Apple's iMac computer line may see substantial overhauls as sources close to the company claim that Apple has requested that design chief Jonathan Ive and his team work to slim down thhe look of the current iMac line. The team would provide a pair of Intel core 2 Duo-based iMacs in a form factor with a more refined look than what's currently on the market according to AppleInsider.

The last major revision of the iMac's design came in August 2004 when Apple retired its "sunflower"/drinking bird swivel monitor/rounded base design and came out with the incorporated flat-panel design present today.

Although Apple retained the iMac's deign in its transition from the PowerPC G5 chip to Intel's chips, the company focused its efforts on redesigning its notebook computers and has since been able to sell nearly three million MacBook and MacBook Pro units during the 2006 fiscal year, thereby boosting its U.S. notebook market share to over 10%.

The changes to the iMac's design will probably only occur with the 20 and 24" models, Apple keeping its entry-level 17" as-is and perhaps phasing the size out of the iMac general offerings (and perhaps only keeping a bare-bones 17" iMac available to the education market).

A ship date for the anticipated new iMacs is unknown and sources claim that these machines are being tracked as hardware-side complements to Apple's upcoming Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard" operating system, due out later this year.

Rumors have also surfaced that Apple could release new hardware offerings as soon as April, online retailers stating that Mac inventories could be constrained early next month (a standard sign of new hardware becoming available).

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