New MacBooks
If you’ve been thinking about buying a MacBook but have been waiting for Apple to refresh it, wait no longer. The newly-revised MacBook features some nice improvements:
Base RAM: 1Gb
Hard Drive: 80Gb, 120Gb, 160Gb, or 200Gb (which is at 4200 rpm - the other drive sizes all run at 5400 rpm)
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo running at 2.0 or 2.16Ghz
Price: Base model still starts at $1099
It looks like Apple will wait until the next MacBook Pro refresh before moving to Intel’s Santa Rosa platform. If you care to wade through the childish language, there are some interesting comments about the MacBook update at Ars Technica. More details about the new MacBook, as well as more fascinating comments, can be found at MacNN.
Maggie wrote,
I’m awfully tempted to make my purchase now… it wasn’t as significant of an updated as I had hoped for, but I can’t imagine them updating the MacBooks again before August (when school starts). This way I can become familiar w/ it too. What do you think?
Also, do you run Word on your Mac or Pages? Can you get by w/ just Pages (can you save a document like a resume as a Word doc for PC users?)?
Also, I noticed on the Apple website that I can get a $100 education discount. I heard that if I wait a while they may throw in a free iPod too. Is that true?
Link | May 16th, 2007 at 1:46 am
Erik Schmidt wrote,
Hi Maggie,
I doubt we’ll see a MacBook update before August. At best, Apple usually updates laptops on a six month cycle. As for the education discount and free iPod, you can always get an education discount. The Buying A Mac page has a bit more info on the subject.
When I bought my PowerBook two years ago, I stumbled into the free iPod offer, not even realizing Apple had such a promotion. I bought the PowerBook in June or July. As for whether Apple is going to continue the promotion, I don’t kknow.
I have an old version of Office (Office X), and I use that version of Word for the times when I need to use the program. Thus far the only times I’ve needed to use it were in situations where I was collaborating with other students and we were using Word’s edit tracking features.
In fact, my advocacy final brief would have been much, much easier if I’d been able to do the whole thing myself in Pages. Word may be the de facto standard, but it is incredibly bloated. It continuously amazes me that most of the world creates documents using Word. OK, I’ll stop ranting.
Anyway, the bottom line is that it’s a good idea to have a copy of Word on your machine. “Office 2004 for Mac - Student and Teacher Edition” will run you $150 at the Apple Education Store, and you may be able to get it less expensively elsewhere.
Link | May 16th, 2007 at 4:37 am
Nick wrote,
You may also want to check your school and see if their IT store offers Office at a discounted price. I know Notre Dame has an agreement with Microsoft, which allows students to buy certain products at great prices. They currently offer Microsoft Office for PC’s and Macs for only $45, and the agreement is usually renewed annually so updated versions are available at the beginning of each school year. I didn’t know this until looking at our OIT website, though. You may want to check with your school’s IT store and see if you can get stuff through them.
Link | May 16th, 2007 at 8:43 pm
Erik Schmidt wrote,
Nick,
Thanks for the suggestion. It would be interesting to see if all university computer stores get the same rate, or if they vary.
Link | May 16th, 2007 at 9:49 pm
Lexie wrote,
Today I was on the apple page and noticed that they have changed their “Coming October 2007″ date to:
“All these features and more are delivered to you in one universal, fully accessible, 64-bit operating system. Coming mid-2007.”
Mid-2007? So perhaps Leopard is coming sooner than previously thought….
Might help those (like myself) looking at buying a new Macbook- I might hold out a little longer.
Link | May 18th, 2007 at 3:54 am
Erik Schmidt wrote,
Hmm, that is intriguing, Lexie.
After the whole faux letter mini-crisis the other day, Apple reiterated that nothing slipped in the schedules for iPhone or Leopard. Maybe they’ll have Leopard ready for the WWDC this summer.
I try not to get sucked into the vortex of Apple product release speculation, but sometimes I just can’t help myself.
Link | May 18th, 2007 at 5:01 am
AJ wrote,
I purchased my MacBook last July and have been pretty pleased. I too stumbled across the free iPod promotion and took advantage of that offer in addition to the discount that was being offered by Microsoft for the purchase of Office 2004.
Not sure, if MS is going to offer rebates this year but I purchased Office through the school which made it available for cheap. I coupled it with the mail-in rebate from MS and ended up getting Office for free since I had actually paid less than the amount being rebated.
Also, keep in mind that a new version of Office for Mac should be coming soon so you might want to look at the free alternatives such as NeoOffice until then.
Link | May 18th, 2007 at 10:03 am
Arthur mcbeth wrote,
Another possible clue comes from the launch of Apple’s new Outlet Store section on its Web site, offering discounts on clearance items.
Link | September 5th, 2007 at 4:56 am