Briefly: more affordable iMacs from Apple expected by fall

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
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."
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 209
    asciiascii Posts: 5,936member
    The iMac is already quite reasonable, the Mac Pro has the sticker shock.
  • Reply 2 of 209
    quadra 610quadra 610 Posts: 6,757member
    Seems for the time being Apple can afford to give a little on price. As the economy gradually recovers (which is aonyone's guess as to when), expect prices to freeze or slowly climb.



    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.)
  • Reply 3 of 209
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ascii View Post


    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.
  • Reply 4 of 209
    rokkenrokken Posts: 236member
    I know a price drop of the Mac mini is rather unlikely, but is there any chance they receive an update before the end of this year? I am travelling to Hong Kong in December and hopefully pick one up there.
  • Reply 5 of 209
    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.
  • Reply 6 of 209
    mitchelljdmitchelljd Posts: 167member
    me... im hoping for this and ... apple finally adding blu-ray integration. hell even cheap dell's have BD-rom for their cd/dvd burning drives.
  • Reply 7 of 209
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    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 %
  • Reply 8 of 209
    teckstudteckstud Posts: 6,476member
    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.
  • Reply 9 of 209
    nace33nace33 Posts: 94member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by teckstud View Post


    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.
  • Reply 10 of 209
    hypoluxahypoluxa Posts: 694member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ascii View Post


    The iMac is already quite reasonable, the Mac Pro has the sticker shock.



    My sentiments exactly.
  • Reply 11 of 209
    o4blackwrxo4blackwrx Posts: 383member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    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)
  • Reply 12 of 209
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by O4BlackWRX View Post


    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.
  • Reply 13 of 209
    dromendromen Posts: 2member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nace33 View Post


    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.
  • Reply 14 of 209
    carmissimocarmissimo Posts: 837member
    Which begs the question, what about the mac mini?



    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.
  • Reply 15 of 209
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Carmissimo View Post


    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
  • Reply 16 of 209
    davebarnesdavebarnes Posts: 366member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hmurchison View Post


    Sounds like a perfect opportunity to announce the

    iMac Extreme

    26" IPS monitor



    I hate it when you tease me like that.
  • Reply 17 of 209
    kingkueikingkuei Posts: 137member
    I actually don't feel that the iMacs are overpriced for what you get. It's a very well-integrated all-in-one that offers most of the connectivity features that I think people look for. It's got 802.11n, Bluetooth, Firewire, USB, iSight, etc., which means you can pretty much set it up in any spot in the house and do what you need to do with it. Then add on the fact that you basically get a 20" or 24" LED-backlit screen with it (at least on the 24" you do), and it all fits inside a clean package that requires only a single cord (assuming you use a wireless keyboard/mouse).



    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.
  • Reply 18 of 209
    amac4meamac4me Posts: 282member
    Price cuts are one thing, margins are another.



    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.
  • Reply 19 of 209
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hmurchison View Post


    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
  • Reply 20 of 209
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by whatisgoingon View Post


    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.
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