Apple Introduces New iMacs, iLife, .Mac and iWork - First Take

Michael Gartenberg | August 07, 2007, 07:52 AM

Reminding the world that Apple Inc. makes more than just phones and media players, Apple unveiled a major update of their iMac computers along with new iLife, .Mac and iWork software.

iMac - The most striking change to the all in one iMac is the move to a combination of brushed metal and glass enclosure. Designed to be evocative of both the iPhone and iPod. The screen is amazing, big and beautiful and glossy. Add in a razor thin keyboard with keys similar to those on the MacBook and you have a striking design that looks like nothing else on the market. At a time when more consumer purchases for high tech products are driven by form as function, it looks like another Apple product coming to market at the right time.

iLife - Lots of cool new features here. The most striking are updates to iPhoto which now groups photos into events automatically and allows one click publishing to the web, a totally re-written iMovie app that does for video what iPhoto did for pictures and a wicked cool feature in Garage Band that let novices get up and making music quickly. All in all, nice evolutionary updates that keep the entire suite of apps king of the hill for the creative consumer.

iWork - Both Keynote and Pages have been updated with new templates and features but the real showstopper is the long awaited spreadsheet component called Numbers. Numbers changes the way spreadsheets work with an innovative approach for cell layout and interaction. If you've been frustrated by the lack of progress in spreadsheets over the years, you owe it to yourself to take a look at what Apple's done here.

Bottom line? Nice updates across the board. Apple has once raised the bar not only for form but function as well. While other vendors still get dinged for the the trial software they bundle that needs to be removed at customers time and expense, Apple continues to deliver new software value to consumers. More importantly, Apple continues to drive a complete consumer experience, with synergy that goes across product lines, from the Mac to the iPhone to the iPod and Apple TV. More importantly, Apple has tapped into the needs of consumers as they move more of their digital personas online, the result is a set of products that are well matched and will likely help Apple to drive sales this holiday season.