Retro Review: iMac Core 2 Duo (Late 2006), 15 Years Later! Still Usable?!

Throwback review of the polycarbonate Apple iMac w. Intel Core 2 Duo
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Overview:
The Intel-based iMac is a series of Macintosh desktop computers designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Inc. since 2006. It is one of three desktop computers in the current Macintosh lineup, serving as an all-in-one alternative to the Mac Mini, and sits below the performance range Mac Pro.

Pre-2009 iMac models featured either a white polycarbonate enclosure or an aluminum enclosure. The October 2009 iMac model featured a unibody aluminum enclosure.

The Intel-based iMac was succeeded by the iMac with Apple silicon beginning in 2021. On April 20, 2021, Apple discontinued the 21.5-inch Intel iMac with 4K Retina Display following the release of a 24-inch model based on the Apple M1 processor.

Details:
In January 2006, Apple introduced the first Intel-based iMac. In September 2006, Apple added a new 24-inch model with IPS-display and a resolution of 1920 × 1200 (WUXGA), making it the first iMac to be able to display 1080p content in its full resolution, and a VESA Flat Display Mounting Interface. It retained the style, design, and features of the preceding iMac G5.

In late 2006, Apple introduced a new version of the iMac including a Core 2 Duo chip and a lower price. Except for the 17-inch 1.83 GHz processor model, this version also included an 802.11n card.

Identifiers: Late 2006 - MA589LL - iMac5,1 - A1207 - 2118

The iMac "Core 2 Duo" 2.16 20-Inch features a 2.16 GHz Intel "Core 2 Duo" processor (T7400), with two independent processor "cores" on a single silicon chip, a 4 MB shared level 2 cache, a 667 MHz system bus, 1 GB of RAM (667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, PC2-5300) - upgradable to 4GB max, a 250 GB (7200 RPM) Serial ATA hard drive, a vertically-mounted slot-loading DVD+R DL "SuperDrive", ATI Radeon X1600 graphics acceleration on a PCI-Express bus with 128 MB of GDDR3 memory, a built-in iSight video camera, and built-in stereo speakers underneath the 20" TFT Active Matrix LCD (1680x1050 native) display designed to "bounce sound off the desk below".

Connectivity includes three USB 2.0 ports, two Firewire "400" ports, built-in AirPort Extreme, Bluetooth, and Gigabit Ethernet, as well as mini-DVI, which supports an external display in "extended desktop" mode (rather than just "mirrored mode").

This model has a 20.0" TFT widescreen active matrix display with a native resolution of 1680x1050. Apple also reports a "typical" brightness of 280 cd/m2, contrast ratio of 800:1, and viewing angle of 170 degrees horizontal and 170 degrees vertical.

Mac OS: Mac OS X 10.4.7 Tiger to 10.7 Lion, not compatible with 10.8 Mountain Lion or later


Slim, all-in-one design
Setting new standards for elegance and simplicity, the all-new, all-in-one iMac packs all its components — from processor to video camera - using Intel processors.

Intel Core 2 processor
At speeds up to 2.33 GHz, the advanced dual-core Intel processors that power every iMac are faster than ever — delivering greater performance for everything from enhancing photos to playing games and more.

Dazzling displays
Your photos, movies, and games will come to life in rich, vivid color thanks to the new 1080P displays on every iMac.

Share your life’s events with iLife
With new versions of iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, iWeb, and GarageBand included, you can create a photo book, make a movie, build a blog, compose a song, and much more.

Built-in iSight camera
Have a video chat with friends or family, record a video at your desk, or take fun pictures with Photo Booth — everything you need is built right in.

Mac OS X Tiger (version 10.4) is the fifth major release of macOS, Apple's desktop and server operating system for Mac computers. Tiger was released to the public on April 29, 2005 for US$129.95 as the successor to Mac OS X 10.3 Panther. Some of the new features included a fast searching system called Spotlight, a new version of the Safari web browser, Dashboard, a new 'Unified' theme, and improved support for 64-bit addressing on Power Mac G5s. Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger offered a number of features, such as fast file searching and improved graphics processing, that Microsoft had spent several years struggling to add to Windows with acceptable performance.

Apple claimed that Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger was the most successful Apple OS release in the company's history. At the WWDC on June 11, 2007, Apple's CEO, Steve Jobs, announced that out of the 22 million Mac OS X users, more than 67% were using Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger.

Apple announced a transition to Intel x86 processors during Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger's lifetime, making it the first Apple operating system to work on Apple–Intel architecture machines. The original Apple TV, released in March 2007, shipped with a customized version of Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger branded "Apple TV OS" that replaced the usual GUI with an updated version of Front Row.