Apple to launch updated low-spec iMac for students?

The latest word on Apple Street is that a new cut-down iMac is in the offing as part of the company's education scheme.

Updated: Apple has unveiled the official tech specifications for the 21.5-inch iMac, with the mooted 3.1GHz dual-core processor, 2GB of RAM and AMD Radeon 6750M processor intact. Looks like these puppies will be getting a UK release date of 'Late 2011'; no word yet on pricing.

The rumoured iMac is said to rock a 3.1GHz dual-core processor, 2GB of DDR3 RAM, a 250GB hard drive and an AMD Radeon HD 6750M graphics processor.

That's not much processing power or storage space compared to the current lowest-end consumer iMac, but debt-laden students and struggling university lecturers may be willing to sacrifice on spec for a cheap deal.

Bargain basement

Apple's last education iMac deals started at £880, so we'd be anticipating a similar kind of deal for these updated version - but with the quad-core iMac coming in at around £990, you'll only be saving around £100 for a severely reduced machine.

9to5Mac's anonymous source tips the new desktops as arriving later this month, citing 16 August as the scheduled 'soft launch' date.

Given that the new academic year will start in September in the UK, that timing makes sense to us.

If you're in the market for a computer but don't fancy a desk-tethered Mac, our video guide to what's what in the laptop world should give you a helping hand:

via 9to5Mac