MacHELP

Apple released the new iMac G5 today, with screen sizes of 17″ and 20″ and CPU speeds of 1.6 and 1.8Ghz. The guts of the system are built into the bezel of the flat-panel LCD monitor. Systems should be available for purchase mid-September.

In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and other international safety authorities, Apple is voluntarily recalling certain lithium ion rechargeable batteries that were sold worldwide from January 2004 through August 2004 for use with 15-inch PowerBook G4 (Aluminum) notebook computers.

Apple has released Production Suite, a unified software suite of Final Cut Pro HD, Motion (newly released for the first time), and DVD Studio Pro 3. Also released is Java 1.4.2 Update 1 and iSync 1.5.

On the heels of Microsoft’s Windows XP Service Pack 2, OS X 10.3.5 was released today and is available via Software Update.

The 10.3.5 Update delivers enhanced functionality and improved reliability for Mac OS X v10.3 “Panther” and is recommended for all users.

Key enhancements include:
improved support for NTFS formatted volumes
improves reliability for user logins and mounting of home directories in a networked environment
updated ATI and NVIDIA graphics drivers
improved Bluetooth compatibility for Apple Wireless Keyboard and Mouse and Bluetooth phones
additional FireWire and USB device compatibility
improved font management
updated Mail and Image Capture applications
improved compatibility for third party applications
previous standalone security updates

Apple has released the Fourth Generation iPod. Major changes include an iPod Mini-style “click wheel” and a $100 price drop. Prices start at $299 for the 20GB version and go to $399 for the 40G model.

Apple has made XCode 1.5 available for download.

iPhoto 4.0.3 is available via Software Update.

According to this Reuters article, Apple president and CEO Steve Jobs has had successful surgery for a rare form of pancreatic cancer. He plans to return to work at Apple in September.

The Airport Express is now shipping to customers.

The total number of downloaded songs from the iTunes Music Store has reached 100 million.