Apple Confirms US$100 Price Drop On GeForce3 Video Card

by , 3:15 PM EDT, April 9th, 2001

We heard rumors from the PC world this weekend that NVIDIA would be dropping the price of the GeForce3 from US$599 to US$399, so we checked Apple's Web site today and found that Apple has apparently lowered the price of their GeForce3 product by US$100. Checking with Apple PR, a company spokesperson confirmed that the stand alone card and the BTO option have both been lowered by US$100.

Currently, the stand alone product is priced at US$499. Adding it to the high-end PowerMac G4 models will now cost US$250 extra (in place of a GeForce2MX), while adding it to the low end model will cost US$350 (in place of the less expensive ATI Rage 128 Pro).

NVIDIA's Web site does not have pricing information, and phone calls to the company were not returned at press time. We were not able to confirm, or find any hard evidence, that the PC version would be dropping by US$200, but we expect some form of hard news to hit this week.

The bad news, however, comes to us courtesy of MacInTouch. That site posted a letter that an Apple Store customers reportedly received from Apple. That letter warned of an extended delay in shipping the computer due to delays from NVIDIA, but offered to ship the computer now with the GeForece2MX with a GeForce3 shipping when available at not extra charge. Please check out MacInTouch for more information and the quoted letter.

You can find more information on the GeForce3 at Apple's Web site. To order a stand alone card, go to the Apple Store and click on Accessories. From there, go to Displays. Please note that Apple Store URLs are tied to expiring sessions; we would otherwise provide direct links.

The Mac Observer Spin:

All too often, we have to whip out the big red editorial pen to chastise Apple for not doing the right thing, but not so in this case. Assuming that the letter MacInTouch has posted is genuine (MacInTouch is seldom wrong about these things), Apple has really done a stand up thing in this situation. Shipping the models now helps make sure that Apple keeps a sale and a customer. Sending out the GeForece3 card later, at no price, is a nice touch that gets a pat on the back. Letting those customers who have already waited for months for their order keep the extra card is above and beyond what they *have* to do, and we offer a big Mac Observer Salute for that!

Apple Store