The First iMac — An All-in-One That Dropped the Floppy for USB and the Internet

The original iMac was announced on 6 May 1998. US orders opened on 3 August, and it went on sale in stores across the US on Saturday 15 August 1998. Japan got it on Saturday 29 August, from 3 p.m., at 178,000 yen. The US price was $1,299, for the one and only configuration. Japan came two weeks after the US, but Apple's announcement had promised worldwide availability in August, and Japan made that August.

It was introduced by Steve Jobs, who had come back to Apple the year before and was serving as interim CEO. How he returned is told on his page; what became of the operating system Apple brought over from NeXT is in the Mac OS X article. The iMac was the first major new product Apple released under that leadership.

The dates

What was in it, and what was not

Apple's announcement presented the iMac as a computer that was ready for the internet straight out of the box.

What was missing drew more attention. There was no floppy disk drive. The ADB and serial ports that earlier Macs had used for keyboards, mice and printers were gone as well, so every peripheral had to connect over USB, which was still new. AKIBA PC Hotline!, reporting from Akihabara, named USB and the missing floppy drive as defining features alongside the translucent case. Early reviews are described as finding it good for newcomers while regretting the loss of the older ports.

In the press release, Jobs said: "We designed iMac to deliver the things consumers care about most--the excitement of the Internet and the simplicity of the Mac." He added: "iMac is next year's computer for $1299; not last year's computer for $999."

The case was white and translucent blue-green plastic, a colour called Bondi blue. The launch was held at the Flint Center at De Anza College, the same venue where Apple had introduced the Macintosh in 1984.

The US launch

Orders opened on 3 August, and on 10 August Apple said more than 150,000 had come in during the first week. According to PC Watch, Apple put $100 million into the iMac campaign, and some stores opened at midnight on the 15th to start selling. The Register reported that many dealers had sold out and were taking orders for delivery the following weekend and beyond.

The Japanese launch

Apple Japan announced the Japanese launch on 19 August: 178,000 yen, on sale nationwide from 3 p.m. on 29 August. According to PC Watch, the Japanese model was identical to the US one except for a JIS-layout keyboard, and it came with a version of Mac OS 8.1 for the iMac. Fewer stores than expected were to carry it, though, and there were doubts about whether supply would be enough. In Akihabara, one shop began taking orders for an imported English-language model at 258,000 yen including fees.

On launch day, Sofmap and T-Zone in Akihabara held countdowns at their storefronts. But the rain came and went, the turnout was slower than expected, and some shops still had same-day purchase tickets left after 2 p.m. Every shop sold the machine itself at the same 178,000 yen.

How many sold

On 14 October 1998 Apple announced it had shipped 278,000 iMacs in the first six weeks on sale, making it the fastest-selling Macintosh ever. That is a shipment figure, and Apple's own.

The same announcement carried the results of a telephone survey of US buyers (1,911 completed).

Jobs said the research showed the number one reason people were buying iMacs was fast and easy access to the internet. Nearly six in ten were existing Mac users; roughly four in ten were new customers.

Later iMacs

In January 1999 the line grew to five colours: blueberry, strawberry, tangerine, grape and lime. This translucent all-in-one series was sold until 2003, and the iMac name continued through later designs. On 10 January 2006 an iMac with an Intel Core Duo was among the first Macs to use Intel processors, and in 2021 an iMac arrived with Apple's own M1 (see Apple M1).

Where it sits

The original iMac gave up the floppy drive and the Mac's own legacy ports, moved peripherals to USB and sold itself on getting online. In Apple's own survey, that connection was the top reason people bought one. Three years later the same leadership would bring out the iPod. For other hardware milestones see the hardware timeline; for the company, Apple.