Apple’s March edition of its education newsletter was a piece of attraction for the tech world besides educational institutions because Apple included information about the new, refreshed iMac line-up and hints about the 17-inch iMac in it.

To the clear clouds of confusion surrounding the issue, Apple hasn’t introduced a new 17-inch iMac machine. It’s the same old polycarbonate 17-inch iMac. This 17-inch polycarbonate iMac is intended for K-12 or higher educational institutions. Only an authorized purchase agent or educational institution can look into deals for the iMacs for K-12 and higher educational institutions.

The Apple Store for Education will show Purchase for your Institution options with two categories: K-12 and Higher Education. Further, one can create a quote by adding details about the school, or one has to log in as an authorized purchaser.

The 17-inch polycarbonate iMac starts at $899, packing a 1.83 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, a 1GB DDR2 RAM, a 24x combo drive, and Intel GMA 950 graphics. Not an ideal choice for educational institutions looking forward to purchase upgrade-friendly machines.

Apple had stopped public retailing of this 17-inch iMac since 2007, and it’s surprising why these polycarbonate iMacs are being offered without any refreshed hardware. The 13-inch white Macbook is refreshed with a Nvidia 9400M graphics chip and is being offered to the general public.

Buy Apple iMac Desktop with 17″ Display