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iMac Prices?

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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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MacNews.tc.net claims to have prices/specs for an upcoming iMac bump at MWSF, which basically represent iMac speed bumps with a corresponding price drop:

15", 800MHz, $999
17", 867MHz, $1199
17", 867 MHz, $1499
17", 1GHz, $1699

MacNews.net.tc is a relatively new site with an unknown rumor record, and this simply may represent educated speculation. Previously, it is the only site to claim a color iPod II with MPEG-4 Video and Color Screen for MWSF.
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2002/12/30/imac-prices/
not bad, but 867 is not really worth the price increase from 800. a 933 and a 1.something would be better gaps. but at least my 800 iMac is not out of date for another little while. phew
 
I'd be very happy if this were true, but it sounds like it's just someone making educated guesses. I'll definitely be the first in line to buy the 1ghz model if it comes out, though.
 
If this is true, I think it's great that they kept the 15" and priced it under $1000. That's exactly what Apple needs to be doing: upgrading their lines but keeping their old models and lowering the prices on them. Apple won't lose prestige by releasing lower-priced models, since their products have the best designs anyway. The iBook didn't lose any prestige when the $999 model came out.

Besides, I don't see why everyone is so hot to discontinue the 15" displays. I use a 15" LCD display every day at work and not once thave I thought to myself "gee, this display is so small." Granted, I run my display at 1028x764 wether I'm on my 12.1" iBook, my 17" LCD display at home, or my 15" LCD display at work, so display size isn't a critical factor for me.

Also, I really hope they keep the CRT iMac and add the new 800MHz Sahara G3 and ATI Radeon 7500 to it. They could keep that price at $799 and then still sell the existing 600MHz model for $699 or even $599. This would be great for really budget-conscious buyers, like schools. At $599 (and less for education customers, especially buying in bulk) the 600MHz iMac would be more or less in the same price range as a low-end Dell desktop w/monitor, and would help Apple hold on to its rapidly diminishing education market share.
 
Originally posted by lmalave
If this is true, I think it's great that they kept the 15" and priced it under $1000. That's exactly what Apple needs to be doing: upgrading their lines but keeping their old models and lowering the prices on them.
Click to expand...


You're exactly right. Unfortunately this is something Apple haven't realised themselves yet.
 
Originally posted by lmalave

Also, I really hope they keep the CRT iMac and add the new 800MHz Sahara G3 and ATI Radeon 7500 to it. They could keep that price at $799, and then still sell the 600MHz model for $699 or even $599. This would be great for really budget-conscious buyers, like schools. At $599 (and less for education customers, especially buying in bulk) the 600MHz iMac would be more or less in the same price range as a low-end Dell desktop w/monitor, and would help Apple hold on to its rapidly diminishing education market share.
Click to expand...

if this rumor were true and apple could release an LCD iMac for sub 1000, then you would assume, since the components are very similar, that the eMac would be able to be lowered in price as well since it has a CRT monitor that shuold be substantially cheaper. given that they don't need has high a profit margin for educational machines, I would think they could sell the eMac in that kind of price range you are talking abuot, at least the high end of that range.

Thats assuming the rumor is true however.

I don't think you'll see any changes to the CRT iMac though, esoecially as far as video stuff. They might, but I'd be mildly surprised. It hasn't been updated in well over a year at this point. You get the feeling apple doens't relaly want to sell those machines.
 
the only way this rumor can be true is if powermacs are getting large speed bumps. although the powermacs have dual processors, i don't think that it's a very convincing factor for many people and if you see an imac with a 1ghz and a built in 17inch for the same price as a bare bones dual 867, you would probably have to think long and hard about which is the better deal (excluding the obvious condition that you are doing heavy media editing). it's the same reasoning behind not putting the 1ghz+ sahara g3s in the ibooks to prevent canibalizing the powerbook market.

therefore, i hope that this rumor (or educated guess) is true, as it would signal more powerful towers.
 
Originally posted by strider42


if this rumor were true and apple could release an LCD iMac for sub 1000, then you would assume, since the components are very similar, that the eMac would be able to be lowered in price as well since it has a CRT monitor that shuold be substantially cheaper. given that they don't need has high a profit margin for educational machines, I would think they could sell the eMac in that kind of price range you are talking abuot, at least the high end of that range.

Thats assuming the rumor is true however.

I don't think you'll see any changes to the CRT iMac though, esoecially as far as video stuff. They might, but I'd be mildly surprised. It hasn't been updated in well over a year at this point. You get the feeling apple doens't relaly want to sell those machines.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I though about lower eMac prices. They just fairly recently added the $100 rebate on the low-end eMac to bring it down to $999, so I see them lowering the price on the low-end eMac to maybe $899, no rebate needed (this is if they follow the strategy I'm advocating).

