Apple Analysis: is now the time to buy an old Macbook?
An entry level Macbook yesterday? That'd be $1,499, thank-you. Entry level today? The exact same unit is suddenly $1,649. Frankly, if you were keen on one of these units, I'd rush out right now and see if you can nab one at yesterday's prices.
Ultimately, there weren't too many surprises at all in Apple's refresh of its Macbook lines today. Let's run the checklist, shall we?
Single piece Aluminium "Brick" casing?
Yep, the rumoursphere was all over that one.
Glass trackpads?
Very prominent rumour.
No Firewire on the Macbook?
Predicted, although there was some rumour concern over whether this was going to be true for the Macbook Pro too.
New Cinema Display?
Yep, although that one was really only breaking on the rumour shore yesterday
Big price rises across the board?
Ah... well... y'see...
Apple tried its hardest to put a positive spin on the pricing of the new Macbook lines -- the official press release notes that the new Macbook is offered "at an entry price that is AU$1,100 less than the AU$3,199 price of the MacBook Pro." Which sounds great -- who doesn't want to save more than a grand?
It's all very good in theory, until you look at yesterday's pricing on the Macbook and Macbook Pro lines. An entry level Macbook yesterday? That'd be $1,499, thank-you. Entry level today? The exact same unit is suddenly $1,649, according to Apple Australia's Web store.
Frankly, if you were keen on one of these units, I'd rush out right now to a reseller and see if you can nab one at yesterday's prices -- it's an absolute no-brainer that retailers all over the country will be re-stickering them and pocketing an extra $200 wherever they can. I'd stop reading this right now and run if I were you.
This is especially true if you want a coloured Macbook. While its Nano line now has more colours than a bucket full of Skittles, Apple's taken a step back in the Macbook world, moving from white or black to the single metallic design. Which might also turn the more expensive Black Macbooks -- which Apple's no longer selling at all -- into something of a collector's item in years to come, although I still reckon spending the extra cash on a black dye is a silly move.
That's still the "old" (a whole day!) plastic Macbook though. If you actually want the new technology and casing, you're looking at an entry level price point of $2,099 -- $600 more than the "entry level" proposition of what's apparently Apple's best selling line.
In Macbook Pro land, the story is remarkably similar. Entry level yesterday? $2699. Today? $3199. In the Pro space, there could be some wiggle room to wait -- Apple hasn't said much about the costlier 17" Macbook Pro, and those who want a Pro machine are usually less price conscious -- and more feature specific -- shoppers.
As such, the older Macbook Pro machines are the ones you might just see being reduced in coming months to make way for the new stock. That's only a "might" proposition though -- it's just as likely that the prospective Macbook Pro buyers who had $2699 burning a hole in their pocket yesterday might not feel like ponying up the additional five hundred bucks for the new designs and features.
Undoubtedly, Apple could point to any of a number of reasons why the new machines cost more -- even beyond their status goal of being a "premium" brand, they could bring up things like the current economic climate, the very low value of the Australian dollar, the new manufacturing costs and graphics processors -- but at the end of the day, getting a new machine is going to cost you a fair bit more than it did yesterday, even with new goodies, and those with an eye on their wallets would do well to shop around.
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