by , 7:30 AM EST, January 2nd, 2001
>Apple has really gotten serious about clearing out their remaining inventory by slashing prices. While that may sound like a bad furniture-store TV commercial, it is reality. You can buy a 500 MHz Dual Processor Power Mac G4 for US$2499, and that's US$1000 off what it was a week ago. Better yet, you can pick up a brand new PowerBook 500 MHz for US$2199, which is more than US$1000 off last week's price.
The low end also picked up some savings with the single processor 400 MHz PowerMac G4 starting at US$1299 (US$300 off) and the low end Cube starting US$1499 (US$300 off). The low end PowerBook is priced at US$1999 which represents an official savings of US$500. iBook and iMac pricing appears to be unchanged as of this writing. With no mention of the rebates that Apple had been offering, there is no indication those are available in addition to the price cuts, though chances are they are probably not. As of press time (which was before Apple's offices opened), Apple had not returned our messages.
These latest price cuts come as the next step in Apple's efforts to clear up some 11 weeks of inventory that built up during the company's 1st fiscal quarter. That inventory buildup occurred as Apple ran into problems in their education-sales efforts and a world-wide slowdown that impacted the entire computing industry. Steve Jobs has said that Apple will be solving this problem as quickly as possible, hence the price cuts. In addition, Apple is largely expected to introduce new products at next week's MACWORLD San Francisco 2001 expo.
Head over to the Apple Store to find more information on the products and the new prices.
Write us and tell us what you think about these price cuts. Does it make you want to buy a new Mac?