Home Desktops Apple iMac G3 (1998) Apple · iMac
Released August 1998
A colourful all-in-one PowerPC desktop with a built-in CRT and USB peripherals.
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Type All-in-one
Processor PowerPC G3 233 MHz (iMac)
Memory 32 MB – 128 MB
Storage 4 GB
Screen 15″
Weight –
Processor PowerPC G3 233 MHz (iMac)
CPU cores 1
Graphics ATI RAGE IIc (2 MB)
Memory 32 MB or 128 MB
Storage 4 GB
CPU 233 MHz PowerPC G3 processor with 66 MHz system bus and 512 KB backside L2 cache at 117 MHz. The exact silicon supplier is not established by the maker sheet; generic clock-only chip record.
GPU ATI RAGE IIc with 2 MB SGRAM standard; maker options increase video memory to 4 MB or 6 MB. Configurations retain the standard graphics allocation.
Memory type 32 MB SDRAM standard in two SO-DIMM slots; original July 1998 Apple datasheet supports up to 128 MB. Do not substitute the Revision B maximum.
Storage type 4 GB IDE hard drive and tray-loading 24x CD-ROM drive. No floppy drive. Display
Screen size 15″
Resolution 1024 × 768
Refresh rate 75 Hz
Display type Nominal 15-inch shadow-mask CRT with 13.8-inch viewable diagonal and 0.28 mm dot pitch; it has no fixed LCD native resolution.
Display features Maximum supported mode 1024 × 768 at 75 Hz; 800 × 600 at 95 Hz and 640 × 480 at 117 Hz. The scalar refresh rate describes the highest-resolution mode. Connections
Ports 2 × USB-A, Ethernet, 2 × headphone jack
Ethernet 0.1 Gb/s
Back ports Two 12 Mbps USB ports on the computer, 10/100BASE-T Ethernet, 56K V.90/K56flex modem, 4 Mbps IrDA, audio line-in and line-out, plus two front headphone jacks. No FireWire or external VGA output.
Speakers Built-in stereo speakers with SRS surround processing and built-in microphone.
Keyboard and mouse Apple USB Keyboard and round Apple USB Mouse. Design and power
Type All-in-one
Operating system macOS
Size and weight detail Current retained maker sheet: height 15.8, width 15.2 and depth 17.6 inches, weight 40 pounds. Original Apple July 1998 datasheet instead gives height 39.5, width 38 and depth 44 cm, weight 17.3 kg (38.1 pounds). Conflicting main metric values are omitted.
Power supply Retained maker sheet lists 80 W maximum continuous power; the original Apple datasheet lists 200 W. This conflict is retained rather than selecting a scalar rating.
In the box Mac OS 8.1. First on sale 15 August 1998, corroborated by Apple’s contemporary retrospective release and retained introduction date. Configurations Processor Memory Storage Storage type Graphics PowerPC G3 233 MHz (iMac) 32 MB 4 GB Hard drive ATI RAGE IIc (2 MB) PowerPC G3 233 MHz (iMac) 128 MB 4 GB Hard drive ATI RAGE IIc (2 MB)
Pros and cons Pros + Built-in display and speakers+ USB peripheral connections+ Wired Ethernet connectionCons − Single-core processor− CRT has 13.8-inch viewable area− Limited internal expansionNewer model: iMac G3 (Revision B) .
