The iMac has come such a long way from the days when it resembled a very chic lampshade. The best part about the refresh of the iMac line is the introduction of a 24-inch model for only $1,499, thus proving that the rumor mill is right once again, though the mutterings of an iMac refresh have been audible since prior to Macworld.

We're now down to one 20" model for $1199US, which features a 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 duo processor, 2GB memory (upgradeable to 8GB), 320GB hard drive, 8x double-layer SuperDrive and a NVIDIA GeForce 9400M video card with 256MB of shared DDR3 memory.

We now have three flavors of 24" iMacs to choose from now, ranging from $1499US up to $2199US. The $1499 model has the same 2.66GHz processor as the 20" while the $1799 bumps you up to 2.93GHz (3.06GHz optional) and the $2199 has 3.06GHz. All three 24" models come with 4GB memory with the option to upgrade to 8. The two lower-end 24" models come with 640GB hard drives (can be upgraded to 1TB), while the high-end comes with a 1TB drive.

The $1499 24" has the same video card as the 20", but the $1799 model has a NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 with 256MB of GDDR3 memory video card and the $2199 model has a NVIDIA GeForce GT 130 with 512MB of GDDR3 memory video card. Both of these models can upgrade to a ATI Radeon HD 4850 with 512MB of GDDR3 memory for an additional $200.

All the models come with six USB ports, sorta: Four on the machine itself and two on the keyboard, then a single FireWire 800 port, built-in iSight camera and MiniDisplayPort. It also comes with a wired keyboard -- sans numeric keypad. If you want a wired keyboard with a numeric keypad, it's free but you'll have to indicate it when doing a BTO order on Apple's site.

Apple seems to be out to make 20" displays a thing of the past as the iMac narrows its line down to the one 20" machine, and the 20" Cinema Display has disappered completely. By introducing a third 24" iMac at the same price of the former high-end 20", Apple is making sure that these larger machines are becoming more affordable.

I'm a big fan of the Mac mini: a surprisingly capable machine in an impossibly small size. There have only been a few major snags for me in the time I've owned Mac minis, and most of those were cleared up this morning. I know some will be disappointed to lose the FireWire 400 port, but I'm ecstatic about the FireWire 800 replacement. Second, I've always had to put a 4-port USB hub on my mini, and really only ever needed one more port ... I'm apparently not alone, as Apple added a fifth USB port as well.

The graphics boost will be a great upgrade for my media center. I'm still waiting for the Apple TV/Mac mini mashup to happen, but for now the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics card with Mini DisplayPort and Mini-DVI video out will do nicely. Have you been waiting to run 2 monitors on your Mac mini without expensive additional hardware? That Mini DisplayPort should open up new possibilities.

The memory in the new minis can be expanded up to 4GB, and the 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo is more than capable of handling any daily computing task. Sure, you might want to look at the new Mac Pros if you're doing some serious video editing or CPU-intensive work, but I've found the Mac mini makes a great machine for tethered photography, writing, office work, development, even running my home web server. The refreshed mini comes in two models, the major difference being RAM and hard drive space: 1GB of memory and 120GB HD will run you $599US, and for $799US you can double your RAM (2GB) and almost triple your drive space (320GB). With the FireWire 800 port, I'm more than happy running large external drives, and I'm not shy about putty knives, either.

It appears that the leaks/rumors we saw yesterday were spot-on. It's not an explosive update to these rugged little computers, but it covers a few bases I was hoping for and proves that, for now, the Mac mini is not dead (despite rumors from the not-too-distant past).

We've talked about the Data Robotics Drobo storage solution here on TUAW a few times, but there hasn't been a hands-on review of the device on this blog...until now.

The Drobo is a mass storage solution that takes advantage of RAID -- Redundant Array of Independent Disks -- to provide a single large volume by combining two to four "naked" (not in an separate enclosure) hard disk drives. Drobo uses a proprietary system called "BeyondRAID" to do this while eliminating a lot of the administrative headaches that are normally associated with setting up RAID arrays.

Drobo uses a combination of RAID 1 (mirroring) and RAID 5 (striping) to provide relatively fast response times and redundancy. If a drive fails, you simply pop it out of the array and pop in a new one. Drobo takes care of rebuilding the new disk while the array is in use. While many traditional RAID solutions require all drives to have exactly the same capacity, you can mix or match drive sizes with Drobo. This makes storage growth quite easy to manage -- as new, larger capacity hard drives appear in the future, you just need to pull out a smaller drive or two and replace them with the larger drives. Drobo takes care of integrating the new disk or disks into the array. Click the Read More link for the rest of this post.

