iMac Blows Away the Competition

Processor: 2.5GHz Intel Core i5 Quad-Core (model number unspecified)
Memory: 4GB
Storage: 500GB hard drive
Optical Drive: DVD?RW
Monitor: 21.5-inch integrated LCD (1,920x1,080 resolution)
Graphics: AMD Radeon HD 6750M (512MB)
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard)
Reviewed by: Jonathan Rougeot
Review Date: May 2011

Don't you just hate overachievers? Like that good-looking, star athlete in high school, the Apple iMac, year after year, outshines all the other all-in-one (AIO) desktops—Windows or Mac—in its class. It gracefully sprints ahead in performance, and it looks good in just about any situation. (Grumble, grumble.)

Still, we can't help but feel respect for, rather than jealousy of, this AIO computer. This time around, the iMac proves itself the prom king of AIOs, with stronger CPU and graphics power, along with the new Thunderbolt port that promises high-speed data transfer. We'd like to see some additional entertainment features to pair with the iMac's gorgeous screen, but we recommend this AIO to anyone focused on productivity and performance, and willing to work within Mac OS X.

The body of the 21.5-inch iMac is about 1.5 inches thick.

With this first 2011 update of the iMac, each member of the new iMac line gets a strong boost in processor and graphics above 2010's machines. Apple is offering two 21.5-inch models. The $1,199 base model (our test unit) packs in a 2011-model 2.5GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor (from the new generation of Intel chips known as "Sandy Bridge"), a 500GB hard drive, and an AMD Radeon HD 6750M graphics card with 512MB of discrete memory. For $300 more, you can upgrade to a 2.7GHz Intel Core i5 processor (also a quad-core chip), a 1TB hard drive, and AMD Radeon HD 6770M graphics with the same dollop of memory.

Apple is also offering two 27-inch models: a $1,699 version with the same specs as the higher-end 21.5-inch iMac, and, for another $300, a beefed-up model that features a 3.1GHz Intel Core i5 quad-core CPU, a 1TB hard drive, and AMD Radeon HD 6970M graphics with 1GB of dedicated memory. You can upgrade various components of all of the models at the time of purchase...for a price, of course.

While the guts of the iMac have gotten a compete overhaul, the exterior is almost exactly the same as the previous version. But that's certainly not a bad thing. Like all of Apple’s products, the  iMac’s design is sleek and minimalist. It's encased in a single-piece aluminum enclosure much like the ones that the Apple MacBook Pro and Apple Mac Mini lines also sport, giving the whole Mac family a unified look.

On the right side of the screen is an SD-card reader (which also supports the SDXC format) and a slot-loading optical drive. Unfortunately, the latter is not a Blu-ray reader, something that Apple has yet to feature on any of its systems. That's a shame, with this beautiful screen. Other than the power button, which sits almost invisibly on the lower-back-left side of the body, and a little patch of ports, you won't find any other features to interrupt the iMac's mostly bare rear panel.

On the rear of the iMac, you'll find a strip of ports, the power connection, a power cord, an Apple logo...and that's about it.

The super-spare design helps draw your eyes to the gorgeous 21.5-inch LCD, which is glossy and LED-backlit. Its wide-screen aspect ratio (16-to-9) and 1,920x1,080 native resolution make for an impressive HD viewing experience. Like all glossy screens, this one is prone to some glare off of ambient lighting, but the colors represent nicely, and, unsurprisingly, we noted no motion blur when viewing video. However, considering this beautiful screen, notably absent from the iMac—apart from the Blu-ray player—is an HDMI port. That would be useful for connecting a gaming console and making dual use of the display.

One new feature that comes to the iMac with this generation is a built-in ambient-light sensor. (It lives, almost invisibly, on the top strip of the screen bezel, next to the Webcam lens.) This sensor governs the brightness of the screen depending on the brightness of the room you are in. We applaud Apple for bringing this feature, which has been on its MacBooks for a few generations, to its desktops. (You'll know the value of this feature if you've ever tried looking at a bright screen in a dark room. Talk about an instant headache.)

The Magic Mouse features laptop-touchpad-like features such as finger swiping.

The iMac’s body sits nicely on an aluminum base that provides a stable anchor for the rest of the body; it's the very same base as on the previous model. The screen is tiltable, and the adjustment motion is refined and smooth. There's no left/right swivel adjustment (apart from moving the whole machine, base and all), but Apple claims that its iMacs have a 178-degree off-center viewing angle, and that minimizes the need for fine swivel adjustments. (Based on our testing, we believe it; we noted no appreciable deterioration of color or viewability when we looked at both video and still images far off center.) Plus, the iMac is light enough to drag around your desk, if need be.

The iMac ships with either Apple's Magic Mouse or the company's Magic Trackpad. You previously had to pay an extra $69 to get the Magic Trackpad separately; now, you can get it bundled with your iMac instead of the Magic Mouse, for no additional charge. The Magic Mouse works almost like the touch pad of a laptop. Looking like a tiny spaceship, the Magic Mouse has no buttons—or rather, like its MacBook touch-pad counterpart, it’s one big button. (Click here for our full review of the Apple Magic Mouse.) The Magic Trackpad, on the other hand, actually is the touch pad of a laptop, lifted off and made a free-standing peripheral. If you've used the touch pad on a MacBook Pro, you'll be very familiar with how this unique pointer works. (Click here for our full review of the Magic Trackpad.)

You can now choose to have your iMac ship with a Magic Trackpad instead of a Magic Mouse.

Along with the Magic Mouse, the iMac also ships with a wireless Bluetooth keyboard that adheres nicely to the Apple minimalist aesthetic. About three-quarters the size of a traditional keyboard (partly thanks to the elimination of the numeric keypad), it’s almost completely flat except for a rounded area in the back that holds the batteries and props up the keyboard slightly in the rear.

Despite its diminutive body, we didn’t find the keyboard hard to type on. Like the mouse, it bears a striking resemblance to Apple’s laptops, with the Chiclet-style keys rising only slightly from the body of the keyboard. It's tiny and may take some getting used to, but if you're an Apple fan, it will definitely fit your style.

The super-thin keyboard comes with built-in Bluetooth and requires two AA batteries.

Apple's new 720p FaceTime HD camera lives in the middle of the top of the screen bezel, along with a camera-indicator light, which lights up to warn you when the camera is on. The FaceTime camera features three times the resolution of the iSight camera that came on previous iMacs. We first used the FaceTime camera when it made its debut on the latest line of MacBook Pro laptops, and we were immediately impressed with it. This could have been one of those improvements that might not matter to the average consumer, but we think the dramatic difference won't go unnoticed. As far as using the camera, we noticed no lag, and it performed well even in a dimly lit office. You can make FaceTime calls to other Mac devices that have a camera and the FaceTime app installed. (You can download the app from the Mac App Store for 99 cents; it also comes loaded for free on new iMacs and MacBooks.)

The built-in speakers are located on the right and left side of the underbelly of the bezel. They deliver a loud, bass-filled sound that could easily fill a small room. (As a matter of fact, our neighbor in our office asked if we were having a dance party in our office during our testing.) You'll want to consider hooking up some external speakers, though, if you plan on pumping music from the iMac to entertain at a party, as it doesn't quite have the sound to fill a large room

On the back-left side of the body is a single-file line of ports. From left, they are audio-in and -out jacks, four USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire port, a Thunderbolt connector (don't worry, we'll get to that probably unfamiliar one in a minute), and an Ethernet jack. In the middle, behind the base, is the power connection. The power cord snakes out through an opening in the base.

The iMac's ports include, from left: headphone and microphone jacks, four USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire 800 port, the new Thunderbolt port, and an Ethernet jack.

These iMacs are the first desktops to feature the Thunderbolt port, which replaces the mini-DisplayPort connector from previous iMacs. Thunderbolt is based on Intel's Light Peak technology, which supports both high-performance peripherals and high-resolution displays. You get one Thunderbolt port on the 21.5-inch iMac, and two on the 27-inch model, to support additional peripherals. (This means, for example, you can hook up two additional displays to the 27-inch iMac.) Apple claims the technology can provide data transfer at 20 times the speed of a USB 2.0 port, and, from what we saw during an Apple-administered demonstration the morning of this computer's release, we believe it. (We'd have tested it ourselves, but no cable or device was available for us to lug back to our labs. Estimates are, though, that Thunderbolt cables and compatible devices will be available in the late spring or early summer.)

The Thunderbolt port doesn't just work with Thunderbolt-equipped peripherals; it's also compatible with USB 2.0 and 3.0, FireWire, Gigabit Ethernet, VGA, DVI, and HDMI connectors via an adapter. (Adapters are expected to be available for each connection type soon. Keep in mind, though, that with the adapters, you’ll still be running at the speed of your original connection.) A final aspect of it is a serious flashback: The Thunderbolt port also allows you to daisy-chain up to six devices off of it, much like old-school SCSI.

The iMac's power cord runs through this gap in the stand.

While the outside of the latest iMacs may look identical to the previous generation, the inside has seen a wholesale component revamp, with more powerful graphics and CPUs. As we mentioned previously, our test unit was the base model of the line, built around a current-generation 2.5GHz Intel Core i5 CPU and an AMD Radeon HD 6750M graphics card with 512MB of memory. The Sandy Bridge processors have already wowed us on the Windows side, setting all kinds of speed records at low system price points. And with this kind of power now backing the iMac, this machine blew its predecessor—and most of the competition—straight off the test bench in our testing.

