Apple stores holding fire sales on last-gen Mac notebooks

[AppleInsider]

While Apple retail stores this week have been waiting on the first shipments of new Mac notebooks announced Monday, the company has quietly introduced end-of-life pricing on previous generation models to help its shops clear remaining inventory.

"Our Macbook Family has been updated and all current stock of Macbook and Macbook Pros need to be sold," the Mac maker wrote in an email to store representatives, educational institutions, and other partners supplied directly by the company. "All current in store computers are on a first come first serve basis."

Not all Apple retail stores are expected to have each of the earlier models in stock, but generally speaking Apple has cut the price on previous-generation 13-inch MacBooks by $100 to $300, previous-generation MacBook Airs by $400 to $800, and previous-generation MacBook Pros by $400 to $500.

The image below breaks down the price cuts as they were presented to Apple retail stores. A total of nine previous Mac notebook configurations are being offered with end-of-life pricing. Readers who aren't in close proximity to an Apple store or who are looking for even steeper discounts may want to check out our Mac Price Guide, which has been split into two sections: one for current generation Macs and one for previous-generation Macs.

Meanwhile, AppleInsider sponsor ClubMac on Wednesday announced aggressive pricing on Apple's just-announced line of 13-, 15-, and 17-inch MacBook Pros. Combining the online retailer's rebates with special coupons that offer an additional 3% discount has resulted in the best prices we've seen on the new notebooks.



For example, savings on 13-inch models range from $115 to $144, savings on 15-inch models scale from $170 to $270, and savings on the 17-inch model total $321. To see these prices, customers must click through the links in the Mac Price Guide and add the notebooks to their shopping cart. The additional 3% discount should reflect next to the line "Instant Discount(s)" once the items have been added to the cart.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[gzillaration]

too bad i just got my unibody low end model in janurary.

will definately consider upping to 15 incher come xmas time though. a slick deal indeed!

but combine these prices with education promotion and holy cow, get a free ipod or sell it on ebay, and take 100 bucks more off wow

[al_bundy]

$1599 for me in the Apple Education store for the cheapest 15" MBP. no reason to buy it when the new one is going to be only $100 more

[sequitur]

ClubMac is selling the new 15" 2.53GHz MBP for $1528.62.

Apple Store is selling the old 15" 2.4GHZ MBP for $1599.00.

What am I missing here? Why buy the old model when the new one is cheaper? Further, there's no sales tax on online purchases. Why is Apple calling this a fire sale?

[iMat]

And plan to keep it until for at least three more years! Luckily most of the features of Snow Leopard will work on my computer.

In the meantime I am updating the innards of it to keep it "in shape" (4 GB RAM and the weekend project called "from 250GB 4700 rpm HDD to a 500GB 7200 rpm HDD (please keep your fingers crossed for me, I never attempted such a "surgery")).

My next Mac will probably be a 15", because it is much easier for travelling, with a Cinema Display for work (as an architect I need some screen real estate).

Sweet deals indeed though. I hope Apple gains market share and traction this year. They deserve it

[macFanDave]

No shoes, no shirt, no service.

No pain, no gain.

No woman, no cry.

No FireWire, no deal!

[afishertx]

The Campus store here is selling the 13" unibody MacBooks for $899 and $1099. REALLY tempting! I wasn't really in the market, but......

[teckstud]

The only Macs without firwire! What an aberration! PROTOTYPES!

[Right_said_fred]

Originally Posted by iMat

And plan to keep it until for at least three more years! Luckily most of the features of Snow Leopard will work on my computer.

In the meantime I am updating the innards of it to keep it "in shape" (4 GB RAM and the weekend project called "from 250GB 4700 rpm HDD to a 500GB 7200 rpm HDD (please keep your fingers crossed for me, I never attempted such a "surgery")).

My next Mac will probably be a 15", because it is much easier for travelling, with a Cinema Display for work (as an architect I need some screen real estate).

Sweet deals indeed though. I hope Apple gains market share and traction this year. They deserve it

I had 2 17 pre-unibodies, and upgraded memory and hard drive. Fear not its easy, just print out a guide, and tape your screws to the correct part of the guide so that you wont forget which was which on replacement. Was your hands and touch your hand to a solid ground before you start, and and occasion during the process.
good luck

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by al_bundy

$1599 for me in the Apple Education store for the cheapest 15" MBP. no reason to buy it when the new one is going to be only $100 more

That depends, it's not so simple. The new $1699 15" doesn't have the 9600 graphics chip, the new one with the better graphics is $1999. The new models don't have the Express Card slot, if you want that in a 15", then now is the best time.

[al_bundy]

if they made a 15" one with a slower CPU like in the 13" model or the MBA, i'd consider it

i've read CPU benchmarks since the mid 1990's and a faster CPU never gives you that much performance gains except on a few tasks. I/O is still the biggest bottleneck in a computer.

[macFanDave]

Originally Posted by teckstud

The only Macs without firwire! What an aberration! PROTOTYPES!

Somehow or another, I think people who collect Edsels would be a good target market for the FireWire-less MacBooks.

