running, and you have to press your ear up against the screen to hear the fan rumbling along.  The DVD player--often one of the loudest parts on other computers--is also quiet.  Note that the iMac still has a DVD player but no Blu-ray support, as Apple has yet to throw its weight behind the standard.

The webcam is definitely responsive, but it tends to over-expose bright parts of the image, leaving large white areas.  The microphone did a great job of recording a voice without any feedback.

You get two USB ports on the keyboard, as well as four behind the screen, a FireWire 800 port, two optical mini jacks, an RJ45 port and a Mini DisplayPort video output.  There's no e-SATA, HDMI or memory card reader.

You can't get into the computer unless you want to rip the screen off, meaning the only thing an end-user can upgrade is the RAM, which can be installed by opening a flap underneath the screen between the speakers.

From behind ...	Audio ports, 4 USB ports, FireWire and Ethernet
... and from the side	Webcam

Processing Power
With 4 GB of RAM, a 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo and a 640 GB hard drive, you'd need to look for a computer as good as the Fujitsu-Siemens Amilo Xi 3650 to get the same performance on a laptop.  To actually compare the two, though, we could only run two of our normal tests, as the others aren't supported in Mac OS X. 

One of these involves retouching images in Adobe Photoshop.  The same script took 6 minutes 42 seconds on the iMac, a little longer than the 6 minutes 23 seconds of the Fujistu-Siemens.  When it came to compressing video files using iTunes, Apple has the advantage with the same files processed in 1 minute 35 seconds instead of 1 minute 50 seconds on the laptop.

It's difficult to extrapolate any firm conclusions about the overall performance of the machine from just two tests, of course, but it is would not be unreasonable to consider them representative of its ability at a variety of tasks.  We could compare it with some other recent Macs, though:

In orange and purple, respectively, are the new and old versions of the 24'' iMac, which we tested back in September 2007.  The hard drive has not made much progress, and the 3D powers are still relatively modest.  The RAM and the CPU, meanwhile, managed much better scores, which is no doubt down to a doubling in the amount of memory installed and an increase in processor speed from 2.4 GHz to 2.66 GHz.


Gaming
An Nvidia 9400M chip is perfectly acceptable if you're planning to play games  on a 13'' screen, but when you've got 1900 x 1200 pixels spread out over 24'', it just isn't good enough.  On the Dell XPS 13, for instance, we could run all of standard test games in native resolution, as long as the quality was turned down and we didn't use antialiasing.  Doing the same thing on the iMac would involve using twice as much load on the CPU.  Or, to put it another way: the iMac really struggles.  As a result, you can only really enjoy 2D games and those without many 3D elements. 

On some of the more expensive iMacs, three different graphics cards are available, the Nvidia GT 120, the GT 130 or the ATI HD 4850.  The GT 120 from Nvidia is a rebrand of the 9500 GT (which was originally the 8600GT), while the GT 130 used to be called the 9600 GT.  You can find out more about graphics cards in our Product Survey: Graphics Cards.

Sound
Apple hides the iMac's speakers underneath the screen, behind an aluminium grill.  It's a very neat solution, but it doesn't do a lot for the quality of the sound, which sounds very different when it is coming down from below the screen, rather than towards you.  The echoes produced are from the surface of your desktop, rather than the room itself. 

It's a shame, as Apple has recently made great strides with the sound quality on its laptops, reining in the bass to prolong speaker lifetime and unnecessary vibration.

The line out from the headphone jack is very good, and both it and the microphone in also have an optical link.  This is hardly indispensable, but is always a useful addition.

Power

Because they're so thin, iMacs include laptop components which are typically very energy-efficient.  The one we tested drew 105 W with WiFi turned on, rising to 130 W when it was struggling with a tricky filter in Photoshop.  That's between two and three times more as a regular laptop would use, but around a third as much as your average desktop computer with a separately powered monitor.