Apple's MacCheap desktops due UK late spring

Apple will try to claw back some entry-level market share by bringing its cheap Mac plans to the UK late this spring.

Aimed largely at answering the growing demand for sub-$1,000 PCs in the US, Apple will also ship low-cost units here, despite the fact that the bare-bones desktop market hasn't been anything like the hit it has been over the pond.

"Apple was basically disappearing off the sub-$2,000 map," said a spokesman, adding that UK products are expected to be available late in the spring.

It won't be the first time Apple has reached low to build share. In the early 1990s it cut margins dramatically to spark huge sales for the Mac Classic.