Processors Toolkit

Old iMacs stay on sale

Daniel Terdiman CNET News.com

Published: 11 Jan 2006 09:45 GMT

In a break with its usual practice of having its newly launched products completely replace its old ones, Apple is continuing to sell iMac G5s with IBM processors even as its new Intel-based iMacs are now available.

And even odder may be that the pricing for both sets of computers is the same.

During his keynote speech at Macworld Expo in San Francisco Tuesday, Apple's chief executive, Steve Jobs, unveiled the Intel-based iMacs, promising that they would be as much as two to three times faster than their predecessors.

Yet, the new machines will cost exactly the same as the previous models.

Apple could not immediately respond to questions about why it's continuing to sell computers that seem now to be obsolete for the same price as their replacements.

According to one Jupiter Research analyst, Michael Gartenberg, there could be some continued demand for the older desktop machines from people who already have a large supply of older applications and aren't looking to upgrade immediately.

But Jobs said Apple's new Rosetta software will allow anyone running one of the new Intel-based machines to use their existing applications. And Gartenberg added that the continued availability of both machines was more likely a tip of the hat to clearing off warehouse shelves.

"There is inventory, and when you have inventory, you sell it," Gartenberg said.

Meanwhile, Apple's new laptops, the MacBook Pros, will also be priced in the same range as the old PowerBooks, even though Jobs said the new laptops will be as much as five times as fast.

However, the new MacBook Pros, which Apple began taking orders for on Tuesday, will not be available until next month, Jobs said.