More iMac Details

[MacRumors]

Thinksecret makes (http://www.thinksecret.com/news/februaryimacs2.html) a last minute post regarding expected updates tomorrow (Feb 4th, 2003).

According to them:

The new iMac models are primarily speed-bump editions with the addition of Bluetooth and AirPort Extreme support. That does not include AirPort or Bluetooth cards. Prices will start at US$1299.

A true $1299 base price would represent a $100 price increase... as the current 15" iMac CD-RW starts at $1199.

Early MacRumors' info of the iMac update (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2003/01/20030129220556.shtml) indicated a $1799 high end iMac (17" LCD, 1GHz, 4xDVD-R, Bluetooth/Airport Extreme capable, and DDR RAM)... which we still believe to be true.

ThinkSecret also reports on eMac price drops but no feature upgrades.

[pepeleuepe]

Well this will only make my choice over a new computer that much harder. The iMacs are looking much better assuming that they do get the speed bumps tomorrow. Especially because the new low end Power Mac only has one processor. Hoping for the best for tomorrow.

[MrMacMan]

Wow very good and intresting news.

I hope it is true. TOMMOROW, wow, unexpected.

[Mr Jobs]

i think we will see major price cuts on the imacs like we did on the prwermacs.

[digitalgiant]

Hmmmmmmm, i was going to get a new tower,,,,but now i dont know. I guess that I will have to go to the apple store and take a look.

[yzedf]

Sources report Apple's decision to lower prices is based on the current economic climate, price competition from rival Windows-based PCs and surveys taken in Apple retail stores showing customer dissatisfaction with prices. "During the Christmas buying season, we found many customers bringing in ads from competitors literally comparing system prices and features," said one unnamed source who works at an Apple retail Store. "This was reported back to corporate, and they decided this was becoming more of a factor we had to address to continue gaining 'switchers'."

As I have been saying, compete or die.

[MrMacMan]

Originally posted by yzedf
Sources report Apple's decision to lower prices is based on the current economic climate, price competition from rival Windows-based PCs and surveys taken in Apple retail stores showing customer dissatisfaction with prices. "During the Christmas buying season, we found many customers bringing in ads from competitors literally comparing system prices and features," said one unnamed source who works at an Apple retail Store. "This was reported back to corporate, and they decided this was becoming more of a factor we had to address to continue gaining 'switchers'."

As I have been saying, compete or die.

Compete or die? Pricing is not the only factor with buying... it may be a main reason just not the only factor.

Arn what are your 'people' saying, true or false?

[Billicus]

Interesting. Can't wait to see if this comes true. It's important for Apple to regularly update it's products, and keep their latest and greatest technologies in both their consumer and pro lines. :cool:

[yzedf]

Originally posted by digitalgiant
Hmmmmmmm, i was going to get a new tower,,,,but now i dont know. I guess that I will have to go to the apple store and take a look.

Even before this it was worth a look.

Unless you will be doing a lot of hardcore video or sound production. Or gaming... of course :D

[AWishForNoOne]

that doesn't make sense... why would they say that a price cut is expected but post a higher price than the current imac... hopefully it's typo

[yzedf]

Originally posted by MrMacman


Compete or die? Pricing is not the only factor with buying... it may be a main reason just not the only factor.

Arn what are your 'people' saying, true or false?

I quoted the link on Think Secret (http://www.thinksecret.com/)

Sorry for not being more thorough.

And I was not only referring to price. But in the era of sub $700 1.7 GHz systems from Dell... Apple has to have something to offer that is close in terms of price and performance. And a iMac G3 700 does not compete.

[MrMacMan]

Originally posted by yzedf


I quoted the link on Think Secret (http://www.thinksecret.com/)

Sorry for not being more thorough.

And I was not only referring to price. But in the era of sub $700 1.7 GHz systems from Dell... Apple has to have something to offer that is close in terms of price and performance. And a iMac G3 700 does not compete.

True, but Dell shouldn't sell the 1.7 GHZ systems anyway, they are almost as outdated as the iMac G3 :eek:

[Freg3000]

I seriously doubt the eMac prediction. Come on, a $100 price cut for the low-end model? That's it? When was the last time the eMac was even updated (not the Superdrive model)? I mean, we have gotten much larger price cuts on the last 3 revisions (iBook, Powerbook, and Powermac), with added technology. And Apple plans on giving the eMac the same (which is essentially less, because we need incremental speed increases just to survive in a progressing tech arena) for only a bit less money!!!

