Qantas has removed most of the Apple iMacs from its three Sydney airport domestic lounges as part of a month-long trial to see if today's laptop-lugging and tablet-toting business travellers really need desktop computers.

The Qantas Club, Qantas Business Lounge and even the invitation-only Qantas Chairman's Lounge are now largely desktop-free zones, except for a handful of iMacs.

The lounges all have wireless printers which can be accessed on any Windows or Mac laptops as well as from iPads.

In addition, there are five Apple iPads available for short-term loan at each lounge.

The space previously occupied by the iMac machines is still being used as a working area for travellers with BYO tech.

Qantas says the trial will run until late November, after which the airline will evaluate if other lounges around Australia should have most or even all of their iMacs carted away.

In recent years Qantas has upgraded its lounge wi-fi network twice over to offer faster speeds to all guests and cater for the greater demand imposed by the boom in of smartphones, tablets and super-affordable 'ultrabook' laptops. 

Qantas began outfitting its lounges with iMacs in late 2010, although the slim Apple machines which could also run Windows. 

However, Qantas has opted not to install iMacs at its newest international lounges in Singapore, Hong Kong and Los Angeles.

What's your take: do modern airport lounges really need desktop computers, or is fast wi-fi and a wireless printer enough?

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