When companies introduce new models of their products, it's a pretty normal practice for them to also slash
prices on the old versions. But Apple has never been a normal company, and when the Intel-based iMac was
announced a few weeks ago, pricing
for the older G5-based models stayed steady. Now, however, Apple has apparently bowed to the inexorable law of the
marketplace, and has announced a $200 price cut on the 20-inch G5, from $1,699 to $1,499. Meanwhile, the 17-inch G5
remains at $1,299, a price that puts it on par with its Intel-based doppleganger. Looks like Apple will try to squeeze
every last dime out of the model that it can, before throwing in the towel and slashing that one as well (along with
the 15-inch G4 PowerBook, which shares a $1,999 price point with the 15-inch Intel-based MacBook Pro).
posted Feb 1st 2006 10:27AM
buttsecks?
o rly?
the thing is that the G5 based iMacs and exspecialy the G4 based powerbooks are old tech now... its rediculious to expect people to pay the same price that they used to when sitting right next to them are the newer faster "better" intel based virsions. i can only imagin they haven't really dropped the price yet is due to lack of supply of the new intel based systems... maybe hoping if people can't get the new they'll still settle for the old, i sure know i wouldn't though
The problem I have is that Apple is probably confusing the heck out of new buyers that don't really know the difference between a Core Duo and a G5. When you drop the price of the old model, it clearly telly customers "the new one is better, but if you're a bit short on cash, we have a cheaper one". If someone looking for a new 17 inch iMac happens to click on the link to buy a G5 instead of an Intel (which could be very possible for a not-so-computer-literate person to do, since at the Apple Store online, both the Intel and G5 machines "Start at $1299", and thus are the same exact computer to them), they would be getting outdated technology and not even realize it... not a very nice thing to do to new customers, especially for Apple.
The price was down, and now it's back up to $1699 on their website.
Nevermind, I misread it as the core duos get the pricedrop.
How is the G5 out dated? they just released that model 2 months before the intel core duo, and for the normal consumer that doesnt know any better it might actually be better for them, no universal binaries to worry about. ALL THEIR SOFTWARE WORKS.
Hell at this point Im surprised they discounted them at all. They waited cause they didnt want to have a ton of imac g5 w/isight owners upset for just buying one, and the price is cheaper. (so now they probably dont realize it and its past the return date. Smart thinkin apple)
What they need to start doing is lowering all prices. I mean, the machines with the intel stuff should have less "custom" parts (processors, chipsets) than before.
Spend all that money, and then next week Jobs' "One more thing" makes your new thing look like an old POS. No upgrade path other than throwing some RAM into it.
Flame on, but when the Intel mini comes out i'm gonna buy two.
what's a doppleganger ?
You DO know that they're almost sold out of the 17" G5 iMac, right?
http://appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1498
This is totally off-topic, but I would like to say to #2 that the whole "o rly" thing is f***ing stupid and whoever assists in perpetuating this ridiculous new interweb fad should be severely beaten.
Oh, and yeah, Apple's stuff is way overpriced.
This is probably what Apple wants us to think, so they can sell all their remaining PPC Macs in the near future:
You have the option to choose between compatibility (PPC) and performance (x86).
In the short run, the PPC's (any mac that costs more than 1k) are better for averaged users who don't need the "latest greatest", since all apps can run just fine... But in the long run, the new ones are better.
There are some clearance sales going on. For example, a 12inch G4 iBook (1.33GHz) is now $850, and the 15inch PowerBook (1.67GHz w/ "new screen") is now $1650 in the NYU Computer Store.
Don't hate things you cant buy. Apple products are not over priced. Do you think Fiji water is over priced? If so you are mistaken. You pay for the extra quality.
Aaron:
R U SRS?
probably felt guilty for all the people who were actually buying the g5 out of sheer stupidity. this way they're just as stupid, but have 200 bucks to spend on a nano.
"anyone whos done direct comparisons will see that they are WAY overpriced. only fashionista morons would pay that much for a computer, just because its got that holy grail of crap apple logo. the OS isnt worth the extra money either, apple sells OS X for $129 US."
but that isn't true. i haven't seen a spec/size/feature comparable machine to the MacBook for the same price. please link to one.
See, I think it was actually a wise decision to keep the G5 iMac and G4 PowerMac at the same prices for a while. For the late adopters of new technology this was the perfect time to get a new Apple system, since there are many applications that aren't native to the Intel chipset yet. What would be the point in buying a new system if all of your software wouldn't work on it? How would that work for you? And Apple keeping the prices steady helped to maximize their profit on these systems that customers would have likely bought regardless of price. I'm really inclined to go and order a quad G5 so I can have a new system with a lot of horse power and will run all of my applications natively. I'll give them at least a year or so to iron out all the kinks with applications running on Intel.
Apple = Premium Product at a Premium Price
To anyone b*tching about the prices of Apple's hardware... cool, whatever. No one's forcing you to fork over any cash for their merchandise. But just with almost everything in life, you get what you pay for.
Who cares? Apple's already dead through foolish overpricing. It's OK for
I'm just waiting for the 17 inch mac book when it's all said and done.
What I dont get. Apple makes a new model based on Intel, claims it has double the speed compared to G5, but puts similar pricetags on both the machines.
So how many would actually order the hals speed model?
But then again, the Duo Core has been slashed for having too many bugs.
All we need now is a cheap G5 Mac Mini. :P or an Intel based Mini.
Yeah #7 I'm typing from a 17in imac g5... ahh i didn't think that it would be included in the update to intel processors yet since it's still so new. but i was wrong and the day they announced it was only two days past the max return time period. i guess you're right though, all of my software is perfectly compatible.