i know everyone's playing dodgeball with grains of salt as macworld approaches, but that's a pretty big one to toss out. confirmed by whom? i do hope you're wrong, and you probably do too just wondering if you could fill this story in just a bit more.<br><br>

This would be a major disappointment if true. With iMac sales flat (trending down, actually) a simple speed boost isn't enough to boost sales, unless we are talking about a gigahertz iMac, which is a pipe dream.<br><br>John<br>[color:red]I don't need no steenkin' signature!</font color=red>

ok, so you complain that a speed boost wouldn't be enough to boost sales?<br><br>What would an expensive LCD model do? would it boost sales, or steer people more towards a $400 PC?<br><br>How about a really cheap iMac with a regular CRT, and a few G4 models at the same price points with faster chips, bigger HD's etc.?<br><br>come on... if they can't build an LCD iMac for less than $1000, then it's not going to increase sales... They have to have something under $1000 to increase market share among consumers, as it's going to take a long time for Apple to win any meanigful business accounts, where companies buy a lot of machines cheaply anyways... and they can leverage their licensing plans with MS for Office against the Mac's obvious advantages.<br><br>so, look for a cheaper iMac at the low end and a more powerful one at the high end.<br><br>(still using my bondi i bought on August 15th 1998, and waiting for a second one at $500 anyday now)<br><br>John<br><br>***<br>"Dying isn't hard for men like us, when every everything around you has been butchered or slaughtered .. living is what's hard."<br> --Clint Eastwood to Chief Ten Bears in The Outlaw Josey Wales<br>

imho, i think he was offering a prediction, not a complaint. i personally wouldn't expect an extra 100mhz to cause much of a stir in sales if apple keeps the same enclosures. two CRT low-end models and two LCD models would be a victory, in my book. part of selling models at higher price points is giving people a reason to make the leap. save a few bucks here or go for speed and the latest look there. people won't buy an imac if the lowest price is over $1000, true. people just need more convincing to lay down the cash than they did last year. <br><br>a $500 low-end imac? you wouldn't hear me complain a bit. i just hope that's not all, is all.<br><br>

ah... I see your point now...<br><br>I think part of making all of the iMac's have the same enclosure is cost cutting... sort of like we're doing with cars now. If you buy a Jaguar, you have to know that the door handle is the same as on something else that Ford makes... it's just part of cost cutting... no matter what the designer comes up with, the managers will find a way to cut production costs....<br><br>so, thus, Apple needs to keep all of the iMacs in the same enclosure as long as possible, so that they can reap the rewards of buying more for less in the production process... which i think impacts why we won't see a flat panel iMac until they can get the production costs down for all of the components...<br><br>just my thoughts...<br><br>***<br>"Dying isn't hard for men like us, when every everything around you has been butchered or slaughtered .. living is what's hard."<br> --Clint Eastwood to Chief Ten Bears in The Outlaw Josey Wales<br>

that makes sense. in fact, i should try to test-drive a jaguar just to see this in action. i think it depends, too, on apple's plans for the imac. certainly apple has seen what segmenting their product line can do. at the same time, i'm sure apple feels the push of expectation to give mwny as much flash as possible. i think the industry was surprised to see the last imac rev move the base price up $100. who knows, maybe that was a cushion to help ease in a future LCD imac. the mill is making lots of noise about a new G4 case. maybe we'll see an integrated LCD-slim tower case (display on the opposite side as the swing-down door) as the new imac. that's just pure speculation, but it's still fun. :)<br><br>

nathan... the new G4 cases aren't all that different than the current ones... <br><br>about the only real external changes look to be a good quality HK type of speaker in the case... but that info may be from a render, not an actual photo...<br><br>who know... Steve may just pull an apple out of his hat... it's always fun to be a part of the keynotes for that reason alone.<br><br>***<br>"Dying isn't hard for men like us, when every everything around you has been butchered or slaughtered .. living is what's hard."<br> --Clint Eastwood to Chief Ten Bears in The Outlaw Josey Wales<br>

iMac sales have been tailing off despite increased speeds and lower prices. The line, or at least Apple's line of Macs, needs the kind of goose they were expecting from the Cube. Perhaps what we are looking at isn't an iMac at all, but the mid-range consumer item the Cube was touted to be but wasn't. In any event, more of the same with slightly lower prices or slightly higher speeds won't do Apple much good.<br><br>John<br>[color:red]I don't need no steenkin' signature!</font color=red>

Isn't the iBook pretty much a flat panel iMac that you can carry around? Or am I the only one who looks at it like that? $1200 is not too far from the lowend price you're mentioning. <br><br>

Without shedding any insight as to our sources... imo, a flat panel iMac doesn't make too much sense. Yes, it would be very eye-catching, no doubt, and would let Apple totally re-invent the system, but the flat panel has got to cost Apple several times more than a CRT... that means making performance sacrifices somewhere, and reducing margins. <br><br>Personally, I'd rather see a 15" or 17" CRT iMac with more RAM, a larger HD, and a better video card (GeForce2 or RADEON) than a spiffy slender iMac, wouldn't you?<br><br>