The first set of trials we ran tested the iMac's raw CPU performance. We started with our Cinebench 10 test, which stresses all the cores of a given processor in rendering a test image. The iMac scored 13,631, a 56 percent increase over the previous version of the 21.5-inch iMac. This number is also impressive next to comparable Windows-based AIOs. It bests the Gateway One ZX6951-53's score of 10,031, while it didn't quite measure up to the HP Omni 200 Quad's 14,658. (The HP Omni 200 was running a 2.8GHz Intel Core i5 processor, though, which we would expect to be a little faster than this iMac's CPU.)

Our next CPU-centric test was our iTunes Converstion Test, in which we encode 11 standard audio tracks from MP3 to AAC format. Here, the iMac's time of 2 minutes and 16 seconds to perform the test task beat the previous version's time by almost a full minute. It also handily beat the HP Omni 200 Quad and Gateway One ZX6951-53 by more than 20 seconds.

The new, more-powerful graphics in this line of iMacs also impressed us in our testing. With the previous version of the iMac line, Apple for the first time brought a dedicated graphics processor to its low-end iMac. This time, the trend toward better graphics continues with the AMD Radeon HD 6750M in our test machine. This bump up in graphics power prompted us to run one of our more intensive game tests on this machine in Boot Camp. We used the test game Far Cry 2, which has a built-in benchmark test; we achieved a frame rate of 29.4 frames per second (fps) on our 1,920x1,080 DirectX 10 run of the test. When we dropped the resolution to 1,680x1,050 (while keeping the rest of the graphics settings pushed to High), we got a more playable 32.6fps. (30fps is our typical threshhold for playability.)

What this tells us: You’ll likely have to dial back the resolution and graphics settings a fair bit in cutting-edge gaming titles, but this machine should make most current games playable. If gaming is a priority for you, though, we’d upgrade the system to one of the higher-end graphics-card options.

The FaceTime camera, ambient light sensor, and camera-live indicator are located at the center-top of the bezel.

Overall video-playback performance was solid. We watched a DVD copy of The Bourne Identity; the film displayed crisp and clear, with no motion blur to be seen. (We would have loved to have watched a Blu-ray disc, but as we noted, alas, there's no support for that.) MOV video files that we shot on our inexpensive Canon point-and-shoot camera also played back without glitches.

While this kind of performance isn’t up to the same level you’ll find in an Apple Mac Pro tower or another high-end desktop, this system delivers plenty of CPU muscle for multitasking, as well as demanding tasks such as high-end image and HD video editing. Professional users will, of course, want to step up to one of the faster CPUs for the time that they’ll save in rendering, but for everyone else, even this low-end model’s CPU should be more than sufficient for just about all mainstream tasks.

The iMac comes bundled with the 10.6 version of the Mac OS X Snow Leopard operating system, as well as iLife ’11 (comprising the superb iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, iWeb, and GarageBand applications). The latter is as good a starter set of media-centric programs as you'll find with any modern desktop computer. The iMac also comes with a one-year limited warranty and 90 days of toll-free phone support. (An extended AppleCare warranty will cover your system for two more years; it costs $169 extra, and that upcharge was not factored into the cost of our test unit.)

With a little new on the outside and a lot new on the inside, the 21.5-inch iMac continues to be our overall top pick for an all-in-one desktop computer. Dramatic improvements in CPU and graphics power send it hurtling to the front of the AIO pack, and its stylish design would fit perfectly in a living room as well as an office. Even though its improved graphics performance makes it a viable gaming machine, we'd like to see more entertainment features, such as an HDMI port or a Blu-ray drive. But as a productivity PC, the iMac is as powerful as it is beautiful.

Price (at time of review): $1,199 (mfr. est., as tested)

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Apple iMac (27-Inch, 2011 Version)

Super upgrades to a Super Computer
Posted on 01:06 pm May 24, 2011 by anonymous
Pros: It works, it's fast, and it's pretty. Quality is far above what pretty much any Windows user has experienced.
Cons: Nothing I can think of. BluRay is not an issue for me.
Full Review:
A previous reviewer said:
"Screen burn after just 12 months apple shop said only guarantee for 12 months its shocking you pay over the odds add you get unslightly screen burn setting up user accounts and protecting files is not easy to learn"

Screen burn: Run a screen saver with no static elements for 24 hours - that alone might clear it up for you (worked for mine). When you buy the computer, it's pretty clear that you have 12 months warranty - unless you purchase AppleCare. If you purchased AppleCare, you would be covered - plus you could call them for free with questions like "How do I set up a new user account?"
User Accounts: takes 4 clicks of the mouse to get to the point of being able to enter a new user account. How hard is that? No double-clicks, no hunting through long menus. And new user accounts are automatically set up so only that user has access to the files in the account.

Seriously, Google can help you with any perceived problem.
Google is your friend - repeat 100 times.

not all its cracked up to be
Posted on 05:29 pm May 15, 2011 by anonymous
Pros: stylish and generally easy to use
Cons: Screen burn after just 12 months apple shop said only guarantee for 12 months its shocking you pay over the odds add you get unslightly screen burn

setting up user accounts and protecting files is not easy to learn
Full Review:
dont belive the hype buy an equally powerful PC at half the cost

i waited just long enough
Posted on 11:14 am May 14, 2011 by anonymous
Pros: got my new and first apple this week and wow!
my office is 3 sides of glass and very bright. The display is flawless no more shading the screen with a file!
Cons: i feel inadequate
Full Review:
bravo apple! the computer is everything I expected; right in line with my iphone, itouch, and i pad. Glad i waited.

All-In-One on many levels
Posted on 07:49 pm May 11, 2011 by anonymous
Pros: All-In-One that works with Windows OS via Boot Camp OR Parallels software, etc + Linux OS, UNIX OS via XCODE + Mac OS X all on one computer. You can also power an external HD monitor via Thunderbolt.

The hole in the vertical stand is for all cord management to reap ports, not just power cord for a clean & organized desk.
Cons: Why have a optical drive at all? Most OS X + Mac Apps are available from the App Store from Apple via internet download. Other third party apps are available via download from their websites too. iTunes / Netflicks / TV Networks have TV + Movies on demand or can be rented / purchased online. Flash Thumb drives are very cheap now so CD's / DVD's are becoming obsolete very quickly. Ditch the Optical drive Apple! If you must have a optical drive, then purchase an external USB device.

Keyboard should be Bluetooth aluminum & glass board with "virtual keys" like the iPad. the "keys" could then be minimalized & glass screen could be Multi-Touch" control screen for iMac.
Full Review:
Awesome update to the iMac, but with Mac OS X "Lion" approaching, how is the iMac going to take advantage of Multi-Touch capabilities it will be gaining from iOS merging with Mac OS X? Maybe a new "retro" Luxo Jr. iMac with a flexible screen on an arm with computer as its' base in the future?

Faster Intel processors, faster graphics card, faster DRAM + higher amounts of DRAM to be installed, higher resolution HD LED screen, uber fast Intel/Apple Thunderbolt I/O.

TIME TO UPGRADE!

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The New MacBook Pro: The Last Notebook You’ll Ever Need

From the outset, Apple's MacBook Pro has been the standard-bearer for professional notebook computers. Apple's extra-mile engineering sets the bar for performance, durability, build quality, longevity, ergonomics, battery life, and connectivity. For the past several years, Apple has had only itself to outdo with each new generation of MacBook Pro, yet Apple has still managed to set the pace, mostly with upgrades to materials, graphics, disk size, and battery life.

Not to take such advances for granted -- after all, the one-piece machined aluminum frame and dynamic GPU switching were among many unique and jaw-dropping innovations -- but where's the ultimate to-die-for model year leap, the upgrade so substantial that we may not see its like again for five years? As tight as money is now, buyers want to see double, triple, and order-of-magnitude level improvements to justify spending $1,799 to $2,499 on a notebook.

[ Read about the long-standing love affair between InfoWorld's Paul Venezia and the MacBook Air. | Subscribe to InfoWorld's Technology: Apple newsletter. ]

With the new Thunderbolt MacBook Pro, so nicknamed for its revolutionary high-speed I/O port, that's just what you'll get. The 15- and 17-inch quad-core models deliver twice the CPU performance of Core 2 Duo, three times the graphics performance of the previous generation's Nvidia GeForce GT 330M, and more than ten times the external I/O bandwidth of 800MHz FireWire. Even with a base price of just $1,199 and dual-core instead of quad-core CPUs, the new 13-inch MacBook Pro still outpaces prior Mac notebooks in terms of CPU and I/O performance.

This brand of magic can't be conjured by Apple's competitors. Sustained innovations like the MagSafe quick-disconnect charge port, the industrial-grade frame machined from a solid block of aluminum, digital optical audio input and output, automatic integrated/discrete GPU (graphics processing unit) switching, and a five-year battery already have no equal.

Now Apple has integrated Intel's just-released second-generation Core i5 (13-inch MacBook Pro) and Core i7 (15-inch and 17-inch models) into its popular commercial notebooks. By doing so, MacBook Pro has picked up the power of Intel's Turbo Boost dynamic overclocking, Hyper-Threading thread acceleration, 1,333MHz of DDR3 RAM, large Level 3 cache, and integrated memory controller. Intel's speedy new silicon and enlightened bus design, combined with Apple's full-custom motherboard and software, delivers those 2X CPU performance gains bragged about by Apple and proven in my benchmarks.

