Ars Technica has posted and article (with images ) detailing Apple’s apparent educational iMac listed at $899. The white 17” iMac comes with:

1.83GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor
1GB RAM
160GB hard drive
24x Combo drive
Intel GMA 950 graphics

As Chris Foresman of Ars Technica puts it:

“Though the pricing is attractive, I'm not sure it represents a great value in the current market. The combination of a 1.83GHz processor, max 2GB DDR2 RAM, combo optical drive (DVD-ROM + CD-R/W), and Intel integrated graphics is pretty underwhelming. Given many schools' 3-year or longer equipment cycles, those buying this cheaper iMac would end up with what is essentially 5-year old equipment by the time its reached the upgrade cycle. And without the NVIDIA 9400M graphics, this model would see little benefit from a Snow Leopard upgrade.

Likewise, with the old design and underwhelming hardware, I also wouldn't expect Apple to ever offer this to the general public.”

It makes sense for Apple to offer something for the educational market but we agree that the configuration is “underwhelming”. Check out the full article here.

Tags:imac, education

Are you looking for a new Mac this holiday season? Perhaps a really nice gift for that special someone? Check out MacRumors Black Friday sales page. They've broken down the best deals on new iMac's, MacBooks, MacBook Pro's and iPods so you don't have to run around checking ads, visiting various websites, etc. Oh and if you're like my brother, who just bought a new MacBook Pro three days ago, sorry about your luck. You could've waited until today and saved an extra hunsky.

The Apple Store even has a few things on sale as well, so if you prefer to buy directly from our favorite fruit company, here you go.

Joseph Henry

Tags:macbookpro, macbook, deals, ipod, imac

MacWorld's Jim Dalrymple is reporting that Apple has no plans for any hardware updates during the holiday season despite rumors stating the opposite. Dalrymple quotes Apple spokesman Bill Evans: "our holiday lineup is set". A number of Apple related rumor sites were reporting that Apple would release new iMacs and update Mac Minis. Also rumored were Mac Pros set to debut at MacWorld Expo in January.

So kiddies, looks like there won't be any updated or new Apple goodies under your Christmas tree this year. Don't let that stop Santa from leaving a new iPhone, iPod, or Mac in your stocking, however. Better get to writing that letter to Santa ASAP.

Tags:imac, macbook, macbookpro, iphone, ipod