can i have one of those new ones please

October 14, 2008 7:17 PM

So I bought a macbook in August... and I'm feeling a little bit, I dunno if ripped off is the phrase, perhaps it is left out, okay ripped off works. Had I known about the new macbook I would without a doubt have waited, anything I can do about this?
posted by pwally to computers & internet (17 comments total)

Sell it and buy a new one.

Also, plan ahead for next time. The cognoscenti know roughly what sort of new products will come out when, and time their purchases accordingly.

The plastic Macbook is a wonderful product, though, so my real advice is, enjoy it.
posted by grobstein at 7:22 PM on October 14, 2008

Since you're way past Apple's 14 day return policy, there's very little that you can do other than selling your current Macbook and buying a new one.
posted by zsazsa at 7:23 PM on October 14, 2008

Also, in the future, consult the Mac Rumors Buyer's Guide.
posted by zsazsa at 7:23 PM on October 14, 2008 [1 favorite]

It's the age old dilemma of buying Apple products. I think its more pronounced with Apple, because they really come out with multiple levels of coolness with their major updates.

All you can really do is call customer support. Be nice. Ask if there's anything they can do. I have heard some success stories, but I don't know how close to the new release date you have to be for them to consider anything.

Worst case: sell your MacBook on ebay and buy a new one. The good news is, Apple stuff really holds its value well, even in light of new products being released. Sure, you might have to pony up a few hundred bucks difference, but... that's the price of techno-lust.

Another alternative: wait a month or two and they might have some refurbs available at their online store. You'll save a chunk off of new, and that will ease the pain a little.

By the way, the new non-Pro MacBooks have lost Firewire, so if that's important to you, don't be too jealous yet.
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 7:32 PM on October 14, 2008

The plastic Macbook is a wonderful product, though, so my real advice is, enjoy it.

Good advice. For what it's worth, I have a white MacBook and it has been fantastic. I'll be upgrading, but only because I promised my daughter this one, and I need more hard drive space. So now is the time. Otherwise, I could probably swap the drive and get another 2 years' use out of this one.
posted by Fuzzy Skinner at 7:38 PM on October 14, 2008

and I'm feeling a little bit, I dunno if ripped off

Don't. There is always something newer and shinier around the technology corner. Get what you need, when you need it. Enjoy, or be productive. Get the new stuff when you need it. Enjoy the worn-in feel of equipment you have put to good use.
posted by b1tr0t at 7:46 PM on October 14, 2008 [5 favorites]

The MacRumors Buyers Guide is excellent. And as mentioned here, Apple products hold their value really well. In anticipation of this release, I sold my MacBook on Sunday for $140 less than I paid for it seven months ago.

I wouldn't sell your MacBook right off the bat, though. In addition to cool new releases from Apple, you also get Revision A headaches. There will be weird bizarre problems with the first round of these notebooks that Apple will initially not acknowledge and then begrudgingly address. You can comfort yourself in knowing that you have a mature and polished machine.

So my advice would be to spend the $50 to max it out to 4GB of RAM, keep your eye on MacRumors, and sell it right before the next release.
posted by AaRdVarK at 7:56 PM on October 14, 2008

I've got a first-revision 2Ghz CoreDuo white MacBook from 2006, and it still meets my portable-Mac needs perfectly. I'm not even going to think about upgrading until my AppleCare coverage expires sometime next year.

Does your current machine meet the needs you bought it for? If so, keep it, use it, enjoy it, and then sell it (at a good percentage of its purchase price) when the first revision of the new MacBooks come out.
posted by mrbill at 8:31 PM on October 14, 2008

also keep in mind they are still selling the white macbook you bought, but for $999. the new aluminum ones start at $1299...

store
posted by alitorbati at 8:33 PM on October 14, 2008

Buyer's remorse is pretty common with Apple. Look at it this way, if you somehow managed to get the current model, you would feel worse in six months when they release the macbook with bluray. If the laptop does what you need then keep it. I dont see how this is a "ripoff."

