As rumored more than one time and from more than one sources and leaks, Apple released on Tuesday its new desktop line. The highly-anticipated Mac Pro, Mac mini and iMac were finally revealed by the Cupertino Fruit Company.
The new releases will most likely galvanize interest and boost the company’s sales which have relied heavily on the laptop segment during the last period.
Mac Pro
The most interesting desktop offering is undoubtedly for the Mac Pro, which now packs the high-end Xeon processors from Intel’s new Nehalem class (on-chip power management). The Mac Pro also has a new system architecture which has been redesigned in order to permit easier access to memory, hard drives and other components.
The 2.66GHz quad-core Mac Pro costs $2,499 (cut $300), while the eight-core model with two 2.26GHz quad-core Xeon chips sells for $3,299. Although Apple said its newest machines are more affordable than their previous versions, it doesn’t really seam so. A price cut of only $300 for a Mac Pro doesn’t really galvanize interest in a machine that sells for $2499.
Mac Mini
A long-rumored new version of the Mac Mini was also revealed. The tiny computer that ships with no monitor, mouse or keyboard now packs a faster graphics processor and can run more than one monitor at a time. Moreover, the Mini has longer battery life due to its energy efficiency. Apple said it draws less than 13 watts of power when idle (10 percent of the power a typical computer draws).
Both Mac Mini versions - $599 and $799 – pack Nvidia GeForce 9400M integrated graphics, same as the MacBooks, Apple’s laptops. Both models run on 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, but the more expensive model features 2GB of RAM (twice) and a 320GB hard drive.
iMac
Apple’s new iMac offerings include new versions of the 20- and 24-inch configurations.
The new 20-inch iMac, which sells for $1,199, packs a 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2GB of 1066 MHz, DDR3 memory, a 320GB Serial ATA hard drive, and Nvidia GeForce 9400M integrated graphics with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory.
The 24-inch iMac was reduced to $1,499, $300 cheaper than its previous model and has 2.66GHz, 2.93GHz, and 3.06GHz Core 2 Duo configurations. The memory is the same in all the three configurations – 4GB. You can opt for a 640GB or a 1TB hard drive. The list of updates also includes a Mini DisplayPort connector, an extra USB port, larger hard drive size, increased RAM and faster processors.
