Apple iMac (21.5-inch, 2017) vs Apple iMac G4 (17-inch, Flat Panel)

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iMac (21.5-inch, 2017) compared with iMac G4 (17-inch, Flat Panel)

	AppleiMac (21.5-inch, 2017)	AppleiMac G4 (17-inch, Flat Panel)
Overview
Released
Released	June 2017	August 2002
Performance
Processor
Processor	Intel Core i5-7360U	Motorola PowerPC G4 800 MHz (iMac Flat Panel)
CPU cores
CPU cores	2	1
CPU threads
CPU threads	4	–
Graphics
Graphics	Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640	NVIDIA GeForce4 MX (32 MB)
Memory
Memory	8 GB or 16 GB (better)	256 MB or 1 GB
Storage
Storage	256 GB to 1 TB (better)	80 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	800 MHz PowerPC G4 with 256 KB on-chip L2 cache and 100 MHz system bus. Generic maker-clock record retains the single-core identity cross-checked with the exact EveryMac source; a silicon revision is not inferred.
GPU
GPU	Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640; no discrete graphics option	NVIDIA GeForce4 MX with 32 MB dedicated DDR video memory; the retained maker sheet lists AGP 2x support.
Memory type
Memory type	8 GB of 2133 MHz DDR4, configurable to 16 GB	256 MB SDRAM standard, expandable to 1 GB; one 168-pin DIMM and one user-accessible SO-DIMM slot. Configurations conservatively list the published base and maximum.
Storage type
Storage type	1 TB 5400-rpm hard drive, configurable to 1 TB Fusion Drive or 256 GB SSD	80 GB Ultra ATA hard drive and SuperDrive DVD-R/CD-RW. The retained sheet lists DVD-R writing at 2x, DVD reading at 6x, CD-R writing at 8x and CD-RW writing at 4x.
Display
Screen size
Screen size	21.5″	17″
Resolution
Resolution	1920 × 1080 (better)	1440 × 900
Brightness
Brightness	–	200 nits
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.	Widescreen TFT active-matrix LCD with millions of colours and typical 300:1 contrast; panel technology and refresh rate are not established by the exact maker sheet.
Display features
Display features	–	Typical viewing angles: 120° horizontal and 90° vertical. Articulated arm adjusts the display's height and angle.
Connections
Ports
Ports	2 × Thunderbolt 3, 4 × USB-A, SD card slot, Ethernet, headphone jack	3 × USB-A, Ethernet, headphone jack
Ethernet
Ethernet	1 Gb/s (better)	0.1 Gb/s
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.	Three USB 1.1 ports on the computer, plus two on the keyboard; two FireWire 400 ports with 8 W shared power, Mini-VGA, 10/100BASE-T Ethernet, 56K V.90 modem, headphone jack and Apple speaker minijack. Original AirPort 802.11b card is optional, rather than standard.
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	Mini-VGA provides video mirroring through an optional VGA adapter: 640 × 480 at 60 Hz, 800 × 600 at 75 Hz or 1024 × 768 at 75 Hz. S-video and composite output are not listed for this original revision.
Speakers
Speakers	Stereo speakers; supports Apple iPhone headset with microphone	Built-in speaker and microphone, Apple Pro Speakers rated at 9 W each and internal 18 W amplifier.
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, Apple Pro Mouse and Apple Pro Speakers; modem cable, Apple Hardware Test CD and documentation.
Design and power
Type
Type	All-in-one	All-in-one
Weight
Weight	5.44 kg	–
Width × depth × height
Width × depth × height	528 × 175 × 450 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.	The retained combined maker sheet publishes metric size and weight only for the 15-inch model; those figures are not borrowed for the 17-inch model.
Power supply
Power supply	100–240 V AC, 50–60 Hz, single phase	90–264 V AC, 47–63 Hz, single phase; retained combined specification gives maximum continuous power 130 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 X and Mac OS 9 with Apple's creative and productivity software. The 17 July announcement expected shipping early the following month; Apple's 13 August release confirmed immediate availability, so the release month is August. Jaguar software availability and the launch configuration are not assumed to be identical.