To buy or not to buy; apple forces consumer to make decisions

July 15, 2008 5:39 PM

Looking to buy a MacBook through Apple's education store. I need it for the upcoming school year. I'm stoked on the free iPod-touch but heard an upgrade is coming very soon. Is it worth it to wait for the new line of laptops? Does anyone know when this is expected to happen?

The idea of upgraded hardware / appearance is obviously appealing, and if I was certain the update was coming by some time in September, I do not mind waiting whatsoever. But what if it takes them to December to bring out the Macs? It may mean missing out on the iPod-touch deal (I need an iPod badly after mine was stolen). I wouldn't mind skipping the free iPod if it means buying the upgraded MacBook instead - insofar as I get it before the middle of Sept when classes really start to take off. Any chance it'll happen this summer and I could get the best of both worlds, the new build + the iPod touch deal? What would you do in my shoes?

posted by ageispolis to shopping (17 comments total)

I'd read this and then act accordingly, if I was in your shoes.
posted by aubilenon at 5:46 PM on July 15, 2008

There aren't any meaningful rumors about updated Macbooks - sure, it stands to reason it'll happen before too long, but nothing more than that. Also, if it happens, it'll definitely be after the summer. I'd suggest you just pick up your laptop and iPod now, and that's also what I'd do in your shoes.
posted by Tomorrowful at 5:47 PM on July 15, 2008

Usually the iPod deal is long gone when new models come out. It helps Apple to clear stock. I am also on the edge. I really need a new computer and am not sure if I should wait for the new books or go for an iMac instead. There's this article that came out today stating that the new Intel chips will be announced in the next 90 days. If Apple waits to release new MacBooks that include a new chip they might not come out until November or could even wait until January's Macworld. But really, who knows?
posted by Bunglegirl at 6:06 PM on July 15, 2008

I disagree with Tomorrowful, there's one very large and powerful indicator that new Macbooks and MBPs will be on the way shortly. Intel just released their Centrino 2 platform, and the other notebook manufacturers have been falling over themselves these past two days to announce their new laptops, which will be on the market in a month or two.

While Apple's partnership with Intel occasionally creates some interesting surprises, when Intel makes a broad introduction of a new laptop platform to replace the previous Intel platform the Macbooks currently use, it can be seen as a pretty obvious sign that an update to the Macbook is coming very shortly. In spite of the Mac Rumors page being "neutral," it seems very likely that there will be new Macbooks before school starts.
posted by I EAT TAPAS at 6:33 PM on July 15, 2008

That Intel chip on the horizon that Bunglegirl linked to is for the next-generation processor, likely the Nehalem which isn't expected to be widely available until mid/late 2009.

The current generation Montevina chipset debuted in actual laptops today. Lenovo has it in their X200 laptop which goes on sale August 5. I can't imagine Apple would let Lenovo beat them to the punch so they should be updating the MacBook and MacBook Pro to the Montevina chipset around the same time. So at minimum you'll have a minor spec refresh - slightly faster FSB and processors. The external laptop shell refresh is probably off on the horizon, at minimum late 2008/2009.

Recommendation: If you'd be happy with upgraded specs in the same shell and skipping on the free iPod Touch, wait. But honestly, when you consider that there was barely a performance difference between the late-2007 Santa Rosa MacBook and the early-2008 Penryn MacBook, I don't think the Montevina MacBook is worth waiting for vs. a free iPod Touch.
posted by junesix at 6:54 PM on July 15, 2008

If it's any help, the last time they did this it was the iPods that were about to go obsolete, not the computers they were sold with. It was their way to unload lots of iPod Minis before the Nanos were announced a few months later. Looks like the same is happening now with the iPod touch, which is about to be freshened (if Mac rumours is to be believed.)
posted by drmarcj at 6:55 PM on July 15, 2008

well, i think it's possible they are anticipated MAD DROP OFF of demand on the Touches because of the new half-priced(*) iPhones. i was at the 5th avenue apple store this afternoon and it was a ZOO, with hundreds of people in line for the 3G and an equal number in the store.
posted by tremspeed at 7:07 PM on July 15, 2008

* = pay less upfront, pay more per month.
posted by tremspeed at 7:07 PM on July 15, 2008

I just got my Macbook too, no education discount for me though since I graduated 2 years ago :P

I'd second junesix, the incremental performance improvement is not worth skipping a free iPod Touch for. What is more important is MORE MEMORY. Mine was the cheapest macbook model, and sad to say, 1GB can't really cut it anymore nowadays if you want to minimize the spinning beach ball.
posted by joewandy at 7:24 PM on July 15, 2008

Facts:

1. No one actually knows when a refresh will happen. There are sometimes hints, there are rumours, there is speculation. But there is not certainty.