Not that I'd even consider buying an eMac, but this makes me believe that Apple is not serious at trying to get into the low end market at all.

Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic.

P.S. I have no idea why I am getting so emotional over the eMac...really, no idea. :)

[kmac]

Originally posted by Macrumors

Early MacRumors' info of the iMac update (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2003/01/20030129220556.shtml) indicated a $1799 high end iMac (17" LCD, 1GHz, 4xDVD-R, Bluetooth/Airport Extreme capable, and DDR RAM)... which we still believe to be true.

ThinkSecret also reports on eMac price drops but no feature upgrades. [/B]


I don't know what to believe anymore, but if the iMac really gets to 1ghz, built-in bluetooth, airport ex AND ddr ram, I'll be the first in-line (or on-line) to buy one.

On a side note, I had the iMac 15" G4 800 for a while and despite the fact that it's still the fastest iMac today (maybe the last day) it's VERY slow comparing to my current 1ghz TiBook, I even maxed out the ram on the iMac to 1gb, it's still slow. I hope they'll improve it with this revision.

[khollister]

I doubt that Apple will fix the major performance issue with the iMacs - no L3 cache. I suspect they will stick with 5400 RPM hard drives also. I believe the new single CPU Power Mac will trounce the 1GHz iMac.

Plus you get to use one of the new 20" Cinema displays :-)

[reyesmac]

When its an all-in-one your looking at, its all or nothing. I think that even with the price drops its still a bit more than people are willing to swallow. I think it would be a better value if the graphics cards are the same as the powermac and monitor spanning is allowed.

[rice_web]

Monitor spanning is a MUST to lure in the prosumer--likely the target audience of Final Cut Express?

[wilburpan]

Originally posted by Macrumors
A true $1299 base price would represent a $100 price increase... as the current 15" iMac CD-RW starts at $1199.
Only if you look at it in terms of "How much do I have to spend for the cheapest iMac I can get?" If the low end iMac has improved specs that match or beat, say, the current Faster iMac, then I would consider that a price drop.

I guess we'll find out in about 12 hours, anyway.:)

[bentmywookie]

1 ghz max is so sad. for real. PCs prices are so low and the pentiums have gotten so fast, that just about any PC you buy over $1000 will be snappy.

Sure OS X is a wonderful OS, but if it is running slowly then that really hampers the computing experience. People buying iMacs shouldn't have to settle for that.

And the DDR Ram (if they get it) will again, not be true DDR.

At least Apple is acknowleding the problem, even in that report that was released a little while ago they noted how their lagging desktop processor speeds are a problem. So that's good.

[kmac]

Maybe if they come out with single 1.25ghz iMac with more powerful graphic card and sell it for $2,199. Would it kill the Powermac sales? It's much more expensive and still have no expandability.

I personally think it will sell well with prohomeuser (not prosumer, pro-homeuser, who plays a lot of games, etc.). And I think it'll not kill Powermac sales as it still lacks many things including choice of monitors and lacks upgradability.

I know I'd be first in line to buy one.

[shadowfax]

Originally posted by bentmywookie
1 ghz max is so sad. for real. PCs prices are so low and the pentiums have gotten so fast, that just about any PC you buy over $1000 will be snappy.

Sure OS X is a wonderful OS, but if it is running slowly then that really hampers the computing experience. People buying iMacs shouldn't have to settle for that.

And the DDR Ram (if they get it) will again, not be true DDR.

At least Apple is acknowleding the problem, even in that report that was released a little while ago they noted how their lagging desktop processor speeds are a problem. So that's good.

i think it's hard to deal with motorola and come out on top in the business.

i don't think a 1000$ pc would be snappy though, and for another thing, you have to define your terms. what the heck does that mean in XP? what's there to be snappy. you know, a 1000$ eMac would run OS 9 REALLY snappy, if you really want that. that's about, maybe slightly less than the quality of the XP OS. i don't feel comfortable with this comparison. OS X is a beautiful, innovative, groundbreaking OS. it's also on the powerhungry side. we pay a premium for that. i think that's part of the deal.

[bentmywookie]

Originally posted by Shadowfax


i think it's hard to deal with motorola and come out on top in the business.

