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Apple releases new cheaper iMac with low-end processor, priced at $1099

Screen Shot 2014-06-18 at 13.04.24

As rumored last week, Apple has today released a new model of iMac. These machines are considerably cheaper than their predecessors, priced at $1099. Previously, the cheapest iMac SKU was priced at $1299 (which is now the mid-range model).

The cheaper iMac features a 1.4 GHz dual-core i5 CPU, which represents a significant worsening in performance over the previous base model of iMac, which featured a processor clocked at 2.7 GHz.  The CPU does Turbo Boost up to 2.7 GHz however, which does make up some of the difference.

Aside from the CPU, the hard drive has also been cut to 500 GB. The new model also features a lower-end integrated graphics chip. All other iMac models continue to use either Iris Pro integrated graphics or dedicated Nvidia cards. Otherwise, the internals of the new machine are unchanged.

Apple’s Press release below…

If you were desperate for a slightly-cheaper desktop Mac, the product is ready to ship today. The rest of the iMac lineup remains the same — there is no equivalent ‘cheap model’ of the 27 inch iMac. The target market for this product is unclear, offering relatively minor cost savings yet yielding a big drop in performance and storage space. All three base models can be compared on Apple’s updated Specs page.

Apple Introduces New Entry Level 21.5-inch iMac

World’s Leading All-In-One Desktop Now Starts at $1,099

June 18, 2014 08:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time

CUPERTINO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Apple® today introduced a new 21.5-inch iMac® starting at just $1,099, making the world’s leading all-in-one desktop even more affordable. Featuring a stunning ultra-thin design, brilliant display, Core i5 processors and the world’s most advanced operating system, the new iMac is the perfect entry-level Mac® desktop.

The new 21.5-inch iMac features a 1.4 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor with Turbo Boost Speeds up to 2.7 GHz, Intel HD 5000 graphics, 8GB of memory and a 500GB hard drive. All iMac models include next generation 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and two Thunderbolt ports and four USB 3.0 ports for excellent expandability and support for high-performance peripherals.

iLife® and iWork® come free with every new Mac. iLife lets you edit your favorite videos with iMovie®, create new music or learn to play piano or guitar with GarageBand®, and organize, edit and share your best shots with iPhoto®. iWork productivity apps, Pages®, Numbers® and Keynote®, make it easy to create, edit and share stunning documents, spreadsheets and presentations. iWork for iCloud® beta lets you create your document on iPad®, edit it on your Mac and collaborate with friends, even if they’re on a PC.

Every Mac comes with OS X®, the world’s most advanced operating system, designed for ease of use while taking full advantage of the powerful technologies built into every Mac. Earlier this month, Apple announced OS X Yosemite, a powerful new version of OS X redesigned and refined with a fresh, modern look, powerful new apps and amazing new continuity features that make working across your Mac and iOS devices more fluid than ever. The final version of OS X Yosemite will be available for free from the Mac App Store℠ this fall.

Pricing & Availability

The new 21.5-inch iMac is available today through the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers. Starting at $1,099 (US), the new iMac features a 1.4 GHz processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 2.7 GHz, 8GB of memory and a 500GB hard drive. Configure-to-order options include a 1TB hard drive, a 1TB Fusion Drive, and up to 256GB flash storage. Additional technical specifications, configure-to-order options and accessories are available online at www.apple.com/imac.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.

NOTE TO EDITORS: For additional information visit Apple’s PR website (www.apple.com/pr), or call Apple’s Media Helpline at (408) 974-2042.

© 2014 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, Mac OS, Macintosh, iMac, iLife, iWork, iMovie, GarageBand, iPhoto, Pages, Numbers, Keynote, iCloud, iPad and OS X are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Contacts

Apple
Colin Smith, 408-862-1171
colins@apple.com
Jennie Syme, 408-783-0203
jsyme@apple.com

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Comments

  1. George Nirakis - 10 years ago

    A huge iPad with no touchscreen…
    Are they crazy? $1,099 for a 1.4 Ghz Dual-Core computer? What were they thinking?

    • Roland van Balen - 10 years ago

      Macbook air?

      • rick taal (@rick_taal) - 10 years ago

        You’re correct but the MacBook Air is thin, lightweight, portable and has an SSD. This thing does not have either of those, only a bigger screen without like I already mentioned, the SSD…

  2. Maswibilili Onthatile - 10 years ago

    thats way low end!

  3. But no love for the mac mini :-(

  4. Louis Debaere - 10 years ago

    The graphics are changed to Intel HD Graphics 5000 compared to Intel Iris Pro for the $1,299 model.

  5. shokk - 10 years ago

    Cheap large screen all in one casual computer with the privilege of having the Apple logo.

  6. Trying to push out hardware for an incoming product in the Fall? This type of performance should come in under $1k.

    • WaveMedia (@WaveMedia) - 10 years ago

      So we should ignore the rest of the machine like the 1080p IPS panel and just focus solely on the CPU and integrated GPU?

