Apple's 21.5-inch and 27-inch iMacs now available for order online

Apple on Friday made both models of its new all-in-one available for order through the Online Apple Store following a rollout to brick-and-mortar locations worldwide, with the smaller 21.5-inch version seeing a short delivery lead time while the 27-inch iMac is set to ship later in December.

After more than 12 hours of availability at physical Apple Stores and authorized retailers, Apple's new iMac was finally added to the company's online storefront early Friday morning.

The redesigned all-in-one is now available for order in the U.S. as well as in number of international Online Apple Stores, including Australia, Canada and select European countries, a change from early Friday when the unit could only be purchased at a brick-and-mortar outlet.

Current ship-by dates are one to three days for the standard 21.5-inch model, which jumps to seven to ten days with build-to-order options, while the 27-inch version is expected to ship in two to three weeks. Configuring the larger iMac has no effect on its delivery quote.

Prices range from $1,299 for a non-configured 21.5-inch unit with a 2.7GHz Intel Core i5 processor, to well over $4,300 for the top-of-the-line 27-inch model.

Buy and save

Shoppers can get a better deal preordering the new iMac with AppleCare through B&H Photo, which has partnered with AppleInsider to offer exclusive discounts. The Apple-authorized reseller is running a "Buy Together and Save" promotion that offers 50 percent off AppleCare 3-year extended warranty plans (normally $249 to $349) when purchased alongside a new Mac.

Simply go to B&H Photo, add either the 21.5- or 27-inch iMac to your cart, select a free piece of bundled software, and then click the "COMPUTER ACCESSORIES" option from the menu on the lower left. Now, add the discounted AppleCare protection plan for your Mac by choosing "Select Item."

AppleCare for both the 21.5- and 27-inch iMacs is available for just $61 through B&H Photo for AppleInsider readers.

Special deals are also available through Apple-authorized reseller MacMall, which is offering all four base iMac models along with configuration options. Customers also receive a free copy of Parallels, a $79.99 value, and MacMall also offers financing with an extra $20 off and no payments or interest for six months.

MacMall is offering the Core i5 2.7-gigahertz 21.5-inch iMac for $1,294, while the Core i5 2.9-gigahertz 21.5-inch model http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-1989299-10273684?url=http://www.macmall.com/p.pdp?source=APPINSDRMWB36316&dpno=9425078">is $1,494. Customers can also buy the 27-inch model with a Core i5 2.9-gigahertz processor for $1,794, while the big-screen model with a Core i5 3.2-gigahertz processor ">is $1,994.

Apple announced on Tuesday that the iMac would go on sale this Friday, just making the self-imposed November deadline the company set for itself when the machine was unveiled in October. Previously, CEO Tim Cook said there would be a significant supply shortage, but failed to elaborate on what was causing the delay.

The redesigned iMac boasts an aluminum that is only 5-millimeters thick at its edge and also features a reengineered display which Apple claims reduces reflections by 75 percent. Speed has also been increased thanks to new quad-core Intel silicon and NVIDIA GeForce graphics processors, the latter of which is said to deliver up to a 60 percent boost in performance.

Also new is the Fusion Drive, a hybrid hard drive solution that combines the performance of solid-state media with the capacity and affordability of a hard drive. Apple solution couples 128-gigabytes of flash memory with a standard hard drive to create a single storage volume that intelligently manages frequently-used files and programs to optimize performance.

There have already been teardowns and unboxing videos posted to the web, and online benchmarks for each configuration of the 21.5-inch model are sure to follow.