$499 Headless iMac?

[AmericanIdiot12]

I thought the age of the PC is over. Really!

I lost my Powerbook ~3 months, and never really have the motivation or urge to buy a new one. I have a computer at work, and it meets my needs. Quite frankly, I don't see a compelling reason to have a PC outside of work. One would argue that it really depends on your lifestyle. I agree, and I think a lot of people use theirs at home. For what? Sell their junk on eBay? Buy junk from eBay? Check email from mom?

I always think of myself as ahead of the technological curve e.g. buying cool gadgets before they become popular (iPod). If i'm one of those that sets the trend for what people will buy in the future, technology companies are in for a shocker! The next big thing? Technological regression is the next big thing! I'm gadget-out, man. F the email SH*T, i'm leaving that at work. I'm going to write my friends letters, and so what if it takes 4 days to get there. I'm turning off my cell phone when i leave work. My iPod is finding itself sitting on the dock more and more.

Although, a workable model of adult internet TV come around...Count me in!!


Chomo

what about students
i think they make up a large share of the mac-buyers
i know if i had one i would use it all the time and i use my ipod every day

 

[shawnce]

I am selling...

I am selling when this thread hits 1200 posts.

 

[sushi]

The next big thing? Technological regression is the next big thing! I'm gadget-out, man. ... I'm turning off my cell phone when i leave work.

Interesting perspective.

It seems for many folks, technology drives their lives vice themselves.

A few years ago I started turning off my cell phone when not at work, or when I didn't want to be bothered. Freedom. Feels great to do it. Although at first it was very hard as I was afraid that I would miss an important phone call.

It's funny, but I've had PDAs including the Newton, Pocket PC, Palm OS and some others. Now I am back to pen and paper. Works great. Easy to carry and use. Requires no batteries.

Now I must admit, that my cell phone has become my contact list.

Anyway, my point is that many times we don't need the latest and greatest to get our jobs done or for our personal lives. The majority of people who use computers, do so for e-mail, browsing, wordprocessing, some spreadsheets and the occasional solitaire type (low CPU/Graphic requirements) game. A $499 headless Mac would be wonderful for the Mac community and the switchers. A 1.25Ghz G4 has plenty of power for these tasks.

And for those who need more, they can always get a G5 iMac or G5 PowerMac and customize the heck out of it.

If this rumor proves true, Apple will sell a ton of them.

Sushi

 

[zac4mac]

45 pages?!?!

This is nuts.
If this rumor isn't true, I hope somebody at Apple sees how big/fast this thread has grown.
I've got enough Macs right now, but I can see several of my friends buying one of these if they come out. Put the virus ridden PC in the recycle bin.

Z

 

[Chomolungma]

recommend watching "Fightclub"

what about students
i think they make up a large share of the mac-buyers
i know if i had one i would use it all the time and i use my ipod every day

It ain't all that

trust me, the novelty wears out. Give it 2 to 3 years and you know what I mean. The iPod has a shorter Wow lifespan.

Don't get me wrong, the computer is vital to my work. I can't do work without it.

I don't get it when people say that they like to play with computer. What do they really mean by that? Solitaire? For the love of god, man! Porn? playing with OSX? how? what do you gain?

-Chomo

 

[Chomolungma]

"Pimp my ride"

Interesting perspective.
And for those who need more, they can always get a G5 iMac or G5 PowerMac and customize the heck out of it.


Sushi

What about "Pimp my mac?" Bono would host the reality show.


-Chomo

 

[Doctor Q]

CNN Money story

Lower-priced iMac in '05?
Analyst says model may come out to attract iPod-loving consumers weary of Windows security issues.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Computer Inc. could decide to sell a lower-priced version of its Macintosh computer to attract consumers already enamored of its iPod music player and annoyed by security problems with Windows PCs, according to an analyst at Piper Jaffray.

...

[Gene] Munster said he believed Windows iPod owners and personal computer users irritated by security concerns are more inclined to buy a Mac now than in the recent past. He also said the discount iMac could add to a "halo effect" surrounding the iPod and the growing comfort of PC users in switching to the Mac.