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by macFanDave

Somehow or another, I think people who collect Edsels would be a good target market for the FireWire-less MacBooks.

The Jay Leno Mac!

[teckstud]

Just saw and played with these 13" babies. I need one now- I am salivating.

[bigdaddyp]

I bought a 2.4gh unibody from Best Buy 18 days ago. 4 days to late to get price match or return it. I figured we might see a speed bump but god who knew apple would knock the friggin price down so much as well. Damn it.

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by bigdaddyp

I bought a 2.4gh unibody from Best Buy 18 days ago. 4 days to late to get price match or return it. I figured we might see a speed bump but god who knew apple would knock the friggin price down so much as well. Damn it.

Never buy 1 month before an event - ANYTHING!

[Digitac]

I want to know where they found a MacBook Air with a 2.4Ghz processor and 250GB SSD?? Right there in the article, smack in the middle. Am I missing something?

[Blah64]

Originally Posted by teckstud

Just saw and played with these 13" babies. I need one now- I am salivating.

Uh... why would you be salivating over a laptop with a f'd up glossy screen? i wonder if you actually did see and play with one of them, or if you're making this up!

<picturing teckstud as either a 69 year old granny or a 10 year old kid just *pretending* to be a Mac user all this time>

[Quadra 610]

Originally Posted by macFanDave

Somehow or another, I think people who collect Edsels would be a good target market for the FireWire-less MacBooks.

Never used FW.

SD cards and USB sticks/stick adapters are plentiful.

[brucep]

Originally Posted by sequitur

ClubMac is selling the new 15" 2.53GHz MBP for $1528.62.

Apple Store is selling the old 15" 2.4GHZ MBP for $1599.00.

What am I missing here? Why buy the old model when the new one is cheaper? Further, there's no sales tax on online purchases. Why is Apple calling this a fire sale?

ITS A RIPPOFF..The new 15 in MBP 2.63 GHZ HAS 2 GPU CHIPS
FOR THE INCREDIBLE same price you can buy the old model with one gpu chip.

The new models are still cheaper.
THE NEW MODELS ARE STILL CHEAPER.

The only really great deals are to be found at ebay or craiglist kind of web site;s. You can find a slightly used old model half price. Many mac users will dump their recently bought MBP and buy new.

Just saying.



9

[Quadra 610]

Originally Posted by Blah64

Uh... why would you be salivating over a laptop with a f'd up glossy screen? i wonder if you actually did see and play with one of them, or if you're making this up!

<picturing teckstud as either a 69 year old granny or a 10 year old kid just *pretending* to be a Mac user all this time>

Aren't nearly all notebook screens these days glossy?

[Postulant]

Typo. I wish there was a 2.4 Ghz Macbook Air.

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by Blah64

Uh... why would you be salivating over a laptop with a f'd up glossy screen? i wonder if you actually did see and play with one of them, or if you're making this up!

<picturing teckstud as either a 69 year old granny or a 10 year old kid just *pretending* to be a Mac user all this time>

1.) Because the screen is better than the prior MacBook's was.
2.) Love the firewire- who wouldn't? Apple obviously made a mistake and has corrected it.
3.) Love the SD slot.
4.) Love the price.
5.) Love the size.
6.) And last but not least - love the speed and power.

I was just at Fifth Ave at lunch and check out the 2.53 Pros. 2 of them.
Life is full of compromises. There are a few changes I would have preferred but nothing is 100% perfect. Though this is close to it.


PS- Must you children resort to such petty name calling? Are we all not adults?

[brucep]

Originally Posted by JeffDM

That depends, it's not so simple. The new $1699 15" doesn't have the 9600 graphics chip, the new one with the better graphics is $1999. The new models don't have the Express Card slot, if you want that in a 15", then now is the best time.

Dera jeff you plucking straws here. The new 15" 2.63 Ghz has TWO gpu chips FOR THE SAME PRICE as the fire sale one with one GPU chip. Any pro would want more gpu power. no ?

just saying .


9

[justlikeglass]

question is: when are the new macbooks going to be available in the store?

I've got my money ready to be spent. Let's go, apple!

[brucep]

Originally Posted by justlikeglass

question is: when are the new macbooks going to be available in the store?

I've got my money ready to be spent. Let's go, apple!

Always better to buy from the online apple store.
ALWAYS.

GOOD LUCK

[macFanDave]

Originally Posted by Quadra 610

Never used FW.

SD cards and USB sticks/stick adapters are plentiful.

I use FW a lot. Camcorder, card reader, external HD's. Daisy-chaining really does work. HD speed on multi-interface drive is superior on FireWire compared to USB 2.0.

Target disk mode will save your bacon someday and that is an exclusively FireWire-related technology.

FW800 is current technology, but the FW3200 has been ratified and even though USB 3.0 has a nominally faster throughput, experience shows that USB speeds are grossly overstated and slower nominal FW speeds give better real-world performance.

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by justlikeglass

question is: when are the new macbooks going to be available in the store?

I've got my money ready to be spent. Let's go, apple!

I just saw them at lunchtime.
Long live FireWire!

