EMac

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eMac

The Apple eMac
Developer	Apple Computer
Type	Desktop
Release date	April 29, 2002
Discontinued	July 5, 2006
CPU	PowerPC G4, 700 MHz – 1.42 GHz

The eMac, short for education Mac, was a Macintosh desktop computer made by Apple Inc. It was originally aimed at the education market, then available as a cheaper mass market option over Apple's second generation iMac. The eMac design closely resembled first-generation iMacs. It sports a PowerPC G4 processor significantly faster than the older iMac's G3 processor, and a larger 17" flat display.

The eMac was discontinued by Apple on July 5, 2006 and replaced with a cheaper, low-end iMac that, like the eMac, was originally sold exclusively to educational institutions, but later released to the general public in September 2006.

Overview

Apple introduced the eMac in April 2002 as a low-cost alternative to the new LCD iMac G4. It was originally intended exclusively for education buyers, but the demand for it was great enough that it was made available to the general public one month later.

The eMac featured a 17-inch (430 mm) flat-screen CRT monitor, a Freescale PowerPC G4 processor running at 700 or 800 MHz, Nvidia GeForce2 MX graphics, and built-in 18-watt stereo speakers. The public models were priced at US$1,099 and US$1,499, filling the price gap between the US$799 old iMac G3 and the US$1499 new LCD iMac G4. Apple discontinued the old iMac line in March 2003 but did not fill the "cheap" price point until May 2003, when the eMac line was updated and its price brought down to old iMac levels. That revision brought the processor speed to 800 MHz and 1 GHz and replaced the GeForce2 with an ATI Technologies Radeon 7500 graphics system.

The eMac was further improved in October 2003, when the 800 MHz model was eliminated and the 1 GHz model was brought down to its price. A more expensive 1 GHz model that included a SuperDrive was also made cheaper. This model was notable for being one of the least expensive brand-name computers at the time that could burn DVDs. It was both the last revision of the eMac able to run Apple's OS 9 operating system natively and the last Macintosh model sold that retained this capability.

The next revision to the eMac line came in April 2004, with DDR SDRAM, a faster processor running at 1.25 GHz, and a better ATI Radeon 9200 video chipset. The most recent revision came in May 2005, with an even faster CPU running at 1.42 GHz, improved graphics and larger standard hard disks. A number of eMac machines have suffered from what was known as "Raster Shift", a strange phenomenon where the bottom third or half of the screen goes black, with the rest of image shifting upward and out of the top boundary of the display. Serious static also accompanies the problem, rendering the viewable part of the screen virtually useless. In response to the problem, Apple offered a solution which involved the replacement of a video cable inside the eMac's case.^{[citation needed]}

On October 12, 2005, Apple once again restricted sales of the eMac to educational institutions and returned to its "E is for Education" marketing plan that had been attached to the product from the original restriction to education buyers. The company re-implemented this restrictive measure for unspecified reasons. Some analysts believe Apple wanted to force the general public to purchase the more costly Mac mini or iMac. However, the eMac was still available for sale to the general public through some third-party retailer websites.

In early 2006, some users started to experience system freezes in their second revision eMacs – by now around 18 months old. The fault was found to lie with a bad batch of capacitors which had also caused faults with the iMac G5 and many other brands of electronics, manufactured in a similar time frame. In June 2006 Apple introduced the eMac Repair Program. However, despite relating directly to the capacitor problem, the symptoms listed under the Repair Program do not include "freezing". Apple agreed to extend the warranty for this failure only on any affected eMacs up to 3 years old. However, some users have reported that Apple is accepting eMacs for repair even older than the 3 years stated^{[citation needed]}.

On July 5, 2006, an "educational configuration" of the iMac Core Duo was introduced, discontinuing and replacing the entire eMac line. The new iMac has a Combo drive rather than a SuperDrive and a smaller hard disk of 80 GB.

eMacs natively boot Mac OS 9.2.2 and Mac OS X beginning with OS X 10.1.4. With the exception of some non-SuperDrive-equipped 1 GHz units, models 1GHz and faster can not boot OS 9, while those slower than 1 GHz do not officially support 10.5.

Specifications

Timeline of iMac models

References

External links

• eMac Specifications
• eMac Developer Note
• Everymac Specs Archive
• Designed in California specs and timeline
• Apple Introduces low cost Education Configuration for 17-inch iMac
• eMac Upgrade Guide