Apple enthusiast and rumor site Think Secret reported this week that in January Apple will unveil a sub-$500 Mac designed to entice Windows users who own iPods to make the computer switch.

The computer, which will be priced without a monitor, will be part of the iMac family, said the site, and feature a G4 processor running at about 1.25GHz, 256MB of memory, and a hard drive in the 40-80GB range. It will not be equipped with a DVD drive.

Small even by Apple standards, the new computer will reportedly be housed in a flat-sided enclosure similar to the 1.7-inch thick be housed in a flat-sided enclosure similar to the 1.7-inch thick Xserve server.

The unnamed machine -- Think Secret said its code name was currently "Q88" -- will be aimed at buyers, Windows users for the most part, who have an iPod and are looking for an inexpensive second computer.

Think Secret reported that the new Mac will retail for $499 and be available sometime in the first quarter of 2005.

The full story on Think Secret can be found here.