In the 15- and 17-inch models, Intel's stellar CPU is married with the most powerful and power-efficient mobile GPUs on the planet, AMD's Radeon HD 6000M series. The 17-inch MacBook Pro and the 2.2GHz 15-inch model feature AMD's Radeon HD 6750M GPU with 1GB of GDDR5 RAM, while the base 15-inch model uses the Radeon HD 6490M with 256MB of GDDR5 RAM. Apple uses a clever and simple technique to switch between low-power Intel integrated graphics and the gaming-grade AMD GPU on the fly. This is central to achieving a verified seven-hour battery life across all models, and that's without cheating: wireless networking active, display at midlevel brightness, and even battery-draining Flash Player running in the browser.

If, in all of this, you can't see a reason to upgrade your notebook, maybe I can bring the point home: This might be the last notebook computer you'll ever need or want. After more than two weeks of continuous testing, it's hard for me to imagine what I'd want in a notebook in three to five years that MacBook Pro doesn't deliver right now. Whatever I want, I'll plug into Thunderbolt, the game-changing 10-gigabit peripheral interconnect that deserves (and gets) its own section in this review. I have no lingering doubt that a PC notebook maker might trump MacBook Pro. What Apple has done requires metal, glass, genius, and OS X. It can't be replicated with plastic and Windows.

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Apple Announces New iMac

21.5" starting at $1199.

27" starting at $1699.

Test-drive an iMac and get all your questions answered by our knowledgeable Specialists.

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FileMaker Updates Entire Bento Product Line

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iPad 2 for Travel

By Mary Anne Potts; photograph courtesy Apple

When the first iPad came out just over a year ago, we were sure it would transform travel: Apple's tablet computer married work and play utilities so well, it rendered a laptop excess weight on a vacation. Thirteen months later, our computing behavior has already evolved drastically. Everyone from VPs to restaurant sommeliers to preschoolers are using iPads everywhere. It did not take long for the tablet to find a place in our lives.

Since the second generation iPad was released a month ago, much has been said about the new lighter, smaller, faster model. And the fact that Apple has added significant new features to iPad 2—such as the front- and back-facing cameras—without raising the price (it starts at $499). Let’s consider what the iPad 2 does to further transform travel with its smaller size, new cameras, innovative new travel apps, and iMovie travel videos.

1. Packable Size, Speed 

Yes, the iPad 2 is light (33 percent lighter than iPad 1) and thin (thinner than the iPhone 4). It’s so fast—two times faster thanks to the A5 chip—that the graphics seem to fly across the screen as you use it. The sleek, skinny iPad 2 disappears in your handbag, tote, or backpack. And at the airport, iPads do not have to be screened separately in the security line. ??

2. Ample Battery Life
The ten-hour battery life means you can literally not worry about charging your iPad for days. Battery life is simply not an issue. The iPad also has its own voltage converter, so you just need to find a power adapter for your host country and you are all set. ??

Here are three ways to maximize your iPad’s battery life:

• Turn down the brightness of the screen. ?
• Limit the apps in your multitasking. Each open app is using a bit of battery. Close out of the apps you aren’t using.
• Turn off the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth settings when you are not using them. They soak up battery power.??

3. Cameras for Video Chatting, Hi-Def Video, Photos
The much anticipated front- and back-facing cameras enable FaceTime chats from wherever you have a Wi-Fi signal—airport layovers, coffee shop chats, Madrid’s Plaza de Santo Domingo. More and more cities are publishing maps of their free Wi-Fi hotspots. ??Though the cameras' video is hi-def, the photos are less sharp than photos taken with the iPhone 4. But in reality, shooting photos and video on the iPad is a little strange. For my iMove travel video (below), I used my iPhone 4 to shoot photos and video, then synced to my computer, then to my iPad. You can also use the USB adapter to sync iPhone 4 photos directly to iPad. 

4. Top Travel App Innovations
With the addition of the new gyroscope and cameras, and the existing GPS, the world of travel apps is about to take off. The gyroscope and GPS could enable some very cool virtual tour guides of favorite travel sites—say an iPad tour of Machu Picchu where you point your iPad at a feature and it tells you historical facts. Here are some of the more impressive new iPad travel apps out there:??

• iMovie - $4.99
Optimized for the iPad, this app could transform you into a filmmaker. For travel videos, it’s amazing. It makes editing videos simple—little kids could do it. See the section below to read the full review.??

• National Geographic National Parks Maps HD App - $4.99
This app pairs hi-res images of points-of-interest within National Geographic HD topo trail maps for 15 parks (Yosemite, Yellowstone, Zion, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, and ten others). The iPad’s Digital Compass will locate you within the park when you are ready to start exploring.

• JetSetter - Free
This visually stunning, content-driven travel app lets you discover travel destinations through a gorgeous layout and photography. The stories and editorial reviews will tantalize you to take a trip—and the app even allows you to book a hotel stay with a cool calendar feature. It also has “Flash Sale” limited-time travel deals.??

• Word Lens - Free, $9.99 per language
This app utilizes the camera to photograph and translate text. Right now it only works for English to Spanish and Spanish to English. Still it’s a remarkable service on the iPad. It’s not perfect. I tried it on my friend Mark Adam's new book title, Turn Right at Machu Picchu. It came up with “Turno Correcto a Machu Picchu,” which is a little off, but the possibilities are exciting.?

• TripAdvisor - Free
Thanks to the iPad’s digital compass, TripAdvisor’s vast database of user reviews are made available on Google Street maps. Simply locate yourself via the GPS, then read reviews of nearby restaurants and hotels positioned on a Google Street View map. What’s surprising is all the local information. I always considered TripAdvisor to be best for international hotels. But with the app, I located myself in my apartment in Brooklyn and it showed me all the restaurants and businesses on my street with contact info and user reviews. ??
 
• Fotopedia Heritage - Free
Brilliant photos illustrate the world’s UNESCO World Heritage sites in this app. The Machu Picchu slide show alone has 59 images.??

• FlightBoard - $3.99
This app quite simply lets you see the Arrivals and Departures flight boards in any airport. Pretty handy if you are dealing with weather delays.??

• AllSubway HD - $.99
This is the first collection of subway maps from the world’s great cities, from Moscow to Munich to Perth. You don’t need a Wi-Fi connection to use it, so subterranean navigation is possible.??

Starting in May, Apple is going to offer free travel app workshops for consumers at their 200+ U.S. stores. At these workshops, Apple instructors will show the latest and best travel apps available.

Cherry Blossom Run - iMovie for iPad test run from Mary Anne Potts on Vimeo.

5. iMovie: Geo-Referenced Travel Videos
iMovie ($4.99), which we loved for the iPhone 4, is now optimized for iPad and so easy to use. The added screen real estate allows for great control and precision while editing your trip video. You can trim video clips before you add them to your edited material, and then re-edit the cuts throughout the process with multiple video editing tracks. The app is so superior, it gives you the confidence to actually cut together a video you could be proud of.

I tested the process on a morning run to see the cherry blossoms in Washington, D.C., last week.  In my case the early morning light on an overcast and rainy day didn’t really show off the scenery as much as I’d hoped. I used my iPhone 4, then synced the images to my computer, and then to my iPad. You can also use the USB adapter to sync directly to your iPad. Because the photos and videos are geo-referenced, I easily tagged locations in iMovie. This would be particularly handy if, post trip, you couldn’t remember where you snapped the shot.?? I did all my video editing on the go, mostly on my subway commute.

If I had more time, I would have attempted to compose my own cherry blossoms run soundtrack in the new GarageBand ($4.99), now optimized for iPad. In the same way that iMovie makes you feel like a capable filmmaker, GarageBand makes you feel like a diamond-in-the-rough musician. And they are both so fun to use. Apple’s creativity-developing apps encourage us to document, record, and present our lives in a personal way. The resulting videos or even music compositions may not win an Oscar or Grammy, but they contribute to focusing on some of life’s best moments—our vacations with family and friends.

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iPad 2 Arrives in 25 More Countries This Friday

iPad 2 images

CUPERTINO, California—March 22, 2011—Apple? today announced that iPad? 2, the second-generation of its third post-PC device, will go on sale in 25 additional countries this Friday, March 25. iPad 2 will be available at Apple retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers at 5 p.m. local time, and online through the Apple Store? (www.apple.com) beginning at 1 a.m. Apple today also announced that all models of iPad 2 will be available in Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and additional countries in April.

“While competitors are still struggling to catch up with our first iPad, we’ve changed the game again with iPad 2,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We’re experiencing amazing demand for iPad 2 in the US, and customers around the world have told us they can't wait to get their hands on it. We appreciate everyone’s patience and we are working hard to build enough iPads for everyone.”

iPad 2 features an entirely new design that is 33 percent thinner and up to 15 percent lighter than the original iPad, while maintaining the same stunning 9.7-inch LED-backlit LCD screen. iPad 2 features Apple’s new dual-core A5 processor for blazing fast performance and stunning graphics and now includes two cameras, a front-facing VGA camera for FaceTime? and Photo Booth?, and a rear-facing camera that captures 720p HD video, bringing the innovative FaceTime feature to iPad users for the first time. Though it is thinner, lighter, faster and packed with new features, iPad 2 still delivers up to 10 hours of battery life* that users have come to expect.

