Readers may have to judge this one for themselves, but according to this screenshot sent in by a Mac OS Rumors reader:
Click for larger version
Apple briefly lowered the price of both models and set the “new” badge on both items in the store, then reverted them back to their current status and price. The price of the Mini in the picture is $649 Australian dollars, which in a rough estimate is comparable to $430 U.S dollars. If this is an unintentional mistake on Apples part but reflects future plans, it would be significantly cheaper than the current Mini which starts at $599 U.S dollars. The iMac similarly has a much lower price of $1,199 Australian dollars, comparable to around $800 U.S dollars.
So what gives? Is this Apple getting ready to update and lower the price of both machines? It could be that Apple plans to lower the price a bit, but this is a substantial amount cut off the price of both machines. Apple could be making a push here to make their computers more affordable given the current economy in the U.S and around the world, by taking a hit on profit margins, or they might have implemented cost saving measures to reduce the price, or it could be both. There are rumors of Apple getting ready to release a machine based around the Intel Atom processor, but a Mini would be severely underpowered if outfitted with one of these processors. Sources are checking on this for us, so expect an full post on this topic soon.
Australian Apple store briefly shows newer cheaper Mini and iMac
Readers may have to judge this one for themselves, but according to this screenshot sent in by a Mac OS Rumors reader:
Click for larger version
Apple briefly lowered the price of both models and set the “new” badge on both items in the store, then reverted them back to their current status and price. The price of the Mini in the picture is $649 Australian dollars, which in a rough estimate is comparable to $430 U.S dollars. If this is an unintentional mistake on Apples part but reflects future plans, it would be significantly cheaper than the current Mini which starts at $599 U.S dollars. The iMac similarly has a much lower price of $1,199 Australian dollars, comparable to around $800 U.S dollars.
So what gives? Is this Apple getting ready to update and lower the price of both machines? It could be that Apple plans to lower the price a bit, but this is a substantial amount cut off the price of both machines. Apple could be making a push here to make their computers more affordable given the current economy in the U.S and around the world, by taking a hit on profit margins, or they might have implemented cost saving measures to reduce the price, or it could be both. There are rumors of Apple getting ready to release a machine based around the Intel Atom processor, but a Mini would be severely underpowered if outfitted with one of these processors. Sources are checking on this for us, so expect an full post on this topic soon.