iGeneration

Charlie Osborne
Home / News & Blogs / iGeneration

Apple launches $999 iMac for schools; But there's a catch

By | August 8, 2011, 7:23am PDT

Summary: Apple is offering a discounted iMac at $999 for school purchases. But there are a few catches you should be aware of.

…or four, that I can count.

Apple has quietly launched the entry-level iMac for the education sector, targeting schools, colleges and universities.

Catch 1: Starting at $999 — reduced from $1199 — this offer is only available for educational customers buying in bulk.

The model consists of a slimmed-down 21.5″ iMac to compensate for the drop in price which includes a 3.1Ghz Intel Core i3 dual-core processor, 2GB RAM and a 250GB hard disk. It also runs the latest Mac OS X Lion operating system, which includes iPhoto, iMovie and the latest version of GarageBand.

Catch 2: However, certain core functionality such as Bluetooth or the revolutionary Thunderbolt port are missing from the iMacs in this offer.

Catch 3: Basically, it looks like a Mac, but performs more like a PC.

Institutions must purchase at least ten or more of the neutered iMacs to qualify for the deal, making the deal seem more expensive than it should.

Apple is clearly focusing more on the education market, even outside of this deal.

Nevertheless, for any school, college or university to invest in a Mac lab for those who have either never used the Mac OS X operating system, or are more suited to use it, is a wise investment for younger people who will find a similar computer diversity in the workplace.

Macs may not be for everyone, but it is worth learning the operating system for future reference. Who knows when one will come across it in the enterprise or the corporate workplace? And what better time to learn something while you are in the depths of schooling anyway?

Catch 4: Having said that, considering that Mac OS X is seldom used in the schooling environment, it would not surprise me if these machines were on the most part laden with Windows when they arrive at schools.

Related content:

Kick off your day with ZDNet's daily e-mail newsletter. It's the freshest tech news and opinion, served hot. Get it.

More from “iGeneration”

Topics

Apple iMac, Apple Inc., Education Sector, Schools, Colleges, University, Discount, Desktops, Hardware, Zack Whittaker

Zack Whittaker, a criminologist who studied at the University of Kent, Canterbury, is a journalist, writer and broadcaster.

Disclosure

Zack Whittaker

I worked briefly with Microsoft UK in 2006 but no longer have any connection with the company. Regardless, I remain impartial and unbiased in my views.

I don't hold any stock or shares, investments or industrial secrets in any company, but have signed confidentiality agreements with a number of UK and U.S. organisations, whose names I am not at liberty to disclose.

I was involved with Kent Union, the University of Kent's student union, undertaking voluntary, non-salaried, elected positions between early 2009 and mid-2010.

No other company, body, government department, non-governmental organisation or third sector organisation employs me or pays me a salary in any capacity whatsoever.

As a freelance journalist, whenever expenses are given and taken by a company that is not CBS Interactive, these will be disclosed in each relevant post to ensure transparency.

I currently work with a UK law enforcement unit, but this is an entirely separate position which bears no connection to other work.

(Updated: 23rd October 2011)

Biography

Zack Whittaker

Zack Whittaker, criminologist who studied at the University of Kent, UK, is a journalist, writer and broadcaster.

After studying criminology at university, though still in his early-20's, he has already had a series unconventional work and voluntary positions. He has worked with researchers studying neurological illnesses like Tourette's syndrome (which he suffers from), has given lectures on the nature of disabilities in the public community, and occasionally ends up speaking on television and radio discussing the events of the day.

He first had academic work published at the age of 22, then still an undergraduate, and has been cited by a wide range of publications: from the Huffington Post, Business Insider, AllThingsDigital, The Atlantic Wire and CBS News.

36
Comments
Add Your Opinion

Join the conversation!