Pricing & Availability
iPad 2 with Wi-Fi will be available in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK on March 25 for a suggested retail price of $499 (US) for the 16GB model, $599 (US) for the 32GB model, $699 (US) the 64GB model. iPad 2 with Wi-Fi + 3G will be available for a suggested retail price of $629 (US) for the 16GB model, $729 (US) for the 32GB model and $829 (US) for the 64GB model. iPad 2 will be available in Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and additional countries in April, and in many more countries around the world in the coming months. Further international availability and pricing will be announced at a later date.

iMovie? and GarageBand? for iPad apps are available for $4.99 (US) each from the App Store? on iPad or www.itunes.com/appstore. The Smart Cover is available in a range of colors in vibrant polyurethane for $39 (US) or rich leather for $69 (US).

*Battery life depends on device settings, usage and other factors. Actual results vary.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced iPad 2 which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

Press Contacts:
Trudy Muller
Apple
tmuller@apple.com
(408) 862-7426

Janette Barrios
Apple
jbarrios@apple.com
(408) 974-7608

NOTE TO EDITORS: For additional information visit Apple’s PR website, or call Apple's Media Helpline at (408) 974-2042.

Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, Mac OS, Macintosh, iPad, Apple Store, FaceTime, Photo Booth, iMovie, GarageBand and App Store are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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White iPhone Arrives Tomorrow

FaceTime requires iPhone 4 or fourth-generation iPod touch and a Wi-Fi connection for both caller and recipient.Some features, applications, and services are not available in all areas. See your carrier for details. Application availability and pricing are subject to change.Shop the Apple Online Store (1-800-MY-APPLE), visit an Apple Retail Store, or find a reseller.

Copyright ? 2011 Apple Inc. All rights reserved.

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A Showpiece E-Book for iPad

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People pitch me on new apps all the time, but Al Gore doesn’t do it that often. In fact, only once — last week.

I took the bait. I met with him and his collaborators on “Our Choice,” a $5 app version (iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch) of Mr. Gore’s 2009 best seller of the same name.

Now, I’ll be frank with you: I must get pitched every other week on some “revolutionary” e-book app that claims to reinvent the book. That usually means it has a couple of video clips in it.

“Our Choice,” though, might actually live up to the boast.

A page from Al Gore’s new e-book app, “Our Choice.”

As Mr. Gore puts it, his 2006 book “An Inconvenient Truth” was 90 percent about the climate crisis problem, and only 10 percent about solutions. “Our Choice” swaps that ratio.

It’s all about the steps he thinks we need to take right now to avoid the worst of the climate disaster. It explores all of the factors: solar, wind, nuclear, politics, population, deforestation. It’s vintage Gore: persuasive, careful, reasoned and filled with layman-ized recaps of recent scientific research. If you didn’t know about black carbon, albedo and halocarbons, you will after reading “Our Choice.”

Mr. Gore acknowledges the skeptics, even summarizes their arguments, before trying to demolish them. His message continues to be that we have to act quickly to avoid truly devastating climate problems. ”The United States is still borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn in ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that’s got to change,” he writes.

The book was published in 2009, but the app version has been updated. It incorporates discussions of the “birther” skeptics, the tsunami in Japan and last year’s Climategate.

But enough about the book. The bigger news is the app.

It’s laid out like a book, with 400 photos, illustrations and charts. It works best on the iPad, of course, but the miniature versions on the iPhone/Touch work surprisingly well, too. In both cases, you can zoom out to see scrolling page miniatures at the bottom of the screen for easy jumping around.

In both apps, the real magic is all the visual elements. You can expand every photo and graphic to fill the whole screen; they look spectacular. At this point, you can interact with them. You can tap the corner of any photo, for example, to see where on the planet it was taken. You can press your finger on a bar of a chart to “explode” it into smaller bars, showing the component data underlying the primary bar. (For example, one bar chart shows the six gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect. Hold your finger on a bar to see it split into smaller bars, showing where those gases come from: transportation, buildings and so on.)

Some of the illustrations become narrated animations. Some turn out to be movies (there’s a total of an hour of video), most narrated by Mr. Gore.

The interactivity, the zooming into graphic elements and the videos aren’t a gimmick. They actually add up to a different experience. The book feels more Web-like; at your leisure, you can jump from the main river of text into one of these deeper dives. Yet there’s no fear of falling off the primary train of thought.

Thanks to all of the smoothly integrated multimedia, the book engages more parts of your brain than just the one that reads prose. As a result, Mr. Gore goes much farther in his mission — persuasion — than he could on the printed page alone.

Another result is that you can spend many hours with this “book,” immersed and exploring. For once, here’s an e-book that really does redefine the net effect of an e-book. It really does exploit the touch screen, speakers and storage of your gadget to the fullest.

Best of all, the small company that created the app (called PushPop Press) says that over the last 18 months, it didn’t create just “Our Choice.” It simultaneously created a platform, a technology, that will permit them and others to publish subsequent immersive book-apps much faster and more easily.

There’s room for improvement. You can’t search the text, or annotate or copy or highlight it. Links to the Web might have been an obvious inclusion. Mr. Gore’s narration is not, ahem, the liveliest you’ve ever heard.

You should also know that it’s a big app, over 50 megabytes. In fact, when you buy it from the app store, all you’re getting is the introductory video; you’re then prompted to download the rest of the book in a Wi-Fi hot spot. That could be a rude surprise if you download the book just before heading out on a road trip, for example.

But over all, this is one of the most elegant, fluid, immersive apps you’ve ever seen. It’s a showpiece for the new world of touch-screen gadgets.

I told Mr. Gore that, frankly, I was relieved that “Our Choice” is such a great app. “I was afraid it’d be lame,” I said. “I would have had to show up at this meeting and pretend I really liked it.”

Mr. Gore didn’t miss a beat. “I know,” he said. “I felt the same way about your Nova miniseries.”

Funny guy. Also a persuasive, careful writer. He’s overseen the creation of a really cool app-book that, as one app-store reviewer puts it, “makes reading an interactive, fulfilling and, above all, emotional experience.”

Well done, Mr. Vice President.

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New iMac Best in Class

Review:

With a fast new second-generation Core i5 CPU, a high-end 3D card, and support for promising Thunderbolt high-bandwidth peripheral connection ports, the new, highest-end iMac has plenty to offer media professionals and enthusiasts in terms of performance and peripheral device flexibility. For consumers, while the iMac still claims industry bests in terms of its display and its design, this system will feel like overkill in some respects, and underfeatured in others. We don't recommend the most expensive new iMac for those looking for an OS X-based alternative to the recent crop of Windows-based all-in-ones that act as home entertainment ... Expand full review

With a fast new second-generation Core i5 CPU, a high-end 3D card, and support for promising Thunderbolt high-bandwidth peripheral connection ports, the new, highest-end iMac has plenty to offer media professionals and enthusiasts in terms of performance and peripheral device flexibility. For consumers, while the iMac still claims industry bests in terms of its display and its design, this system will feel like overkill in some respects, and underfeatured in others. We don't recommend the most expensive new iMac for those looking for an OS X-based alternative to the recent crop of Windows-based all-in-ones that act as home entertainment kiosks. For serious media editors, or those looking for a vanity desktop, the $1,999 Apple iMac remains one of the fastest, most attractive systems available.

Windows all-in-one makers like Dell, HP, and Sony have improved their all-in-one designs over the last year or two, but none of them approaches the iMac for sheer visual appeal. The metal-and-glass unibody chassis, along with the expansive 27-inch display, still have no design peers roughly 18 months after their debut. We actually find it strange that you still won't find a 27-inch all-in-one from anyone other than Apple. We wonder how long that will last.

While the new iMac's design hasn't changed on the outside, its internal components have been completely revamped from those of the previous model. As it upgraded its MacBook Pro laptops earlier this year, Apple has introduced to the iMac Intel's second-generation Core CPU family (formerly code-named Sandy Bridge). It has also added AMD's latest generation of graphics processor, the Radeon HD 6000-series. iPhone users, and those who love them, will appreciate that Apple has brought FaceTime support to the new iMac, which allows for cross-device video chatting over the Internet.

The iMac's new Thunderbolt ports offer exciting potential for digital media professionals.

Lastly, Apple has incorporated the new Thunderbolt data throughput standard into the iMac, and two Thunderbolt ports on the back of the 27-inch models replace the single Mini DisplayPort input found on older iMacs. Developed in conjunction with Intel, Thunderbolt is designed to replace USB and FireWire inputs by offering simultaneous 10Gbps throughput both in and out of the system via the same port. The standard supports both data and video connections, and is on track to both simplify the experience of connecting peripheral devices, and also allow for a greater, more powerful variety of external components.

Thunderbolt devices aren't expected to hit the market until this summer, which means we have to speak mostly about the potential it offers the iMac. Announced Thunderbolt products include external RAID arrays, video conversion hubs, and other devices that will take advantage of the iMac's fat new data pipe. Thunderbolt will eventually roll out to Windows PCs as well, and we may see more consumer-oriented devices before too long, but for now the early supporting hardware is clearly geared toward digital media editors and others who will appreciate Thunderbolt's ability to move large amounts of data between workstations at great speed.

Because it can work as a video port, Thunderbolt, in conjunction with the Radeon HD 6970M graphics chip, also allows you to connect two additional monitors to the iMac. That capability is certainly welcome, and it makes extending the iMac's display easy, but multimonitor support in general isn't unique to the iMac. Among other multidisplay technologies, AMD showed us its Eyefinity graphics card series last year for Windows desktops that can support six LCDs.

1GB AMD Radeon HD 6970M graphics card2GB AMD Radeon HD 5570 graphics cardBlu-ray/DVD burner combo driveGigabit Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n wirelessGigabit Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n wirelessGigabit Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n wirelessApple OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.7Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)

We've compared the iMac here with one of the fastest Windows-based all-in-ones we've tested, HP's TouchSmart 610q 1065qd, as well as a less expensive Dell XPS 8300 desktop.

