Apple’s new 21.5-inch iMac available for order from 30 November

People will be able to order the new iMac from the Apple online store come 30 November, at least one of them anyway. This latest iteration of the iMac is available in two variants, measuring 21.5 and 27-inches respectively. The smaller of the two can be purchased by users at the end of November, with the larger scheduled for late December.

We were pleasantly surprised to see the new iMac at an Apple event in late October, it didn’t garner much attention as the iPad mini stole the show. The 21.5-inch model is split into two versions, 2.7Ghz and 2.9Ghz, set to retail for US$1299 and US$1499 a piece.

Both 21.5-inch variants are fitted with the same quad-core Intel Core i5 processor, supported by 8GB (Two 4GB) of RAM, 1TB hard drive and NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M graphics card. One of the heavily touted enhancements that the iMac features, is the new Fusion Drive configuration.

Fusion Drive essentially combines the unit’s flash and hard disk storage into one seamless drive. It moves all frequently used files into flash for quicker access and frequently used programs into the hard drive. This setup offers faster application launches and file access according to Apple. The one downside of the iMac, depending on how you view it, is the complete lack of optical drive support.

The 27-inch version is not available for another month, but is currently listed at US$1799 and US$1999 for the 2.9Ghz and 3.2Ghz versions respectively. If you’re felling pretty flush with cash at the moment, get your iMac now.