In a break with its usual practice of having its newly launched products completely replace its old ones, Apple is continuing to sell iMac G5s with IBM processors even as its new Intel-based iMacs are now available.
And even odder may be that the pricing for both sets of computers is the same.
During his keynote speech at Macworld Expo in San Francisco Tuesday, Apple's chief executive, Steve Jobs, unveiled the Intel-based iMacs, promising that they would be as much as two to three times faster than their predecessors.
Yet, the new machines will cost exactly the same as the previous models.
Apple could not immediately respond to questions about why it's continuing to sell computers that seem now to be obsolete for the same price as their replacements.
According to one Jupiter Research analyst, Michael Gartenberg, there could be some continued demand for the older desktop machines from people who already have a large supply of older applications and aren't looking to upgrade immediately.
But Jobs said Apple's new Rosetta software will allow anyone running one of the new Intel-based machines to use their existing applications. And Gartenberg added that the continued availability of both machines was more likely a tip of the hat to clearing off warehouse shelves.
"There is inventory, and when you have inventory, you sell it," Gartenberg said.
Meanwhile, Apple's new laptops, the MacBook Pros, will also be priced in the same range as the old PowerBooks, even though Jobs said the new laptops will be as much as five times as fast.
However, the new MacBook Pros, which Apple began taking orders for on Tuesday, will not be available until next month, Jobs said.
Talkback
Apple continue to sell PowerPC systems because the pro applications (Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro, Motion, etc.) are not ready for Intel yet. They are announced for March.
Pros buy the hardware they need to run specific software tools. If you need a Mac to run Final Cut Pro before March, you need a PowerPC Mac. And you don't care whether or not there are Intel machines.
If Apple stopped shipping PowerPC systems now (especially PowerBooks) there would be a revolt from the creative users who are Apple's bread and butter.
Additionally, not everyone wants to replace ALL of the pro apps the moment they buy a new machine. Apple used the same strategy in the past - selling a PowerMac G4 with OS 9 long after it was obsolete, simply because some users NEEDED to be able to buy a new, OS 9 machine.
Kudos to Apple for not leaving it's power users in a lurch.
The reason they are selling the G5s at the same price is because they will run some apps faster than the Intel iMacs.
Rosetta will run all your old apps, but not as fast as they used to run.