AUGUST 2021 MACWORLD 25changed over the past 23 years, you’d be
surprised by some of the similarities
between the original iMac and these new
models. It’s not all about the color. But let
me be clear: A lot of it is about the color.
THE RETURN OF COLOR
Once Apple replaced the iMac G3 with
the sunflower-like iMac G4 (fave.
co/2S6uaGX), color was banished from
the Mac for many years. iMacs were
white plastic, then eventually varying
shades of silver aluminum. But the
original Bondi Blue iMac (named after
the water off Sydney’s Bondi Beach)—
and its successors (fave.co/3jBbEBI) in
Blueberry, Lime, Tangerine, Strawberry,
Grape, Sage, Ruby, and Indigo—has
finally had its revenge.
Like the original iMac, the 24-inch iMac
is meant to be shown off, not hidden away.
Back in the 1990s,
computers were
beige towers or
shaped like pizza
boxes, usually
attached by a
rat’s nest of cords
to a boxy beige
monitor and a
couple of beige
speakers.
Computers were
utilitarian, had no
personality, and were meant to be used
and ignored.
The original iMac had style and
begged for you to make it the centerpiece
in your office or family room. Later
generations of the iMac G3 added color
choices and became a way to express
style and personality. The 24-inch iMac
brings back that feeling.
The model Apple sent me was just what
I had asked for—namely, orange. I love it. It
looks amazing. I can’t walk into a room
where it’s set up without thinking, “I can’t
believe Apple made an orange iMac.” It
boggles my mind. But here’s the thing: If
you don’t like orange, no problem! There’s
also pink, blue, green, purple, and—for the
very first time, because who wants to buy
an iMac called “lemon?”—yellow.
Here’s a lesson Apple learned the last
time it made colorful computers: Not