The antenna for Bluetooth and 802.11 has been redesigned as a strip on the back of the computer, eliminating that pesky antenna nub that I've either lost or crushed against the wall more times than I'm willing to admit.

Performance Improvements

As I mentioned before, the improvements in speed in the new hardware are dramatic. My After Effects projects ran more than 60% faster compared with the Power Mac G5 with dual 2.5-GHz processors, and Apple says that X-Code compiling is nearly 80% faster than on earlier models. Final Cut Pro standard-definition rendering yielded results that were 50% faster for me compared to the dual 2.5-GHz machine.

Pricing

The pricing on this machine is up from the previous dual-2.7-GHz models, but it's a bargain when considering the additional processor cores -- and the fact that a comparable Wintel configuration is almost double the cost. There is no reason for any professional facility not to upgrade because the equipment cost will quickly be recouped in the form of higher productivity and the ability to serve more clients faster. And if that doesn't get you excited, just try Final Cut Pro, Aperture or rendering out a 3-D molecule on this machine. I guarantee you'll love it!