Special Report for
Educators
MacWorld Expo New
York
July 18, 2001
The MacWorld Expo New York Keynote Speech by Apple CEO
Steve Jobs was notable for its lack of dramatic new
introductions. The Mac OS X 10.1 update will not be ready
until September. The iMac lineup received an expected speed
bump, but retains the G3 processor instead of the G4 and
stays with the same form factor and display (no flat panel
display iMac as yet). The G4 tower has a new silver
enclosure and received a speed increase. The laptop lineup
remains unchanged in features and pricing.
While not really noted in the keynote presentation, Apple
has retained and still offers previous models of the iMac
and G4 tower as entry level machines to the education
market. A 533 MHz Power Mac G4 that yesterday cost schools
around $1400 is now available for $1099! (I'll take two,
thank you.) Similarly, the entry-level iMac of yesterday
remains at $799 for K-12 education institutions.
At this writing, downloadable education
pricelists (PDF) have not been updated. The following
information is from the Apple
Store for Education, which has been updated.
iMac
|
|
500
MHz
PowerPC G3
512K L2 cache @ 200 MHz
64 MB SDRAM
20 GB Ultra ATA drive
CD-ROM Drive
RAGE 128 Pro w/8 MB
10/100 BASE-T Ethernet
56K fax modem
15-inch display
(13.8-inch VIS)
2 USB & 2 FireWire ports
|
500
MHz
PowerPC G3
256K L2 cache @500 MHz
128 MB SDRAM
20 GB Ultra ATA drive
CD-RW Drive
RAGE 128 Ultra w/ 16 MB
10/100 BASE-T Ethernet
56K fax modem
15-inch display
(13.8-inch VIS)
2 USB & 2 FireWire ports
|
600
MHz
PowerPC G3
256K L2 cache @ 600 MHz
256 MB SDRAM
40 GB Ultra ATA drive
CD-RW Drive
RAGE 128 Ultra w/ 16 MB
10/100 BASE-T Ethernet
56K fax modem
15-inch display
(13.8-inch VIS)
2 USB & 2 FireWire ports
|
700
MHz
PowerPC G3
256K L2 cache @700MHz
256 MB SDRAM
60 GB Ultra ATA drive
CD-RW Drive
RAGE 128 Ultra w/ 16 MB
10/100 BASE-T Ethernet
56K fax modem
15-inch display
(13.8-inch VIS)
2 USB & 2 FireWire ports
|
|
K-12 Schools
|
$799
|
$899
|
$1199
|
$1349
|
|
K-12 Individuals
|
$849
|
$949
|
$1249
|
$1409
|
|
Retail
|
|
$999
|
$1299
|
$1499
|
G4
|
|
533
MHz PowerPC G4
1 MB L2 backside cache
128 MB SDRAM memory
40 GB Ultra ATA drive
CD-ROM drive
Rage 128 Pro w/16 MB RAM
Gigabit Ethernet
|
733
MHz PowerPC G4
256K L2 cache
128 MB SDRAM memory
40 GB Ultra ATA drive
CD-RW drive
NVIDIA GeForce2 MX
Gigabit Ethernet
56K internal modem
|
867
MHz PowerPC G4
256K L2 & 2 MB L3 cache
128 MB SDRAM memory
60 GB Ultra ATA drive
SuperDrive
NVIDIA GeForce2 MX
Gigabit Ethernet
56K internal modem
|
Dual
800 MHz PowerPC G4
256K L2 & 2 MB L3 per processor
256 MB SDRAM memory
80 GB Ultra ATA drive
SuperDrive
NVIDIA GeForce2 MX w/TwinView
Gigabit Ethernet
56K internal modem
|
|
K-12 Schools
|
$1099
|
$1529
|
$2249
|
$3149
|
|
K-12 Individuals
|
$1148
|
$1597
|
$2349
|
$3289
|
|
Retail
|
|
$1699
|
$2499
|
$3499
|
While no changes in pricing jump out at me, I'll present
the rest of the Mac lineup here for the sake of
completeness.
