Time was, any hardware updates from Apple were announced at Macworld Expo or another big headline event. Now, Apple seems to have a new system: cascading product updates in the weeks afterward. First came new Power Macs, now, out of the blue, new iMacs. The iMacs are getting the same treatment as the PowerMacs: Airport Extreme and Bluetooth support (though no double-speed FireWire) plus performance enhancements, at a lower price. The high-end iMac replaces its old 800 MHz G4 with a new 1 GHz processor, switches to faster DDR memory, and doubles its SuperDrive performance to 4X, while cutting the price of the 17″ model to US$1799 (similar price cuts likely to follow abroad). The 15″ model, roughly comparable to the old mid-range Combo Drive 800 MHz iMac at US$1699, is now just US$1299. Check out Apple‘s site for more. Even for mobile lovers, it’s an appealing deal: if you’re attached to your laptop, you could Airport-equip it and a new iMac for syncing data and have similar desktop features to the 17″ PowerBook on your desktop for half the price.
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iMac Updated; iMac/eMac Price Break
