Apple Computer Inc. on Wednesday updated its iMac line with Intel Corp.'s latest microprocessors.
The Intel Core 2 Duo processor, which was launched by the world's largest chip maker this summer, is faster than the Intel chips previously used in the iMac and other Macintosh computers.
Also Wednesday, Apple unveiled a new version of its consumer desktop computer — an iMac with a 24-inch screen. With a 2.16-gigahertz chip, the computer retails for $1,999.
"Every iMac — from the $999 model up through the new dazzling 24-inch widescreen model now features blazing Core 2 Duo performance," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, in a prepared statement.
Apple announced plans to switch from IBM Corp. and Freescale Semiconductor Inc. chips in June 2005, and by January 2006 the company unveiled two Intel-based computers — an iMac and a new laptop — that were based on Intel's Core Solo processor. It has since switched its entire line of computers to Intel.