Apple Store Is Down Worldwide; Are New iMacs Around The Corner?

The Apple Store is currently down worldwide, signaling that the company could be preparing to launch a new product anytime soon. And, while there is no official word yet, rumors suggest that new iMac models are likely on the horizon.

At the time of reporting, the webpage dedicated to Apple Store displayed the following message: “We'll be back. We're busy updating the Apple Store for you and will be back soon.” The Inquirer has pointed toward a website called istheapplestoredown.com, which shows that Apple’s store is offline across the globe.

Considering that in the past, an outage of the company's online store has typically been followed by a product release, the current incident is being read as a sign that the Cupertino-based tech giant is preparing for yet another product launch on its website. And, if ongoing rumors are to be believed, the company has been planning an upgrade to its iMac lineup sometime this week.

According to a recent report from MacGeneration, an Apple-oriented French blog, new iMac models with minor spec upgrades such as enhanced processor speeds could be part of the new release this week. While the new iMacs are unlikely to get Retina display upgrades, the MacGeneration website listed out the following CPU improvements for the overhauled iMacs:

The 21.5-inch 2.9 GHz version could get a CPU speed boost to 3 GHz, while the device’s Turbo Boost feature could go up from 3.6 GHz to 3.7 GHz. On the other hand, the processor speed of the 27-inch 3.2 GHz iMac variant could be increased to 3.3 GHz, while its Turbo Boost could get a speed bump from 3.6 GHz to 3.7 GHz.

The $1,999 version of the 27-inch 3.4GHz iMac model is also expected to get a CPU upgrade, which would increase its speed to 3.5 GHz, while the device’s Turbo Speed performance is expected to grow from 3.8 GHz to 3.9 GHz, according to MacGeneration.