Apple iMac G5 Ambient Light Sensor

The Apple iMac G5 Ambient Light Sensor revision arrived in May 2005. It increased processor speed, doubled standard memory, adopted ATI Radeon 9600 graphics and integrated AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth.

A light sensor automatically adjusted the sleep indicator’s brightness, giving the revision its common name. Apple again offered closely related 17-inch and 20-inch configurations within one hardware generation.

Notable Features

• An ambient-light sensor adjusted the sleep indicator for room conditions.
• Standard memory increased to 512MB and Radeon 9600 graphics supplied 128MB VRAM.
• AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth became integrated standard features.

Historical Significance

• This revision refined the serviceable first iMac G5 enclosure before Apple redesigned it around a built-in camera.
• It represents the middle of only three PowerPC G5 iMac generations.

Collector’s Notes

• The ambient-light sensor revision lacks the built-in camera and remote features of the later iSight model.
• Cooling, power-supply and display condition remain key checks.

Specifications

Technical Information
Name	Apple iMac G5 Ambient Light Sensor
Manufacturer	Apple
Launched	Tuesday, May 3, 2005
Discontinued	October 2005
Country	United States
CPU	PowerPC 970fx G5 at 1.8 or 2.0 GHz
Units Sold
Operating System	Mac OS X 10.4 through Mac OS X 10.5.8
I/O	USB 2.0, FireWire, Gigabit Ethernet, modem, audio, AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
Keyboard	Apple USB keyboard and mouse
Storage	160GB or 250GB SATA hard disk and slot-loading SuperDrive
Sound	16-bit stereo sound with integrated speakers
Graphics	ATI Radeon 9600 with 128MB VRAM
Display	Built-in 17-inch 1440 x 900 or 20-inch 1680 x 1050 widescreen LCD
ROM	New World ROM firmware
RAM	512MB DDR; expandable to 2GB
CPU Speed	1.8 or 2.0 GHz