EMac

First model of eMac.

The eMac, short for "education Macintosh," was a Macintosh desktop computer created by Apple Computer.

Released on April 29, 2002, the eMac was originally aimed at the education sector, because of its low cost, this was Apple's choice for the mass market. The eMac is a white, ergonomic computer designed in the same way as the first generation of iMac's. It had a significantly faster PowerPC G4 processor inside than other iMacs and a larger 17″ screen.

Due to the eMac's similarity to the original iMac, some people thought that the eMac was a retronym for the iMac G3, since subsequent major revisions of the iMac have shifted to models featuring flat-panel monitors.

The eMac was withdrawn from the general public on October 12, 2005, and has since been sold exclusively to educational institutes. The eMac was discontinued on July 5, 2006 and replaced by a cheaper iMac, which, like the eMac, was sold exclusively to educational institutes.

Retrospective

Apple Computer introduced the eMac in April 2002 as a low-cost alternative to the iMac liquid crystal display computer. It was originally created exclusively for educational institutions, but because the demand was so great it was made available to the general public a month later.

The eMac had a 17-inch CRT display, a 700 or 800 MHz PowerPC G4 processor, an NVIDIA GeForce2 MX graphics card, and built-in 18-watt stereo speakers. Retail prices were $1,099 and $1,499, padding the price between the $799 old iMac and the $1,499 new iMac. Apple discontinued the old iMac in March 2003 but didn't pad that price until May 2003, when the eMac was updated and lowered the price of the old iMac.

This revision brought with it a 1GHz 800MHz processor and replaced the GeForce2 with an ATI Radeon 7500.

The eMac was further improved in October 2003, when the 800 MHz model was phased out and the 1 GHz model dropped in price. A more expensive 1 GHz model that included the Apple SuperDrive was lowered in price. This model was notable for being one of the most expensive computers with DVD recording capabilities.

The next revision to the eMac line came in April 2004, with DDR SDRAM, a faster processor (CPU) running at 1.25 GHz, and better ATI Radeon 9200 graphics card. The last May 2005 revision of The eMac came with a faster CPU, running at 1.42 GHz, better graphics, and a larger standard hard drive.

According to a statement from Apple, a significant number of eMacs suffered from a problem known as "Raster Shift," a phenomenon in which one third of the screen (commonly the bottom) or sometimes one half on the screen, it turns black and the image moves up, out of the limits of the screen. Excessive static accompanies this problem, leaving the rest of the screen unusable. In response to this problem, Apple offered to replace the video cable on all affected eMacs.

In 2006, several users discovered that motherboards made in the first two quarters of 2004 were plagued with bad capacitors. Six months after eMacs began having these problems, Apple introduced a Repair Program for everyone. the affected models.

On October 12, 2005, Apple once again restricted sales of the eMac to educational institutions and reverted to its "E for Education" that had been added to the product from the original restriction on education buyers. The company re-implemented this restrictive measure for unspecified reasons. Some analysts believe that Apple wanted to force the general public to buy the more expensive Mac mini or iMac. However, the eMac was still available for purchase by the general public through retailers.

On July 5, 2006, Apple released a special educational version of the iMac Core Duo that replaced the eMac range. The new iMac had a Combo drive and a hard drive that was only 80 GB.

The eMac can natively boot into Mac OS 9.2.2 and Mac OS X starting with version 10.1.4. Models running at 1GHz (with the exception of some models without a 1GHz SuperDrive) cannot run Mac OS 9, while eMacs below 1GHz do not officially support Mac OS X 10.5 (minimum requirements are 867MHz with 512 MB of RAM). No eMac model can run Mac OS X 10.6 ("Snow Leopard") or higher, because Snow Leopard requires an Intel processor.

Specifications

Original Version (Introduced April 29, 2002)

• 700 or 800 MHz G4 processor
• Bus system at 100 MHz
• 128 or 256 MiB PC100 SDRAM (can be expanded to a maximum of 1 GiB SDRAM)
• NVIDIA GeForce2 MX 3D AGP 2X
• 17-inch monitor
• 18 W integrated speakers
• CD or combo unit (DVD-reader)
• 40 GB hard drive
• Ready for AirPort Card

First revision (Introduced May 6, 2003)

• PowerPC G4 processor at 800 MHz or 1 GHz
• System Bus to 133 MHz
• 128 or 256 MiB PC133 SDRAM (can be expanded to a maximum of 1 GiB SDRAM)
• ATI Radeon 7500 AGP 4x (32 dedicated DDR SDRAM memory)
• 17-inch flat CRT display
• 18W integrated stereo speakers
• CD-ROM, Combo Drive (DVD) or SuperDrive (DVD and DVD 2x) reader
• Hard drive of 40, 60 or 80 GB capacity
• Ready for AirPort Extreme Card

Second revision (introduced April 13, 2004)

• Processor G4 to 1.25 GHz
• System Bus to 167 MHz
• 256 MiB DDR SDRAM (can be increased to a maximum of 2 GiB^{[chuckles]required]})
• Graphics ATI Radeon 9200 (32 MiB of SDRAM DDR memory dedicated)
• 17-inch flat CRT display
• 16 W integrated stereo speakers
• Combo drive (CD machine that can read DVD) or SuperDrive (4x, CD recorder and DVD)
• Hard drive units of 40, 80, or 160 GB
• Built-in USB 2.0 and Firewire ports
• Ready for AirPort Extreme Card
• The hard drive on the Combo Drive model can be updated up to 80 GB, and the SuperDrive model hard drive can be updated up to 160 GB.

Third revision (introduced May 3, 2005)

• 1.42 GHz G4 processor
• 167 MHz System Bus
• 256 MiB or 512 MiB DDR SDRAM (can be increased to a maximum of 2^{[chuckles]required]} GiB DDR SDRAM)
• Graphics ATI Radeon 9600 (64 MB of dedicated DDR SDRAM)
• 17-inch CRT Display
• 18 W stereo speakers integrated
• CD-ROM Unit Combo (DVD-ROM/CD-RW), or SuperDrive (16x, DVD+R DL/DVD-RW/CD-RW)
• Hard drive of 80 or 160 GB
• USB 2.0 and FireWire ports
• Ready for AirPort Extreme Card
• Bluetooth
• Integrated microphone
• Connection to external monitor
• Mac OS X version 10.4 "Tiger"