Apple Unveils New Mac PCs to Spur Sales to Consumers

Apple Inc., the maker of Macintosh computers and the iPhone, updated its desktop models for consumers, offering machines with larger screens and better graphics at lower prices.

The new 24-inch (61-centimeter) iMac, with twice the memory, will sell for $1,499, the same price as the previous-generation 20-inch iMac, Apple said today in a statement. The new Mac mini, available for $599, will feature enhanced graphics.

Lower prices and additional features will help Apple appeal to customers even as personal computer shipments fall this year, said Peter Misek, an analyst at Canaccord Capital. Industrywide, PC shipments may drop 12 percent, the most ever, as customers hold off buying in the recession, according to researcher Gartner Inc.

“I have been stunned and surprised with how strong volumes have remained through this year,” said Toronto-based Misek, who rates Apple shares “speculative buy” and doesn’t own any. Customers “buy into that Apple vision.”

The iMac, an all-in-one computer that helped spur Apple’s comeback when it debuted in 1998, is its most popular desktop. It accounted for 25 percent of Mac sales last quarter, according to Shaw Wu, an analyst at Kaufman Bros. in San Francisco.

Other than adding faster chips to the iMac last year, Apple hasn’t introduced a new version since August 2007, when Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs unveiled an aluminum and glass model.

Apple rose 9 cents to $88.03 at 10:17 a.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The stock had fallen 30 percent in the year before today.

‘Premium-Priced’

The company also revamped its Mac Pro, cutting the price $300 to $2,499, more than doubling memory and improving processing speed. The Pro, the company’s most powerful desktop, will be available next week in Apple stores.

Still, Apple is fighting what may be the worst economic slowdown in the postwar era. Over the holidays, Mac desktop shipments dropped 25 percent.

“The bottom line is, it’s positive, but they’re still fighting the economic headwind,” said Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray & Co. who advises investors to buy the shares. “They’re still premium priced.” Minneapolis-based Munster doesn’t own the stock.

This will be the first product introduction led by someone other than Jobs, who is on medical leave through June. Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook is handling day-to-day operations.