      • Samuel Quaid Bass - 10 years ago

        Yes. The fact the the CPU and GPU are so terrible means the rest of the device is basically irrelevant.

      • Habip Kenan Üsküdar - 10 years ago

        If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will surely fail.

        If you evaluate a computer that performs great in a standard office environment, on its ability to perform as game console, it will surely fail.

        Unless you are working on creating cutting-edge graphics or play games, the CPU and GPU will surely be seen as being terrible.

        Switch the 500 GB hdd with a 256 GB ssd and reduce the price to $899 or $999 and it will sell like bread and butter, and will worth its cost.

  7. Lars Pallesen - 10 years ago

    That’s got to be the worst update to the iMac line ever? Suddenly my mid-2011 iMac with Quad Core i5 processor (2,7 Mhz) and dedicated Radeon graphics feel all new again.

  8. Eric Ulmer - 10 years ago

    Internals are not entirely the same as the next model up. This new base model comes with 8GB RAM that is not upgradeable, even at the Build Your Own level on the online Apple Store.

  9. Marco Brandão - 10 years ago

    Let’s face, there are some people out there that don’t need a powerful system. Apple also is aiming switchers that bought iOS devices and when Yousemite and iOS 8 come out will want to use with Handoff feature.

    What I find amazing it that the new processor they picked can double the speed in the turbo boost mode, from 1.4 to 2.7 GHz. It is the same processor in MacBook Air.

    Does it mean that we will see it on the other Mac models?

  10. Taste_of_Apple - 10 years ago

    Reblogged this on Taste of Apple and commented:
    This is not surprising, however, I wonder how the performance will be impacted by such a change. While on par with the MacBook Air line, it’s a big difference from the original line up of iMac’s.

  11. Brian Ramage (@BJMRamage) - 10 years ago

    I thought this was a price-drop…it is just a cheaper iMac with cheaper insides

  12. PMZanetti - 10 years ago

    Performance wise, this is a fine entry level all-in-one desktop. Anyone who is not spec conscious and just “wants a Mac” would be sailing with this machine for years.”

    The problem is, it is way overpriced. $899-$999 would have been appropriate. But no, Apple continues to gouge people on Macs and forces their own sales to be lower than they could be.

    I just don’t get it. This is not 2002 anymore. Apple makes so much money from iOS devices, they can afford to finally start giving back to the world. The Mac is the best computer by far available anywhere to anyone….if you can afford it. Its just not fair anymore. Apple can take a hit on their precious Mac Margins in an effort to get MORE of them in the hands of iOS customers. Sales are flat. Don’t believe Apple’s nonsense about growth. The Mac is not growing at any pace worth noticing. They are as flat as can be, supported by upgrades of the same install base that has always purchased Macs and will always purchase Macs.

    But they haven’t even begun to tap into the hundreds of millions of iOS device owners that also have a PC of some sort. This is a huge missed opportunity and it should be tackled during this time when iOS devices are still all the rage.

    LOWER MAC PRICES, APPLE! Start selling more Macs to people willing to buy them, but can’t.

    • Apple isn’t in the business of selling commodity hardware. The new iMac is in line with pricing with the equivalently specced (albeit larger monitor) Dell XPS AIO machine. Also consider that the XPS machine doesn’t come with a workstation OS, nor does the full blown IDE and office suite for it come cheaply.

      The Apple pricing argument has been proven wrong many times in the past.

      • PMZanetti - 10 years ago

        It is not the age old “Apple is over priced” argument. Apple can charge whatever they want, and sell X amount of Macs based on that pricing strategy.

        My point is that it no longer makes any sense. Apple has a large enough revenue stream from iOS devices to support multiple companies of its size. Macs barely register on their revenue radar. And thats a shame. Its a shame because with the sheer number of “Apple customers” these days, there is a tiny percentage of “Mac customers”. That shouldn’t be the case any longer.

        Apple should stop this nonsense of pretending like their Mac business is the same as 10 or more years ago, and start getting Macs in the hands of iOS customers that would otherwise own or purchase PCs. They aren’t doing it, and its a mistake.

        People that own iPhones and iPads would not buy $300 PC laptops if Apple wasn’t 3x the cost for an off the shelf machine.

    • Andrew Watson - 10 years ago

      Yes. they could be a smidgen more agressive. Plus with new feautures like hand off, more people with OS X protects against them switching from iPhone (not that you’d want to, just sayin’).

  13. Toby! (@TrashGoblin) - 10 years ago

    I’m flailing about wildly with nerd rage that the Mac mini keeps on being ignored by Apple.

  14. These’ll be fine if all you want is a desktop to do simple stuff, like lots of people who may have an iPhone but no computer. Continuity, baby!

  15. Mr. Grey (@mister_grey) - 10 years ago

    $300 off, for a very substantially less powerful iMac. Wow. What a deal.

    • WaveMedia (@WaveMedia) - 10 years ago

      You’d pay not all that much less for a display of that calibre on its own. This has a full computer on the back of it too.

      • PMZanetti - 10 years ago

        A display of what caliber? 21.5″ 1080p monitors can be had for cheap. REAL cheap. Maybe iMacs have a REALLLLL NICE 1080p display, but the argument really doesn’t stand.