From the Mac Observer:

If the rumors end up not being true, Piper Jaffray is keeping to its estimates that Windows-using iPod owners will Switch at a rate of 13%. ... Mr. Munster also went on record to say he expects Apple to sell 68.5 million songs through the iTunes Music Store during the December quarter, and that Apple will release a flash-based iPod, perhaps as early as January's Macworld San Francisco

 

[irobot2003]

Hmmm just a few thoughts about price... (assuming that this rumor is true)

The CPU costs about $200 if you buy it from Arrows (small batch), so I'm guessing that Apple gets it for about $150.

The GPU + mem (64 or so) is iirc about $20.

The northbride is propably an older design, so say about $10. (after looking at other nb prices this looks reasonable)

Making the board with all of the other components $10. (Based on a conversation with a guy I know that makes embedded boards)

The mem can propably be had for about $30. (based on newegg browsing)

Combo drive + HD (80GB) is propably about $100. (based on newegg browsing)

The case + PSU is (say) $50. (based on newegg browsing)

Software + aditional costs (shipping, keyboard etc..) another $100.

That ends up being about $470 ie a profit of $29US, not huge but there are margins. Not to mention that I wouldn't be suprised if Apple can use their buying powe to shave off another $50US of that. So that the margins end up being $79, or about 16% (15.8...%) of the retail price of $499.

I did some consulting for a small consumer electronics firm a while ago. They would estimate final product price using a rule of thumb of 4 times the parts costs. So if the price is in the $500-600 range I imagine the parts costs aren't more than a couple of hundred to Apple. The rest is manufacturing, development, marketing and profit.

 

[macmax77]

Now that Tiger will be introduced soon Apple should upgrade all of their models to have 512MB standard for better performance even tough it goes with 256. Will Apple give Tiger for free to the once that puchase a computer in january ??

i just bought an iBook 1.2 and an 17 inch iMac, that would be nice, or pehaps a discount.

 

[snahabed]

Is this the longest News Discussion thread in MacRumors history?

I really hope this rumor pans out, as my mother is a prime candidate (Windows 98 user with her own monitor, who is fed up with her crappy system, and doesn't have a ton of $).

It would be NICE if Apple offered a free Tiger upgrade, or if Tiger happened to be ready when these machines are. I imagine it would show great speed gains on a 1.25ghz G4.

 

[macmax77]

After reading all the off topic posts, I did some research on my own yesterday. I made a "Rather" unscientific poll of fellow employees and a few family members. Here are the results:

# People = 17
# Macs = 0
# Pc's = 12

# Pc's OVER 3 ghz = 2
# Pc's UNDER 1ghz = 7

All the machines under 1ghz are running 98 or ME

Now, tell me there is no market for this machine. Has anyone here complaining about the speed of a 1.25ghz Mac actually USED? one. A claim of 5 minutes to start iDVD? Come on man, give me a break. And u timed this using a sundial?

My only REAL mac experience came from running OS X on a Beige g3 W/ a 600mhz G4 card, and 512mb ram. This machine did EVERYTHING I wanted to do on it with ease. Finder, web, mail, etc. NOTE, my home PC is a DUAL Athlon XP 3200+, so I think I would notice a lack of speed. Yes, a 600mhz G4 was quick enough for me, and my family to use with no problems. Come to think of it, the Athlon only got turned on for "Heavy" usage, which obviously a 600mhz G4 could not handle, IE movie encoding, etc.

Now, here is a machine with a much faster (and quartz Extreme capable) video card, 2x the processor speed, 4x the FSB, and everyone is saying "it will be too slow!"

Yes, there are much faster machines. But after my rather unscientific poll, I realized that this would be a BIG UPGRADE to the average consumer, atleast in my neck of the world. Perhaps everyone in your town is running 3+ Ghz P4 Computers, but around here, most people are just happy to get email, etc. I was at a friends house just last month, they asked me to look at the pc in the den. Took 8 minutes to boot to a moving cursor running windows me. Asked what could be done to help it. Not alot I told them, it really needs replaced. Some ram, etc, might bump it, but here is what I could recommend, and no probs!

I dare say anyone that claims a 1.25ghz G4 is unusable for the consumer has:

A. Never truly used one

is

B. Comparing it to something that is NOT in its category

and

C. Has no idea who or what the AVERAGE consumer really is

The average consumer is that guy working in dairymart. The average consumer doesnt know a P4 from an XP from a G4 from a G5. They know they might like the way something looks. They definitely know how much something costs, and that is where this hits the spot!

