Although WWDC 2014 didn’t see any new hardware announcements, it doesn’t mean that the company hadn’t been working on anything. Just today, the Cupertino tech giant has taken the veil off a new entry-level iMac that will make the world’s leading all-in-one computing solution more affordable for the masses, and we will tell you all about it right after the break.
The new iMac will be a 21.5-inch variant with an Intel Core i5 processor (Apple hasn’t specifically said which generation, but we have reason to believe it will be the latest one) clocked at 1.4 GHz with Turbo Boost support for up to 2.7 GHz, 8GB of onboard RAM and a 500GB hard drive. On the graphics front, the iMac will be powered by an Intel HD 5000 graphics chip (hence our assumption on the processor), and will feature Wi-Fi 802.11ac connectivity. The device will also sport 4 USB 3.0 and two Thunderbolt ports, making peripheral connectivity a non-issue for most part. All of this will be available in the basic model that will retail at $1,099, while other configuration options include a 1TB hard disk, 1TB Fusion Drive and 256GB flash storage, among others. This, naturally, will bring the cost up by a margin.
From a software perspective, the new iMac will be powered by OS X Mavericks, with the possibility of a free upgrade to OS X Yosemite once it becomes available later this year. As with all new Apple products, iWork and iLife app suites are available for free, and includes iMovie, iPhoto, GarageBand, Pages, Numbers and Keynote.
The new iMac is available right now through the Apple online store, Apple Retail Stores and some authorized resellers. As mentioned earlier, the entry level configuration will set you back by $1,099, which is a handful, but hey, nobody ever said iMacs were cheap anyway.
Speaking of cheap and inexpensive, Apple products have always been on the higher end of the pricing curve for a long time, but lately the fruit company has been bent on changing that. The new iMac shows that Apple is serious about tapping into that segment of the market as well that had otherwise been occupied by its Redmond competitor, and from the looks of it, the approach just might work.
You can follow us on Twitter, add us to your circle on Google+ or like our Facebook page to keep yourself updated on all the latest from Microsoft, Google, Apple and the web.
