Apple has unveiled the next generation iMac

As expected, it's a flat panel design, but contrary to most predictions, the iMac now features G4 processors in all three new models. Apple also added a 6lb midrange model to its notebook range. It's based on the iBook, but with a 14.1" screen and larger battery. And it's making OS X the default operating system across all new models. OS X also becomes a free download from the Apple website. The new iMac is a 15" flat panel unit that breaks with the integrated design of the original, although strictly speaking it's an all-in-one design. Instead, the LCD sprouts from a base unit less than a foot in diameter, and looks like an anglepoise lamp. Unlike the Cube, Apple has integrated the power supply into the computer. The base is a hefty 20lb unit, with the ports (3 USB, 2 Firewire, Ethernet, modem, audio in/out) inconveniently - for a "digital hub" - located furthest away from the user at the back of the unit. Apple had given the Canadian edition of Time magazine a sneak preview of the new iMac, hours ahead of its unveiling at MacWorld Expo in San Francisco this morning. As it promised investors a year ago, Apple isn't following the PC box-shifters into a price war. It's unlikely that the original iMac will be discontinued, as Apple's core education is market is so keenly price-sensitive. (Apple introduced a lower-cost model aimed at schools after a mere $50 rise in the last update to the iMac line).