[VPM] new sub-$500 Macs this January

[Darren Duncan]

There's a rather strong rumor been posted today on 
http://thinksecret.com/ (a web site which has proven itself to be 
fairly reliable over time) that Apple will announce its most 
inexpensive Mac ever, in the sub-$500 category.

If this is true, then they have finally addressed the greatest 
modern-day hurdle against Macs growing out of their niche status. 
That is, lots of people think Macs are peachy keen and quite 
desirable to own, but choose to get a Windows machine anyway due to 
their seeing the Mac option as being too expensive to afford (long 
term costs of ownership being ignored).

The article: http://thinksecret.com/news/0412expo2.html

An excerpt:

	EXCLUSIVE: Apple to drop sub-$500 Mac bomb at Expo

	December 28, 2004 - With iPod-savvy Windows users clearly in 
its sights, Apple is expected to announce a bare bones, G4-based iMac 
without a display at Macworld Expo on January 11 that will retail for 
$499, highly reliable sources have confirmed to Think Secret.

	The new Mac, code-named Q88, will be part of the iMac family 
and is expected to sport a PowerPC G4 processor at a speed around 
1.25GHz. The new Mac is said to be incredibly small and will be 
housed in a flat enclosure with a height similar to the 1.73 inches 
of Apple's Xserve. Its size benefits will include the ability to 
stand the Mac on its side or put it below a display or monitor.

	Along with lowering costs by forgoing a display (Apple's 
entry-level eMac sells for $799 with a built-in 17-inch CRT display), 
the so-called "headless" iMac will allow Apple's target audience -- 
Windows users looking for a cheap, second PC -- to keep their current 
peripherals or decide on their own what to pair with the system, be 
it a high-priced LCD display or an inexpensive display. Sources 
expect the device to feature both DVI and VGA connectivity, although 
whether this will be provided through dual ports or through a single 
DVI port with a VGA adapter remains to be seen.

The other three-quarters of the article is on the web site.

-- Darren Duncan