How do the "Early 2008/Penryn" Aluminum iMac Core 2 Duo models compare to the original Aluminum models that preceded them?

Please note that all systems mentioned in this Q&A have been discontinued. The "Early 2008/Penryn" iMac models were replaced by the "Early 2009" iMac line on March 3, 2009.

The "Early 2008/Penryn" Aluminum iMac Core 2 Duo models effectively are externally identical to the original Aluminum models that the line replaced. All of these systems use aluminum cases and have a glass cover that "joins precisely to the aluminum enclosure creating a virtually seamless front surface" over a "glossy" display.

Photo Credit: Apple, Inc.

Connectivity between the models in each line is quite similar as well -- all have three USB 2.0 ports, a Firewire "400" port and a Firewire "800" port, built-in AirPort Extreme (802.11/a/b/g/n), and Gigabit Ethernet, as well as mini-DVI, which supports an external display in "extended desktop" mode. The only difference is that the original models have Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and the "Early 2008/Penryn" models support the Bluetooth 2.1+EDR standard.

All of the Aluminum systems have an internal iSight camera (1280x1024) and ship, or shipped, with an "ultra-thin aluminum" Apple Keyboard (0.33 inches at the front edge) based on the polarizing keyboard design introduced with the MacBook. This keyboard has two USB 2.0 ports.

Internal differences between the "Early 2008/Penryn" Aluminum models and the original Aluminum models are much more substantial than the external ones. The "Early 2008/Penryn" systems have faster and more energy-efficient 45 nm "Penryn" processors -- compared to 65 nm "Merom" processors in the original "Aluminum" models -- larger level 2 caches (6 MB compared to 4 MB), faster frontside buses (1066 MHz compared to 800 MHz), and faster memory (PC2-6400 compared to PC2-5300).

The major configuration differences between the "Early 2008/Penryn" models and the original Aluminum model that each immediately replaced are summarized below for your convenience. Please refer to the specs page for the model of interest for complete details.

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