.
The eighth-generation iMac was announced at the company’s late-October media event, where Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller called it, “the most beautiful iMac we have ever made.” Right on track, the 21.5-inch iMac is now available on the company’s online store and is available across a slew of third-party retail stores this afternoon. The 27-inch model will ship starting in “2-3 weeks” in the United States and Canada, while overseas (Australia/EU is “15-19 days”) is looking at up to 20 days—making a Christmas delivery tight.
(MacConnection has the best prices: $20 off, while MacMall knocks $5 off but adds Parallels ($79.99 value) and configuration/financing options. B&H Photo, Amazon, and Best Buy also seem to be getting some stock soon. iMac Product page prices updated daily!)
Apple makes the 21.5-inch iMac available in two versions. The 2.7GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 model (Turbo Boost up to 3.2GHz) is available for $1,299, featuring 8GB of 1600MHz DDR3 memory, 1 TB (5400-rpm) hard drive, and a NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M graphics processor with 512MB of GDDR5 memory. The 2.9GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 model (Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz) is available for $1,499 with similar specs—except a 1TB (5400-rpm) hard drive that can be configured into a Fusion Drive. All models feature a 5mm edge, edge-to-edge glass, LED-backlit display with IPS technology, a FaceTime HD camera, dual mics, four USB 3 ports, two Thunderbolt ports, OS X Mountain Lion, Bluetooth 4.0, and more.
As we reported earlier this month, and subsequently confirmed by Apple earlier this week, the 27-inch version with better specs is still set to launch sometime in December. CEO Tim Cook already discussed that the company is expecting shortages of iMacs. Our sources have indicated that the new iMac is in relatively short supply, mainly outside of the U.S. Cook discussed shortages on the last earnings call: “On the iMac we’ll be constrained for the full quarter in a significant way… there will be a short amount of time to manufacturer and ramp those and I expect demand to be robust… we will have a significant shortage.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_r3-pRIt51Y
Yesterday evening several of our Australian readers sent in images of their new iMac out of the box. We’re working to compile the best iMac prices on our Products hub.
Source: Apple, Products
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Comments