Opinion: Would 'Headless iMac' Kill eMac?


If the story first revealed by ThinkSecret - which reported that Apple will release a $499 'headless iMac' at MWSF - turns out to be accurate, what future is there for eMac?

Currently, eMacs sell fairly cheaply into education and for entry-level consumer use. But who would buy a CRT eMac when for several hundred dollars less (around $300), you could connect the 'hMac' to your existing monitor?

Moreover, unless the eMac got a significantly faster G4 or a G5, there'd be no incentive to buy it. It's kind of like the PowerBook G4 12.1", which is in limbo at the moment. It's much more expensive than the iBook, but has little more functionality. Consequently, sales have suffered.

Here's an important question: would the 'hMac' support more than bottom-of-the-barrel CRT monitors? Will it support LCD displays?

Our guess is that the hMac is little more than a headless eMac (rather than a headless iMac). From ThinkSecret's description, this may be the Macintosh LC redux: a small, cubist design which can fit virtually anywhere, hooks up to any monitor and is easily portable. That, in our view, is a Good Thing.

You do remember the LC? A cheap box, consisting of modules which would be easily assembled and swapped in or out. You could field-strip one inside 3 minutes. They could be connected to PC monitors (which were extremely lousy at the time, so you inevitably chose an Apple-branded Sony Trinitron). You could boost the VRAM (unlikely on the hMac), up the RAM and easily swap in a larger HD.

If it's marketed properly - i.e., iPod bundles and other, say, iTMS incentives - it could be a 'killer Mac'. Hell, not just the Great Unwashed will buy one, but every one of us here, just to have spare Mac in the other room, either acting as an Airport Base Station or just quietly crunching video.

The eMac does all this, but it's restricted to one monitor, one size, and limited screen movement (unlike the old iMac G4). I can't stand CRTs (headaches) and a Power Mac G4 tower, while reasonably cheap second-hand, is a pretty massive piece of kit compared to, say, an XServe or LC-sized pizza box. What's more, the eMac (and, to a lesser extent, the Power Mac) weigh a ton.

So unless the eMac goes G5 - therefore giving you a reason to buy it - forget it. It's a goner.