Apple takes wraps off faster, cheaper Power Macs

Apple Computer on Tuesday unviled a new crop of Power Macs in the US, touting faster processors and lower prices on some configurations. The company also released a new wide-screen monitor.

The highest of the high-end systems contain twin 1.42GHz PowerPC G4 processors, as Apple seeks to close on the gigahertz gap with Windows-based PCs.

The new low-end Power Mac starts at $1,499, a $200 reduction over the previous starter system, and packs a single 1GHz processor. But the megahertz boost and price cut is a trade-off. The previous entry-level Mac packed dual 867MHz processors.

The price of the midrange model has dropped from $2,499 to $1,999, and the high-end model from $3,299 to $2,699.

"We've changed the economics about how you buy a Power Mac," said Greg Joswiak, Apple's vice president of worldwide hardware product marketing. "We've reduced prices more than 40 per cent."

The new systems come preloaded with the iLife digital media suite.

Besides the new Power Macs, Apple also cut the price of the 17-inch digital flat-panel display from $999 to $699 and introduced a new, 20-inch Cinema Display monitor for $1,299. At the same time, Apple cut the price of its 23-inch Cinema Display from $3,499 to $1,999. Like the 23-inch model, the new Cinema Display has a wide-screen ratio of 16-10. Maximum resolution is 1680 pixels by 1050 pixels.

IDC analyst Roger Kay said the performance gains on the new systems and related price cuts are important moves for Apple, particularly as IT spending continues at lower-than-expected levels.

"The new (Power Mac line) is well configured and aggressively priced," he said. But "the real draw is the display. The 20-inch Cinema Display is big enough to see a full-page spread at 100 percent, the benchmark for professional layout artists."