I see your point how they don't seem to want to sell the CRT iMacs - how else to justify the $799 price? Again though, if they followed my strategy they would sell an 800MHz model for something like $699 (based on an $899 eMac price), and keep a 600MHz model for $599. I agree, though, such a move seems doubtful given Apple's past history. But maybe Apple is seeing the light, given their recent moves to price the iBook and the eMac (and next possibly the LCD iMac) for under $1000? Maybe based on their recent success lowering the iBook prices, they would lower the price on the CRT iMac along with their (hopefull) upcoming price drop on the eMacs and FP iMacs.
 
Just a 100-200 Mhz speed bump? Come on, these new iMacs have been around for a whole year now.
OK, the $200 price drop is nice, but I doubt any switcher is going to buy a sub-1Ghz computer.
But it does look like 133 MHz busses... that's an improvement.
 
Originally posted by FattyMembrane
the only way this rumor can be true is if powermacs are getting large speed bumps. although the powermacs have dual processors, i don't think that it's a very convincing factor for many people and if you see an imac with a 1ghz and a built in 17inch for the same price as a bare bones dual 867, you would probably have to think long and hard about which is the better deal (excluding the obvious condition that you are doing heavy media editing). it's the same reasoning behind not putting the 1ghz+ sahara g3s in the ibooks to prevent canibalizing the powerbook market.

therefore, i hope that this rumor (or educated guess) is true, as it would signal more powerful towers.
Click to expand...

Or maybe Apple finally realized that they're so screwed in the pro market (thanks, Motorola :mad: ), that instead of doubling their losses by also being uncompetitive in the consumer market, they may as well just start making the best computers they can and forget about purposefully holding back the consumer lines just to keep an artificial separation between the consumer and pro lines. I really believe that if Apple forgot about cannibalizing sales and just put the best components they could in the iBooks and iMacs, their overall revenues would skyrocket and their profits would go up significantly.

Ok, I haven't seen anything from Apple that really makes me think that they are going to change their strategy in this regard, but I can still dream....
 
Originally posted by MacsRgr8
Just a 100-200 Mhz speed bump? Come on, these new iMacs have been around for a whole year now.
OK, the $200 price drop is nice, but I doubt any switcher is going to buy a sub-1Ghz computer.
But it does look like 133 MHz busses... that's an improvement.
Click to expand...

Ummm...I switched when they lowered the price on the Combo drive iBook. I think the same argument could apply to laptops, since for $1300 I could've gotten a 1.8GHz Pentium 4 or something laptop (which would've weighed 8 lbs. and had less than 2 hours battery life).

I think the average consumer is a lot more sensitive to price now than they are to MHz. Think about what percentage of consumers, most of them PC users, have looked longingly at the ultracool FP iMac. Any price drop will push just a few more consumers to go ahead and make the leap and buy a cool new toy for themselves and their family. Screw MHz, the big story here is the price drop below $1000.

Also, keep in mind that having lower-priced models means Apple can more effectively "upsell". By going under the magical $1000 barrier, Apple gets a lot more people interested in and actually looking at their computers. Then when they go to the store to take a look at it, they actually walk out with a more expensive model because they were sold on the SuperDrive and/or a larger display.
 
Originally posted by lmalave


I think the average consumer is a lot more sensitive to price now than they are to MHz. Think about what percentage of consumers, most of them PC users, have looked longingly at the ultracool FP iMac. Any price drop will push just a few more consumers to go ahead and make the leap and buy a cool new toy for themselves and their family. Screw MHz, the big story here is the price drop below $1000.
Click to expand...

You could be right about that. But I personally feel that an 800 MHz G4 is really not fast enough. Mac OS X doesn't feel snappy running on this iMac. Just the cool looks of the FP iMac is not enough to sell it.
When consumers buy new computers, they expect them to be fast. And a snappy finder, or webbrowsing is what the average consumer experiences as "fast".
 
More to iMac than speed

They need to get Worms, the game, on OS X. that's the best game ever made, and is almost free (like $3), and is kid/family friendly. Get rid of the bugdom stuff, worms is it.
 
Let's all hope that this rumor is true because it would make my day along with a lot of other people. If this holds true then I would expect the eMacs to get no updates but have a $150 price drop across the line. I would also expect at least a $100 price drop on the iMac G3. These predictions sound reasonable with the exception of the iPod rumor.
 
Just Trolling

You don't have to worry cause you have no money, trolls on the river are happy to give.

trolling, trolling, trolling on the river
 
Originally posted by richard5mith



You're exactly right. Unfortunately this is something Apple haven't realised themselves yet.
Click to expand...

Well, let's see, they lowered the iBook prices and the PB prices, so I'd tend to disagree with you on this issue.
 
