New hardware, new peripherals, a refined look and a larger screen make the new iMac better than ever.

As my MacBook Pro is getting older and older, I was debating the purchase of a Mac Pro. A visit to the Apple website today has completely changed my mind. At first glance, the new iMac looks like an incredible upgrade from the previous version without the dreaded cost increase some may expect.

The new iMac comes in a 21.5 or 27 inch monitor, putting many personal TVs to shame. With the large monitor comes new option to upgrade to a ATI Radeon HD 4850 graphics with 512MB video card. These new options open the door for the increased game production already underway for Apple computers, something that once played a large part in keeping younger generations away from using Macs.

21.5 inch iMacs start with 4gb of RAM, with the option of upgrading to 8gb. 27 inch iMacs can go all the way up to 16gb. For those of you who don’t know what this really means, let’s just say you can have nearly every program you own open at once and your computer will not slow down because of the massive amounts of temporary memory in use. Home PCs tend to have less than 2gb of RAM (a very rough, non-scientific estimate).

There are too many specs to list here, so I urge you to check out the Apple Store to read more for yourself. The last thing I want to leave you with is this:

Apple has designed the first multi-touch mouse. It does everything a normal mouse does (clicking, scrolling, etc), but with no [visible] buttons or scroll wheels. I have not used the mouse yet, but imagine it has a similar feel to the iPhone or iPod touch, which are incredibly accurate. Hopefully Apple has come up with a successful redesign of the mouse because the last one button mouse was quite a let down for many users, myself included. Take a look at the video below for a walk-through.

I am very excited to test drive one of these new gadgets when I next visit an Apple retail store and would not be surprised if I walked out with one on the spot.

Do you think these new products are going to have a warm welcome, or is it just another one of the seemingly endless products Apple released that will be forgotten about in a few months?

All images are property of Apple Inc.