Yeah, SSDs of any larger size are really expensive, aren't they?

Thanks John, I was curious what the single CPU hex-core was going to cost... probably $3200-3500 !! Yikes is right !!

IF I was making big bucks off the Mac - I'd buy a single CPU MacPro but I only make small chunks of change ($4-6K / semester) using it for teaching.

I think the Quad core iMac is probably overkill for now, BUT in 4-5 years it'll be appreciated as the OS and apps get beefier.

Plus, I might want to start production on Star Wars episode #7 !!

Dave, I think that quad iMac is the most economical choice if you're looking for some serious HP for the desktop. The iMac has morphed into a more pro-sumer machine rather than just a Hanna Housewife email and web browsing machine.

With these pricing, I wonder if Apple is creating a gap in there so that they could introduce a new mac for those that want something more upgradable than the iMac but can't afford/need the Mac Pro?

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Extremely unlikely.
How do you bridge the gap between the iMac and the Mac Pro?
I think a consumer tower would have to have:
Intel Core i7 930 processor
ATI HD 5770 video card.
6GB of memory.
That would probably cost around $2,300 or more considering it's Apple.
That's a gaming machine. How many people would buy it?

You can put less in it but then you are back to the iMac.

If Apple came out with a consumer tower with a Intel Core i7 980X and an ATI HD 5970 video card.
I'd probably buy it.
The price would be over $4,000.
Once again, who is going to buy it besides me?

I think you're spot on... I don't really need more than 4 cores and the top quad 27" iMac has hyperthreading and turbo boost (similar to the Pros).

As for something in between - I'd love it, I'd buy it too - I have doubts too they'd do that, but I'm NOT one to try to predict what Apple (or Jobs) might do.

I would completely agree with this. The iMacs have "enough" power. How much is enough? If you know how to turn apps off you are not using and are not doing hyper crazy filtering in Photoshop these things have plenty of power.

I go on about wanting 24 and 48 cores but really it doesn't need to be on one or two boxes in the lab and I terminal into them. But since the software is effed up we have six doing this stuff.

The iMAcs can do most anything in my lab and they are cheap and very slick. They also have a five year lifetime without shifting too many times in the lab.

That is the CPU and the memory. For a lab there cannot be too much hard drive space but we do that by servers. Nothing gets unplugged hen it gets old, it becomes a server.

I don't have all day to study the latest CPU/GPU technologies like you do, but I'm sure you used all the latest and greatest in your specs. That's not what low end towers from Apple ever were. I'm sure that price could be knocked down to sub $2000, and have decent enough specs to run anything outside of pro apps fast enough. They would also have internal expandability so that the user that is a little more than just internet, but not into production of any kind, would be able to have some expansion so they wouldn't need all sorts of HD's and hubs hanging off of the computer.

I think Apple is missing a market, but I also don't have a Learjet at my disposal so what do I know.

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Actually your points are very well taken.
Okay, so put the guts of the iMac into a consumer tower but make it so it is expandable.
That would probably be a computer worth getting for a lot of people.
And it should sell for below two grand.

For example, the new iMacs and Mac Pros will not have USB 3.0.
But USB 3.0 will probably be available with a third party PCI Express card.
The Mac Pro could use it but the iMac can't because it's not expandable.

By the way, if you inherit a fortune, don't buy a Learjet, get a Gulfstream.
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That's my only downside with iMacs... can't expand or change.
(IF you keep a Mac as long as I do, that is an issue.)

So say in 4-5 years I want a better graphics card- Can't do it!

Maybe they come out with USB 4.0- Firewire 1600 or 3200 or something else very fast on a PCI card - can't use it !

I can add HDs but they're all external... tower allows 4 - just plug em in !

THAT's my only beef with the iMacs - some things you're stuck with.
Power wise & RAM they're extremely capable.