14 DAY TRIAL // A new version of the iMac is scheduled to arrive next week, according to a source in France that has been reliable in the past. The upgrade is relatively minor, but there could be a price decrease in the cards for Apple’s all-in-one desktop computer.
As it stands, Apple can’t do much more to improve the iMac without footing a larger bill. And since it wants to avoid increasing the retail cost of the machine, the Cupertino giant is looking to add minor, incremental changes, making the system more attractive without charging extra.
In fact, the Mac maker is thinking of releasing a new iMac model next week that will boast a 100 MHz faster CPU and $100 / €100 shaved off the purchase price. The price change is particularly important, as Apple’s hardware continues to be perceived as extremely high-end.
The Cupertino giant has made considerable efforts to cut its prices in the past few years, having introduced cheaper versions of all its hot-selling iDevices, while slashing hundreds off some of its portable Macs. Common sense alone will tell you that the iMac is next in line, followed perhaps by the Mac mini and the Mac Pro.
Until recently, word on the web was that Apple would soon introduce a new breed of iMacs with Retina displays. Such an upgrade would not only prevent the company from lowering the price, but it would actually force it to raise the cost of the machine, as was the case with the first Retina MacBook Pros.
The entry-level iMac currently sells for $1,299.00 in the United States and costs €1,299.00 across Europe. The system is has a 2.7GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor (with Turbo Boost speeds of up to 3.2GHz), packing 8GB of RAM, a 1TB hard drive, and Intel Iris Pro graphics with 512MB of Video RAM.
The computer has a sleek unibody aluminum construction and features a 21.5-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit display with IPS technology. Its native resolution is 1920-by-1080. Despite being almost two years old, the viewing experience is superior to most computer monitors available today.
A 27-inch model sells for $1,799.00 / €1,799.00 with a 3.2GHz processor. The version boasting 3.4GHz sells for a cool $1,999.00 / €1,999.00. Starting next week, all these prices could see a $100 / €100 drop, which may sound like nothing at first, but wait until you see how they stack up to their competition.
In fact, Apple could go the extra mile and slash $300 / €300 off the entry level model without changing its internals, offering its very first premium desktop computer at a sub-1000 price tag.