Apple Computer Inc. on Tuesday unveiled its first Mac computers based on Intel processors, marking a big shift of the computer maker.

Addressing a packed crowd of the Apple faithful in the annual Macworld show in San Francisco, chief executive Steve Jobs released the long-awaited new products: the desktop and laptop machines using Intel's dual core chips.

The iMac will come in the same sizes and sell for the same prices as the current models, but the Intel chips make it two to three times faster, Jobs said.

A 1.83-gigahertz version of the iMac with a 17-inch screen sells for 1,299 U.S. dollars.

A new laptop computer, called the MacBook Pro, will be available in February. The machine, four to five times faster than current PowerBook laptops, will also include a built-in camera for video conference, he said.

"The MacBook Pro is the fastest Mac notebook ever, obviously," Jobs said.

Apple had used the PowerPC processors made by IBM and Motorola in its Macintosh computers for more than two decades. But the company planned a shift to Intel last year, after the PowerPC processor was criticized as being slower.

With the first personal computer Apple II, Apple had pioneered the information technology during the 1980s. Now Apple computers' market share is shrinking under competition from cheap producers such as Dell, but the company still has a group of loyal fans.

Source: Xinhua