EDDIEWONG

Yep, as I said I would in the morning (in the previous post), I headed off to Apple Store in Ginza this afternoon to take a look at the industrial design of the new iMac. So how was it?

Well, it’s shiny thanks to the super-high-gloss screen. As with all designers, I would never choose a glossy screen over a matt screen (colour accuracy issues). But I understand, the general consumer loves it and that is fine with me as this is geared towards that group. The machine, overall, looks very solid as it is now clad in aluminum. For some reason, the aluminum silver colour looks somewhat lighter/paler than on other Macs. Obviously, this cannot be true therefore I guess it just gives that impression due to being combined with the black-coloured frame around the screen (+ the lighting in the shop).

The black frame around the screen, I believe, is there to visually reduce the thickness of the bevel surrounding the screen. It makes it look as if the screen is bleeding off the edges thus making the enclosure look smaller. It works.

The back of the machine is indeed matt black and the plastic used is nice. This area is actually hot to the touch. Making these new iMacs as thin as they are sends shivers down my spine because even with the previous ‘thicker’ plastic iMacs, cooling was insufficient causing some problems. I guess Apple dared to make the new iMacs thinner due to the aluminum material - the whole thing ’should’ act as one huge heat sink enabling it to dispense heat from every part of the unit. So, fingers crossed…

The ultra-slim keyboard is a very slick piece of design and engineering. It’s beautiful, it’s thin, it works! After seeing pics of the keyboard for the first time, I was initially worried if it would actually feel like a keyboard: would it feel like tapping on a desk due to the thin profile? Would it feel as if a key is actually pressed? Will there be feedback from the keys? Etc., etc., etc. Well, I can gladly report, it feels like a keyboard. And a high quality one at that. The keys give feedback. The mechanism feels smooth. But you may need some time to get used to it. If you’re familiar with the keyboard on the MacBook, then you’d know how it feels.

Regarding the system’s speed and such, it obviously feels snappy but without the necessary files and softwares to push the machine, it is really hard to say. It sports a Core 2 Duo therefore I guess it can’t be that bad when compared with other PCs using the same CPU and graphics chip (?).

So yeah, that’s my 2 cents… (maybe the title for this entry is misleading because I am purely going on about the industrial design rather than the system’s performance. Oh well…)

… and yeah, that is me on the iMac screen in the photo above (the built in cam was running)…

Below are some sad attempts of how I would have like the iMac to look, using the new iMac as a base (yes, I am aware it may be impossible due to space restrictions, etc., etc. But you gotta admit, it would be nice):

Heck, I’d even be happy if Apple just took the current Cinema Display design and dropped in the iMac guts! The Cinema Display looks great, even as of today, imho…