Will Apple Lower Prices On Macs This Spring?

Apple never has been a company to cater to the lower-end. For whatever reason, it just never has had to compete on price alone. For decades, the company has made clear that the price premium associated with its products was due to the unique design and ingenuity. That said, there's hardly ever been a better time for Apple to consider dipping into the low-end pool, and rumors have been running rampant along those very lines.

According to a new report in the International Business Times, steeper than usual price cuts could be just around the bend from Apple. Specifically, it's expected that Apple will release lower-priced models of the 13-inch MacBook and the larger-screen all-in-one iMac. Currently, the MacBook retails for around $999+, while the iMac starts at $1,199. Still, there's no indication that Apple will do an about-face on its netbook stance and suddenly look to release an even smaller Mac notebook, but we'd certainly love to see it happen.


Of course, it's not like Apple really needs the money. While most firms struggled to just survive in Q1, the Cupertino-based company raked in millions. That said, sales of Mac computers did fall 3% year-over-year, but considering the economic environment, we'd argue that it's still succeeding. It's hard to imagine how Apple could cut prices (and specifications, you'd think) without hamstringing the computers in one way or another; Apple has long professed that its computers "just work," and by stripping them of raw horsepower and memory -- just a guess here -- it could end up selling machines that perform in a subpar fashion. At any rate, we're sure Mac and PC users alikes will be watching price tags carefully in the coming months -- cheap Apples could lead to all sorts of havoc breaking loose at the low-end of the PC spectrum.