Apple founder and chief executive officer Steve Jobs promised the new models would be available this month except for the $799 iMac Internet appliance, which will ship in September, and the Power Mac G4 Cube, slated for delivery in August. To accompany the new systems, Jobs promised release by early 2001 of a new version of the Macintosh operating system, Mac OS 10, which supports symmetric multiprocessing. Public beta tests are to begin in September.

Among the less flashy innovations on show at Macworld was an Apple-designed optical sensor-driven mouse, and a new keyboard, monitors and speakers. Apple also said it has integrated Gigabit Ethernet onto the motherboard of the Power Mac G4.

The new-product standouts included the cube-shaped Power Mac G4, which performs 3 billion calculations per second. This little machine, priced at $1,799 and $2,299 for models with a 450-MHz or 500-MHz G4 processor respectively, includes a top-loading DVD drive and a feature that lets users pull out the computer's entire core with a hidden handle to replace components.

The dual-processor Power Mac G4, which sells for $2,499 (with 450-MHz G4 CPUs) and $3,499 (500-MHz versions), represents the first commercialization of a dual-processor system architecture Apple developed years ago.

Meanwhile, the $799 iMac Indigo is designed to drive shipments in the price-sensitive market comprising first-time computer buyers and the education sector. The Indigo, a computer Jobs called the "best Internet appliance," could boost unit shipments thanks to its power, Net-access and storage features, the company believes.

Based on the 350-MHz G3 PowerPC processor, the iMac Indigo features Rage 128-pro graphics, 56-kbit modem, Universal Serial Bus and Ethernet, 64 Mbytes of memory and 7.5 Gbytes of storage. It has a Harman/Kardon-brand sound system, and slot-loading CD and DVD drives.

Homegrown technologies

There may not be any new silicon technology in the new Power Mac desktops, but Richard Doherty, industry analyst and director of the Envisioneering Group (Seaford, N.Y.), said the machines show off homegrown Apple technologies never before commercialized.

"In the 1990s Apple was already developing asymmetric- and symmetric-multiprocessing boards before the PC or workstation companies like Silicon Graphics Inc. were working on it," Doherty said. Apple Computer owns the majority of the intellectual property related to multiprocessing technology, he said.

Doherty said he wouldn't be surprised to see Apple introduce Power Macs with more than two processors later this year. Work that Apple engineers did to characterize software code for the Macintosh in 1992-93 allows the company to scale the systems up to several processors without any of the software tweaks usually required for multiprocessor PCs, he said.

The Macworld Expo product announcements topped off a positive week for Apple. The Cupertino, Calif., company reported third-quarter net profits of $200 million, or 55 cents per share, on revenue of $1.825 billion. Quarterly profits were about level with the year-ago quarter, and revenue was up 17 percent over the third quarter of 1999. The company shipped 1,016,000 units, including G4 systems and iMacs, in the quarter ended July 1.

In the two years since iMac was introduced, Apple says it has sold 3.7 million units.