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Free Leopard w/ New iMac?

L

LittleJ09

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 14, 2006
9
0
Hey everyone,

I'm looking to buy myself a new iMac as soon as this Friday (10/5/07) :D and I'm wondering about the free upgrade to Leopard "deal."

As I understand it, in the past Apple has offered a free upgrade to the new OS when customers buy a mac that comes pre-loaded with the old OS between announcement and release. Is that accurate?

If so, are they really strict about the announcement date being the cut-off? I'm hoping Leopard's announcement will come this week and I won't have to worry about it.... but what happens if I buy an iMac on Friday, and Leopard is announced the following Tuesday? Does their "14-day" policy apply there?

It's not a huge deal, as a student I would get a good deal on Leopard anyways, but I'm just wondering if it would just be worth waiting to hear about Leopard (either release date or delay *gasp*) before buying.

Thanks for your thoughts!! :)
 
Yes, that's true. And no, it must be after announcement....2 months 2 days, it's all the same if it's before the announcement.
 
aaronw1986 said:
Yes, that's true. And no, it must be after announcement....2 months 2 days, it's all the same if it's before the announcement.
Click to expand...

everybody gives this answer...


Apple's only written policy is I think 14 days before, and you will get like, half off...
But it's there unwritten policy that nobody talks about...
If you buy it maybe within a week, and you ask nicely, you will probably get a free upgrade, if you get turned down just keep asking other people, you will eventually find a free upgrade...
 
Tumeg101 said:
Apple's only written policy is I think 14 days before, and you will get like, half off...
But it's there unwritten policy that nobody talks about...
If you buy it maybe within a week, and you ask nicely, you will probably get a free upgrade, if you get turned down just keep asking other people, you will eventually find a free upgrade...
Click to expand...

This is simply not what has happened in the past with the Panther and Tiger Up-To-Date programs. If you purchased a Mac within the qualifying period (normally around 1 month, in both cases starting from the date a shipping date was announced) you could send a form to Apple and they would ship you the new OS for shipping only ($10 in the case of Tiger).

If you bought a new Mac outside the period you were out of luck.

Note that as no shipping date has yet been announced if Apple use the same rules/policy as the last two releases you will not get a free or cheap upgrade if you buy now.
 
Thanks for the replies.

I guess I'll just play it by ear and hope they announce Leopard soon :)

I'm thinking that it would be nice to own a copy of Tiger anyway just in case there are some problems with Leopard... but hopefully there wont be.

Getting excited for my first mac! :apple:
 
LittleJ09 said:
Thanks for the replies.

I guess I'll just play it by ear and hope they announce Leopard soon :)

I'm thinking that it would be nice to own a copy of Tiger anyway just in case there are some problems with Leopard... but hopefully there wont be.

Getting excited for my first mac! :apple:
Click to expand...


I'm planning on getting my first Mac ( iMac ) soon . I called Tokyo Apple yesterday and the rep told me that if I bought an iMac now that I could get the Leopard upgrade for half price .

I would prefer to buy my computer with Leopard pre-installed , but my PC may not last until the end of this month . It snapped out of its coma yesterday but is living on life support !
 
sushiman said:
I'm planning on getting my first Mac ( iMac ) soon . I called Tokyo Apple yesterday and the rep told me that if I bought an iMac now that I could get the Leopard upgrade for half price .
Click to expand...

Get it in writing. Apple's never offered half-price upgrades in the past.
 
robbieduncan said:
Get it in writing. Apple's never offered half-price upgrades in the past.
Click to expand...

The Tiger Up-to-Date program was half the price of the others.

Don't expect the Leopard update to remain 9.95, I'd almost expect it to go back to $19.95 with the large changes in shipping charges since Tiger.

But, you almost don't want the "Upgrade" sent out with the Up-to-Date program anyhow.

The retail version includes the ability to boot the machines and make an install directly from the DVDs, instead of the upgrade DVD requiring a working OS on the drive.

However the price makes it worth it, sort of.
 
Sun Baked said:
The Tiger Up-to-Date program was half the price of the others.

Don't expect the Leopard update to remain 9.95, I'd almost expect it to go back to $19.95 with the large changes in shipping charges since Tiger.

But, you almost don't want the "Upgrade" sent out with the Up-to-Date program anyhow.

The retail version includes the ability to boot the machines and make an install directly from the DVDs, instead of the upgrade DVD requiring a working OS on the drive.

However the price makes it worth it, sort of.
Click to expand...

The Up-To-Date version is not an upgrade. It is a full version it just doesnt have the retail packaging.
 
Strange, when I bought my iMac last week Tokyo Apple basically told me I didn't have a hope in hell of getting a reduced price on Leopard, but why should I? This question has been done to death over and over, and perhaps the OP should've researched back a few days to see this. When they announce Leopard then maybe you'll get a discount the week before. You should work on the assumption that Leopard is out at the end of this month, and buy either then, or just before, after the announcement.
 
Roy Hobbs said:
The Up-To-Date version is not an upgrade. It is a full version it just doesnt have the retail packaging.
Click to expand...

My Panther Up-to-Date discs were "upgrade" discs that required placing the original software restore disc in for verification. I don't have any experience with Tiger.

The iLife Up-to-Date discs have always been full versions.
 
jaw04005 said:
My Panther Up-to-Date discs were "upgrade" discs that required placing the original software restore disc in for verification. I don't have any experience with Tiger.

The iLife Up-to-Date discs have always been full versions.
Click to expand...

The tiger up-to-date discs were also available as upgrades, at least some people here got the upgrades and not the full retail kit.
mfacey said:
05-05-2005, 03:52 AM

I received my up to date tiger yesterday too. It was just an upgrade DVD with NO option to do anything but upgrade. I was a bit disappointed by that. I was sort of hoping I would just get the retail version of tiger!

Oh well. Tiger is awesome anyway!


:D
Click to expand...
Since there are still these Tiger Upgrade DVD Kits for sale for $70 or less on the resale market, it is likely that Leopard will follow the same scheme.
 
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