In an echo of the furore that met the release of the original eMac, Apple has withdrawn its new education-only iMac from sale to individuals. The new product was available for purchase by individual students and teachers through Apple"s resellers and online and high street stores, but this has now been changed. Apple will now only sell the new education iMac to institutions.
A note to dealers reveals: "Please be advised that the iMac for education is no longer available to education individuals. Effective immediately this product is only available to education institutions. The product will be removed from the Apple Education Individual Stores from 12 July 2006."
The move to withdraw the Mac, which costs £544 (excluding VAT), has not been explained, though the product was only ever aimed at the education market.
It"s an odd reflection of what occurred when Apple launched its education-only eMac. The company experienced a cacophony of requests from potential customers who wanted to buy what was at that time Apple"s most affordable Mac.
So strong was this demand that Apple eventually relented and began selling the eMac to the general public.