What is the difference between the iMac "Core Duo" and iMac G5 "iSight"?

Please note that all systems mentioned in this Q&A have been discontinued. The iMac "Core Duo" models were replaced by the White iMac "Core 2 Duo" line.

The iMac "Core Duo" models use the same 17-Inch and 20-Inch enclosures as the iMac G5 "iSight" models before them, complete with integrated "iSight" camera, and likewise, have the entire computer tucked discreetly behind the flat-panel display.

Photo Credit: Apple Computer

The iMac "Core Duo" and iMac G5 "iSight" both have built-in stereo speakers, the same resolution displays with stereo speakers designed to "bounce sound off the desk below", three USB 2.0 ports, two Firewire "400" ports, built-in AirPort Extreme, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR (the low-end education-only model lacks Bluetooth), and Gigabit Ethernet.

The iMac "Core Duo" systems, like the iMac G5 "iSight" before them, shipped with the Apple Mighty Mouse and six-button Apple Remote (not included with the low-end education-only model). Software included compatible versions of MacOS X 10.4 "Tiger", Apple "Front Row", which provides users with a "simple, intuitive and powerful way to play their music, enjoy their photo slideshows, and watch their DVDs and iMovies" using the remote, and "Photo Booth", a basic photography program that uses the integrated iSight camera.

However, the iMac "Core Duo" models replaced the PowerPC G5 processor used by the iMac G5 "iSight" models with Intel "Core Duo" processors -- with two independent processor "cores" on a single silicon chip and a 2 MB shared level 2 cache -- which makes them members of the the first desktop Mac series to feature Intel processors. In addition, the iMac "Core Duo" models feature a more advanced architecture -- with a 667 MHz system bus, 667 MHz PC2-5300 DDR SDRAM, and ATI Radeon X1600 graphics acceleration (the education-only model has slower "integrated graphics") -- that Apple states makes the systems twice as fast as their predecessors. The iMac "Core Duo" models also have two RAM expansion slots compared to the iMac G5 "iSight", which has one with 512 MB soldered to the motherboard.

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Please refer to the Ultimate Mac Comparison feature to dynamically compare any Intel iMac model to any other G3 or later Mac.