It finally arrived — a Power Mac G4 Cube and 15-inch flat panel Apple Studio Display — and all I can say is that it's the most beautiful computer system I've ever seen. Ever. Period. Really.

The Power Mac G4 Cube, for those of you who have been living in a cave since July's Macworld Expo, is Apple's most stunning desktop computer of all time. It's even cooler than the iMac, and that's very cool indeed. The entire CPU (and, of course, the built-in DVD-ROM drive) is encased in a gorgeous crystal-clear 8-inch cube roughly the size of a Kleenex® box. And the matching crystal-clear encased Apple Studio Display is the best-looking flat panel I've ever seen.

Of course, the G4 Cube performs as you'd expect a supercomputer to perform — it's wicked fast. Under the hood, the 450MHz G4 Cube's performance and specs are similar to the G4/450 single-processor minitower, which sold for $2,499 before being discontinued last July. The Cube comes with a 450 G4 processor, 64MB RAM, a 20GB Ultra ATA hard drive, a DVD-ROM drive, an ATI RAGE 128 Pro graphics card, 10/100BASE-T Ethernet, 56K modem, FireWire, and USB. It also includes a pair of crystal-clear Harmon Kardon speakers, the new Apple Pro Keyboard, and Pro Mouse. And, like all Macs, it's AirPort-ready. (A 500MHz model is also available.)

One of the best features, at least in my humble opinion, is that the Cube has no fan. It's cooled by convection and is therefore nearly silent. It's about the quietest desktop computer I've seen/heard (other than iMacs, which are also fan-free).

The new 15-inch Apple Studio Display, with its crystal-clear lucite frame, is also gorgeous. I own an older Apple Studio flat panel display and I love it, but this new one is way better. On top of being a much more beautiful design, and an inch larger, it's also aggressively priced at $999.

This wouldn't be a Dr. Mac column if I didn't find some stuff to gripe about. And I've got a few gripes. First and foremost, 64MB of RAM is nowhere near enough for a powerful machine like this. I couldn't even install IBM's ViaVoice software because it requires at least 64MB of _available_ RAM. A machine this fine should ship with at least 128MB. Also, the mouse cord at 24" is too short (as I mentioned last week in my review of the iMac DV SE). Finally, I think in addition to a DVD-ROM drive, Apple should offer some type of recordable media such as CD-R, CD-RW, or DVD-RAM. None are currently offered as an option, which means if you want to back up your hard disk you're going to have to buy an external FireWire or USB device, which I promise you will look ugly next to the G4 Cube and Studio Display.

But as usual, that is just picking nits. I'm in absolute lust with this design. And so far, everyone who has seen it has been equally awestruck — it's that pretty. Some people say it's overpriced, but fine things don't come cheap. And this system is truly fine.

Power Mac G4 Cube. 450MHz SRP $1,799; 500MHz SRP $2299 (500MHz available only from Apple store). Apple 15-inch Studio Display SRP $999. Apple Computer, Cupertino, Calif. 800-795-1000 or 408-996-1010. http://www.apple.com/powermaccube/.

Back to Dr. Mac's Most Recent Articles