eMac

eMac

The Apple eMac
Developer	Apple Computer, Inc.
Type	Desktop/All in One
Release date	April 29, 2002; 19 years ago (2002-04-29)
Introductory price	US$1,099 (equivalent to $1,580 in 2020)
Discontinued	July 5, 2006; 15 years ago (2006-07-05)
CPU	PowerPC 7450, 700 MHz–1.42 GHz
Display	17 in (43 cm) flat CRT, 1280 x 960
Mass	50 lb (23 kg)
Predecessor	iMac G3
Successor	iMac (Intel-based)

The eMac, short for education Mac, is an all-in-one Macintosh desktop computer that was produced and designed by Apple Computer, Inc. Released in 2002, it was originally aimed at the education market, but was later made available as a cheaper mass-market alternative to Apple's second-generation LCD iMac G4. The eMac was pulled from retail on October 12, 2005, and was again sold exclusively to educational institutions thereafter. It was discontinued by Apple on July 5, 2006, and replaced by a cheaper, low-end iMac G5 that, like the eMac, was exclusively sold to educational institutions.

The eMac design closely resembles the first-generation iMac, though the eMac is white, slightly larger in size, and heavier than the preceding G3, weighing 50 lb (23 kg).^[1] The unique shape of the computer was also similar to the 17-inch CRT Studio Display from 2000 (the last standalone CRT monitor Apple made). The Apple eMac features a PowerPC 7450 (G4e) processor that is significantly faster than the previous-generation PowerPC 750 (G3) processor, as well as a 17-inch flat CRT display, which was aimed at the education market, as LCD screens would be expensive.

Overview[]

An eMac's inputs and outputs

The eMac generally catered to the mass market, eventually taking over the entry-level (previously held by the iMac G3) Macintosh from 2003 to 2005, while the iMac G4 was positioned as a premium offering throughout the lifetime of the eMac line.^[2] The eMac generally offered similar performance and features to the iMac G4 while they were sold side by side. The eMac was gradually supplanted by the iMac G5 in 2005 to 2006.

Apple introduced the eMac in April 2002. The eMac was originally intended exclusively for education buyers, but the demand for it was high enough that it was made available for general retail one month later. In the retail market, it was positioned as a lower-cost alternative to the recently released second-generation PowerPC 7400 iMac G4. The new iMac's LCD, which at the time was significantly more costly than a CRT, made it considerably more expensive than its G3 predecessor, so the eMac was considered the more affordable upgrade for those looking for more processing power than the iMac G3.

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 retail models were priced at US$1,099 and US$1,499 which filled the price gap between the US$799 iMac G3 and the US$1,499 iMac G4 similar pricing of its predecessor. This revision came with faster processor speeds (800 MHz and 1 GHz) and replaced the GeForce2 MX display adapter with an ATI Radeon 7500 display adapter.

In October 2003, 800 MHz model was eliminated as a standard configuration and the 1 GHz model was brought down in price. This revision was the last in the line to officially run Apple's OS 9 operating system natively.

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, Radeon 9600 graphics, and larger standard hard disk.

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 expensive Mac mini or iMac which had higher profit margins. Also, the eMac was the only CRT display product left in Apple's lineup which made it somewhat bulky compared to new offerings which had compact form factors due to their LCD screens. The falling cost of LCD displays would also gradually bring down the prices of the iMac G5. However, the eMac was still available for sale to the general public through some third-party retailer websites.

RAM could be upgraded through a service port on the bottom of the unit. The aluminum panel made the eMac the first Apple computer to ship with aluminum on the outside.

On July 5, 2006, the entire eMac line was discontinued. An "educational configuration" of the iMac Core Duo was introduced that same day, which has a Combo drive rather than a SuperDrive and a smaller hard disk of 80 GB.

Early eMac models natively boot Mac OS 9.2.2 and Mac OS X beginning with OS X 10.1.4, while later models only officially boot Mac OS X. 1 GHz and faster models cannot boot OS 9, while eMacs slower than 1 GHz do not officially support 10.5 (requirements are an 867 MHz G4 with 512 MB RAM).

Technical problems[]

A number of early eMac machines have suffered from what was known as "Raster Shift", a phenomenon where the bottom third or half of the screen goes black, with the rest of image shifting upward and beyond 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 the video cable inside the eMac's case.^[3][4] Certain models of eMac also suffered from capacitor plague, that caused video distortion or the computer to lock up.^[5] Apple responded to these issues by implementing a warranty extension program.^[6]

Models[]

*Build to order option

**Sold separately and had to be installed by end user

Timeline of iMac models[]

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to EMac.

• eMac Specifications
• Everymac Specs Archive
• Apple Introduces low cost Education Configuration for 17-inch iMac
• eMac Upgrade Guide via Internet Archive