Desktops & Notebooks - eWeek

Desktops & Notebooks: New Macs Pull Hard on the Heart, Harder on the Wallet


What company but Apple would be so audacious as to introduce new desktops—iMac, Mac Mini and Mac Pro—during a recession and when PC sales are declining? Gartner forecasts a 32 percent year-over-year decline in desktop PC shipments during 2009. The desktop is a dying category, but not one Apple is yet ready to abandon. The new Macs were available starting March 3.
 
  • New Macs Pull Hard on the Heart, Harder on the Wallet
    by Joe Wilcox
    Editor, Apple Watch
  • The new iMacs feature a smaller keyboard, without numeric keys. Good thing Apple bundles iLife and not iWork with the new Macs. How will you use Numbers without a numeric keypad?
  • People looking for a cheaper 24-inch iMac will pay $1,499—$300 less than the earlier model. But Apple held firm on entry-level pricing. The 20-inch iMac is still $1,199. Sorry, bud, if you've already maxed out the credit card.
  • The Mac Pro is now brawnier, packing Intel "Nehalem" Xeon processors. Please, stop drooling. It's disgusting.
  • The Quad-Core Mac Pro model, with 3GB of DDR3 (double data rate 3) memory, 512MB Nvidia GeForce GT 120 graphics and a 640GB 7200-rpm hard drive, is $2,499—that's $300 less than its predecessor. Cash and carry from the Apple Store. You supply the forklift.
  • Apple's low-cost Mac Mini is boxy and scrawny. For $599, you get 1GB of memory and a puny 120GB hard drive. Say what? Your smartphone is more computer and costs less?
  • What would you pay for more USB ports? Apple launched the original Mac Mini in January 2005 with two USB ports on both $499 and $599 configurations. Four years later, there are five USB ports on $599 and $799 models. Don't you just love the price of innovation?
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