Briefly: more affordable iMacs from Apple expected by fall
Apple, which recently shaved down the cost of its popular Mac notebook lines, remains on track to pass on similar treatment to its all-in-one desktop line by this fall.
Back in April, AppleInsider reported that the Mac maker, determined to grow its share of the personal computer market during the worst economic backdrop in its corporate history, was gearing up to introduce more affordable versions of both its MacBook and iMac computers.
Roughly six week later at its annual developers conference, the Cupertino-based company announced price cuts of between $100 - $300 on its 13- to 17-inch unibody aluminum notebooks, all of which are now dubbed MacBook Pros.
iMacs were just recently refreshed in March but will see another update by fall, at which time they'll also be repositioned as more affordable offerings. Apple is reportedly mulling similar 7% - 10% price reductions alongside the introduction of those models, people familiar with the company's thinking say.
Thus far, Apple's move towards more affordable notebooks appears to be paying dividends. Citing market sources in Taiwan, DigiTimes reported Friday that Quanta this month is picking up momentum in its notebook shipments "due to increasing orders from Apple."
Back in April, AppleInsider reported that the Mac maker, determined to grow its share of the personal computer market during the worst economic backdrop in its corporate history, was gearing up to introduce more affordable versions of both its MacBook and iMac computers.
Roughly six week later at its annual developers conference, the Cupertino-based company announced price cuts of between $100 - $300 on its 13- to 17-inch unibody aluminum notebooks, all of which are now dubbed MacBook Pros.
iMacs were just recently refreshed in March but will see another update by fall, at which time they'll also be repositioned as more affordable offerings. Apple is reportedly mulling similar 7% - 10% price reductions alongside the introduction of those models, people familiar with the company's thinking say.
Thus far, Apple's move towards more affordable notebooks appears to be paying dividends. Citing market sources in Taiwan, DigiTimes reported Friday that Quanta this month is picking up momentum in its notebook shipments "due to increasing orders from Apple."
Comments
Apple deals in margins, and that won't change anytime soon. But they're looking to have a good Christmas in light of the economic conditions, so it's understandable.
More affordable Macs with Snow Leopard. Seems alright to me . . .
(I've got my eye on a Macbook Air, myself, or a tablet if they'll ever announce one.)
The iMac is already quite reasonable, the Mac Pro has the sticker shock.
AnandTech has been doing some major testing and deconstructing of the Nehelam Mac Pros. I thought the article was going to be released yesterday but it?s looking like week is more likely. Hopefully he details why the price has changed so much.
iMac Extreme
26" IPS monitor
Dual 2.5" drive bays
SSD options
fast GPU
$2299
Shift everything down 7-10 %
I suppose for others a price reduction is great.
I don't care about a price reduction in this current iMac at all. I prefer an complete overhaul with a matte screen, an option for blu-ray perhaps, and of course a new mouse.
I suppose for others a price reduction is great.
It is kind of weird that the mighty mouse doesn't sport any aluminum yet. Personally, the mouse tolerable, but only if you turn off the wicked sensitive side sensors.
The iMac is already quite reasonable, the Mac Pro has the sticker shock.
My sentiments exactly.
AnandTech has been doing some major testing and deconstructing of the Nehelam Mac Pros. I thought the article was going to be released yesterday but it?s looking like week is more likely. Hopefully he details why the price has changed so much.
That is good to know, I am in the Market for one, waiting until October or so for a refresh + Snow Leopard as it will scream on that machine but it's still pricey (and this coming from a guy who own's XServes, XServe RAID, G5 Dual, iMac's, & MBP)
That is good to know, I am in the Market for one, waiting until October or so for a refresh + Snow Leopard as it will scream on that machine but it's still pricey (and this coming from a guy who own's XServes, XServe RAID, G5 Dual, iMac's, & MBP)
I have a feeling that AI staff will post it, but I?ll try to remember to send you a link when it posts.
It is kind of weird that the mighty mouse doesn't sport any aluminum yet. Personally, the mouse tolerable, but only if you turn off the wicked sensitive side sensors.