        If the Mac mini we’re so out of date you’d still be better off getting one of those and your choice of monitor at best buy.

  16. Jurgis Ŝalna - 10 years ago

    At least they chipped in 8GB of RAM.
    Although with no SSD, 8GB will not be enough after one or two releases. Since the release of 10.8 memory of 4GB feels like 512mb on an old XP box :)

  17. Dick Richie - 10 years ago

    Dear Tech community, This computer is not for you the gamer or you the video editor nor you the “DJ” or “Photographer” this is an entry level computer for all those people that want to be able to use a elegant modern OS to browse the internet and check email. For people like say… your parents or grandparents. They don’t need the horse power that you require. They only need a reliable machine that will get them through their day using iWork and iLife. Oh and a touch screen computer is seriously a stupid idea. When you write comments remember not everything made by every company is aimed at you. You’re just one demographic in a giant pool of needy people.

    • 100% agree with this statement.

    • Habip Kenan Üsküdar - 10 years ago

      Can’t agree with this statement.

      My previous MBA (mid-2013, 11″, base model) had no problems running a 1080p external display with the RDC, Xcode, iWork and Safari almost constantly being operational with its 4 gigs of RAM.
      However, I can’t say the same for my baseline late-2012 iMac that is supposedly superior in hardware with dedicated graphics in place, except for the SSD.

      HDD for internal storage is dead. They should have included a 256GB SSD baseline in the machine.

      Couldn’t they have at least included a 256GB SSD instead of the 500 HDD? It perhaps would have meant $350 less for each unit but at the end of the day, it would have sold like hot-cakes and that would only be the bonus.

      The real importance of such a step would lie in the ability to grow their share in desktop computing all the while giving people the chance to be introduced with the Mac and OS X alike.

      • WaveMedia (@WaveMedia) - 10 years ago

        No offence. But I think Apple have a better understanding of how and where their products will sell than you, I or anybody else around here. Like the guy you’re replying to said, this isn’t aimed at those of us who frequent this and other such sites.

      • Habip Kenan Üsküdar - 10 years ago

        Actually, I have my doubts about the kind of understanding that allowed the release of such a machine.

        As you’ve noticed my criticism is rather based on the baseline storage they’re offering with the machine. Though using the i7-4650U or at least an i5 with at least a 4 MB cache would have been better, though it wouldn’t be as significant as replacing the HDD with an SSD

        The difference in performance between an HDD and an SSD is akin to the difference in performance of a 1968 Beetle and an R-line Beetle of today.

        I strongly believe that they should included a 256GB SSD baseline with priced at $999 or $899.

  18. Iago Drumond - 10 years ago

    Apple has always tried to be the company that makes computers for, like themselves used to say, “the rest of us”. And the iMac already accomplished this goal, like hardly all other macs, but that “principle” of Apple always shocked with another one, the necessity of high quality, generally they take the high quality, the “apple level”, as the pre need thing, for just after think about all the other stuff, for better explanation, the product at first need to have quality, apple quality, for just then they think about prices… Unhappily, “the rest of us” not always have money enough to buy their products, letting those so well though for “the rest of us” products in hand of just that “rich rest of us”, like has been said, they’re conquering a fine spot in this dilemma with iProducts, principally because of the iPad line. So, I hope it’s a good try of apple doing this “new base line iMac”. Just hope (even more) that this had passed throughout the sieve of apple quality…
    In any case, it would be extremely useful, a comparison of real life performance

  19. Habip Kenan Üsküdar - 10 years ago

    HDD for internal storage is dead. They should have included a 256GB SSD baseline in the machine.

    My previous MBA (mid-2013, 11″, base model) had no problems running a 1080p external display with the RDC, Xcode, iWork and Safari almost constantly being operational with its 4 gigs of RAM.
    However, I can’t say the same for my baseline late-2012 iMac that is supposedly superior in hardware with dedicated graphics in place, except for the SSD.
    Nonetheless, that iMac operated better than my W7/W8 PCs that had equivalent hardware.

    Having used various Linux distributions as well as being a PC-user who even used W95, Macs ultimately provide the superior user experience. Yet, due to the price-point along with the useless hardware arguments (except for SSD vs. HDD) in place, Macs’ market share is below where it deserves to be.

    Apple should have bitten the bullet by releasing this iMac with a price of $999 with a 256GB SSD in place instead of that 500GB HDD.

    If they had, the personal-computer market would have been shaken to its foundation…

  20. Bill Cosby (@WegnerWatch) - 10 years ago

    Comical apple is comical.

  21. TIP:
    How about the ON/OFF Switch & IR sensor using the Apple Logo at the bezel under the screen?

Author

Avatar for Benjamin Mayo Benjamin Mayo

Benjamin develops iOS apps professionally and covers Apple news and rumors for 9to5Mac. Listen to Benjamin, every week, on the Happy Hour podcast. Check out his personal blog. Message Benjamin over email or Twitter.