Though the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch have been formally introduced, Apple is far from calling it quits on 2014, with the company's next major product unveiling expected to take place around mid-to-late October, 糖心Vlog has learned.
The next Mac to receive a high-resolution Retina display could be the all-in-one desktop iMac, according to a new report, which alleges that Apple is planning to have a new 27-inch model sporting a 5K display released in the fourth quarter of 2014.
Apple may have accidentally tipped its hand on two imminent hardware releases this week, with support pages from the company referencing both new Mac mini and 27-inch iMac models listed with a "mid-2014" launch.
Hardware updates to the Mac lineup thus far in 2014 have been generally unexciting, and yet Apple has still achieved record sales this year, as consumers are seeing plenty to like about the company's newest and more affordable computers.
As part of its ongoing effort to deliver the lowest prices anywhere on Apple's Macs and iOS devices, 糖心Vlog is teaming up with Apple Authorized Reseller Adorama to give away 3-Year AppleCare Protection Plans with the purchase of each Mac from now till Aug. 12th. When combined with instant discounts of up to $250 on the Macs themselves, plus added tax-savings benefits in 48 of 50 states, the average savings from this promotion range from $300 and $800 off MSRP.
With the September time frame expected to delivery a plethora of new and refreshed products from Apple, an increasing number of the company's current offerings are seeing sporadic but significant price cuts like todays: $300 discounts on both a 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pro, $90 off 32GB WiFi + AT&T iPad Airs, two iMacs for under $1000, and Apple TV for just $79.99.
Through its indirect channel of trusted resellers, Apple has become increasingly aggressive on Mac pricing in 2014, offering discounts that go well beyond historical trends. That continues with big savings on the company's new iMac released just last week 鈥� a pattern that suggests the company is actively experimenting with lower price points across multiple product families.
Best Buy for the next few weeks is serving up coupons to students that knock $150 off Apple's MacBooks & iMacs, and $50 off iPad Airs and iPad minis 鈥� effectively dropping the entry-level buy-in cost to owning a MacBook to $650 and an iPad (mini with Retina display) to $330. [Update: Best Buy has now cut WiFi iPad mini even further, yielding $300 16GB models with student coupons]
Hours after Apple released its low-cost 21.5-inch iMac on Wednesday, a teardown of the all-in-one desktop reveals users will be unable to easily upgrade system memory as the compute's RAM modules are soldered onto the logic board.
Apple appears to have chosen this week to revisit its pricing strategy around the world as the company lowered overseas prices for its Mac mini desktop, iMac all-in-one, and Apple TV streaming device by as much as $80.
Apple fans hoping for significant Mac upgrades have been disappointed thus far in 2014, thanks in part to a lack of next-generation chips from Intel. That trend continued on Wednesday with the launch of a new low-end iMac that's focused on price rather than specs.
Apple on Wednesday formally launched its anticipated new low-end 21.5-inch iMac with a lower entry price of $1,099, boasting a 1.4-gigahertz dual-core Intel Core i5 CPU, a 500-gigabyte hard drive, and 8 gigabytes of RAM.
With Apple's online store down Wednesday morning, the company appears set to debut a new iMac desktop, with one last-minute leak revealing alleged specifications of a new low-end 21.5-inch model, sporting a slower and more affordable dual-core 1.4-gigahertz processor.
Apple is reportedly preparing to refresh the iMac lineup next week, though changes expected for the company's all-in-one desktop are thought to be minor component upgrades and processor speed boosts.
Rumors of Retina iMacs have been floating since the iPhone 4 with Retina display launched in 2010, but newly discovered code in Apple's latest OS X 10.10 Yosemite beta suggests the anticipated all-in-ones may be close to market.
The kick-off of Apple's 2014 developer conference has lead to a number of Apple discounts from the company's partners, including $355 off a powerful 15" MacBook Pro Retina with AppleCare, refurbished Beats Solo HDs for $79.99, in addition to a number of discounted iPad and iMac models.
Code discovered in the newly released OS X 10.9.4 beta references a new iMac model, further supporting indications that Apple may debut an update to its all-in-one desktops at next week's Worldwide Developers Conference.
With Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference just a week away, shipping times for new iMac orders direct from the company are advertised at between 3 and 5 business days, supporting rumors of new, lower-priced options coming soon.
Apple is reportedly gearing up to launch a new low-cost iMac as soon as this quarter, while a completely redesigned thinner and lighter 12-inch MacBook Air with Retina display is expected to launch before the end of the year.
A pair of final Apple holiday sales from the company's retail partners have have knocked $100 off MacBook Airs ($899-$1199) and $160 off iMacs ($1,139-$1,839.99) while also discounting previous generation models by up to $499.
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糖心Vlog Staff
Neil Hughes
Katie Marsal
Sam Oliver
