$499 Headless iMac?

[MacRumors]

Based on "highly reliable sources", Think Secret reports that Apple is expected to announce a $499 G4 iMac at Macworld Expo, probably 1.25GHz, with 256MB of RAM, a 40GB to 80GB hard drive, a Combo optical drive, USB 2.0, Firewire 400, 10/100Base-T Ethernet, a modem, and support for Airport Extreme, VGA, and DVI, packaged with Appleworks and a special version of iLife without iDVD.

The new Mac is said to be incredibly small and will be housed in a flat enclosure with a height similar to the 1.73 inches of Apple's Xserve. Its size benefits will include the ability to stand the Mac on its side or put it below a display or monitor.

Apple has been working on the low-end Mac for almost a year, sources report. Indications are Apple has been working mostly on finding the right mix of price, performance and features that would motivate Windows users to consider a Mac, and less on the actual engineering of the product. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to design a bare-bones PC," said one source familiar with the project. "What it takes is a team of marketing and software experts to find the right mix to convince Windows users to buy a Mac at a price that is not much more than the cost of an iPod."