We bring the traditional Dell box into the discussion particularly to compare its price-performance ratio with that of the new iMac. The XPS 8300 isn't as visually attractive as the iMac, but for those who might already have a large display, it's reasonable to ask how the two compare in terms of raw speed.

From a features standpoint, the iMac and the HP TouchSmart compare well. The large screen remains the iMac's most obvious advantage, but it also boasts a faster graphics card and a more up-to-date CPU than the HP system. HP, in turn, offers a Blu-ray drive, a lower price tag, as well as a touch screen and HP's accompanying suite of touch software. HP can't match the iMac's Thunderbolt ports, but it also offers two HDMI inputs, which means, unlike the iMac, you can connect current-generation home entertainment devices to the TouchSmart without having to buy an adapter.

In truth, comparing the speed-oriented iMac with the Dell feels more relevant than matching it up against the family-oriented HP all-in-one. The iMac does include its user-friendly iLife digital media software, but the TouchSmart all-in-one and its almost kitchy touch software clearly have home users in mind.

Which is not to say that the iMac and its large screen wouldn't make an excellent, attractive media PC for a den, an office, or a dorm room. With the right, though expensive, adapters, you can even integrate a cable box and a game console with the iMac to make a powerful, versatile media hub. We're unclear how a more casual home user would take advantage of the iMac's Thunderbolt ports, though. As well, the fast CPU and graphics card would be going to waste without some robust digital media files to put them to work. The OS X gaming library certainly won't keep them busy for long.

Adobe Photoshop CS3 image-processing test (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
Apple iMac 27-inch (3.1GHz, Spring 2011)
Adobe Photoshop CS5 image-processing test (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
Apple iMac 27-inch (3.1GHz, Spring 2011)
Apple iTunes encoding test (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
Apple iMac 27-inch (3.1GHz, Spring 2011)
Multimedia multitasking (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
Apple iMac 27-inch (3.1GHz, Spring 2011)
Cinebench 11.5
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
Apple iMac 27-inch (3.1GHz, Spring 2011)

The new 27-inch iMac offers the best all-around performance among all-in-ones. It loses to the HP only on the Cinebench 11.5 multithreaded CPU test, and that's likely because of the HP's 2.93GHz Core i7 820 chip, which, although from Intel's previous CPU generation, has effectively eight processing threads from Intel's HyperThreading technology. The iMac's 3.1GHz Core i5 2400 CPU lacks HyperThreading, and thus remains a pure quad-core processor.

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As expected, the Dell XPS 8300 and its current-generation Core i7 2600 CPU give the iMac a tougher fight. The iMac excels in converting audio files in iTunes, as well as multitasking between iTunes and QuickTime, but that's no surprise given those are Apple-made programs. The Dell's speed advantages on both iterations of Photoshop aren't too troubling for the iMac's performance outlook since the two aren't that far apart on those tests, but the Dell has a noticeable edge on Cinebench multithreaded testing, with both a faster core clock speed for its CPU, as well as the Core i7 2600's HyperThreading benefits.

The solution for the iMac lies in the Core i7 option available from Apple for an additional $200. With that CPU, the iMac will likely approach, if not bypass, the XPS 8300's performance, and it will still offer a better deal for its complete hardware package thanks to the iMac's large, high-resolution display. We'd only recommend the upgraded CPU option to digital media professionals who know they will see real benefits from an increase in processing threads, however. For others, the Core i5-based iMac's competitive performance, combined with its large display, make it a well-priced high-end desktop package.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Time demo 2,560x1,440 (in fps)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
Apple iMac 27-inch (3.1GHz Core i5, Spring 2011)

Game testing on the iMac always feels like a bit of an academic exercise. Apple's gaming prospects brightened when Valve Software's game library and its Steam digital distribution service arrived on OS X last year. The number of games available to the iMac still remains a fraction of what you can find on the PC, though. Yes, Windows gaming on a Mac through Boot Camp or other virtualization remains an option, but if gaming is your goal, we recommend a less convoluted approach.

In any case, this iMac is a capable gaming system. Apple demonstrated Valve's Portal 2 for us to show off the iMac's new Radeon HD 6970 graphics card. Though that title is more up-to-date than Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, the latter still offers a greater 3D-processing challenge, particularly at the iMac's native 2,560x1,440 pixel resolution, and with high-detail settings enabled. At close to 60 frames per second on that test, the iMac is up to the task of Call of Duty 4, and offers the most robust Mac gaming experience of any high-end iMac to date.

Should you demand more performance or features from the iMac, Apple has a few options for you, including up to 16GB of RAM, a larger platter hard drive, a solid-state drive, and even the same Radeon HD 6970 3D card but with 2GB of RAM instead of the default 1GB. As it typical from Apple, all of those upgrades will cost you more than you would pay for the same hardware from Apple's Windows-based competition. The most significant option might be the ability to trade out the Apple Magic Mouse for the Magic Trackpad, with no extra charge. Before, you couldn't opt out of the mouse.

Aside from a pair of Thunderbolt ports replacing the previous 27-inch iMac's single Mini DisplayPort, the rest of the new iMac's external connectivity remains the same. You get four USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire 800 port, an Ethernet adapter, and audio in and out. Apple has bypassed eSATA for Thunderbolt and its legacy FireWire 800 support, a reasonable trade. And while we still miss native HDMI input or output support, adapters like the Belkin AV360 remain a viable, if more expensive, alternative.

Apple iMac 27-inch (3.1GHz, Spring 2011)Annual operating cost (@$0.1135/kWh)Apple iMac 27-inch (3.1GHz, Spring 2011)

Power efficiency is one of the hallmarks of Intel's second-generation Core CPUs, and given the new iMac's performance edge over the previous model, the fact that it consumes only marginally more power speaks highly of both Intel and Apple. Also note that while the Dell XPS 8300 has a small but noticeable speed advantage over the iMac on certain tests, it uses more than twice as much power, and doesn't include a screen. Vendors often say to us that consumers like environmentally friendly hardware but that they're not willing to pay for it. If that's true, kudos to Apple for pressing forward on power efficiency anyway.

Apple's phone support receives high customer satisfaction ratings, but as always we wish it were available to customers beyond the first 90 days of purchase without having to pay $169 for an AppleCare coverage plan. Apple's network of in-person help via its Genius Bar and its authorized services providers remains unique as well, but for desktop customers in particular, extended phone-based help would be far more convenient.

Conclusion
A fast new Intel CPU and an AMD graphics chip provide Apple's new 27-inch iMac with competitive performance for its price, and the advent of Thunderbolt offers the iMac the potential for exciting peripheral devices later this year. Apple seems less concerned with engaging family users than some of its Windows-based all-in-one competition, but for digital media professionals, or others in need of a fast, serious-minded all-in-one with a large display, we can make no other recommendation.

Find out more about how we test desktop systems.

System configurations:

Apple iMac 27-inch (3.1GHz, Spring 2011)
Apple OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.7; 3.1GHz Intel Core i5 (second generation); 4GB 1,333MHz DDR3 SDRAM; 1GB ATI Radeon HD 6970M graphics card; 1TB 7,200rpm hard drive

Apple iMac 27-inch (2.8GHz, Summer 2010)
Apple OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.7; 3.1GHz Intel Core i5 (second generation); 4GB 1,333MHz DDR3 SDRAM; 1GB ATI Radeon HD 6970M graphics card; 1TB 7,200rpm hard drive

Dell XPS 8300
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit; 3.4GHz Intel Core i7 2600; 8GB 1,333MHz DDR3 SDRAM; 1GB AMD Radeon HD 5870

HP TouchSmart 610q 1065qd
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit); 2.93GHz Intel Core i7 870; 8GB 1,333MHz DDR3 SDRAM; 2GB AMD Radeon HD 5570; 1TB 7,200rpm Seagate hard drive Sony Vaio L21SFX
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit); 2.0GHz Intel Core i7 2360qM; 8GB 1,333MHz DDR3 SDRAM; 1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 540M; 2TB 7,200rpm Western Digital hard drive

Update May 4, 2011:

Update May 4, 2011: This review initially listed the memory incorrectly for the Apple iMac 27-inch (3.1GHz, Spring 2011). Previous page

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GarageBand for iPad: Music Talent Not Required

For years, I've had this recurring dream: I walk into a room to find a guitar, which I pick up and play with Eric Clapton-like prowess. I am always surprised at my newfound skill.

I can only intermittently carry a tune and have no musical talent whatsoever. But a new program makes it so easy to play, record and even compose music that it almost feels as if my dream has become reality.

What makes this program even more remarkable is that, despite its power, it runs on a nontraditional mobile platform.

It's GarageBand for iPad, and if you've got an original iPad or the new iPad 2, you'll want to grab this and install it posthaste.

If you use a Macintosh, chances are you've seen GarageBand, because it has been included on all of Apple's traditional computers since the mid-2000s. The Mac OS X version is powerful, but it's also daunting for non-musicians. Yeah, it's got some cute-and-friendly features, but for the most part it's designed for people who want to make music and know how to do it.

The iPad version, however, is a very different beast. While there are plenty of features aimed at those with musical talent, it's really a product for those of us who can barely hum on key. Even if you can't play a note, GarageBand for iPad will have you playing and even composing music soon after you first fire it up. It's an astonishing piece of software, easily the best application I've seen so far this year.

