iMac G4 With Revolutionary Floating Display Announced 20 Years Ago Today

Friday January 7, 2022 8:55 am PST by Joe Rossignol

Today marks the 20th anniversary of Apple announcing the iMac G4. Unveiled on January 7, 2002, the iMac G4 featured a unique design with a flat-screen panel mounted on an adjustable arm and a hemisphere base housing the computer's internal components.

the new imac g4 feature
Nicknamed the Lamp or Sunflower, the iMac G4 was innovative for its time as an all-in-one computer with a flat screen that can be moved around freely.

"The new iMac ushers in the age of flat-screen computing for everyone. The CRT display is now officially dead," said Apple's former CEO Steve Jobs in a press release announcing the iMac G4. "And with its powerful G4 processor and SuperDrive, everyone can now affordably create and burn their own custom DVDs and CDs."

Key features of the iMac G4 included a 15-inch flat-screen LCD, 700 MHz or 800 MHz PowerPC G4 processor options, a SuperDrive built into the base for CD/DVDs, up to a 60GB hard drive, up to 1GB of RAM, two FireWire ports, and five USB ports. By the end of 2003, Apple had also released larger 17-inch and 20-inch display sizes.

In his 2002 review of the iMac G4 for Macworld, longtime Apple reporter Jason Snell described the computer as "nothing short of a triumph."

Top Rated Comments

TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️

55 months ago

Still looking good. I'm pretty sure many of the MacRumors forum members are lucky enough to play around with it on here. Consider yourself lucky.

Score: 62 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Wiesenlooser

55 months ago

Still looks modern, which is a great achievement when it comes to technology.

Score: 59 Votes (Like | Disagree)

fmillion

55 months ago

For a split second, I saw that picture, and thought "they're bringing that design back? Woooooo! Might just be the push I need to get a new Mac!"

Then I saw it was just a historical retrospective, and I turned to the side to look at the still-functional iMac G4 sitting on my bookshelf, and shook my head sadly.

That hovering display was REALLY ergonomic for me, the ability to move it up and down and side-to-side so effortlessly still can't be matched by modern all-in-one designs.

Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)