Apple updates Mac Pro and iMac lines

Apple has introduced a Mac Pro line featuring up to 12 cores of processing power

Apple has updated its range of desktop computers, and introduced a new monitor and trackpad.

The company shut its online store earlier today to prepare for the updates, which had been rumoured for some time.

Apple has now confirmed the rumours with a new iMac range featuring Intel's Core i3 processors. The top of the range quad-core iMac has an Intel Core i5 chip.

The Mac Pro received major surgery with hexa-core Intel Xeon chips mated with AMD's Radeon HD 5770 graphics card as standard. Customers have the option of specifying a Radeon HD 5870.

At this point, Apple is not offering Nvidia's latest graphics cards in its workstation range.

For those feeling particularly flush, Apple announced the availability of a 512GB solid state drive with the option of specifying up to four in a single Mac Pro. The firm claims that the Flash drives provide up to "two times faster than the average performance of a standard disk drive".

As widely expected, Apple has supplemented its 24in Cinema Display with a 27in LED backlit model that has a resolution of 2,550 x 1,440. The panel uses the same in-plane switching technology as the iPad and iPhone 4.

Finally, Apple has released the Magic Trackpad, a standalone control device akin to a laptop's trackpad, that will bring multi-touch interaction to desktop users.

Apple is still updating its online store, and only the updated iMac and Magic Trackpad are currently available on the site.