Now that the new model is out, that means the resale value on your machine just plummeted. If you were to go the route of selling this just to get the new model then you're essentially throwing away hundreds of dollars.
posted by damn dirty ape at 8:46 PM on October 14, 2008

Buy a firewire external hard drive for Time Machine, and make all the new MacBook purchasers jealous. Then connect your MacBook to another Mac in firewire target mode, and really rub it in. Or, as stated above by the others, enjoy. (full disclosure - typed on a white MacBook)
posted by birdsquared at 8:51 PM on October 14, 2008

I was one of the suckers who saved up and bought a new G5 iMac exactly two months before they came out with the iMacs with Intel chips, and I wasn't happy at all. This time around, even knowing there would be a later announcement on laptops, I decided in August to take advantage of the educational thing and buy it with an iPod and get a $200 rebate. I decided to be happy with it no matter what came down the line this month; and it turns out I'm not disappointed at all.

I love the white MacBook, and while I had thought I might eventually get an external monitor for home use, the screen is plenty big now that I've gotten used to it. It also happens to be the best Windows machine I've ever had.

I don't think the new MacBook is so much better than this. I say enjoy what you have now, and sell it down the line when maybe the next MacBooks come out, or at least when all the bugs have been worked out with this new cycle. You can get really good prices reselling Mac stuff, especially MacBooks, a good while after they are discontinued.
posted by troybob at 9:31 PM on October 14, 2008

Hey, I feel bad that I got a new MBP last year. Surely I could've stretched that G4 867 another year...

I liken the kind of timing remorse that you're feeling right now to the remorse some people feel when they buy a car and a cooler one is announced a few months later as a part of the next year's model lineup. At the time, they really needed a car. But damnit, couldn't they have waited?

The good news for you is that there will be a lot of people like my younger sister watching Ebay for some deals from people like you. She doesn't need the latest and greatest, but she is on a pretty tight budget. Thanks in advance for taking the depreciation hit for her!
posted by SpecialK at 9:44 PM on October 14, 2008

...and the people who buy these will feel ripped off when Apple comes out with some better or shinier version in however many months.
This is the caveat of Mac ownership.
I'm a PC user, but I bought an 80 gb video iPod summer of last year. Four months later they had 120 gb iPods for the same price as what I'd paid for my 80 gb, AND they had them in metallic colors, whereas they only had black and white when I bought mine. I felt ripped off, yes, but four months is a long time in technology, especially with Apple products.
posted by fructose at 10:13 PM on October 14, 2008

Life is way easier if this kind of stuff doesn't bother you. At its core, the issue is one of envy: the discontent of something you don't own instead of the healthier attitude of being happy with the things you do have. Envy is not a good way to live.

Technology moves forward, companies release new stuff. Don't buy when you know there's going to be an event soon, don't worry about it at all other times. Just do what you need to do when you need to do it. Your machine is just as good as it was when you bought it, and eventually you'll upgrade from that, and that machine will not lose quality when it also becomes supplanted.
posted by Mikey-San at 1:21 AM on October 15, 2008 [2 favorites]

You can try going to your local Apple store and seeing if they can help. The managers there have a little more discretion than your run-of-the-mill tech support, but I really wouldn't get your hopes up.

I bought a MacBook about three weeks before an upgrade last year and the manager at my local store made an exception and made me the exchange, but talking around it sounds like I got really lucky.
posted by jacobian at 5:16 PM on October 15, 2008

It's technology. Newer and better things are inevitably going come out. If you keep on waiting for the best product, you'll find that you'll be waiting for ever. The best thing you can hope for is longevity. If your computer holds out until the next time you plan on buying one, you're good to go.

I wasn't too happy when the Intel Duo Core came out after I purchased my shiny new Pentium computer. Nor was I happy when I saw my computer selling on the market for $500 cheaper than what I paid for it only months after I purchased it. But hey, my computer is still alive and kicking. Be proud of your purchase. :)
posted by nikkorizz at 6:34 PM on October 15, 2008