What are the differences between the education-only "Early 2009" Aluminum iMac Core 2 Duo and the "regular" 20-Inch "Early 2009" iMac?

At first glance, it would be easy to view the iMac "Core 2 Duo" 2.0 20-Inch (Early 2009/Education Only) model compared to the modestly higher-end iMac "Core 2 Duo" 2.66 20-Inch (Early 2009) and see it as about the same, just with a slower processor, half the RAM, half the hard drive capacity, and a US$250 discount.

Photo Credit: Apple, Inc.

It is correct that the variant for educational institutions does have a slower processor (2.0 GHz compared to 2.66 GHz), half the standard RAM (1 GB rather than 2 GB), and half the hard drive storage (160 GB rather than 320 GB), and it is indeed US$250 less than the institutional price for the 2.66 GHz model (US$899 compared to US$1149).

However, there are a number of other limitations -- and likely limitations (subject to potential revision) -- that should be taken into account. The configuration for educational institutions officially has half the maximum RAM capacity (4 GB rather than 8 GB) and this may be limited in EFI. Just like the Mac mini "Core 2 Duo" 2.0 (Early 2009/NVIDIA), the processor likely is soldered as well and cannot be even unofficially upgraded.

Other differences include half the amount of L2 cache (3 MB compared to 6 MB), half the amount of shared VRAM (128 MB compared to 256 MB) -- this will be automatically upgraded in software if an additional 1 GB of memory is installed -- and the educational model does not support internal Bluetooth.

These differences are summarized below for your convenience:

* The price of this model without the educational discount is US$1199.

Depending on the needs of the purchasing educational institution, these differences may or may not be critical. However, it is nevertheless important to be aware of the differences so that one may make an informed choice.

Individuals who are eligible to purchase other Macs with an educational discount should crunch the numbers to make sure that taking the discount makes sense. Often, the sales tax on the educational purchase will exceed the savings provided by the discount. Consequently, many purchasers will be better off purchasing their Mac from an Apple Authorized Reseller that does not charge sales tax.

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