Row of instrumentsAfter you download the software from the iTunes App Store and install it on your iPad, launch it and you'll be presented with a horizontally scrolling row of instruments. There's the traditional onscreen keyboard found in the Mac version of GarageBand and a drum kit. But what you'll want to focus on are the Smart Instruments, which do a lot of the musical heavy lifting for you. There's a Smart Keyboard, Smart Bass, Smart Drum and my favorite, the Smart Guitar.

When you tap on the icon for the Smart Guitar, you're presented with the sound hole and six strings of an acoustic guitar. Overlaid across these strings are eight strumming panels with the names of chords at the top. You can tap any string to play it, or strum across a set of strings to play the chord. You can also merely tap the name of the chord to play it. Basically, GarageBand does the job of placing your fingers on the fretboard, leaving you to worry about strumming and picking.

Few chordsMusicians may initially be frustrated at how few chords you can access. But the app's developers have selected chords that sound good together, and you can get to different chords by tapping on the screen's wrench icon and changing the key. That same settings panel lets you set the tempo just by tapping the screen, setting beats per minute based on your taps.

Would you rather play a different guitar? There are three electric models — Classic Clean, Hard Rock and Roots Rock. And each one of those comes with two onscreen stompboxes that let you change the sound of the instrument.

For example, I like the Roots Rock guitar, and I tap on the Hi-Drive Treble Boost stompbox for a grungy sound. I can do a passable Neil Young imitation this way (though don't ask me to sing like him).

If you'd rather play lead than rhythm guitar, you can flip a toggle to switch from chords to notes. You can then tap strings and even drag them to bend notes. The accelerometer in the iPad can tell how hard you're pressing to vary the volume and attack.

The Smart Keyboard and Smart Bass work similarly, but the Smart Drums takes a completely different approach. You're presented with a grid, along with a set of drum kit components. Where you place a drum's snare, tom-tom, high-hat, cymbals or even cowbell on the grid determines the complexity and speed of the rhythm. You can choose from different drum kits and even electronic drums.

You can even record any sound using the Sampler, which then lets you play that sound on a keyboard.

Create a songYou can record your work on any of these instruments as tracks, then mix them together to create a song, which can then be added to your iTunes library, emailed to a friend or exported to the Mac version of GarageBand for more advanced tweaking. With the right adapter, you can even plug a real guitar into the iPad, change how it sounds by running it through virtual amps, then add that as a track.

There's a lot more to GarageBand for iPad than I've detailed here. It's a rich app with many layers of features. If you spring for it, do so when you have a couple of hours to kill. It's that compelling.

dwight.silverman@chron.com

http://blogs.chron.com/techblog

http://twitter.com/dsilverman

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Better Medicine Through iPad

In the mid-1950s, a Minneapolis-based electrical engineer named Earl Bakken developed a wearable, battery-powered pacemaker — a device that would soon transform countless lives. Since then Bakken’s company, Medtronic, has become a world leader in medical equipment and therapies for cardiovascular, neurological, and musculoskeletal disorders, chronic health conditions, and surgical procedures. And today another revolutionary device — iPad — is helping Medtronic deliver its state-of-the-art medical technology to physicians and patients worldwide.

“Our mission is to alleviate pain, restore health, and extend life,” says Linnea Burman, Director of Marketing, Drug Delivery Systems in Medtronic’s Neuromodulation division. “We’re working every day to help more patients have access to our therapies. iPad helps us communicate with clinicians; it helps our stories come to life. The sales representative can pull up information quickly and use graphics to tell a story in a very memorable way.”

Putting iPad in the hands of thousands of employees gives Medtronic the ideal platform to present and explain its visionary medical technologies to health care professionals, individual patients, and patient advocacy groups.

“iPad lets us get information to our customers much quicker than we could before,” says Michael Hedges, Medtronic’s Chief Information Officer. “On iPad, the information is delivered in a way that encourages people to use it.”

Medtronic has created more than a dozen in-house iPad apps to access proprietary information, improve efficiency, and enhance customer engagement. The apps are distributed through the Medtronic App Store, a password-protected website that lets the company control access to qualified staff and easily provide app updates.

Internal apps include mStar, a field productivity tool for sales reps that integrates with back-end systems for product ordering and registration. “The mStar application automates manual processes and makes them available 24/7 for the reps,” explains Jeff Bipes, IT Manager, Field Services.

Another essential in-house app is mCMS, a content management application that helps sales staff and managers organize, present, and distribute product information by audience or topic. The app works within FDA regulations to make sure Medtronic employees retain control of sensitive data and share it appropriately.

“The content management app for iPad has allowed us to integrate into our back-end systems to manage content, control it, and revoke it if necessary,” Bipes says. “We can trace who’s using it how frequently, and where that content ultimately ends up.”

In the office and on the road, iPad simplifies everyday workflows at Medtronic. With Microsoft Exchange support on iPad, employees can stay up to date on email, contacts, and calendars wherever they are.

“If I travel, I take my iPad,” Hedges says. “I don’t have to take it out of my bag when I go through security. I can do everything I want with my iPad when I’m traveling: email, presentations. It’s absolutely perfect.”

To deploy and manage iPad, Medtronic uses a mobile device management (MDM) system that helps the company maintain and update user profiles. “This device management tool allows us to very easily provision users for email, Wi-Fi, and VPN connectivity on their iPads,” says Bipes.

The MDM system also enhances existing iPad security features. Medtronic can monitor how often each iPad connects with internal systems, and automatically remote-wipe proprietary data if an iPad hasn’t “checked in” within a designated timeframe.

With built-in features such as instant-on access and 10-hour battery life, iPad has quickly become indispensable for Medtronic’s sales staff. Before iPad, sales reps routinely lugged 25 pounds of printed product literature. Now they can quickly call up the latest information — including dynamic videos, presentations, and PDF files — all on a device that weighs less than two pounds.

“For field-based employees, iPad is an essential device,” Burman says. “The battery lasts throughout the day, and the Multi-Touch screen gives us a better way to organize information. Whether they’re presenting clinical articles or patient videos, the screen size on iPad is fantastic for our sales partners.”

iPad simplifies follow-up as well, Burman adds: “At the end of the sales call, they’re able to email the appropriate material as they walk out the door, rather than wait until the end of the day.”

With iPad, it’s easier than ever for Medtronic to deliver its message of medical innovation to physicians and patients everywhere. “iPad has given us a whole new sales and marketing interface,” Burman says. “It’s changed the way we think about getting information out to the public. With iPad, our sales organization has the right information, at the right time, for the right customer, every day.”

For Medtronic’s IT team, iPad has been an unqualified success story. “iPad helps people think differently and act differently,” says Hedges. “The IT people love it because the business people love it. iPad is a game-changer in health care.”

“iPad has given us a whole new sales and marketing interface. It’s changed the way we think about getting information out to the public.”

Linnea Burman, Marketing Director, Drug Delivery Systems, Medtronic

“iPad allows us to be more agile, more flexible, and more responsive to the customer.”

Jeff Bipes, Information Technology Manager, Field Services, Medtronic

“iPad is a game-changer in healthcare.”

Michael Hedges, Chief Information Officer, Medtronic

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Apple Reports Second Quarter Results

Data Summary

CUPERTINO, California—April 20, 2011—Apple? today announced financial results for its fiscal 2011 second quarter ended March 26, 2011. The Company posted record second quarter revenue of $24.67 billion and record second quarter net profit of $5.99 billion, or $6.40 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $13.50 billion and net quarterly profit of $3.07 billion, or $3.33 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 41.4 percent compared to 41.7 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 59 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

Apple sold 3.76 million Macs during the quarter, a 28 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 18.65 million iPhones in the quarter, representing 113 percent unit growth over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold 9.02 million iPods during the quarter, representing a 17 percent unit decline from the year-ago quarter. The Company also sold 4.69 million iPads during the quarter.

“With quarterly revenue growth of 83 percent and profit growth of 95 percent, we’re firing on all cylinders,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We will continue to innovate on all fronts throughout the remainder of the year.”

“We are extremely pleased with our record March quarter revenue and earnings and cash flow from operations of over $6.2 billion,” said Peter Oppenheimer, Apple’s CFO. “Looking ahead to the third fiscal quarter of 2011, we expect revenue of about $23 billion and we expect diluted earnings per share of about $5.03.”

Apple will provide live streaming of its Q2 2011 financial results conference call beginning at 2:00 p.m. PDT on April 20, 2011 at www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/earningsq211. This webcast will also be available for replay for approximately two weeks thereafter.