[Quadra 610]

Originally Posted by macFanDave

I use FW a lot. Camcorder, card reader, external HD's. Daisy-chaining really does work. HD speed on multi-interface drive is superior on FireWire compared to USB 2.0.

Target disk mode will save your bacon someday and that is an exclusively FireWire-related technology.

FW800 is current technology, but the FW3200 has been ratified and even though USB 3.0 has a nominally faster throughput, experience shows that USB speeds are grossly overstated and slower nominal FW speeds give better real-world performance.

Oh i know, FW is better all-round, but it seems like it's hardly used by the average user. All I see is USB this, USB that. The few FW hard drives I see, for example (and I hardly see any), are quite a bit more expensive than their USB counterparts.

[brucep]

Originally Posted by Quadra 610

Oh i know, FW is better all-round, but it seems like it's hardly used by the average user. All I see is USB this, USB that. The few FW hard drives I see, for example (and I hardly see any), are quite a bit more expensive than their USB counterparts.

Tranferring many gig's of data with a fire wire to a external hard drive is much faster than usb.
Much faster. How large is your photo/movie /music files ?? I have around one TB of stuff.


9

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by Quadra 610

Oh i know, FW is better all-round, but it seems like it's hardly used by the average user. All I see is USB this, USB that. The few FW hard drives I see, for example (and I hardly see any), are quite a bit more expensive than their USB counterparts.

You're not mentioning video cameras, printers, Mac to Mac transfers. Many users use firewire- maybe just not you.

[Postulant]

Originally Posted by teckstud

I just saw them at lunchtime.
Long live FireWire!

You're about to make me drive over to the Apple Store right now...

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by Postulant

You're about to make me drive over to the Apple Store right now...

Everything about it looks and feels just right. And wow is it faster compared to the last macBook; and the screen is gorgeous. I was checking out the 2.53 gh,4GB of RAM model.

[acprkit]

Hi

If I find a 15 inch MBP at the 'fire sale' for 1599, can I still get the $100 education discount and the free ipod touch?


Thanks

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by acprkit

Hi

If I find a 15 inch MBP at the 'fire sale' for 1599, can I still get the $100 education discount and the free ipod touch?


Thanks

Is it called fire sale because there was no firewire?

[DocNo42]

Originally Posted by Blah64

Uh... why would you be salivating over a laptop with a f'd up glossy screen?

The furor over glossy is way overrated.

And yes, I own and use daily a 15" UMBP. The one *with* the express card, thank you (I know they probably wanted the internal space back, but really - WTH?)

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by DocNo42

The furor over glossy is way overrated.

Actually it isn't when you have a LCD screen beneath - like the MacBook has/had and the iMac has. The strength and contrast of the light emitting makes the glare a lot less noticeable, therefor more pleasant.
I would suspect that the iMac's screen will get upgraded next and once it gets LED ,there will be a lot less glare even though it is under glass. To most it probably doesn't matter but to many it does.

[Blah64]

Originally Posted by teckstud

1.) Because the screen is better than the prior MacBook's was.
2.) Love the firewire- who wouldn't? Apple obviously made a mistake and has corrected it.
3.) Love the SD slot.
4.) Love the price.
5.) Love the size.
6.) And last but not least - love the speed and power.

I was just at Fifth Ave at lunch and check out the 2.53 Pros. 2 of them.
Life is full of compromises. There are a few changes I would have preferred but nothing is 100% perfect. Though this is close to it.

this is rather amazing, given your previous disposition with regards to glossy screens.

1) interesting. we'll see...
2) sure, that's nice, but with an unusable screen, it's just a "nice to have"
3) relative to the display, this is virtually irrelevant. there are many options available.
4) i'm happy to pay for a usable screen.
5) i need a 15", but i understand the niceness of 13"
6) irrelevant; would be even better with a usable screen

Originally Posted by teckstud

PS- Must you children resort to such petty name calling? Are we all not adults?

ha, forgot the smiley. but i suspect our ages would reveal me to be closer to your father's age, kiddo!

[Blah64]

Originally Posted by teckstud

Actually it isn't when you have a LCD screen beneath - like the MacBook has/had and the iMac has. The strength and contrast of the light emitting makes the glare a lot less noticeable, therefor more pleasant.
I would suspect that the iMac's screen will get upgraded next and once it gets LED ,there will be a lot less glare even though it is under glass. To most it probably doesn't matter but to many it does.

Fine. I will go look at the new ones firsthand some time in the next few days and report back here. My hopes are not high, but willing to go look for myself.

[Blah64]

Originally Posted by DocNo42

The furor over glossy is way overrated.

No it's not. I have been exclusively using Apple hardware since before many of the users here were born. Currently, they do not make a machine I can buy/use, at any price. That is inexcusable.

There have been many surveys done, and while the fine precision of such surveys can be questioned, the overall results cannot be ignored. Close to half prefer matte screens, and there are LOTS of people that will not buy glossy at all. There is no justifiable reason to not at least make matte an option - even if it's tacks on $50 like on the monster 17"ers.