I’ve got some serious lust for the new Quad Core 27-inch iMacs, but I get the feeling that the refresh story isn’t quite over yet. Take a look at this product comparison:
| iMac Quad i5 | iMac Quad i7 | Mac Pro Quad | |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPU Speed | 2.66 GHz | 2.8 GHz | 2.66 GHz |
| L3 Cache | 8 MB | 8 MB | 8 MB |
| Hyper-Threading | No | Yes | Yes |
| Included RAM | 4 GB | 4 GB | 3 GB |
| Maximum RAM | 16 GB | 16 GB | 16 GB |
| Disk | 1,000 GB | 1,000 GB | 640 GB |
| Superdrive | 8x | 8x | 16x |
| Open PCI-e Slots | N/A | N/A | 3 |
| Display | 27″ IPS LCD | 27″ IPS LCD | None |
| Price (USD) | $1,999 | $2,199 | $2,499 |
Not since the return of Jobs has Apple’s product line-up had overlap like this. The Mac Pro has always been terribly overpriced relative to Apple’s other products but right now it borders on ludicrous. Is Apple going to let this stand until the Mac Pro can be refreshed with Intel’s upcoming “Gulftown” six-core processors next quarter? It doesn’t seem right…
