Paris ? The latest computer in the iMac family literally puts Apple’s trademark minimalism on a pedestal. The processor and drives are built into a sleek flat-panel display.

“A lot of people are going to be asking, ‘Where did the computer go?'” said Phil Schiller, Apple Computer Inc. senior vice president, as he introduced the new iMac on Tuesday, the opening day of the Apple Expo in Paris.

The announcement ended days of fevered speculation about the launch, postponed from earlier this year because of inadequate supplies of the G5 processors made by IBM Corp.

Available in 17-inch and 20-inch versions beginning in mid-September, the new iMac looks like a 2-inch-thick monitor.

Inside, however, is a large hard drive, 256 megabytes of memory and an ultra-fast processor of the kind reserved until now for Apple’s professional Power Mac desktops. CDs or DVDs disappear into the side of the white panel, as they are fed into a drive behind the screen.

Schiller said the basic 17-inch model, with a 1.6 gigahertz processor and 80 gigabyte hard drive, would be on sale at $1,299.

That matches the price tag of the first iMac model, a translucent all-in-one cathode-ray-tube design that sold 6 million units after its 1998 introduction and helped Apple draw a line under three years of losses.

But some analysts suggested the new iMac could be priced too high to become another hit.

“We’ve moved forward on the market by six years, and I would have liked to see a lower price point,” said Roger Kay, a senior analyst with global IT consultancy IDC.

Apple Expo visitors look at the iMac G5, a new system that features a G5 processor and a new design that integrates the entire computer right into the flat panel display. The event opened Tuesday and runs through Saturday. The new computer is expected to be available in a couple of weeks.

“I also don’t know if an all-in-one has the same punch that it did in 1998,” he said. “I’m not sure it will be a slam dunk.”

Apple said the new top-end iMac, with a 1.8 gigahertz processor, 20-inch screen and 160 gigabyte hard drive, will go on sale at $1,899. All models feature three USB and two FireWire ports and can be expanded to 2 gigabytes of memory.

It was Apple that pioneered the use of point-and-click operating systems in commercial computing in the 1980s. But the company refused to license its software to other manufacturers and steadily lost market share to rivals using Microsoft — a slide that accelerated with the arrival of Windows 95.

The company has scored some recent successes in its fight to remain a force on the desktop computer market. Apple says the runaway successes of its iPod music player and iTunes download site have helped boost computer sales.

The new iMac also will be crucial to Apple’s attempts to keep its stronger footholds in markets such as education, where it is facing a stiff challenge from Dell Inc., whose education market share topped 45 percent last year.

Some 70,000 people are expected to visit the 2004 Apple Expo, the company’s main annual products showcase in Europe.