+1

I think you hit the nail.

Most people will need no more than this.
I have a 1.2 iBook and runs fine for what i do, it even runs Photoshop fine.

Movies and all i can see.

If i need a faster machine i go with the iMac and as soon as i get the need of a faster machine for what i do i will get the Dual 2.5 or something like that, but for now i do well.

I need the machines to work and they do fine , they don't bother me with all those pop ups and the macs don't get in the way of me and my work.

I think a 1.25 G4 mac will do just fine for the regular people and would do very good at the sales dept.

i can see lot's of people if Apple comes with a very good marketing campaign and explains the ease of use on a mac, buying the thing.

I would go with the people that use to make the buds adds, hehehehhe, something funny would make you want to look at the adds .

 

[artifex]

Haha...no no no... the problem isn't just adware and IE... it's much deeper than that.

There's a little thing called Windows Explorer...which is IE software used as the desktop/finder (I'm sure you're aware). Because Microsoft decided to go Commie with their monopoly and make IE and Explorer integrated (therefore unable to be removed without problems), Explorer is the real problem. Even without IE, I still get pop ups as long as I'm connected to the internet, because when a window in Explorer is open on the desktop, you are essentially on an internet network. Pop-ups galore.

So even with FireFox, Windows is still insanely difficult to manage without dropping money on removal software.

Um... that's actually more of a capitalist ideal, to be sole controller of an asset. Remember, it's communism that holds that assets be held by the community as a whole.

 

[artifex]

Lets just see how many people come back after all the shattered dreams, crying saying they were wrong. Look it's a nice thought and it would help Apple's market share....But it's just not in the cards. Shoot I'll buy one just for fun if it happens and suck it up and say I was wrong, but that's not going to happen either!

Actually, I believe you're going to be buying 10 thousand of them.
Wasn't that what your bet was?

 

[artifex]

You've got me beat. My dad only paid $200 to upgrade his Windows 3.1 machine from 640KB to 2MB of RAM.

My dad saved $300+ adding in 16K of RAM to our TRS-80 Model I himself, rather than have Radio Shack do it, back in the day (circa 1981).

 

[zach]

i think apple can make a cheap crt monitor for around $200
monitors these days are pretty cheap (around $90)

Pfft, CRT? Apple could make a cheap CRT for about $120, but I don't want a CRT, Steve Jobs doesn't want a CRT, and Jonathan Ive CERTAINLY doesn't want a CRT.

Macs are being identified with LCDs now, and if we take that away...

 

[Rod Rod]

Is this the longest News Discussion thread in MacRumors history?

I don't know what the all-time record is, but for the news discussion threads currently up (and not in the archive section), Dual 2.5GHz PowerMacs Shipping has 6,159 replies at the moment, spread over 247 pages.

I really hope this rumor pans out, as my mother is a prime candidate (Windows 98 user with her own monitor, who is fed up with her crappy system, and doesn't have a ton of $).

If this turns out to be true I'm getting it for my dad. He got me a Commodore 64 way back when.

It would be NICE if Apple offered a free Tiger upgrade, or if Tiger happened to be ready when these machines are. I imagine it would show great speed gains on a 1.25ghz G4.

If Tiger's not in the box, it'll be $19.95 through the OS X Up To Date Program.

Macs are being identified with LCDs now, and if we take that away...

. . . we'll have holographic displays? or maybe telepathic?

 

[zach]

+1

I think you hit the nail.

Most people will need no more than this.
I have a 1.2 iBook and runs fine for what i do, it even runs Photoshop fine.

Movies and all i can see.

If i need a faster machine i go with the iMac and as soon as i get the need of a faster machine for what i do i will get the Dual 2.5 or something like that, but for now i do well.

I need the machines to work and they do fine , they don't bother me with all those pop ups and the macs don't get in the way of me and my work.

I think a 1.25 G4 mac will do just fine for the regular people and would do very good at the sales dept.

i can see lot's of people if Apple comes with a very good marketing campaign and explains the ease of use on a mac, buying the thing.

I would go with the people that use to make the buds adds, hehehehhe, something funny would make you want to look at the adds .

I agree 100%.

Heck, I have a 700 MHz iBook, with 256 MB of RAM, even, and it runs Photoshop with an acceptable performance hit.

