Graphite Kihei iMac to Ship with "iMovie" Software

Apparently everyone's favorite iCEO didn't take very kindly to finding schematic sketches and photographs of the project he personally dubbed "Kihei" on AppleInsider earlier this week. It was one of those days when employees turned into "bozos" and Apple's legal staff was forced to pull an all-nighter.

"Have you ever seen Steve throw a fit?" one source said, "...trust me — you don't want to." On the other hand, we are happy to report that no one was injured by the onslaught of leftover Newton 2100's that began to shoot out the back of the CEO's office like baseballs at a batting cage to angered mumblings of "damn scribble toys."

Anyway... as expected, the new iMac, which will be available in the 3 configurations seen below, will be formally introduced at an Apple Media Event at 10:00am PST on Tuesday October 5th at the Flint Center in Cupertino. Sources are reporting that this is a slightly earlier date than they had anticipated. Because of this, it is expected that the supply of the new units will be extremely constrained in the month of October, but will pan out in time to flood the market with units just prior to the holiday shopping season.

Kihei iMac Configurations
Good	Better	Best
- 350 MHz G3 processor - 64 MB RAM - 6 GB hard drive - 24X CD-ROM drive - 56k modem - AirPort-ready - 10/100 ethernet - 2 USB Ports (12Mbits) - Harman Kardon "Odyssey" sound system - Available in Blueberry only	- 400 MHz G3 processor - 64 MB RAM - 10 GB hard drive - 4X DVD-ROM drive - 56k modem - AirPort-ready - 2 FireWire ports - 2 USB Ports (12Mbits) - 10/100 ethernet - Harman Kardon "Odyssey" sound system - RGB Out - Available in all five flavors	- 400 (450) MHz G3 processor - 128 MB RAM - 13 GB hard drive - 4X DVD-ROM drive - 56k modem - AirPort-ready - 2 FireWire ports - 2 USB Ports (12Mbits) - 10/100 ethernet - Harman Kardon "Odyssey" sound system - RGB Out - iMovie (Final Cut Lite) - Available in Graphite only

While both the "Good" and "Better" configurations are destined for the retail channels, sources claim that as of this moment, the high-end (Best) Graphite iMac will be available only from the Apple Online Store and other catalog and mail-order resellers. In addition, this high-end configuration will apparently cost significantly more than the two other configurations due to the inclusion of Apple's "iMovie" digital video editing software.

For all intents and purposes, iMovie is basically Final Cut Pro "Lite" or an extremely trimmed-down version of the digital video-editing software for consumer, education, and home use. Regardless, the editing software will have similar RAM requirements to the full-blown version and this is why the high-end, Graphite configuration ships with 128MB of RAM (it was only a matter of time before we figured this one out :). All configurations will ship with a slew of additional software such as AppleWorks and Pangea's Bugdom 3D action game.

In other news, the Harman Kardon Odyssey sound system uses Spatializer technology, according to sources, which provides true 3D sound. Combine this with the new iMac's 8MB ATI Rage 128 card and these units instantly become a contender for one of the better gaming machines on the market.

For those folks who were unable to catch a glimpse of the new units before the images were removed, don't fret. We hope to provide you all with something to feast your eyes on in the very near future; for, where there's a will, there's a way.