A report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman suggests that Apple's upcoming smart home display may bear more than a passing resemblance to one of the most iconic Macintosh models, the iMac G4.
I've been speculating that this could happen since the summer, though I was personally hoping for a magnetic mount for the iPad …
Here's what Gurman had to say:
The device will have a square display, I'm told, and will be about the size of two iPhones placed side by side. The screen sits at an angle on a small base, making it reminiscent of the round bottom of the iMac G4 from a couple of decades ago. It’s possible that the base will house speakers, essentially turning the device into a HomePod with a screen.
For those not old enough to remember, the iMac G4 was one of the cutest and most beloved Mac designs, following in the footsteps of the iconic pastel-colored iMac G3.
Released in 2002, the design was made possible by Apple’s switch from the G3’s bulky CRT display to the G4’s laptop-like LCD screen. The form factor was inspired by Steve Jobs, who suggested that Jony Ive use a sunflower design as a base, though many compared it to a desk lamp.
The G4 wasn’t just a pretty device to look at, it also had great ergonomics. That floating arm allowed you to position the screen exactly where you needed it. It could be raised or lowered up to seven inches, rotated 180 degrees sideways, and tilted 35 degrees vertically.
The machine's user-friendliness was reflected in its user manual, which, as an Irish Times review at the time noted, consisted of just six photographs.
The machine was also a huge commercial success, selling more than six million units in two years, reflected in a 400 percent increase in AAPL stock during that period.
The design persisted until the summer of 2004, when it was replaced by the G5, the first machine to adopt what we now know as the classic iMac form factor.
Photos: iMac G4 Apple, iMac G5 Matthew Welty/CC2.0