iBook
|
|
12.1-inch
TFT XGA display
500 MHz PowerPC G3
256K on-chip L2 cache
64 MB SDRAM memory
10 GB Ultra ATA drive
CD-ROM drive
8 MB video memory
10/100 BASE-T Ethernet
56K internal modem
RGB video output
Two USB ports
FireWire port
AC adapter
Battery
|
12.1-inch
TFT XGA display
500 MHz PowerPC G3
256K on-chip L2 cache
128 MB SDRAM memory
10 GB Ultra ATA drive
DVD-ROM drive w/DVD-Video
8 MB video memory
10/100 BASE-T Ethernet
56K internal modem
RGB video output
Two USB ports
FireWire port
AC adapter
Battery
|
12.1-inch
TFT XGA display
500 MHz PowerPC G3
256K on-chip L2 cache
128 MB SDRAM memory
10 GB Ultra ATA drive
CD-RW drive
8 MB video memory
10/100 BASE-T Ethernet
56K internal modem
RGB video output
Two USB ports
FireWire port
AC adapter
Battery
|
12.1-inch
TFT XGA display
500 MHz PowerPC G3
256K on-chip L2 cache
128 MB SDRAM memory
10 GB Ultra ATA drive
DVD/CD-RW combo
8 MB video memory
10/100 BASE-T Ethernet
56K internal modem
RGB video output
Two USB ports
FireWire port
AC adapter
Battery
|
|
K-12 Schools
|
$1199
|
$1399
|
$1499
|
$1699
|
|
K-12 Individuals
|
$1249
|
$1449
|
$1549
|
$1749
|
|
Retail
|
$1299
|
$1499
|
$1599
|
$1799
|
|
PowerBook G4
(TiBook)
|
|
|
|
400
MHz PowerPC G4
1 MB L2 cache
128 MB SDRAM memory
10 GB Ultra ATA drive
DVD-ROM w/DVD-Video
ATI Rage Mobility 128
10/100 BASE-T Ethernet
56K internal modem
Two USB ports
One FireWire port
|
500
MHz PowerPC G4
1 MB L2 cache
256 MB SDRAM memory
20 GB Ultra ATA drive
DVD-ROM w/DVD-Video
ATI Rage Mobility 128
10/100 BASE-T Ethernet
56K internal modem
Two USB ports
One FireWire port
|
500
MHz PowerPC G4
1 MB L2 cache
256 MB SDRAM memory
30 GB Ultra ATA drive
DVD-ROM w/DVD-Video
ATI Rage Mobility 128
10/100 BASE-T Ethernet
56K internal modem
Two USB ports
One FireWire port
Extra AC adapter
Extra battery
|
|
K-12 Schools
|
$2339
|
$3149
|
$3597
|
|
K-12 Individuals
|
$2443
|
$3289
|
$3757
|
|
Retail
|
$2599
|
$3499
|
$3997
|
Displays
|
|
Apple
Cinema Display
(22" flat panel)
|
Apple
Studio Display
(17" flat panel)
|
Apple
Studio Display
(15" flat panel)
|
Mitsubishi
Diamond Plus
73 Monitor
|
|
K-12 Schools
|
$2299
|
$919
|
$551
|
$259
|
|
K-12 Individuals
|
$2399
|
$959
|
$575
|
$259
|
|
Retail
|
$2499
|
$999
|
$599
|
|
The day has produced a bunch of Apple Press Releases:
While the MacWorld Expo presentation may appear somewhat
disappointing at first glance, the retention of CRT iMacs
instead of the rumored new flat panel display iMac probably
will save educators a few bucks. Flat panel iMacs certainly
would have run significantly more than the current models.
The retention of the $799 entry-level iMac and the 533 MHz
Power Mac G4 for $1099 are an excellent move by Apple. The
Power Mac G4 would appear to be the outstanding bargain so
far coming out of MacWorld Expo for educators.
Since the Mac OS X 10.1 update won't be available until
September, the best comment I can make upon OS X at this
point would be to refer you again to Larry MacPhee's
excellent tongue-in-cheek column, Top
Ten Reasons to Upgrade to OS X Now.
|