I agree - odd for a company so dedicated to the form of their products that the mighty mouse doesn't match the wardrobe. I've been using an MS mouse for years that, in addition to better ergonomics IMHO, compliments the all-aluminium motif much better than the mighty mouse (that rarely comes out of the drawer). Hopefully the next iMac refresh will take the peripherals (keyboard included) into account.
I can see the Mac Pro not coming down that much in price. It's a pro machine and really not that unreasonably priced but the mini is going to seem out of place from a pricing perspective if the iMac joins the laptops in being made more attractive from a pricing perspective. Already, here in Canada, the base iMac, running a 2.66 GHz processor retails for $1,399. A mini with a 2.26 GHz processor lists for $1,129. Drop the price of the iMac and the question for a consumer is, why is a computer with no monitor or keyboard or mouse retailing for about the same price as one with all of those and on top of that a significantly faster processor?
What is puzzling is that Apple has chosen to offer in the desktop space two products, one overpriced and the other overkill in terms of expandability and the like. Neither makes sense for the average desktop customer and not all of us what an all-in-one like the iMac.
It's cool that the mac mini has such a compact form factor but if delivering such a unit means a poor value proposition, it seems like a rather odd choice. It's logical that if Apple can't bring the price of the mini down to get it more in line relative to its other products. Apple needs to rethink it's desktop strategy. Perhaps sacrificing a compact form factor could allow the use of less costly desktop components. Simply stop making the mini and intro a new product that is somewhere between the mini and Mac Pro.
I just can't imagine Apple will try to sell minis that are priced virtually the same as iMacs and at that offering inferior performance.
It's cool that the mac mini has such a compact form factor but if delivering such a unit means a poor value proposition, it seems like a rather odd choice. It's logical that if Apple can't bring the price of the mini down to get it more in line relative to its other products. Apple needs to rethink it's desktop strategy. Perhaps sacrificing a compact form factor could allow the use of less costly desktop components. Simply stop making the mini and intro a new product that is somewhere between the mini and Mac Pro.
I just can't imagine Apple will try to sell minis that are priced virtually the same as iMacs and at that offering inferior performance.
For me the problem is the 20" iMac isn't quite as well spec'd as I'd like. I prefer a monitor that's 22" and up. So thus I think a 20" iMac should be a single model and priced at roughly
---------------------------------------------------------------
$899 20"
That way you can bring the 24" model down to
$1299 24" entry
$1499 24" discrete graphics faster CPU
$1999-2299 26" Hero Config iMac in dual-core and quad-core
Dovetails nicely into what will become a
$2499 6-core Mac Pro in 2010
Sounds like a perfect opportunity to announce the
iMac Extreme
26" IPS monitor
I hate it when you tease me like that.
What I'm more concerned with is the fact that we are on the cusp of moving to Nehalem-based systems now. From what I've seen over at Anandtech and other sites, the new architecture offers a dramatic step in performance per watt, so I'm more excited to see when Apple begins shifting the rest of the lineup to Nehalem. With the Mac Pro already on that track, it's about time for the MacBooks, iMacs, and Mac mini to catch up. If Apple updates the iMacs this September/October with nothing more than a speed bump and reduced prices, I think I would still hold off. While it's true that there's always something better around the corner, it's not often that you get a full step-up in terms of architecture generation. Apple has been running the Core/Core 2 Duo architecture for a few years now, so I think I'll pull the trigger when we move to Nehalem irrespective of a price cut.
In my view, Apple is wiling to accept lower margins on Macs because they are experiencing margin expansion in other products lines such as the iPhone and products/services such as MobileMe.
Sounds like a perfect opportunity to announce the
iMac Extreme
26" IPS monitor
Dual 2.5" drive bays
SSD options
fast GPU
$2299
Shift everything down 7-10 %
Agreed, only it will be a 30" iMac Extreme and also introduce the new 30" monitor!
You heard it here first!
Best
It always seems bizarre to me that Apple updates their 'school' line (namely iMac's) in late September or October. To me, it seems to make more sense to do it late August/early September, you know, when people are buying things for school.
Perhaps it's tied to purchasing schedules/planning... or something. I could never make heads or tails of their logic either.