Originally posted by MacsRgr8


You could be right about that. But I personally feel that an 800 MHz G4 is really not fast enough. Mac OS X doesn't feel snappy running on this iMac. Just the cool looks of the FP iMac is not enough to sell it.
When consumers buy new computers, they expect them to be fast. And a snappy finder, or webbrowsing is what the average consumer experiences as "fast".
Click to expand...

Hmmm...I guess it's all relative - I think Jaguar feels snappy on my 800MHz G3 iBook. Finder is snappy and so is browsing (with Chimera, anyway). And keep in mind, my mom is still happy with her 450MHz Pentium II and a 56K modem, running Win98, which is way slower in every respect than my iBook. I know my mom would definitely not think the G4 iMac was slow. I would consider my mom a typical non-techie mass-market user, and myself a power user, so I think an iMac running Jag is plenty fast enough for the vast majority of the market.
 
a 200Mhz increase and a $300 price drop???? Get real... I call that an un-educated guess!
 
Originally posted by lmalave


Hmmm...I guess it's all relative - I think Jaguar feels snappy on my 800MHz G3 iBook. Finder is snappy and so is browsing (with Chimera, anyway). And keep in mind, my mom is still happy with her 450MHz Pentium II and a 56K modem, running Win98, which is way slower in every respect than my iBook. I know my mom would definitely not think the G4 iMac was slow. I would consider my mom a typical non-techie mass-market user, and myself a power user, so I think an iMac running Jag is plenty fast enough for the vast majority of the market.
Click to expand...

Ofcourse, everything is relative. But honestly, have you ever tried to resize an Explorer window running Jaguar? I use Chimera too, but IE is the default browser, and currently the ONLY browser shipped with the Mac.
A new iMac doesn't "feel" fast running Jaguar.
Don't get me wrong: I love OS X but my mom would compare the two computers in a store, and she would definitely spot the speed difference.
But, my mom would fall in love with the looks of the Flat Panel.... ;)
 
price is whats gonna sell

all this talk about the 800FP not being snappy, i bought the 700FP and i love it, i have no problems with its speed, i was going to buy a dual 867 PM, but realized whats the point the 450 Compaq i had was fine for what iuse it for, MP3, Word, Video editing, Web design, and games. Im 16 i really don't care about haveing a 3ghz computer, all i wanted was a computer that was cheap, easy to use, nice, and did what i needed it to do. Most people peple who are like me feel the same. And for the people that are gonna dissagree with me because im 16, im not ignorant when it comes to computers. Price cuts is what apple needs, speed bumps are good to but the way moto has screwed apple, price is gonna be the selling point, for the short term.
 
Re: price is whats gonna sell

Originally posted by zulgand04
And for the people that are gonna dissagree with me because im 16, im not ignorant when it comes to computers. Price cuts is what apple needs, speed bumps are good to but the way moto has screwed apple, price is gonna be the selling point, for the short term.
Click to expand...

Good point:short term.
You sound a lot more mature than 16! :)
 
Originally posted by MacsRgr8


Ofcourse, everything is relative. But honestly, have you ever tried to resize an Explorer window running Jaguar? I use Chimera too, but IE is the default browser, and currently the ONLY browser shipped with the Mac.
A new iMac doesn't "feel" fast running Jaguar.
Don't get me wrong: I love OS X but my mom would compare the two computers in a store, and she would definitely spot the speed difference.
But, my mom would fall in love with the looks of the Flat Panel.... ;)
Click to expand...

Well, hopefully Apple will make Chimera the default soon enough. IE on OS X has other major problems, though, such as a delay of about a second or so just to check a freakin' checkbox on a form! That aside, I don't think a user would really tell the difference in speed in a store between a Mac and a PC, at least if all they were doing was poking around or surfing the web or whatever. It's not as if Windows Explorer is instantaneous! I often notice lags in Windows explorer when expanding a folder, clicking on a folder to rename it, etc., and I use a fairly recent model Pentium 4 desktop at work.
 
Originally posted by lmalave


Well, hopefully Apple will make Chimera the default soon enough. IE on OS X has other major problems, though, such as a delay of about a second or so just to check a freakin' checkbox on a form! That aside, I don't think a user would really tell the difference in speed in a store between a Mac and a PC, at least if all they were doing was poking around or surfing the web or whatever. It's not as if Windows Explorer is instantaneous! I often notice lags in Windows explorer when expanding a folder, clicking on a folder to rename it, etc., and I use a fairly recent model Pentium 4 desktop at work.
Click to expand...

Well, it's like you said: everything is relative.
Let's hope Chimera will be it soon. It has been a long time since there were no M$ apps installed on a default Mac OS installation.
 
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