iMac - 2002

The successor to the original iMac shared many of the same design goals while featuring a new flat panel display. The final design was largely defined by the resolution of what initially appeared to be polar requirements. A simple, small product requires a high degree of integration (this was fundamental to the success of the original iMac) but exploiting the attributes of the new iMac’s flat panel display, its size and weight, necessarily meant disconnecting it from the computer, power-supply and drives.

Early in the design process it became apparent that we wanted to do much more than just lock the display in its final position. The stainless steel neck enables an easy, fluid adjustment and is typical of Apple’s approach to problem solving – the apparent simplicity of the solution belies the complexity of the problem. While counterbalancing the mass of the display and internally managing cables, the neck was engineered for misuse. We knew it would be used to carry the product.

We wanted to define a generous surface around the display to make it easy to touch and move. Unfortunately the first designs created a plane and mass that undermined the actual screen. We eventually developed a simple transparent halo around the display that provides a large general surface for its adjustment.

The density of the product presented a significant cooling challenge which was resolved by drawing cool air from the base perimeter and exhausting the heated air with a quiet, variable speed fan mounted directly below the neck. The aluminum base is removed to add memory and a wireless card. Each cover is uniquely laser etched with product specific information including the bar-code.

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