Apple iMac (21.5-inch, 2017) vs Apple iMac G3 (Summer 2000)
Better figure, where one is clearly better
| AppleiMac (21.5-inch, 2017) | AppleiMac G3 (Summer 2000) | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Released | June 2017 | July 2000 |
| Performance | ||
| Processor | Intel Core i5-7360U | PowerPC G3 350 MHz (iMac), PowerPC G3 400 MHz (iMac), PowerPC G3 450 MHz (iMac) or PowerPC G3 500 MHz (iMac) |
| CPU cores | 2 | 1 |
| CPU threads | 4 | – |
| Graphics | Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640 | ATI RAGE 128 Pro (8 MB) |
| Memory | 8 GB or 16 GB (better) | 64 MB, 128 MB or 1 GB |
| Storage | 256 GB to 1 TB (better) | 7 GB to 30 GB |
| CPU | 2.3 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 with Turbo Boost up to 3.6 GHz; Geekbench identifies the exact processor as Core i5-7360U | 350, 400, 450 or 500 MHz PowerPC G3 with 512 KB backside L2 cache. All use a 100 MHz system bus. Generic clock-only chip records do not infer silicon suppliers; cache differences remain in model details. |
| GPU | Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640; no discrete graphics option | ATI RAGE 128 Pro with 8 MB dedicated SDRAM and AGP support across the range. |
| Memory type | 8 GB of 2133 MHz DDR4, configurable to 16 GB | 64 MB PC100 SDRAM standard on 350/400/450 MHz configurations; 128 MB on 500 MHz Special Edition. Two DIMM slots support up to 1 GB in the current maker sheet. Configurations retain each base and maximum memory with its original processor and drive. |
| Storage type | 1 TB 5400-rpm hard drive, configurable to 1 TB Fusion Drive or 256 GB SSD | 350 MHz: 7 GB hard drive and CD-ROM, Indigo. 400 MHz DV: 10 GB and CD-ROM, Indigo or Ruby. 450 MHz DV+: 20 GB and 4x DVD-ROM, Indigo, Ruby or Sage. 500 MHz DV Special Edition: 30 GB and DVD-ROM, Graphite or Snow. Ultra ATA hard drives; original storage stays tied to each processor. |
| Display | ||
| Screen size | 21.5″ | 15″ |
| Resolution | 1920 × 1080 (better) | 1024 × 768 |
| Refresh rate | – | 75 Hz |
| Display type | 21.5-inch LED-backlit display; 1920 × 1080 with support for millions of colours. Apple does not identify the panel technology, native refresh rate or brightness in its specification sheet; Retina model display figures do not apply. | Nominal 15-inch CRT with 13.8-inch viewable diagonal (EveryMac exact DV+ specification); no fixed LCD native resolution. |
| Display features | – | 1024 × 768 at 75 Hz; 800 × 600 at 95 Hz and 640 × 480 at 117 Hz. Scalar refresh describes the highest-resolution mode. Exact supported modes are from EveryMac’s DV+ specification. |
| Connections | ||
| Ports | 2 × Thunderbolt 3, 4 × USB-A, SD card slot, Ethernet, headphone jack | 2 × USB-A, Ethernet, 2 × headphone jack |
| Ethernet | 1 Gb/s (better) | 0.1 Gb/s |
| External displays | Up to 2 | – |
| Wi-Fi | 802.11ac | – |
| Bluetooth | 4.2 | – |
| Camera | FaceTime HD | – |
| Back ports | Four USB-A ports, two Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports, SDXC card slot, Gigabit Ethernet, 3.5 mm headphone jack and Kensington lock slot. Thunderbolt 3 supports DisplayPort, up to 40 Gb/s Thunderbolt and up to 10 Gb/s USB 3.1 Gen 2; Thunderbolt 2, HDMI, DVI and VGA require adapters. | Two FireWire 400 ports and VGA video mirroring on DV, DV+ and DV Special Edition only; the entry 350 MHz model lacks them. Two 12 Mbps USB ports on the computer, 10/100BASE-T Ethernet, 56K V.90 modem, audio line-in/out and two front headphone jacks; keyboard USB ports are not counted as chassis ports. AirPort card is optional on DV configurations; no standard wireless specification is added. |
| External displays | Built-in display at native resolution alongside one 5120 × 2880 display at 60 Hz with one billion colours, two 3840 × 2160 displays at 60 Hz with one billion colours, or two 4096 × 2304 displays at 60 Hz with millions of colours | DV configurations provide VGA mirroring; entry model has no external video connector. |
| Speakers | Stereo speakers; supports Apple iPhone headset with microphone | Integrated Odyssey stereo sound system designed with Harman Kardon, built-in microphone and fanless enclosure. |
| Microphones | Built-in microphone | – |
| Keyboard and mouse | Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse, Lightning to USB cable and polishing cloth; configurable with Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad or Magic Trackpad | Apple Pro Keyboard and optical Apple Pro Mouse. |
| Design and power | ||
| Type | All-in-one | All-in-one |
| Weight | 5.44 kg | – |
| Width × depth × height | 528 × 175 × 450 mm | – |
| Operating system | macOS | macOS |
| Size and weight detail | Dimensions include the stand; weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process. A built-in VESA mount version was available. | Maker gives height 15.0, width 15.0 and depth 17.1 inches, weight 34.7 pounds. No converted or sibling metric values are added to main fields. |
| Power supply | 100–240 V AC, 50–60 Hz, single phase | 100–260 V AC, 47–63 Hz, single phase; maximum continuous power 150 W. |
| Noise | Apple reports operator-position sound pressure of 11 dB at idle and during wireless web, and 12 dB during hard-drive seek, tested on the Core i5 with 8 GB memory and 1 TB hard drive | – |
| Materials | Aluminium enclosure; arsenic-free display glass; mercury-, BFR- and beryllium-free with regional exceptions for PVC-free power leads | – |
| In the box | iMac, Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse, Lightning to USB cable, polishing cloth and power lead. Apple's current support page describes the later macOS Big Sur release. | Mac OS 9.0.4, iMovie 2 and productivity software. Maker confirms DV, DV+ and DV Special Edition are available immediately on 19 July 2000; the 350 MHz entry configuration was scheduled to ship the next month, August 2000. |
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