Just In

Re: Be Honest
bobiroc Updated - 12th Aug
@non-biased

I know that it is more than a check to certify because I had to certify with Dell to order parts through them. The difference is Dell doesn't charge to certify and thankfully some of my Certifications like A+ and N+ allow me to be perpetually certified. Also if we have to repair a Dell that has an onsite warranty on it Dell will reimburse us for typical labor. Usually that comes in the form of credits which we apply to future purchases but still. A computer is a computer for the most part and they all have the same basic components. You may have to refer to a manual once in while to see how to take it apart but other than that they are the same.

Also I am not always talking about warranty work. Since the Applecare Warranties are so expensive the School District does not pay for them. So once the 1st year is up we pay for all parts. It is much harder to find Apple parts than other OEMs and many times the ONLY place we can get Apple parts is through Apple. Even out of warranty they give us a hard time and insist that it be installed by an Authorized Apple Service Center. I have a few iMacs with bad Superdrives and since the drives cost upwards of $400 from Apple we just put USB ones on them at a cost of $40 each.
View in thread
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Apple launches $999 iMac for schools; But there's a catch
josh92 8th Aug
Paying Apple's excessive prices just to pay more to throw Windows onto it?! Wow. If that happens en masse I will be truly disgusted at the lack of intelligence of educational institutions. (Considering you can get a Lenovo desktop with a second generation Core i3 processor and 6GB of RAM (three times as much) and a 1 Terabyte HDD (4 times as much storage) for a little over half as much as this computer (for less than $600) ).
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Apple launches $999 iMac for schools; But there's a catch
bobiroc 8th Aug
Still about $250 more per unit than we get our Dell's for with a 20" LCD and a 5 year full warranty. Also the Dells are Core i5's with 4Gb ram
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Apple launches $999 iMac for schools; But there's a catch
Hasam1991 8th Aug
@bobiroc
WOW You should be ashamed of using Dell's (I'm even from TX)... I hope you are not an IT admin, if you are you need to be fired, seriously DELL???

I'm not advocating Apple here but Lenovo and HP are much quality and better choice over Dell.
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Apple launches $999 iMac for schools; But there's a catch
bobiroc Updated - 8th Aug
@Hasam1991

Aside from a bad year with some Optiplex GX270 models and a recalled motherboard the Dell have been good machines. The stand up pretty well to the abuse that teachers and students give them.

HP and Lenovo are good machines too but Dell has always offered us the best volume pricing and given us good support when it is needed.

I find that no OEM is perfect and you will find people that hate them and others that like them. Also it is rarely the decision of the IT admin on what brand of computer is used. Almost every year we send out for quotes for computers from brands like Dell, HP, Lenovo and some others and Dell always comes in the least expensive. The school Administrative staff and school board ultimately make that decision and it is almost always based on cost. I have no problem using other brands like HP or Lenovo but so far there has been nothing that the Dells have done wrong to make a brand switch. Saying I should be fired is just an immature response on your part.



Good Day!
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Apple launches $999 iMac for schools; But there's a catch
moose7710 8th Aug
@Hasam1991
Wow, that's pretty harsh. I've dealt with all three and I wouldn't say that the failure rate is any higher for Dell's than the other brands mentioned. There are lots of company's that use Dell and they work fine. To say that any IT admin that buys Dell's should be fired is a bit extreme.
0 Votes
+ -
Yes, Dell. The same Dells that many Fortune 500 companies buy
William Farrell 8th Aug
@Hasam1991
Fired? get real. wink
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Apple launches $999 iMac for schools; But there's a catch
rengek 8th Aug
@Hasam1991
Thats pretty subjective. Its like saying why use AT&T they are awful you should use verizon. And someone telling you why use verizon they are awful. Your argument is about the same.

