Apple has once again reinvented itself. After close to nine months without a major new product introduction, on July 19th at Macworld Expo in New York, Apple introduced a stunning line of products that replaced roughly 75% of their product line. Among the highlights:

• Pro Mouse and Keyboard ($59 each; now shipping with all desktop Macs; available separately in September)
  
  I know of few people who liked the "hockey puck" mouse and mini-keyboard that have shipped with all desktop Macs for almost two years now. Thankfully, both have been retired, replaced by much-improved "Pro" versions -- an optical mouse and nearly full-sized keyboard. Better still, both now ship with _every_ desktop Mac (and iMac) Apple sells. Both are far better than the models they replace.

• Power Mac G4 Cube ($1,799; available early August)
  
  OK. I admit, it's hard for me to be objective about "the cube." It's quite simply the most beautiful personal computer I've ever seen. Packing a 450MHz PowerPC G4 processor and everything else most users will ever need into an eight-inch cube suspended in a stunning crystal-clear enclosure, it's one of the most amazing pieces of engineering Apple's ever produced. Apple Senior V.P. of Hardware Engineering Jon Rubinstein told me, "We designed the system we wanted on _our_ desks."
  
  I want one too!

• Apple Studio Display ($999; available now)
  
  This new 15-inch flat panel monitor is the perfect compliment to the cube. And, like the cube itself, this display is absolutely gorgeous.

• Power Mac G4 (Single 400MHz models starting at $1,599; dual 450MHz models starting at $2,499; dual 500MHz models starting at $3,499; all three models available now)
  
  Check this out - Apple's G4 minitower line has been entirely replaced by better, faster, models, each at the same price point of the model it replaces. Among the improvements are dual-processors in the two high-end models, gigabit Ethernet on all three models, larger hard drives on all three models (20/30/40GB), and, of course, the Pro mouse and keyboard.
  
  As usual, Steve Jobs' keynote featured a Photoshop "shootout," this time between a dual processor 500MHz Power Mac G4 and a single processor 1,000MHz (i.e. 1GHz) Pentium 3 PC. Of course, the Mac finished the test in about half the time it took the PC.

• Four new iMacs in four new colors ($799 - $1,499; $799 model available September; all other models available now)
  
  New colors (Indigo, Ruby, Sage, and Snow), faster processors, bigger hard disks, and lower prices are the highlights of the all-new iMac line. The pricing is the big deal here; the $799 model is the lowest-priced Mac of all time, and DV models have dropped $300, and now start at $999. While the iMac line's overhaul isn't as impressive as the G4 line's, it's still pretty darn impressive and the pricing is extremely aggressive.

• iMovie 2 software ($49; now shipping with all FireWire-enabled Macs; available separately in September)
  
  The world's most popular desktop movie software is now even better with an improved user interface, enhanced video effects such as sepia tone, black and white, and soft focus, and enhanced audio editing capabilities. And the new "Save to iDisk" capability lets anyone with an Internet connection create and serve streaming video. Neat!
  
  I'll write comprehensive reviews as soon as I get my hands on some of this stuff. Until then, you can check it all out at the Apple web site.

Apple Computer, Inc.
Cupertino, California
800-795-1000.
http://www.apple.com/.

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