Apple
Apple said today it will enhance its iMac line of desktop computers with a new model with a 21.5-inch display that will sell for a starting price of $1,099.
The machine runs an Intel Core i5 processor, the lower end of that company’s mainstream line of chips for computers, as well as an Intel-made graphics chipset. It ships with eight gigabytes of system memory and a 500GB hard drive.
Build-to-order options include a one-terabyte hard drive and a 256GB solid state drive. Faster Intel processors — the maximum clock speed available is 2.9 GHz — can push the price as high as $1,499.
It’s the second time in recent memory that Apple has dropped the base price of a new model of Mac. In April, it shaved $100 off the starting price of a MacBook Air while offering newer, faster Intel chips.
It’s not an earth-shattering upgrade to the iMac line by any means. For that, we’ll likely have to wait for Intel to finish up with the next generation of its chip architecture, codenamed Broadwell. Intel CEO Brian Krzanich has promised that the chip will be in systems that will come to market by the end of this year.
