Apple Updates iMacs and eMacs

applematters writes "Apple has updated the iMacs, they are faster and incorporate AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth. There are two models, the 15-inch and 17-inch. For good measure the eMac has also been updated, and you can get it brand new for under a thousand bucks. Not bad."

Comments

Re:End of the G4?

[sweetooth]

I think it's more likely that they are just trying to show a profit next quarter. The price cuts look more like an attempt to sell more product. Hence we see new products with slightly lower prices, drastic price cuts on the cinema displays, price cuts on the eMac (which was overpriced before) and slight improvments to the iMac.

Of course I would love to believe that they have a new processor lined up, it just seems too soon for some reason.

Not bad? Try really bad

[X_Caffeine]

There was one point in the last decade where more Macintoshes were being sold to Windows users than people who already owned Macs. That was when the iMac was first introduced, at a $1000 price point. For the first time, a low-end Mac cost as much as a low-end PC, and buyers flocked to them.

Today a low-end PC can be had for ~$500 (less if you're willing to go with Lindows). If Apple really wants "switchers," they need to have a low-end machine for $500. The eMac just isn't affordable enough. (and there's no doubt in my mind that 700mhz G3 iMacs, which are still available for $800, could be sold profitably for about $500)

btw, the low-end eMacs are still shipping with 128mb RAM. Has anyone here tried running Jag with 256mb? What's another 128mb SDR cost, $20?

Re:Not bad? Try really bad

[Twirlip of the Mists]

If Apple really wants "switchers," they need to have a low-end machine for $500.

A common fallacy. Apple doesn't build low-end machines. Every machine they ship, for example, includes a built-in AirPort antenna. Hell, I think you can still buy bargain-basement PC's that don't come with Ethernet in them! Although God knows why you'd want to...

Apple really doesn't care about the low-end market. They care about selling high-end machine for good profit margins.

Has anyone here tried running Jag with 256mb?

You mean Jaguar? Yes. It runs just fine. If you run too many memory-hungry programs at once, you'll start swapping, but that's to be expected.

Re:Not bad? Try really bad

[Twirlip of the Mists]

Of course they have low-end machines -- the 700mhz iMac is low-end relative to the dual-proc 1.4ghz G4.

Yes, the iMac is relatively inferior to the G4. But the iMac is not a low-end computer. It has built-in FireWire, wireless networking, and one of the best flat-panel displays I've ever seen, just to name three things. The most bare-bones, stripped-down computer Apple sells is equivalent to everybody else's mid-range machines.

and those Airport antennas? it's just a cable whip, it couldn't cost more than a couple bucks

Then why doesn't anybody else include them?

It's ridiculous for them to be shipping machines with 256mb, even on their low end.

Oh, great. Yet another Monday-morning CEO. Tell you what. When you start your computer company, you can ship machines with as much RAM as you like. Until then, kindly hush up.

(Incidentally, everybody knows that Apple sells computers with only the minimum amount of RAM because everybody buys less expensive third-party RAM to put in them. If Apple sold their machines with more RAM, Monday-morning CEO's like yourself would just bitch that you're being forced to buy overpriced memory. Yawn.)

Re:End of the G4?

[gsfprez]

no. but it sure is a clear sign that its the end of the G3. When the iBook is updated with a G4 later this year - that will be the end of non-AltiVec Macs.

I wonder how much longer apps/Mac OS X will support non-G4 machines.

i'm glad i concidered my iBook basically a "use, abuse, throw away" machine when i bought it...

Re:Not bad?

[Zelet]

A PC with the lowest grade hardware you can find. Also you will not have an OS either. Yeah... if you pirate Windows, buy crappy hardware, don't care about noise then yeah... you have yourself a computer.
When you buy quality you pay a little bit more with the peace of mind that comes with it.

(recent Mac switcher)

Re:End of the G4?

[addaon]

Um... personally, I wouldn't give up an hour of use on the iBook for altivec. (10W increase in processor usage at equal megahertz would be roughly a 20% decrease in battery life, if you tend to use low screen brightness.) And, of course, the G3 iMac is not only still selling, but still being manufactured. The G3 will end eventually, surely, but there's absolutely no compelling reason to get rid of it in the next year.

PCs cheaper. Less expensive, too. :)

[Tumbleweed]

You could take the other meaning of 'cheaper', as in, 'crappier,' whenever you see that argument.

hehe

perhaps its a bad analogy

[protohiro1]

I don't think it is though:

A "low end" BMW (325i) is going to cost me $28,000 , and that's for a 185hp rear wheel drive car.

Instead I could throw down $18,000 for Hyundai Tiburon thats still going to be kind of fun to drive. Or if I really do want a fast car I could instead buy myself a Subaru WRX that's going to cost me $4,000 less and for that I'm getting all wheel drive, 40 more horse power and better acceleration. But if you get into a WRX, and then into a BMW...its not going to be the same experience. You get in WRX, its fast, its cool...but it is not a BMW. A BMW feels like a great car. Its the kind of car you can really fall in love with. Everything looks cool, the controls are all in the right place. The door makes the sweet thud of German engineering.

Its been said before, and I agree that Apple is really trying to be the BMW of computers (and consumer electronics with the ipod). A mac looks cool. You whip out your tibook and it STILL is going to turn heads. The keyboard feels good. The OS is rock solid. Its the same feeling as a BMW. If you just want a fast computer, sure, get a PC, its going to do the job. But if you want a computer that gives you that apple feeling, and you've got the dough to spend, well you will not be dissapointed.

Authors note: I drive a WRX and my desktop is a PIV 2.53ghz...but my other computer is a TiBook.

Re:perhaps its a bad analogy

[entrox]

That's exactly the point.

I drive a Mercedes C-Class with 122HP (which is rather low-end for a Mercedes) and would have never even thought about buying a Golf 3 VR6 with 174HP for a third of the price of the C-Class. People constantly tell me how stupid this is, how much faster and cheaper a Golf/Civic/Whatever is, how cheap a turbocharger for even more speed can be built into the Golf/Civic/Whatever and so on and so on.

It's exactly the same thing with the PC/Mac. Yes, they are slower than the fastest P4/Athlon you can get and yes, they cost more than the average PC, but it isn't the same. I usually don't have built-in Firewire and AirPort antennas, such a great case like the PowerMacs or smooth integration ala "It just works". And most importantly, there is no OS X for PCs.

After having bought my first Mac a few months ago (a MDD 2x1Ghz), I'd never go back to non-Apple hardware like I'd never buy a non-german car.

Note: I'm a student too, so please no "Too expensive for a poor student" flames. Thanks

Re:iBooks?

[King Babar]

Now how about some hot new G4 iBooks for $999? Otherwise I will be forced to buy a 12-inch powerbook

Dude, the 12" PowerBook is the G4 iBook. Asking for it for $999 amounts to nothing more than whining, and will gain you no sympathy here.

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if Apple actually phased out the iBook name except for the $999 model. The PowerBook model has more cachet, and the new 12" Powerbook has some serious overlap with the more expensive models in the iBook line. I just saw the 12" Powerbook yesterday, and some of its best features aren't obvious until you play with one:

• The keyboard is much better than the iBook's (although the keys are a tad slick.
• The hinge is much better than the iBook's.
• The keyboard caps will never scrape the LCD screen.
• It is a slot-loading machine

And it's smaller and faster and just a very nice machine. At my place of business, departments can buy the 12" Powerbook for $1499, and I could get it for $1699. The only drawback I could see is that you really can't use one of the nice new LCD panels with it since it doesn't do DVI much less the hyperspecial Apple digital LCD connector thingie.