And if you do any kind of hardware purchase you would already know that the contract with the vendor is pre-negotiated and I'm going to take a wild leap and guess that IT admin had nothing to do with negotiating the contract.
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Apple launches $999 iMac for schools; But there's a catch
Champ_Kind 8th Aug
@Hasam1991 HP is quality? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA maybe in the server room but not on the desktop or as a laptop.
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Apple launches $999 iMac for schools; But there's a catch
notme403@... 8th Aug
@Hasam1991 ....................... Uhm, yeah. Like you're a system admin and would know.
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Apple launches $999 iMac for schools; But there's a catch
Aerowind 8th Aug
@bobiroc And yet people still say that Mac's arent expensive. I don't get where that sentiment is coming from. Apple is a very good company, but cheap isn't in their vocabulary.
0 Votes
+ -
'Cheap' and 'not expensive' is not the same thing; obviously, trashy ...
DeRSSS 8th Aug
@Aerowind: ... plasticky glitchy hardware can be cheap, but not metallic sturdy high-quality product. For what it is, Macs are not expensive (if to compare to "equal" product, if there is one). But yes, Macs were never cheap.
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Apple launches $999 iMac for schools; But there's a catch
bobiroc Updated - 8th Aug
@DeRSSS

I have taken apart several iMacs and Macbooks and while they are built well they are built of essentially the same components as any other brand. I see no evidence that Macs are less likely to have failure than other brands. What I have seen is that they are much harder to work on and Apple is more likely to stop selling replacement parts or charge more for those parts. The extended warranties from Apple are very expensive and getting Apple to send replacement parts is almost impossible. They always insist the unit be brought into a authorized service center or the School has to pay a $1000 a year per technician to be consider certified to work on an Apple computer.

You can continue believing that Apple has a higher quality standard but I have yet to see any evidence of that. I have had DOA units from Apple and Dell. I have had units last 8+ years without a problem and have had some have a component failure within a few months. The difference is for a few extra dollars we can extend the standard 3 year on Dell's Optiplex models to 5 years and extending a 1 year Apple Standard warranty to 3 years costs hundreds.
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Apple launches $999 iMac for schools; But there's a catch
non-biased 12th Aug
@bobiroc They always insist the unit be brought into a authorized service center or the School has to pay a $1000 a year per technician to be consider certified to work on an Apple computer.
Be honest, it isn't just cutting Apple a check for $1,000 that all of the sudden makes the tech certified. Any way, do you not understand why they want the work done at a certified service center? Can you take your vehicle to just anybody to do warranty work? Of course you can't.
0 Votes
+ -
Re: Be Honest
bobiroc Updated - 12th Aug
@non-biased

I know that it is more than a check to certify because I had to certify with Dell to order parts through them. The difference is Dell doesn't charge to certify and thankfully some of my Certifications like A+ and N+ allow me to be perpetually certified. Also if we have to repair a Dell that has an onsite warranty on it Dell will reimburse us for typical labor. Usually that comes in the form of credits which we apply to future purchases but still. A computer is a computer for the most part and they all have the same basic components. You may have to refer to a manual once in while to see how to take it apart but other than that they are the same.

Also I am not always talking about warranty work. Since the Applecare Warranties are so expensive the School District does not pay for them. So once the 1st year is up we pay for all parts. It is much harder to find Apple parts than other OEMs and many times the ONLY place we can get Apple parts is through Apple. Even out of warranty they give us a hard time and insist that it be installed by an Authorized Apple Service Center. I have a few iMacs with bad Superdrives and since the drives cost upwards of $400 from Apple we just put USB ones on them at a cost of $40 each.
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Apple launches $999 iMac for schools; But there's a catch
pklott 8th Aug
This "deal" makes no sense to me. What good is $150-$200? The regular iMAC is is $1199 (1149 Ed Price), has 4 gb of ram, a quad core i5 and 500gb hard drive... I love my Macbook but please... what is APple thinking
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Apple launches $999 iMac for schools; But there's a catch
Nitz_Walsh 8th Aug
"It looks like a Mac, but performs like a PC" - which hyperlinks to Apple's spec page.

