Apple slashes two-way G4 prices

Apple announced steep discounts on its dual processor G4 Macs today in the US and Europe.

US buyers can claim $300 off the 450MHz dual-processor Mac, and $500 off the 500MHz two-way before the end of the year, bringing prices to $2199 and $2999 respectively. In the UK, the same models get £250 and £400 discounts to £1349 and £1949 respectively.

As with the earlier Cube discount, UK buyers save slightly more proportionately: 14 or 16 per cent, compared to 12 or 14 per cent for the US models. Unlike the Cube offer, however, it isn't tied to a purchase of an Apple monitor (or anything else). The mail-in rebates apply to all models purchased before the end of the year.

With the Cube and G3 Powerbook discounts announced earlier this fall, Apple now has discounts across its entire professional range, suggesting an urgent need to clear inventory, and makes way for the long-awaited speed bump at MacWorld in January. It also - and unexpectedly - makes the two-way Macs much more competitive against SMP Intel PCs, given that Intel discontinued SMP-capable Celerons earlier this year, ties current two-way workstations to the dead-end RAMBUS memory, and SMP-capable Pentium 4 won't be introduced for the best part of a year. But then Apple really ought to get round to introducing an operating system that takes advantage of SMP across the board...

Details of eligibility for UK buyers can be found here, and for US buyers here. ®

Related stories

Apple opts for DDR SDRAM in 600MHz G4s
Apple's Cube-for-Cash deal comes to Britain
Apple offers cash for Cubes
Apple sees growth despite depressed sales