It will be great if Apple brings back the iMac G4 design for its smart home display

A report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman suggests that Apple’s upcoming smart home display might bear more than a passing resemblance to one of the most iconic Macintosh models, the iMac G4.

This is something I suggested might happen back in the summer, though personally I was hoping for a magnetic attachment for an iPad …

Here’s what Gurman had to say:

The device will have a square display, I’m told, and be about the size of two iPhones side by side. The screen is positioned at an angle on a small base, making it reminiscent of the circular bottom of the iMac G4 from a couple of decades ago. It’s possible that the base will include speakers, essentially turning the device into a HomePod with a screen.

For those not old enough to remember it, the iMac G4 was one of the cutest and most-adored Mac designs, following on from the iconic pastel-colored iMac G3.

Launched in 2002, the design was made possible by Apple’s switch from the bulky cathode-ray display in the G3 to a laptop-like LCD screen in the G4. The form factor was prompted by Steve Jobs suggesting to Jony Ive that he base the design on a sunflower, though many compared it to a desk lamp.

The G4 was not just a cute-looking device, it also had great ergonomics. That floating arm allowed you to position the screen exactly where you wanted it. It could be raised or lowered by up to seven inches, swivel 180 degrees laterally, and tilt up to 35 degrees vertically.

The friendliness of the machine was reflected in the user guide, which an Irish Times review of the time noted comprised only six photos.

The machine was a huge commercial success too, racking up over six million sales in the two years it was on sale, reflected in a 400% rise in AAPL’s share price over that period.

The design stuck around until the summer of 2004, when it was replaced by the G5 – the first machine to adopt what we would now recognize as the classic iMac form factor.

Photos: iMac G4 Apple, iMac G5 Matthew Welty/CC2.0