Uh...could you elaborate on that statement? It makes no sense. There is no "PC" spec format.
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Apple launches $999 iMac for schools; But there's a catch
rengek 8th Aug
@Nitz_Walsh
lol i thought the same thing. How about a mac that performs like a cheap PC because I can configure a falcon northwest that will blow any mac out of the water.
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Apple launches $999 iMac for schools; But there's a catch
Imrhien 8th Aug
@rengek Hell yeah. For $999 you could build something truly ferocious AND get a bigger screen to boot.
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Apple launches $999 iMac for schools; But there's a catch
Bates_ 8th Aug
Pay more for less.

"Basically, it looks like a Mac, but performs more like a PC."

So I am paying 1000$ for a PC in a MAC skin? I'll take 500$ and build a superior PC, and then with the extra 500$ can buy whatever screen I want. A dual-core, 2GB RAM, 250GB HDD are specs from like 10 years ago at a 1000$ price tag. I understand most of the price is because of the screen, which is sexy, but at 21.5' it is pretty small.
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Apple launches $999 iMac for schools; But there's a catch
Nitz_Walsh 8th Aug
Actually, check Best Buy - even without the educational discount, comparable AIO PC's are under $550 - and some come with a 23" screen, and all come with 4GB and a larger HD. Hence my confusion on "specced like a PC".

You certainly don't get Apple's great styling, but even in the constricted AIO's category, PC's are almost half the the price for comparable equipment.

Now going to a mini-tower of course, it's even more skewed in the PC's favour.
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Apple launches $999 iMac for schools; But there's a catch
Imrhien 8th Aug
"Performs like a PC"? Care to elucidate?
0 Votes
+ -
It's not a catch, it's a wrought.
blakjak.au 8th Aug
@Imrhien I think Mr Whittaker is trying to suggest that PC run very poorly indeed, which would certainly be true for these iMacs. Pop Windows XP or a Linux disto on them and they'd fly, but running OSX? it would be like running Vista on a bare minimum hardware... which noone should ever do.

What I don't understand is why ANYONE would spend more than $400 on that level of hardware, which is what it would cost to get a more powerful laptop, with more RAM and more HDD. Apple have always be rip-off merchants, but this takes the cake. For $1000-erm $999 today you could get an absolute beast of a PC, or a really good PC and a decent screen.

I think Apple are playing to the "for less than $1000" mental barrier with this one.
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Apple launches $999 iMac for schools; But there's a catch
tech_ed@... 8th Aug
Ho Hum...what's the point? It's not as if these students will be using Macs when they get in the work force....why bother? Learn on PCs because they will be *USING* PCs. simple as that!
0 Votes
+ -
22 years old
reasonableman Updated - 8th Aug
Zack,
From your writing it is clear that you are only 22 years old. You clearly need more "years of work, education, knowledge" and experience before your writing will be considered journalism. I'll check back on you in a few years, and hopefully your writing will have improved by then.
0 Votes
+ -
Hey, this was a good article...
randysmith@... 9th Aug
@reasonableman hey this was a good article from Zack! He presented coherent thoughts, and was reasonably well written (and I am the first to criticize Zack's writing if sub-par!). Some other articles, maybe not so good....but let's give him encouragement when he does it right!
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Apple launches $999 iMac for schools; But there's a catch
fawlty70 8th Aug
I'd be pissed if my children's school bought this. You can get similarly speced laptops (except screen size, of course) for half this. Even with service contracts and exorbitant consultant fees, it would be less.

