New iMac confirmed for November launch by Apple The iMac was launched at the same press conference where Apple unveiled the iPad Mini, and the radical redesign of the desktop computer has been largely overshadowed by Apple's new tablet and iPods. Observers, however, have suggested that the eighth incarnation of the iMac is its most impressive yet. The design, which features no optical drive, was greeted with shock at the unveiling. "There were gasps in the auditorium when people saw how thin the new iMac is," reported The Telegraph's Shane Richmond. It's astonishingly thin at the edges - 5mm, though it does bulge a little at the back. Apple's Phil Schiller launching the new iMac Apple claims the model features reduced reflection, faster processors and "an innovative new storage option called Fusion Drive" Apple says the new iMac includes 8GB of memory, a 1TB hard drive, third generation quad-core Intel Core i5 processors that can be upgraded to Core i7, and the latest NVIDIA GeForce graphics processors that deliver up to 60 percent faster performance. The new Fusion Drive mixes solid-state and traditional hard drives for the fastest access to data, in a single disc. The 21.5-inch iMac starts at £1,099 inc VAT, rising to £1,699 for the larger models.