Apple iMac (21.5-inch, 2017) vs Apple iMac G3 (Summer 2001)

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iMac (21.5-inch, 2017) compared with iMac G3 (Summer 2001)

	AppleiMac (21.5-inch, 2017)	AppleiMac G3 (Summer 2001)
Overview
Released
Released	June 2017	July 2001
Performance
Processor
Processor	Intel Core i5-7360U	PowerPC G3 500 MHz (iMac), PowerPC G3 600 MHz (iMac) or PowerPC G3 700 MHz (iMac)
CPU cores
CPU cores	2	1
CPU threads
CPU threads	4	–
Graphics
Graphics	Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640	ATI RAGE 128 Ultra (16 MB)
Memory
Memory	8 GB or 16 GB (better)	128 MB, 256 MB or 1 GB
Storage
Storage	256 GB to 1 TB (better)	20 GB to 60 GB
CPU
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	500, 600 or 700 MHz PowerPC G3 with 256 KB on-chip L2 cache at processor speed; 100 MHz system bus. Clock-only chip records do not infer a silicon supplier.
GPU
GPU	Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640; no discrete graphics option	ATI RAGE 128 Ultra with 16 MB SDRAM in every configuration; AGP 2x.
Memory type
Memory type	8 GB of 2133 MHz DDR4, configurable to 16 GB	500 MHz: 128 MB; 600/700 MHz: 256 MB PC100 SDRAM. Two DIMM slots support up to 1 GB. The configurations preserve the base processor/drive ties at base and maximum memory.
Storage type
Storage type	1 TB 5400-rpm hard drive, configurable to 1 TB Fusion Drive or 256 GB SSD	500 MHz: 20 GB, Indigo or Snow. 600 MHz: 40 GB, Snow or Graphite. 700 MHz Special Edition: 60 GB, Snow or Graphite. All have an 8x/4x/24x CD-RW drive; no DVD reading. Apple says 500/600 MHz available immediately on 18 July; 700 MHz expected in August.
Display
Screen size
Screen size	21.5″	15″
Resolution
Resolution	1920 × 1080 (better)	1024 × 768
Refresh rate
Refresh rate	–	75 Hz
Display type
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.	15-inch nominal shadow-mask CRT, 13.8-inch viewable diagonal and 0.28 mm dot pitch.
Display features
Display features	–	1024 × 768 at 75 Hz, 800 × 600 at 95 Hz and 640 × 480 at 117 Hz. Main refresh describes the highest-resolution mode.
Connections
Ports
Ports	2 × Thunderbolt 3, 4 × USB-A, SD card slot, Ethernet, headphone jack	2 × USB-A, Ethernet, 2 × headphone jack
Ethernet
Ethernet	1 Gb/s (better)	0.1 Gb/s
Front ports
Front ports	–	Two headphone jacks.
External displays
External displays	Up to 2	–
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi	802.11ac	–
Bluetooth
Bluetooth	4.2	–
Camera
Camera	FaceTime HD	–
Back ports
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, two USB ports at 12 Mbps each, VGA mirroring, 10/100BASE-T Ethernet, 56K V.90 modem and audio line-in/out. Keyboard USB ports are excluded from chassis counts. Optional 11 Mbps AirPort card; not built-in wireless.
External displays
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	VGA output mirrors the built-in screen.
Speakers
Speakers	Stereo speakers; supports Apple iPhone headset with microphone	Odyssey stereo sound system designed with Harman Kardon; built-in microphone.
Microphones
Microphones	Built-in microphone	–
Keyboard and mouse
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
Type	All-in-one	All-in-one
Weight
Weight	5.44 kg (better)	15.8 kg
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	528 × 175 × 450 mm	381 × 435 × 381 mm
Operating system
Operating system	macOS	macOS
Size and weight detail
Size and weight detail	Dimensions include the stand; weight varies by configuration and manufacturing process. A built-in VESA mount version was available.	Maker publishes height 38.1, width 38.1 and depth 43.5 cm; weight 15.8 kg.
Power supply
Power supply	100–240 V AC, 50–60 Hz, single phase	Maximum continuous power 150 W.
Noise
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
Materials	Aluminium enclosure; arsenic-free display glass; mercury-, BFR- and beryllium-free with regional exceptions for PVC-free power leads	–
In the box
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 and Mac OS X supplied with iTunes, iMovie 2 and Disc Burner. Later software revisions described in reviews are not launch firmware.