Kids in school don't need Macs to get their work done.
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Apple launches $999 iMac for schools; But there's a catch
Champ_Kind 8th Aug
@fawlty70 I'd be mad if they bought these for a Mac lab. While some classes work much better on Mac than they do on Windows boxes (anything dealing with music or video production, desktop publishing, or graphic arts), these particular iMacs are a ripoff when it comes down to it.
0 Votes
+ -
I work tech at a school
crazydanr@... 8th Aug
And I'm not paying an extra $600 for a $400 PC with a "better design aesthetic". An I3 with 2GB of RAM for $999? Ooh, what a bargain.
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Apple launches $999 iMac for schools; But there's a catch
NZJester 9th Aug
@crazydanr@...
I just don't get this so called Mac Cool Aesthetic. To me the Apple line of computers and devices look so "sterile room environment" styled. Apple seams to want to stick to Black, White and silver, with only their smallest of devices having a different choice of color. It reminds me of the days when you could only get a PC in slightly different shades of white or beige. These days you can get PC cases in all sorts of colors and styles that look much nicer, are cheaper and better quality than those horrible glossy white things that Apple sell their hardware installed in.
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Apple launches $999 iMac for schools; But there's a catch
notme403@... 8th Aug
Many school districts have been buying Macs because of the advertising and liberal political pressure. There is a coolness factor that rates high in the minds of many of these decision makers. They complain about having to "cut" programs while writing checks for ultralight Macbooks that cost four times what a PC does. But, of course... the Mac has Garage Band! Yippee!
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Apple launches $999 iMac for schools; But there's a catch
mytake4this 8th Aug
1) A Mac is a PC
2) This is a terrible deal
3) Any school administrator falling for these overpriced machines should be fired.
4) Children should be using the computers which the commercial world uses, software-wise, which is Windows. Actually, make that what the world uses for PC - Windows, Dell, HP, etc.
5) Apple iMacs require sucking out the glass to work on the inner.
6) The tiny fonts will ruin their eyes should they not adjust where needed -- some items you are stuck with for tiny fonts. For surfing the Net, with Firefox with an add-on for font changing the bookmarks bar, Mac is OK... much of the rest is pretty tiny, itty-bitty little fonts which can not be changed. Good grief, if they use Safari with its tiny, and black on gray fonts in the bookmarks bar - geepers - peepers, you must squint to view.
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Apple launches $999 iMac for schools; But there's a catch
DJThuht 8th Aug
...Performs like a PC? This is a catch?
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Apple launches $999 iMac for schools; But there's a catch
blakjak.au 8th Aug
@DJThuht You must forgive young master Whittaker, he is a Mac user and apparently has no idea what computer performance is. (especially not in the context of performance per cost)
0 Votes
+ -
Nice Flamebait....
condelirios 8th Aug
Looks like a Mac and performs like a PC? Really? PCs perform MUCH better on a dollar for dollar basis than any Mac. In fact... I have a $400 desktop PC that will blow the doors off that piece of junk Mac with an i3!

So.. fine you win.. I posted on your horribly written flamebait infested blog... are you proud?
0 Votes
+ -
RE: Apple launches $999 iMac for schools; But there's a catch
daniejam 9th Aug
"Catch 3: Basically, it looks like a Mac, but performs more like a PC.!

Are you ever going to stop talking nonsense?? I can spend the same amount of money on a PC and it would run twice as fast as i dont have to pay apple tax.....
0 Votes
+ -
Mac OSX seldom used in schooling environment...
technical.angel 11th Aug
"Catch 4: Having said that, considering that Mac OS X is seldom used in the schooling environment,.."

I do have to disagree with this. First, because that's not precisely what the article said, and secondly, because it's not really true. At least, unless you define which environment you're talking about.

The main huge program that uses Mac in education, of course, is graphic design. Followed by the Film and Radio production programs.

At the small college I worked at for 6 years, the American Sign Language program was really setting off into Mac world.

Join the conversation!

Formatting +
BB Codes - Note: HTML is not supported in forums
  • [b] Bold [/b]
  • [i] Italic [/i]
  • [u] Underline [/u]
  • [s] Strikethrough [/s]
  • [q] "Quote" [/q]
  • [ol][*] 1. Ordered List [/ol]
  • [ul][*] · Unordered List [/ul]
  • [pre] Preformat [/pre]
  • [quote] "Blockquote" [/quote]
ie8 fix

The best of ZDNet, delivered

ZDNet Newsletters

Get the best of ZDNet delivered straight to your inbox

Facebook Activity

Blog Roll

Blog Archive

White Papers, Webcasts, & Resources
ie8 fix