Low-Cost "Headless" iMac Coming Soon?

[Kent Pribbernow]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://thinksecret.com/news/0412expo2.html' target='_blank'>http://thinksecret.com/news/0412expo2.html</a><br /><br /></div>For those of you who haven't yet heard the rumors; AppleInsider and ThinkSecret are both covering similar rumors of a possible new addition the iMac line. According to the report(s), a product codenamed Q88 is in currently in production, that is described as a slim form factor system (sans monitor) that can be positioned to lay flat like a desktop PC, or stand on its side, and can connect to any computer monitor or even a television. <br /><br />Q88 also features a low-end 1.2GHZ G4 processor, 256MB of RAM, 1 Firewire port, 2 USB 2.0 ports, 10/100Base-T Ethernet, DVI and VGA with dongle, with integrated graphics (as usual). <br /><br />But the real kicker is the price. Rumor has it Apple will retail this product for the unprecedented low price (for a Mac) of just $499. If this is true, expect this product to make huge waves among consumers. A price tag this low will put a Mac in more homes than any other previous Mac product. Could 2005 be the year for a Mac comeback?

[rzanology]

im running at home network of 8 windows PCs and a linux box. I've always want to have a mac in the environment but never saw a need to pay out the a$$ for one. This maybe apples second look for me! Lets see what happens.

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

US$499 for that? I'll pass.

[James Fee]

Of course todays iMac is all "head" so it will be interesting if they call this an iMac. Another name might be better.

[Felix Torres]

Sounds a lot like an updated ATARI ST... :twisted:

Still, $499 sounds low for a Steve Jobs Mac, even one as third-world-ish as that; unless it is drive-less, $699 would be more in line with Apple pricing policies.
Of course, they might announce it in January fo shipment in march, at which time it would promptly go on backorder until july...
Nah!
Apple would never do that...they've never done it before, have they? 8)

More seriously, I'd be willing to bet (a fruit-pie at least) that given Apple's recent record in "innovation", the HeaDless mac (HDmac?) will likely feature a ten-foot interface and a version of iTunes that can rip DVDs into DRM'ed MPEG4/Quicktime for sync'ing with a future video Pod.

Now, all we have to do is sit back and wait and see what the shipping product looks like, right?

[Mr. MacinTiger]

With the sucess of the iPod and now this, Apple is looking to make a few inroads back into the PC market. If they can get their market share back up to 10% or higher, it'll be a good thing for the computing world as a whole.
MS always does a little better when they have to get scrappy, you know?
:twisted:

Anyway, this has the potential of being a sweet system for home and school use. It won't have a DVD burner AND the RAM is a low on it (would be nice to at least have 640 megs of RAM to run OS X with), but it will have iLife 05 on it, and it is still the multimedia suite to beat IMO.

Jobs is getting down to business again and it's about time! :)

[Jason Dunn]

You know, even I'd shell out $500 USD to get my hands on a Mac, just to play with. If this is real, it will be quite a big deal indeed...though I think I'd be pissed off having to pay $120 for a dot OS release for my $500 Mac. :twisted: