Apple products are notoriously expensive, but this is just ridiculous. Apparently, Apple’s website is still listing the 2006 iMac 17-inch 1.83-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo for around $1,400—depending on where you’re trying to buy from.
The product listing was initially spotted by Twitter user @DylanMcD8 in the Canadian version of Apple.com, where it costs a brain-melting price of Canadian $1,100 (Around $1,583). Gizmodo checked the U.S. site and sure enough, it’s there too, at $US1,000 ($1,439).
At a glance, a thousand bucks for an Apple desktop seems like a deal. Except then you remember this particular iMac model came out in late 2006. Which means it’s sporting really old specs.
As in, a dual-core processor, 512MB of RAM, a 160GB Serial ATA hard drive, and a decrepit integrated graphics chip. For connectivity, this thing features such cutting-edge technologies as three USB 2.0 ports, two Firewire “400″ ports (remember those?), and built-in AirPort Extreme—Apple’s router tech that it officially discontinued in 2018.
Really, truly specs that stand the test of time, especially when you consider how if this 17-inch iMac were a person, it’d be getting ready to graduate middle school and head off to its freshman year of high school. It’s definitely worth the same price as two Apple Watches, an iPhone 11 Pro, and the latest 21.5-inch iMac with a 2.83GHz dual-core processor, 8GB of RAM, 1 TB of storage for $US1,100 ($1,583).
To be fair, Apple probably just forgot to archive this listing. After all, there’s a big ‘ol white space where the product photo should be. (You can’t even see a picture of the thing until you put it in your bag.) Surely, no one in Cupertino believes that anyone would buy this. Even the most hardcore Apple diehards couldn’t be this thirsty for a not-particularly-memorable piece of Apple history. This is the sort of purchase that only irony-poisoned gadget bloggers with a disposable budget would attempt buying—and even then, it’d be just to see if they could.
We reached out to Apple to ask why in god’s name this is still available, and if it’s all just one big goof. We’ll update when we hear back. If it were a mistake, I have questions. Like, can you actually buy this thing? The listing says it takes up to 30 days for shipping. The site says earliest I could pick one up from my local Apple Store is February 19, 2020. That’s disturbingly too real.
I, unfortunately, am not brave or rich enough to put down my personal card to test this for sure. That said, it would appear that YouTuber DetroitBORG has successfully ordered two of these. But even if Apple takes your sweet sweet money, would this iMac ever arrive? Is there truly a stockpile of these just sitting in some Apple warehouse? Would you be getting a refurbished model and if so, why is it still so goddamn expensive?
Whether it’s a mistake or an actual listing, it doesn’t matter. Every which way you look at it, this is just layers upon layers of stupendously splendid stupidity. Bless 2020.