This press release contains forward-looking statements including without limitation those about the Company’s estimated revenue and earnings per share. These statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ. Risks and uncertainties include without limitation the effect of competitive and economic factors, and the Company’s reaction to those factors, on consumer and business buying decisions with respect to the Company’s products; continued competitive pressures in the marketplace; the ability of the Company to deliver to the marketplace and stimulate customer demand for new programs, products, and technological innovations on a timely basis; the effect that product introductions and transitions, changes in product pricing or mix, and/or increases in component costs could have on the Company’s gross margin; the inventory risk associated with the Company’s need to order or commit to order product components in advance of customer orders; the continued availability on acceptable terms, or at all, of certain components and services essential to the Company’s business currently obtained by the Company from sole or limited sources; the effect that the Company’s dependency on manufacturing and logistics services provided by third parties may have on the quality, quantity or cost of products manufactured or services rendered; risks associated with the Company’s international operations; the Company’s reliance on third-party intellectual property and digital content; the potential impact of a finding that the Company has infringed on the intellectual property rights of others; the Company’s dependency on the performance of distributors, carriers and other resellers of the Company’s products; the effect that product and service quality problems could have on the Company’s sales and operating profits; the continued service and availability of key executives and employees; war, terrorism, public health issues, natural disasters, and other circumstances that could disrupt supply, delivery, or demand of products; and unfavorable results of other legal proceedings. More information on potential factors that could affect the Company’s financial results is included from time to time in the “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” sections of the Company’s public reports filed with the SEC, including the Company’s Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 25, 2010, its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 25, 2010, and its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 26, 2011 to be filed with the SEC. The Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements or information, which speak as of their respective dates.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced iPad 2 which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

Press Contacts:
Steve Dowling
Apple
dowling@apple.com
(408) 974-1896

Investor Relations Contacts:
Nancy Paxton
Apple
paxton1@apple.com
(408) 974-5420

Joan Hoover
Apple
hoover1@apple.com
(408) 974-4570

NOTE TO EDITORS: For additional information visit Apple’s PR website, or call Apple's Media Helpline at (408) 974-2042.

Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, Mac OS and Macintosh are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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GarageBand at Guitar Center

Even if you don't know an insert from an input, modern technology makes it easy to produce great-sounding recordings at home. Guitar Center's free Recording Made Easy workshops will show you how.

Come in and learn how to record your first song using Mac? and GarageBand? at a Guitar Center location near you. You'll learn everything from basic tracking to creating a finished song. There are four basic workshops. Each week, a different one. Miss one? Want a refresher? No problem. Come on back and catch it again.

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iPad 2 Stars in Vacation Videos

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Vacations can lead to lots of idle downtime for browsing photo galleries and videos. But what about editing and producing some short movie gems on the fly?

By Chris Ratcliffe, Bloomberg News

Apple Store customer Owen Salisbury uses the camera function on an iPad 2 in London.

By Chris Ratcliffe, Bloomberg News

Apple Store customer Owen Salisbury uses the camera function on an iPad 2 in London.

Luckily, Apple?s iPad 2 was packed for this two-week New Zealand trip. It was included to use e-mail and Skype, plan travels, play endless hours of Angry Birds ? and shoot and edit high-definition video on the go.

The iPad?s nearly 10-inch sexy screen was a natural for reviewing homemade videos right on the spot. Spectators were amazed when showed newly captured footage of erupting geysers or Kiwi bungee jumpers.

And courtesy of Apple?s $4.99 iMovie app and rival video programs ReelDirector and Splice, you can turn these little productions into mini video postcards. It?s then a breeze to get them right onto Facebook, direct from your motel room. You don't have to wait until you get home. Nor do you have to worry that your creation will forever rot in your camera.

The New Zealand trip yielded four finished iPad-produced pieces. There would have been more had it been possible to include the video clips shot and imported from other cameras into the iPad. But they don?t work in iMovie without going through a serious workaround. More on that in a moment.

First, let?s talk about the iPad 2 as a video-capture device. The pros are big: a huge screen, instant gratification, exceptional video quality in good light. But the cons are many: no flash, no zoom and it?s bulky. It does not fit well into a pocket or tote. There?s no tripod mount for it either, so your finished video could get quite shaky. And the unsteadiness is much more noticeable on the larger screen.

That issue can be fixed by using instant crutches ? like positioning the iPad on a fence, a desk, the ground, anything to keep it steady.

On the trip, point-and-shoot cameras from Canon, Nikon, Sony and Panasonic were also brought along, to test out for future reviews, and they all had the features the iPad lacks: zoom, flash, tripod mounts, removable memory and better lenses.

In each case, the video quality from the cameras was sharper and crisper, especially on the Canon PowerShot S95.

But none had that huge tablet screen for monitoring the video. Nor the add-on features that people love about the iPad, such as the Web browser and all those apps. And you can?t make a video on a Canon camera, edit it right there on the spot, click a button and send it directly to Facebook.

So let?s get back to the editing process. Apple?s mobile iMovie, introduced for the iPhone 4 in 2010, is a nifty little program that will trim the excess from your clips and put in menus, titles, music and sound effects. You also get the ability to record voice-overs for narration. But it has some shortcomings.

In iMovie, you begin with your raw video footage, and Apple gives you three choices: video ? most likely from the iPad ? photos from the ?camera roll? and music from your iPad.

The bad part is that you won?t be able to access video clips shot on other cameras and imported into the iPad. So if you plan on editing while on vacation, using a variety of video sources, you?re out of luck unless you also bring a laptop ? and that?s a pain.

To convert, you?ll need to import the footage to a computer and iTunes, click the Advanced tab, and click the ?convert to iPad? tab. Then you?ll need to sync the laptop and iPad to get the video back onto the tablet.

This step was especially frustrating, as the clips from the Canon and Nikon cameras had already been imported and played just fine on the iPad ? but were non-existent in iMovie.

Fortunately, the App Store offers other video programs. Yet there are only a few video-editing tools there. Both Splice ? which has a free version ? but you'll need to spend for transitions, background music and other features ? and ReelDirector, which goes for $1.99, were at the top of the list. Both came in handy on the trip by allowing point-and-shoot camera footage along with the iPad footage.

Those programs are bare-bones compared with iMovie, though. ReelDirector is the better of two, but unlike iMovie, you won't get menus, audio-editing controls or one-click uploads here.

Still, after spending time editing with the iPad 2 when it first came out, then in New Zealand on travel videos, here?s what would be nice to see in iMovie: easier trimming of videos, more transitions, manual options on photo zooms, more menu choices, better control of video titles and more fadeout controls.

Let?s face it, though. Most people never get around to editing their videos. So having easy-to-obtain software on a device that lets you edit anywhere, like the iPad, will, hopefully, result in more polished videos. This is a great start.

But just as with games, which bring you in for a small fee then sell you add-ons, Apple might just have a good market for iMovie add-ons, either with tools or a more robust iMovie Pro version.

Here?s one customer ready to fork over another $5 or more before starting the next video.

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iMac Top Choice Among All-in-Ones

Sometimes size really does matter. We lauded the latest version of Apple's 21.5-inch iMac for its improved performance and excellent screen. But after setting up its 27-inch sibling in our labs and spending some quality time mousing around, it's clear that this larger-screen model of Apple's ubiquitous all-in-one desktop has a lot more to offer serious computer users.

With this latest line of iMacs, Apple has left well enough alone with the stark-but-stunning exterior design. On the inside, however, there's been a pretty extensive overhaul. The top-of-the-line $1,999 27-inch iMac we're looking at here comes packed with some seriously powerful components that are for the most part a pretty big step up from the last generation of the iMac. In our testing, we found that the souped-up CPU and graphics in this latest generation lead to the kind of performance that we usually only expect to see from the more expensive Mac Pro tower, if you're comparing Apples to Apples, so to speak.

Of course, we would have loved it if Apple had included more entertainment-friendly features, such as a Blu-ray drive or HDMI port. But even without those amenities, when you consider the iMac's powerful performance, gorgeous design, and best-in-class LCD, it still adds up to one big, bad AIO that looks great on any desk.

The body of the 27-inch iMac is about 1.5 inches thick.

With the 2011 version of the iMac, each member of the line gets an awesome boost in processor and graphics power. Our top-of-the-line 27-inch review unit is built around a 3.1GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5 CPU, 1TB hard drive, and AMD Radeon HD 6970M graphics with 1GB of discrete memory. For those looking to save some money and who don't need as much gaming and processor muscle, a $1,699 27-inch model is available with a 2.7GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5 processor, 1TB hard drive, and AMD Radeon HD 6770M graphics with 512MB of discrete memory.

The 21.5-inch models start at $1,199. That entry-level iMac, which we also reviewed, includes a 2.5GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5 processor, 500GB hard drive, and AMD Radeon HD 6750M graphics with 512MB of dedicated memory. You can also opt to upgrade various components at the time of purchase to best suit your needs...for a price, of course.

While the insides of the iMac have gotten a compete overhaul, the outside is almost exactly the same as the 2010 version. But we certainly don't count that as a bad thing. Like all of Apple’s products, the iMac’s design is sleek and minimalist. It's encased in a single-piece aluminum enclosure, much like Apple's other laptops and desktops now sport, giving the whole Mac family a unified look.

On the right side of the screen is an SD-card reader (which also supports the SDXC format) and a slot-loading optical drive. Other than the power button (which sits almost invisibly on the lower-back-left side of the body) and a little patch of ports, you won't  find any other features to interrupt the iMac's mostly bare rear panel.

On the rear of the iMac, you'll find a strip of ports, the power connection, a power cord, an Apple logo...and that's about it.

The minimalist design helps draw your eyes to the gorgeous 27-inch LCD, which is glossy and LED-backlit. Its wide-screen aspect ratio (16-to-9) and 2,560x1,440 native resolution make for an impressive HD viewing experience. Unfortunately, the iMac doesn't come with a Blu-ray player option, which would have been great to pair with such a stunning screen. Like all glossy screens, this one picks up a bit of  glare off of ambient lighting, but colors represent nicely, and, unsurprisingly, we noted no motion blur when viewing video. However, considering this beautiful screen, notably absent from the iMac (apart from the Blu-ray player) is an HDMI port for connecting a gaming console. That said, we've yet to come across another AIO with a 2,560x1,440 native resolution screen. And while this system's asking price may sound pricey, you'd have to pay at least close to $1,000 to get a comparable 30-inch monitor, or $999 for Apple's 27-inch LED Cinema Display. For those considering such a large screen anyway, that makes the price tag of this $1,999 iMac a lot easier to swallow.

