IMAC purchase

January 6, 2008 8:15 PM

Would like to finally buy an IMAC and wondering about the Timing of a purchase?

New rush to buy one, and I know one can never know when product upgrades will come forth from Apple, and the IMACs are relatively early in the cycle, but still i see this over at Mac Buyers guide:http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#iMac
"Buy only if you need it - Approaching the end of a cycle".
So i am thinking to at least see what comes up at Macworld next week before taking the plunge. Thoughts would be appreciated.

posted by dougiedd to computers & internet (17 answers total)

I was told minis were being discontinued, then got Inside Information that this was not true. But I would always wait until Macworld.

My guess: An Asus-created mac subnotebook is coming out. I crave it already.
posted by mecran01 at 8:18 PM on January 6, 2008

Wait until Macworld, its just next week.
posted by uaudio at 8:19 PM on January 6, 2008

Wait a week for sure. I have waited for mac products in the past and been disappointed when nothing happened, but I have also been very happy I waited.
posted by procrastination at 8:21 PM on January 6, 2008

For one thing, we won't let you into our club unless you call it an iMac. This close to MacWorld, you should really wait. I doubt the big hardware news will be about iMacs. If anything there might be some speed bump in the processor for the iMac.

[the Mac mini never gets any mention these days, in the lineup at the last Steve fest he mentioned all the products except the Mac mini. I think they will keep it around as their low end since they don't want to drop the price of iMacs from their current range]
posted by birdherder at 8:27 PM on January 6, 2008 [1 favorite]

Macrumors.com has a buyer's guide: when you should buy and when you should wait. Here's the link to the iMac section: http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#iMac
posted by tractorfeed at 8:46 PM on January 6, 2008

I wouldn't count on an iMac upgrade at Mac World, but with it this close, you're better off waiting just in case.
posted by icebourg at 8:46 PM on January 6, 2008

Yes, please call it a "Mac", not a "MAC". It's not an acronym, after all.

I'm still befuddled after all these years as to why a lot of people insist on typing it in all caps.
posted by melorama at 8:49 PM on January 6, 2008 [2 favorites]

If you don't mind going through a return on the occasion that they do upgrade the iMac, go ahead and buy it now. You can do the return/upgrade within some amount of time greater than 1 week. If you can make it to an Apple store directly, they can answer your questions/concerns about an upgrade (not that they know any hard details, just store policy on upgrades).
posted by cschneid at 9:09 PM on January 6, 2008

As cschneid said, if you buy now and they update the line next week at Macworld, you can return it within the return period (2 weeks at the Apple Store, don't know about apple.com or other places).
posted by phaded at 9:13 PM on January 6, 2008

Yes, but what happens when Steve announces an awesome new product at Macworld that won't be shipping for a month or so? Not that things always follow that trajectory, but the iPhone was announced and then took half a year to actually ship. I say that you're best off curbing your enthusiasm just a bit, waiting until the keynote on the 15th, and then seeing if you still want the same model iMac you're considering today. If so, you may find Apple drops the price by a few C-notes to empty out the channel for the new stuff. It's true that you can never predict when product upgrades will happen, but some times are more likely than others, and this is one of those times.
posted by mumkin at 9:54 PM on January 6, 2008

Seconding mumkin. The return policy is 14 days, but you'll lose a 10% restocking fee on opened hardware. (Which yours surely will be, if you can't bear to wait a few days to find out what changes MacWorld brings) It's well worth waiting such a short time to see if you can catch a price drop or hardware bump.

If you do buy a current model (whether now, or after MW), go for a refurb. Same quality, same warranty, and an easy 10% or so discount.
posted by nakedcodemonkey at 11:34 PM on January 6, 2008

The only reason to buy now would be if you were going to get a refurb; in that case it's a wash, there's no point in waiting since they won't be affected by any announcements. (And if you're going to get any model that's available right now, I think you'd be silly not to get a refurbished one...) Otherwise wait.
posted by Kadin2048 at 11:53 PM on January 6, 2008

Actually, you might even want to wait until after MacWorld to buy a refurbished. It's not likely, but depending on the announcements there is a slight change that the current refurbished products could go down even further in price.
posted by georgemandis at 12:20 AM on January 7, 2008

Wait until next week. By right after MacWorld. After that I would say it's all good. You wait much longer and you will fall into the "but the next thing is just around the corner" trap. Besides, they just had a major hardware revamp, so any changes should minor performance boosts.
posted by Silvertree at 5:41 AM on January 7, 2008

I always recommend checking the "Special Deals" section of Apple’s online store. (Look in the left column, near the bottom of the page for the “Refurbished Mac” link.) The amount of discount varies, but when an Apple product nears the end of its upgrade cycle, the current models can be had for 10-40% off the normal price. I’ve personally bought a number of Apple computers, iPods, and accessories this way.
posted by breaks the guidelines? at 6:06 AM on January 7, 2008

Oh, and I wouldn't count on an iMac update next week. Even if there is one, it will likely be incremental: slightly faster, slightly more storage. I haven’t seen anyone positing on major new features for the iMac or Mac mini lines.
posted by breaks the guidelines? at 6:09 AM on January 7, 2008

Thanks. iMac it is. I can get a University discount of about 150$ off any model so not looking to buy refurbished. But a weeks wait for even minor upgrade seems smart.
posted by dougiedd at 9:49 AM on January 7, 2008