Both Apple and Intel Ready Early for New IMacs, Jobs Says

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 10 Apple chief executive Steve Jobs loves his surprises, and his keynote opening the annual Macworld Conference & Expo had a big one: It's shipping its first machines with processors from Intel Corp. -- six months sooner than it had predicted when it announced the partnership last June.

Apple Computer Inc.'s new iMac desktops look much like the iMacs that Jobs introduced last year. They have the same basic design and sell at the same prices ($1,299 for a model with a 17-inch screen, $1,699 for a 20-incher). But instead of a G5 PowerPC processor, each has an Intel Core Duo processor.

Jobs said benchmark testing showed that the new machines are two to three times as fast as their predecessors -- a reversal from previous Macworld keynotes, in which Jobs and other Apple presenters had tried to prove the opposite point by running common tasks in popular applications on a PowerPC Mac and an Intel PC.

Jobs, wearing his traditional uniform of black mock turtleneck and unbelted jeans, invited Intel chief executive Paul S. Otellini -- dressed in the white "bunny suit" of processor-factory workers -- on the stage to make this introduction.

"Steve, I want to report that Intel's ready," Otellini said.

Jobs replied, "Well, I can report to you that Apple's ready too."

The iMacs will be joined in February by the MacBook Pro, an Intel-based laptop also running on Intel Core Duo processors. Jobs said the new model is four to five times as fast as the PowerBook G4 it will replace. MacBook Pros will sell for $1,999 and $2,499.

Both the new iMac and the MacBook Pro will run new "universal" versions of Apple's operating system and core applications, capable of working on either PowerPC or Intel chips.

The most prominent part of that set of software will be iLife '06, also announced Tuesday. The suite of multimedia programs includes iTunes, the iPhoto picture-organizer and editor, the iMovie video editor, the iDVD home-movie creator, the Garage Band music-production application, and a new program, iWeb.

Many of the new features in those programs are designed to help people make and share content. For example, iPhoto '06's "photocasting" feature lets users share their favorite pictures online, using the RSS software that many Web sites employ to get updates to readers. IMovie '06 can create video podcasts, and Garage Band can make audio podcasts. The iWeb program lets users easily assemble all those creations on Web sites that can be hosted on Apple's $100-a-year .Mac online service.

Jobs showed off that last feature by recording, live on stage, a fake podcast called "Super Secret Apple Rumors." ("The next iPod is gonna be huge -- an eight-pounder with a 10-inch screen!") Audience members, many of whom had spent far too much time over the past few days visiting Apple rumor sites to get a hint about Macworld news, laughed out loud at the parody.

Many of those sites had predicted such developments as new iPod models or an updated Mac mini that could serve as a media-center computer in living rooms, but they struck out on those guesses. They also batted .000 on predictions that the iTunes store's inventory would expand to include full-length movies. Jobs's only real news about iTunes video was the addition of compilations of "Saturday Night Live" skits.

Both at Macworld and at last week's International Consumer Electronics Show, companies talked almost exclusively of their plans to get more name-brand Hollywood content online. Apple is probably still pursuing that goal as well, but for now Jobs seems to be relying on another source of content: Apple's own users, who with iLife '06 will now have a broad set of tools to fill the Web with their own homemade video, audio, photos and blogs.

Jobs said Apple will introduce Intel versions of its other computers throughout the year, with the transition complete by year-end. That will put developers of Mac software under tight deadlines to finish converting their programs into so-called universal releases. Until that happens, those older programs need the help of Apple translation software called Rosetta. (Apple won't have its own professional-oriented programs, such as Final Cut Pro, revised until March.) Jobs demonstrated on stage how Rosetta would work by running Microsoft Word and Adobe Photoshop on a new Intel-based iMac.

He warned that Photoshop would perform a little too slowly for professional use but said home users would probably be content with the results.

Roz Ho, the manager of Microsoft's Mac business unit, joined Jobs to report on Microsoft's plans for updates to Office -- which, as part of a new agreement with Apple, will continue for at least the next five years. Scott Erickson, director of product management and marketing for Microsoft's Mac group, said after the keynote that no money changed hands in that deal.

Jobs did not reveal any new figures for Apple's computer market share, nor did he make much of a pitch to Windows users to switch from their operating system to Mac OS X -- something that may be easier to sell than before, once Mac tinkerers figure out the proper steps to install Windows XP alongside OS X on Intel Macs.

Maybe Jobs just expects Mac users to make those points for him in blogs and podcasts created with the new iLife software.