Apple's anticipated iMac revision is set to see the revamp of the consumer desktop machine to incorporate a pro-Mac style aluminium casing, it has been claimed.

How Apple's aluminium iMac might look

Citing "reliable" sources, website ThinkSecret reckons the new models could be announced as early as next week, though the moles also admit that Apple may revise its schedule at the eleventh hour.

If correct, it's a surprising move. While Apple's Mac Pro, MacBook Pro and their Power Mac and PowerBook predecessors have sported brushed aluminium enclosures for some time, it has always gone for white plastic enclosures on the consumer computers to maintain clearly separate looks for the two lines.

That said, its aluminium clad iPod Mini and the second-gen iPod Nano have always proved particularly popular with consumers, and it's tempting to see the iMac revision as a way to cash in on that popularity - particularly if Apple returns to a theme introduced with the second-gen iMac back in 1998: coloured cases.

That would not only allow a more clear line to be drawn between consumer and pro machines but also help differentiate the iMac from Apple's aluminium-clad LCD monitors.

And can we expect a similar update for the MacBook line?