For those of you who were waiting to buy a Data Robotics Drobo, wait no longer!

Data Robotics announced the release of the second iteration of their 4-bay expandable storage solution, Drobo. Many potential buyers were aghast at the original version's lack of FireWire, so the company added FireWire 800 (FireWire 400 compatible) ports to the original USB 2.0 connection. Transfer speeds with FireWire 800 are expected to be about double those of the USB connection.

The new Drobo also has improved software. The old model would see a drop in performance after the array reached about 50% of capacity. With the new software, performance remains steady regardless of how much data you've packed into your Drobo. Data Robotics says Mac users can expect a performance increase of 10 - 200%.

When new, higher-capacity drives become available, you'll be able to expand the capacity of your Drobo to up to 16 TB. That should be enough to handle all of my TUAW comment email! The second-generation Drobo becomes available in about three weeks, and the original $499 price tag is still in effect for an unpopulated box (no drives included).

Updated to note that no FireWire 400 ports are included. Thanks to Neg and See3Pio for the heads-up!

Do you need a bus-powered 1 TB hard disk? You're in luck - LaCie announced the Little Big Disk Quadra today.

Available in early July, the Little Big Disk Quadra uses a pair of drives in a RAID 0 configuration for speedy response. My personal concern is that if one of the two RAID drives goes out, you'd lose all of the data in the array. Although LaCie states that it's "Compatible with Time Machine", the Little Big Disk Quadra is probably better-suited as a scratch drive for video work on the go.

This is a tiny drive considering the capacity - the outside dimensions are 1.6 x 3.3 x 5.5 in. (40 x 85 x 140 mm) and it tips the scales at 1.4 lbs (650 g). You don't need to use the included AC adapter when using the Little Big Disk Quadra with FireWire 400 or 800, but you will need it when using the drive with eSATA or USB 2.0.

Some sites are stating immediate availability, but LaCie has confirmed that it will be several weeks before the Little Big Disk is available.

Laurie just covered the release of the new Core 2 Duo MacBook Pros, which tout an impressive 39% speedboost (or so Apple claims). But some of the best new tidbits are hidden inside the press release:

• All MacBook Pro models now include a FireWire 800 port -- meaning we can all rest assured in the belief that Apple isn't slowly abandoning FireWire after all. Also great news for everyone who purchased FireWire 800 hard drives during the PowerBook G4 reign.
  
• The MacBook Pros also support more memory -- up to 3GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM.
• Storage capacity has increased, too -- you can get a 200GB HD via Apple's online store.
• All MacBook Pros also now come standard with a double-layer SuperDrive (I don't remember specifically if these were included in the previously-updated MBP models -- if not, they are now!)
  

The gap between the MacBooks and MacBooks Pros is constantly growing, as we see Apple pushing the Pros in a more Pro-line direction. At least now it's easier to justify the huge price difference.

Update: Interestingly, Apple also released a MagSafe airline adapter. From Apple: "With a MagSafe Airline Power Adapter, you'll never again worry about losing power while traveling. Just plug it into your airline seat power port and keep your MacBook or MacBook Pro powered up for the entire flight." It comes with two different connectors (EmPower and a 20mm adapter) and costs $59.00.

At least the Apple Store wasn't down this time for too long: today, Apple introduced the 17" MacBook Pro with an Intel Core Duo processor. It's lost .1 lb, now weighing a mere 6.8 lb, and also features a built-in iSight, Front Row and MagSafe - just like its 15" little brother.

The new 17" MacBook Pro comes with a 2.16 Intel Core Duo processor, a 667 MHz front-side bus, a 36% brighter display, 1 GB of DDR2 RAM, a 120 GB 5400-rpm SATA drive (standard), a 256 MB ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 card and - get this: an 8x double-layer SuperDrive, one FireWire 400, one FireWire 800, and three USB 2.0 ports. I guess they had some extra room to work with in the 17" to fit in those extra features that the 15" MacBook Pro lost.

The 17" MacBook Pro sells for $2799 and will begin shipping next week.