New $1099 iMac Now Available For Purchase

Apple has released a new $1099 iMac, giving the line a new lower barrier of entry. Before this model, consumers had to start at configuration at $1299.

The $200 price drop comes in the wake of a drop in several specs:

Firstly and foremost, the processor has been reduced from a true quad-core to a 1.4GHz (2.7 Turbo Boost) hyperthreaded dual-core i5 (possibly the 4260U). It’s quite a drop, for a work station, but still a very capable processor for a daily driver. The swap in CPU also results in a step down for the integrated graphics from the Iris Pro in the $1299 model to Intel’s HD 5000. Other noticeable changes are the 500GB cut in storage, which can be upgraded, and a non-upgradable 8GB of RAM. Overall, it’s an excellent deal for 1440p all-in-one build. Hopefully, with the iMac’s stepping down in price, we’ll get to see a Haswell or Broadwell refresh of the Mac mini series, which hasn’t been refreshed since 2012.