Yeah, that's true. I guess I'm mostly complaining.



i don't think a 1000$ pc would be snappy though, and for another thing, you have to define your terms. what the heck does that mean in XP? what's there to be snappy. you know, a 1000$ eMac would run OS 9 REALLY snappy, if you really want that. that's about, maybe slightly less than the quality of the XP OS. i don't feel comfortable with this comparison. OS X is a beautiful, innovative, groundbreaking OS. it's also on the powerhungry side. we pay a premium for that. i think that's part of the deal.


Ok, I know I wasn't clear. My point is just that for $1000 you can get around a 2 Ghz P4 and from my experience, P4s near that speed, when running XP or ME never feel slow.

Regarding the Emacs, I was messing around with an Emac in an Apple store (it was running OS 9) and man was it slow. I'm not sure why and whether or not that was a problem with that particular one. That was my only experience with an Emac though.

[kmac]

arn,

Didn't you hear anything on the graphic cards? I agree with several people here that GF4MX would make the new iMacs less appealing.

I have no idea why I'm posting now, it's only a few more hours to go, is it too early to start the countdown? 7 Hours...

[Abstract]

I checked the website, and its a 5-7 day delivery time for an iMac purchased today at 4:27am Eastern Time (North American). What does this tell us about these supposed updates?:confused:

[NicoMan]

Originally posted by kmac
arn,

Didn't you hear anything on the graphic cards? I agree with several people here that GF4MX would make the new iMacs less appealing.

I have no idea why I'm posting now, it's only a few more hours to go, is it too early to start the countdown? 7 Hours...

For iLife it came out much later in the day so if it's any indication it is more like 12 hours or whatever.
About the graphics cards, that would be f*?*ing disappointing if we were to get GeForce4MX only.

NicoMan

[Stof]

I don't really believe the ThinkSecret prices. To my amazement an old favorite of mine made an unexpected post: AppleInsider. Their specs suite me a lot better:

"Of the 4 new configurations, three will feature the same 17” wide-screen found on today’s top of the line iMac personal computer, along with a nVidia GeForce 4 MX and Apple Pro Speakers. A forth. $999 low-end, variation will sport 15” LCD display and a nVidia GeForce 2 MX graphics processor.
All models will be powered by an 867MHz PowerPC G4 processor, with the exception of the high-end (‘Best’) configuration, which will sport a 1Ghz PowerPC G4 Processor. The 15” model will include a CD-RW drive, the lower-end 17” configurations will sport Apple’s Combo drive, and the two high-end models will boast an Apple’s Super Drive 2X.
According to sources, all configurations will include built in support for Apple’s Airport Extreme wireless internet technology, as well as Bluetooth wireless peripheral technology. However, sources claim that none of the configurations will include and Airport or Bluetooth card as standard.

15" LCD
867 MHZ
CD-RW
nVidia GeForce 2 MX
128 MB
40 GB
$999

17" LCD
867 MHZ
Combo Drive
nVidia GeForce 4 MX
256 MB
60 GB
Apple Pro Speakers
$1199

17" LCD
867 MHZ
Super Drive
nVidia GeForce 4 MX
256 MB
80 GB
Apple Pro Speakers
$1499

17" LCD
1GHZ
Super Drive
nVidia GeForce 4 MX
512 MB
80 GB
Apple Pro Speakers
$1699

[Abstract]

These are exactly the type of numbers I was thinking of. None of this 20" LCD mumbo-jumbo, and no, I don't think you're going to get anything better than a GeForce4 MX.

The 867 Mhz in most of the iMacs sound right to me as well, since I have always thought that a 1Ghz iMac priced at the same price as a 1Ghz iMac (at $1499) would step on the toes of the PowerMac.

The only thing I can't agree on is the price of the high-end machine. I don't think the price would fall to $1699 --- wishful thinking. I think the high end 1Ghz iMac would be priced at $1899 so as to not kill any sales of the 1Ghz PowerMac. Otherwise, these numbers are what I'm expecting (if there is even an update today ;))

[kieran]

..The Apple Store is down for an update....

[MacKid]

Originally posted by bentmywookie

Sure OS X is a wonderful OS, but if it is running slowly then that really hampers the computing experience. People buying iMacs shouldn't have to settle for that.

Actually, OS X is vector optimized, and my 800MHz 15" is no slowpoke on its own, so I think the 1GHz update can only make it that much faster.;)