2. There will always be something that comes out after whatever you buy.

It ain't really worth sweating it. If you're always concerned about what you didn't get, you may as well never buy anything. (And some would say that's an even wiser decision, but that's an entirely different thread.)
posted by Mikey-San at 7:52 PM on July 15, 2008

The only thing that's certain is that a new, better Mac will come out sometime pretty soon after you buy one. If you keep waiting, you might be waiting a while.
posted by meta_eli at 8:33 PM on July 15, 2008

The optimal solution is to wait until the last day of the free iPod Touch deal before purchasing your Macbook. If Apple releases an update within the next two weeks after that they will honour a swap for the newer model. Enjoy!
posted by furtive at 8:41 PM on July 15, 2008

Just be warned if you are ordering through the online store you can't wait until the very very end -- the rebate requires you do have possession of the items before the end of the rebate date. My friend went to buy a PowerBook (back in the day) right at the end of the rebate, and she couldn't get the deal. Of course, if you go to an Apple Store this is not an issue as long as they have what you want in stock. (They honor education discounts, but then you have to pay sales tax) So maybe order a week before the deal ends and/or check on the issue of needing to have it in hand before the rebate ends.

I think they sort of planned it last year so that the new iPods were not included in the rebate, but you'd have to check on that (I got the deal last summer, but didn't want to wait that long -- I went to the nearest apple store on THE DAY the deal started ;)
posted by sararah at 8:01 AM on July 16, 2008

The free iPod deal ends September 15th. I am in the same position as you and am tempted to take the iPod deal rather than wait and hope a refresh of the MacBook line happens. I'm pretty sure a refresh of the iPod Touch and/or one of the laptop lines will be refreshed BEFORE MacWorld in January, the issues is weather it will just be the Touch, or if if will be the MacBook Pro rather than the MacBook... I'm not interested in a MacBook Pro, and I don't need to wait for a new Touch. With that said, I don't think it's worth waiting for since it may or may not be a refresh of what exactly I'm (you're) most interested in seeing refreshed (MacBook.)

For what it's worth, if you are willing for forego the iPod Touch, you can save $100 by buying a refurbished MacBook through the Education Store. Wait 'till September first and buy it then. If they're going to refresh it, it'll be right before school starts or after, but no sooner.
posted by pwb503 at 8:46 PM on July 22, 2008 [1 favorite]

I have the same problem as the OP, although with some different details: I was hoping to get a Macbook Pro before the semester starts (here, it starts in mid-August), because I want to migrate my stuff from my crapped-up Dell to the new laptop before summer is over. Had I purchased the MBP at the beginning of this month, this wouldn't have been a big deal. But now I'm really antsy. My friends all said to "get Mac, get Mac, it's so much better for programming", so.. wait or buy?

I could care less if I get a Touch, since even if I got one, I'd sell it :P. And yeah, I had considered buying refurbished.

Also, does anyone know much about possible Macbook PRO revisions? I keep hearing about the MB, but not much about the Pros.
posted by curagea at 11:42 AM on July 24, 2008 [1 favorite]

I see I'm not the only one deliberating this decision. curagea brings up a good point that I just realized in that I too need to transfer data from my clunky dell to my laptop before I leave for school which is a flight away. But at the same time, pwb503's plan to wait until Sept 1 seems ideal for timing, but I suppose the lesson is you simply can't have the best of both worlds and Mac seems to be forcing the consumer to buy now and get a touch to help 'em clear their stock or wait it out, struggle offline until you snatch up a new one in the fall.
posted by ageispolis at 4:39 PM on July 25, 2008

There's always going to be better features / deals on the horizon.. but then you'd be waiting forever.
posted by tommytl at 12:10 AM on November 17, 2008