Apple’s ‘bargain’ iMacs much more expensive than their Windows rivals

APPLE last week announced a new lower-priced iMac, available in Australia for $250 less than its predecessor.

IF you’re looking for a good home computer, or even one for a small business, with a decent-sized colourful display that takes up little room on a desk or dining room table, you’d be hard pressed to go past one of Apple’s iMacs.

They’re gorgeous machines: superbly thin, beautifully designed and backed by some of the best software in the business. But ­Apples generally cost significantly more than Windows machines, let alone the Android-powered devices now creeping on to desktops — enough to deter many potential buyers.

Well aware of this, Apple last week announced a new lower-priced iMac, available in Australia for $250 less than its predecessor, which remains on sale.

The basic 21.5-inch iMac goes for $1349, compared with $1599 for the predecessor.

Both models have eight gigabytes of random access memory, a reasonable amount for most family usage. But the pricier model has twice the storage: a terabyte.

And here’s the rub: the $1349 version is powered by a low-cost 1.4GHz dual core Intel processor, compared with a 2.7GHz quad-core chip in the $1599 model, giving the more expensive iMac something like twice the processing power.

Please don’t get DoubleClick wrong. Intel’s 1.4GHz dual-core processor is by no means a dud: it’s used in some models of Apple’s best-selling MacBook Air lightweight notebook.

But home-bound iMacs generally have heavier work to do, often with several folk round the house connected simultaneously. If, for instance, you’re fiddling with your snaps on Photoshop, while the partner watches a Game of Thrones rerun, and the youngest family member bashes away at World of Warcraft, you’re going to need something better than a 1.4GHz dual-core.

For the price, we reckon Apple could have put a quad-core chip into the basic iMac, and maybe increased the storage as well. They could also have got the price quite a bit lower — maybe to something not far over $1000 — and still have banked a fortune. But, alas, that’s not the Apple way. Even though the prices of many internal PC components have come down mightily, Apple prices seem to remain bound in the same band.

A couple of years ago you could buy a 21.5-inch iMac with a 2.5 quad-core Intel i5 processor for $1399. DoubleClick knows because we bought one. So, given the lower cost of producing the latest models, we don’t think the new $1349 model is quite the magnificent bargain Apple is claiming.

Other computer makers appear to have no trouble undercutting Apple prices.

Hewlett-Packard Australia, for instance, is currently offering its all-in-one Pavilion model — which has a 23-inch display and a dual-core 3.7GHz chip from AMD — for $949. It also offers a 19.5-inch all-in-one with a similar processor at $699.

Lenovo Australia has a 23-inch all-in-one at with an Intel Core i5 processor at $1099 and a 20-inch model as low as $629. (Lenovo, the well-regarded Chinese maker which bought IBM’s PC business some years ago, mainly sells to business and its PCs are not usually available in retail stores, but anyone can buy through Lenovo’s online store.)

Dell Australia, which also sells direct via an online store, last week had an Inspiron all-in-one with a 23-inch touchscreen and Intel Core i5 chip on special offer at $899 (usual price $999).

HP, Lenovo and Dell PCs, of course, come with Microsoft’s Windows operating system — in most cases the latest touch-­enabled 8.1 version.

Users can choose from a vast array of Windows software, but can’t play Mac apps. Apple users can play both Mac apps and — if they spring $60 or so for desktop virtualisation software like Parallels or VMware’s Fusion — Windows programs, though rather more slowly than on a true Windows machine.

Overall, DoubleClick retains high regard for the iMacs: they’re beautifully designed, superbly finished and run smoothly — most of the time. (Our iMac has recently had no end of trouble, tracked down to corrupted font files.)

But if money is an issue — and for most of us it is — a home buyer would have to be taking a serious look at the Windows all-in-ones.

Adobe’s pen and ruler

ADOBE Systems — the maker of Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, In-Design and other software used by designers, artists, publishers and others involved in the graphic arts — has taken a sharp new turn.

It’s increasingly producing versions of its programs for creative folk who use tablets rather than PCs for their work. And last week it began producing hardware.

It’s come up with a pair of ­aluminium-clad devices: a “digital ruler” called Adobe Slide, and a digital pen dubbed Adobe Ink, now selling for $US200 in the US, the only country where they’re currently available.