The Magic Mouse features laptop-touchpad-like features such as finger swiping.

The iMac’s body sits nicely on an aluminum base that provides a sturdy rest for the screen and components. The display is tiltable, and the adjustment motion is refined and smooth. There's no left/right swivel adjustment, but Apple claims that its iMacs have a 178-degree off-center viewing angle, and that minimizes the need for fine swivel adjustments. (Based on our testing, we believe it; we noted no appreciable deterioration of color or viewability when we looked at both video and still images far off center.)

One new feature that comes to the iMac with this generation is a built-in ambient-light sensor. (You'll find it on the top strip of the screen bezel, next to the Webcam lens, but it's almost invisible to the eye.) This sensor adjusts the brightness of the screen depending on the brightness of the room you are in. (You can turn it off if you're not a fan of this option.) We applaud Apple for bringing this feature, which has been on its MacBooks for a few generations, to its desktops. (You'll know the value of this feature if you've ever tried looking at a bright screen in a dark room. Talk about an instant headache.)

The iMac ships with either Apple's Magic Mouse or the company's Magic Trackpad. You previously had to pay an extra $69 to get the Magic Trackpad separately; now, you can get it bundled with your iMac instead of the Magic Mouse, for no additional charge. The Magic Mouse works almost like the touch pad of a laptop. Looking like a tiny spaceship, the Magic Mouse has no buttons—or rather, like its MacBook touch-pad counterpart, it’s one big button. (Click here for our full review of the Apple Magic Mouse.) The Magic Trackpad, on the other hand, is actually the is the touch pad of a laptop, lifted off and made a free-standing peripheral. If you've used the touch pad on a MacBook Pro, you'll be very familiar with how this unique pointer works. (Click here for our full review of the Magic Trackpad.)

You can now choose to have your iMac ship with a Magic Trackpad instead of a Magic Mouse.

Along with your choice of pointing peripheral, the iMac also ships with a wireless Bluetooth keyboard that adheres nicely to the Apple minimalist aesthetic. About three-quarters the size of a traditional keyboard (partly thanks to the lack of a numeric keypad), it’s almost totally flat except for a rounded area in the back that holds the batteries and props up the keyboard slightly.

Despite its tiny body, we didn’t find the keyboard hard to type on. Like the mouse, it bears a striking resemblance to Apple’s laptops, with the Chiclet-style keys rising only slightly from the body of the keyboard. It's tiny and may take some getting used to, but if you're an Apple fan, it will definitely fit your style.

The super-thin keyboard comes with built-in Bluetooth and requires two AA batteries.

Apple's new 720p FaceTime HD camera lives in the middle of the top of the screen bezel, along with a camera-indicator light, which lights up to warn you when the camera is on. The FaceTime camera features three times the resolution of the iSight camera that came on previous iMacs. We first used the FaceTime camera when it made its debut on the latest line of MacBook Pro laptops, and we immediately noticed the huge improvement in video quality. As far as using the camera, we noticed no lag, and it performed well even in a dimly lit office. You can make FaceTime calls to other Mac devices that have a camera and the FaceTime app installed. (You can download the app from the Mac App Store for 99 cents; it also comes loaded for free on new iMacs and MacBooks.)

The built-in speakers are located on the underbelly of the bezel. They deliver a loud, bass-filled sound that could easily fill a small room. You'll want to consider hooking up some external speakers, though, if you plan on pumping music from the iMac to entertain at a party, as it doesn't quite have the sound to fill a large room.

On the back-left side of the body is a single-file row of ports. From left, they are audio-in and -out jacks, four USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire port, two Thunderbolt connectors (don't worry, we'll get to that probably unfamiliar one in a minute), and an Ethernet jack. In the middle, behind the base, is the power connection. The power cord snakes out through an opening in the base.

The iMac's ports include, from left: headphone and microphone jacks, four USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire 800 port, two Thunderbolt ports, and an Ethernet jack.

These iMacs are the first desktops to feature the Thunderbolt port, which replaces the mini-DisplayPort connector from previous iMacs. Thunderbolt is based on Intel's Light Peak technology, which supports both high-performance peripherals and high-resolution displays. You get two Thunderbolt ports on the 27-inch iMac, and one on the 21.5-inch model, to support additional peripherals. (This means, for example, you can hook up two additional displays to the 27-inch iMac.) Apple claims the technology can provide data transfer at 20 times the speed of a USB 2.0 port, and, from what we saw during an Apple-administered demonstration the morning of this computer's release, we believe it. (We'd have tested it ourselves, but no cable or device was available for us to lug back to our labs. Estimates are, though, that Thunderbolt cables and compatible devices will be available by the summer of 2011.)

The Thunderbolt port doesn't just work with Thunderbolt-equipped peripherals; it's also compatible with USB 2.0 and 3.0, FireWire, Gigabit Ethernet, VGA, DVI, and HDMI connectors via an adapter. (Adapters are expected to be available for each connection type soon. Keep in mind, though, that with the adapters, you’ll still be running at the speed of your original connection.) Lastly, the Thunderbolt port also allows you to daisy-chain up to six devices together on a single port, much like old-school SCSI devices.

The iMac's power cord runs through this gap in the stand.

While the outside of Apple's latest iMacs may not have changed much from the previous generation, the inside has been overhauled substantially, with more powerful graphics and CPUs. So not only is the 27-inch iMac beautiful on the outside, but it's brawny on the inside as well. As we mentioned previously, our test unit was the top-of-the-line iMac, built around a 3.1GHz Intel Core i5 CPU and an AMD Radeon HD 6970M graphics card with 1GB of memory. The Intel second-generation "Sandy Bridge" processors have already wowed us on the Windows side, setting all kinds of speed records at low system price points. With this kind of power now backing the iMac, this machine topped its predecessor—and most of the competition—in our testing.

The first test we ran, Cinebench 10, stresses all the cores of a given processor to gauge raw CPU performance. The iMac's score of 16,694 handily beat the previous version of the 27-inch model by more than 30 percent. It did not, however, surpass another recent strong-performing AIO: The $1789.99 HP TouchSmart 610 scored slightly better 18,317 on this test. Our test unit of that AIO was backed by a higher-end Intel Core i7 processor.

Our next CPU-centric test was our iTunes Conversion Test, in which we encode 11 standard audio tracks from MP3 to AAC format. The 27-inch iMac took 2 minutes and 10 seconds to complete this task, blowing both the previous iteration of this AIO (2:50) and the TouchSmart 610 (2:27) right off of the test bench.

Even thought those scores were impressive, it wasn't until will started testing the iMac's graphics power that we were really wowed. Backed by an AMD Radeon HD 6970M card, we knew we would see some powerful gaming brawn here. But when the numbers rolled in, we saw exactly how well-suited this high-end iMac is for gaming. For the sake of comparability with the performance of Windows-based systems, we fired up BootCamp, installed Windows 7, and ran the iMac through our Far Cry 2 test. We achieved a frame rate of 52.26 frames per second (fps) at the system's native 2,560x1,440 resolution under DirectX 10 with most of the game's settings set to high. And when we knocked the resolution down to 1,920x1,080 (the resolution you'll see on most other AIOs), the iMac offered up a phenomenal 74.12fps. For comparison, the TouchSmart 610 managed just 22.2 frames per second at 1,920x1,080 in the same test. As a matter of fact, the 27-inch iMac ever-so-slightly beat even the powerhouse Apple Mac Pro's 51.6fps. While Far Cry 2, now pushing three years old, is far from the most-demanding game out there, the iMac's performance here is high enough that all modern games should be playable, provided you're willing to occasionally drop down the resolution a bit and switch off a few graphical settings.

Overall video-playback performance was solid as expected. DVDs displayed crisp and clear, with no motion blur to be seen. (We would have loved to have watched a Blu-ray disc, but as we noted, alas, there's no support for that.) MOV video files that we shot on our inexpensive Canon point-and-shoot camera also played back without glitches.

Previously, if you wanted to get this kind of performance from a Mac, you had to spend much more for one of Apple's Mac Pro towers. Now, for hundreds of dollars less than you would pay for a Mac Pro (not to mention the display you would need to get with it), you can get a machine that packs in plenty of productivity power as well as the ability to game at high settings. For graphics professionals (who make up most of the target audience for the 27-inch iMac) we see this machine handling high-end image and HD video editing with ease.

The iMac comes bundled with the 10.6 version of the Mac OS X Snow Leopard operating system, as well as iLife ’11 (comprising the superb iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, iWeb, and GarageBand applications). The latter is as good a starter set of media-centric programs as you'll find with any modern desktop computer. The iMac also comes with a one-year limited warranty and 90 days of toll-free phone support. (An extended AppleCare warranty will cover your system for two more years; it costs $169 extra, and that upcharge was not factored into the cost of our test unit.)

With the latest version of its all-in-one desktop, Apple left everything that was great about the 27-inch iMac alone (namely its best-in-class screen and beautiful design), while making some serious improvements to it internal components. In almost every way, this top-of-the line model beats every other AIO on the market. With strong productivity performance and excellent entertainment capabilities (even with the lack of a Blu-ray player and HDMI port), this is an AIO that could appeal to a style-conscious but serious home gamer as well as a graphics professional.

Price (at time of review): $1,999 (mfr. est., as tested)

www.apple.com
800-692-7753

See all of our Apple IMac (27-Inch, 2011 Version) coverage

See all of our Apple coverage

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