Unboxing: Apple's mid-2010 iMac has changes on the inside

Inside, the new iMacs include faster processors, ranging from 3.06, 3.2 or 3.6GHz Core i3 options on the 21.5 inch model (each with 4MB of L3 cache), or a 3.2GHz Core i3 or 2.6GHz Core i5 (both with 4MB of L3 cache) or Quad Core 2.8GHz i5, or Quad Core 2.93GHz Core i7 (both with 8MB of L3 cache) on the 27 inch model.

All new iMacs also use faster 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM, with four slots officially supporting 16GB. For disk storage, the 21.5 inch models offer:

• 500GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA (low end model)
• 1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA (higher end model)
• 2TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA ($150 more than higher end model)

While 27 inch models offer choice of:

• 1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA (standard)
• 2TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA ($150 more)
• 256GB solid-state drive ($600 more)
• 1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA and 256GB solid-state drive2TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA and 256GB solid-state drive ($900 more)

For graphics, the lower end 21.5 inch iMac uses an ATI Radeon HD 4670 graphics processor with 256MB of GDDR3 memory.

The higher end 21.5 inch iMac uses ATI Radeon HD 5670 graphics processor with 512MB of GDDR3 memory.

The dual core 27 inch iMac uses an ATI Radeon HD 5670 graphics processor with 512MB of GDDR3 memory.

The quad core 27 inch iMac uses an ATI Radeon HD 5750 graphics processor with 1GB of GDDR5 memory.

In the box

The new iMac ships with a power cable, Bluetooth keyboard and Magic Mouse, an Apple logo monogrammed screen wipe, and the usual stickers, user guide and regulatory information. DVDs provide Mac OS X Snow Leopard and iLife apps: iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand and iWeb.

The keyboard box seems designed with the Magic Trackpad in mind, which fits perfectly into the booklet section. However, there's not an option to choose the new trackpad instead of the bundled mouse; it's only available as a separate, additional purchase.

The new iMac is protected by what appears to be a more tightly wrapped screen cover, held in place with sticky but residue free adhesive. The rest of the case and external features appear to be identical to the previous generation.

On the right edge of the highly reflective screen there's the same SD Card slot, but like the latest Mac mini it now accepts new SDXC (Secure Digital Extended Capacity) cards 32 GB and larger. SDXC theoretically supports cards up to 2TB, but Apple does not specify a supported ceiling for the new slot. Previous models only supported the Standard SD format of 4 MB to 4 GB and SDHC (Secure Digital High Capacity) cards from 4GB to 32 GB.

Appleinsider's formal review of the new iMacs will follow.

Where to buy