Roundup: Apple updates Mac computer lines

Apple Inc. on Tuesday unveiled a new lineup of desktop and notebook computers to make preparations for the upcoming holiday shopping season.

The updates include two new iMac all-in-one desktop computers featuring bigger 21.5-inch and 27-inch widescreen displays in a new edge-to-edge glass design and seamless all aluminum enclosure.

The new iMacs, starting at 1,199 U.S. dollars, will be shipped with a new wireless Magic Mouse, billed by Apple as the world's first mouse featuring the company's multi-touch technology which has been used in iPhone and other products.

The Magic Mouse, which comes standard with the new iMac models, will also be available as a Mac accessory at 69 dollars, Apple said.

"The iMac is widely praised as the best desktop computer in the world and today we are making it even better," Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, said in a statement.

Apple also introduced a new Mac mini, a desktop computer sold without a display and keyboard, which the company said is mightier.

Starting at 599 dollars, the new Mac mini is faster, offers more storage and comes standard with double the memory, the company noted.

Apple's notebook computer line was also revamped with the launch of a new MacBook, which inherited technology and design features from the company's high-end MacBook Pro models but still starts at the price of 999 dollars.

According to Apple, the new MacBook has a durable polycarbonate unibody design featuring an LED-backlit display, a glass multi- touch trackpad and built-in battery for up to seven hours of battery life.

The upgrades are seen as a move by Apple to maintain the pace of its computer sales, which hit a record high in the most recent quarter.

Apple on Monday said that in its fiscal 2009 fourth quarter ended on Sept. 26, the company sold 3.05 million Mac computers, up 17 percent from the year-ago period.

Thanks to record Mac computer and iPhone sales, Apple posted net profit of 1.67 billion dollars and revenue of 9.87 billion dollars in the quarter, representing increase of 47 percent and 25 percent respectively compared with the same quarter a year earlier.

"We are thrilled to have sold more Macs and iPhones than in any previous quarter," Steve Jobs, Apple's chief executive officer, said about the latest quarterly results. "We've got a very strong lineup for the holiday season and some really great new products in the pipeline for 2010."

Mac is the largest sector in terms of revenue for Apple. Preliminary numbers released Monday by research firm iSuppli showed that Apple's share of global personal computer (PC) shipments increased to 3.7 percent in the second quarter of 2009, up from 3.2 percent in the first quarter.

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