 

[geerlingguy]

Isn't it Ironic... Don't You Think?

I just think it's funny that almost all of us (myself included) are singing Apple praises for 'finally making a low-cost computer that everyone will buy', when all along we were (somewhat grudgingly) saying 'people will buy Macs even if they are more expensive, because they're better!'

A little bit Ironic

 

[Macmaniac]

I just can't wait to see the actual MWSF announcement thread, if this new low end mac is no included boy are people going to pull their hair out

 

[zelmo]

Just spent the past hour or so reviewing the posts since I was here last...Damn, boys!

I'm writing this post on my G4 iMac 800 with 512RAM, which I find plenty zippy for my basic needs. Only hurts when I'm making a DVD with iDVD. I'll usually let that run overnight.

I have a 15" PB G4 1.33/512RAM, which is plenty fast for everything I do.

I use a PM G3 450/384RAM at work every day, primarily running Filemaker, Word, Excel, as well as the applications for the Esko-Graphics Scope RIP workflow our prepress department runs. I'll use Acrobat, Quark, Photoshop, and even InDesign on occasion. Rarely do I complain about that computer being too darn slow.

All I'm saying is that, while I agree that a 1.25GHz G4 is older tech, it is still plenty fast for the vast majority of SOHO users and students. As long as Apple markets the solutions and not the spec's, a $499 or $599 Mac could help double market share over a period of 2-3 years.

I'm not sure how true this rumor is, but I sure would love Appe to make it happen.

 

[Apple of my eye]

G4 has enough power

The 1.5 G4 in my PB affords me enough oomph for FCP HD, Motion, Photoshop and affter effects. Not to mention keeping track of 28 gigs of music and 6000 pictures in iPhoto. A headless unit would be perfect to use as a media center and attatch to a LCD or DLP projection TV.

 

[AllieNeko]

"Ummm...$600 is NOT a highend desktop in the PC world. Im not sure where that thought came from."

Reasonably high end. A pretty nice Athlon 64 system (the closest equivilent to a G5) can be put together for six hundred - look at prices on Newegg.

 

[Armsreach]

Wow, longest thread I've ever seen here. Would like to throw my two cents in.

I'm a graphic artist/fine artist/digitasl photographer. I regularly do work in Photoshop/Illustrator/InDesign that is larger than 24" x 36" at a resolution of 300dpi. I have a 733mhz Quicksilver and a 933 mhz G4 ibook. Both handle everything I throw at them with no issues whatsoever.

I laugh at everyone who says that these computers aren't enough for the market they are aimed at. My wife has a 1.25 Ghz G4 Powerbook, and when I get to use it, it's like a dream. In my experience, for what I use the processor for, if it can handle what I throw at it, this is the perfect option for a low-cost headless Mac, something I've secretly been wanting for quite some time.

Next summer I will finally be in the market for a G5 and will have the money for the high end model, whatever it be at the time. If this rumor does pan out to be true, I will gladly add it to my order as I begin to expand my studio.

[edit]

Would like to add that in the quicksilve I have 1.25 Gigs of RAM and in the iBook I have 768 MB of RAM, a large factor in the ability of my machines to run the tasks that I throw at them, SO the RAM upgradability of the machine is an important issue. Even if it does come with 256, if I can throw a 512 or a gig chip into it from crucial, then I'll be happy.

[/edit]

 

[Apple of my eye]

Headless imac = Media center

Throw out microsofts webtv, who needs Tivo?, ad what is the point of of the DLink Medialounge. Hook up your headless imac to a HDTV and get the bluetooth wireless keyboard and mouse. With the new quicktime codec streaming HD 1080i at 6-7Mbits per second you could have some serious video streaming going on at home. The headless imac could be to video what the airport express was to audio creating the perfect multimedia setup.

 

[zach]

"Ummm...$600 is NOT a highend desktop in the PC world. Im not sure where that thought came from."

Reasonably high end. A pretty nice Athlon 64 system (the closest equivilent to a G5) can be put together for six hundred - look at prices on Newegg.

No, you're wrong. A pretty good Athlon 64 PROCESSOR is closer to 600 dollars than the system would be. Honestly, you can't get a system comparable to a G5 without paying 2,000 or more...