Any reason to wait and buy MBP until after WWDC?

Yeah wait for the next chip...you totally should!

Bilal said:

Hello all,

I've just registered after having browsed the forums for a few months. I'm a student and am definitely set on getting a 15'' low-end MBP. My question is, should I go ahead and get it? I've read somewhere here that if one waits untill WWDC is over, Apple might offer a free upgrade to Leopard for those who purchased new hardware after the conference.

Click to expand...

Where did you read this? I highly doubt it. Free upgrades come if you buy 30 days before Leopard ships. Since it is scheduled to ship in October I really doubt Apple will give free upgrades. Educational price will probably be less that $100.

I would of thought a free upgrade to Leopard would be for hardware purchases within a month of Leopards release, and it's not due for release till October, so...

Plus it's not an expensive upgrade by any means, I know your a student, but it's not much, really.

Ultimately there could be something worth waiting for at WWDC that could affect your purchase of a new MBP so unless you need it right this day, what's the harm in waiting, less than a week now... in the end you'll probably just end up buying what you wanted now, just you'll have more of a knowledge of what's coming in the next few months too

I doubt they would be giving out free leopard upgrades 4 months in advance. I would still say wait it out though, just in case.

Bilal said:

Thanks for the replies.

Anyways, this will be my first Mac, and I've already held out waiting for one for so long already. I guess one more week wouldn't hurt.

Click to expand...

Smart move! I want to get a new mac also, but im playing the waiting game just like you, and its killing me

couldn't wait a week... 17 MBP ordered

My boss rings me today and says happy birthday and tells me to go ahead and buy one of the new Macbook Pros as a performance bonus. Exactly 60 seconds later I have orderd a 17" MBP, 7200 RPM drive and the high resolution screen. Now I just have to wait until it turns up in four days. Nice bonus!

The "free" OS upgrades are not worth it, in my experience (upgraded to Jaguar and Tiger with upgrade installations). You have to pay ($10, or was it $20) for shipping. And then the disc you get is not a full install, but an upgrade from Tiger- that means if your hard drive bites it, to reinstall Leopard you will first have to install Tiger, then upgrade that to Leopard. That's a deal killer.

As they say, if you need the computer now, get it. If you need Leopard in October more than you need a computer now, wait. It's hard to imagine anything happening at WWDC that would make it worth waiting, but crazier things have happened.

Best wishes.

Hey man, definitely wait. I'm waiting until after WWDC as well.

I've been waiting forever for this MBP update, and the low-end one is the one I want, just like you. It has an update on all the things I want. But then I thought about it - there's the possibility of iLife 07' next week, as well as an iMac, which I may consider. Plus the reviews for the SR MBP aren't in yet, so that'll be interesting to read as well.

Anyways, just know you won't be the only one waiting. I'm ready to graduate from college and this will be my first Mac purchase - I'm making sure it's the right one.

jphall said:

The "free" OS upgrades are not worth it, in my experience (upgraded to Jaguar and Tiger with upgrade installations). You have to pay ($10, or was it $20) for shipping. And then the disc you get is not a full install, but an upgrade from Tiger- that means if your hard drive bites it, to reinstall Leopard you will first have to install Tiger, then upgrade that to Leopard. That's a deal killer.

As they say, if you need the computer now, get it. If you need Leopard in October more than you need a computer now, wait. It's hard to imagine anything happening at WWDC that would make it worth waiting, but crazier things have happened.

Best wishes.

Click to expand...

jphall, Im pretty sure all Mac OS install Disks asks you to "Select the volume where you want to install Tiger and choose what kind of installation you want: Upgrade, Archive and Install, or Erase and Install." You may have missed that option when you did your install...

Bilal, You should hold out till after the WWDC Keynote. If you order your MBP now (before WWDC) and Apple gives out Leopard vouchers for Macs bought after WWDC, you will be kicking yourself...

They could give free upgrades to Leopard since it was delayed. They were originally going to release it next week, but now that it has been delayed, they might give people free upgrades so they aren't so pissed about having to wait another 5 months.

MauiMac said:

Im pretty sure all Mac OS install Disks asks you to "Select the volume where you want to install Tiger and choose what kind of installation you want: Upgrade, Archive and Install, or Erase and Install." You might have missed that option when you did your install....

Click to expand...

Nope, jphall is correct. Upgrade discs are just that...upgrade discs. You can't do a full install with one and they cost $20 for shipping from Apple.

To the original question, it's highly unlikely Apple will offer free Leopard upgrades after WWDC. If they were going to offer that, they would have offered it today with the new MBPs. It's not going to happen until the official announce date sometime this fall. (IMHO)

If I was considering buying a MacBook Pro, I'd wait until WWDC just in case Steve Jobs has a new smaller version tucked up his sleeve.

Hi there,

I've been waiting for this update too. If you're looking at the 15", together with the SR chipset, the LED back-lit display is just great!!

I'm looking for the 17" tho... but I'm willing to wait till WWDC... it's less than a week... and truly, you never know what Steve Jobs have secretly... Keeping in mind that they released this update on Tuesday purely to accomodate their 'back to school' promo...

And for free Leopard upgrade... I personally don't think so... although I hope they will... it's very unlikely...

88kin

What do you mean its not a SR MBP?

Hope they release a ultralight notebook next week; if not I always have my MacBook

I bought my MBP today. I find it hard to believe Apple will release another mobile computer at WWDC. I believe it to be counter intuitive because another Mobile computer is likely to be more expensive and have a better profit margin.

Apple would not want to cut into its sales or deal with a bunch of Apple customers calling/returning.

As for Leopard, if it is vouchered(which IMO is very unlikely because you all know when its coming out), then I feel it will be linked to model of your computer rather then the date, otherwise your going to have a bunch of pissed of people which would not be worth doing.

jellz said:

What do you mean its not a SR MBP?

Click to expand...

SR MBP = Santa Rosa Macbook Pro.

BigPrince said:

Apple would not want to cut into its sales or deal with a bunch of Apple customers calling/returning.

Click to expand...

That's true. It's unlikely another portable would come out at WWDC. However, for what it's worth, when the 12" and 17" PowerBooks were first introduced, the 15" model had just been upgraded two months before. I know there's a big difference between two months and a week, but strange things happen sometimes.

evilspider said:

My boss rings me today and says happy birthday and tells me to go ahead and buy one of the new Macbook Pros as a performance bonus. Exactly 60 seconds later I have orderd a 17" MBP, 7200 RPM drive and the high resolution screen. Now I just have to wait until it turns up in four days. Nice bonus!

Click to expand...

Four days, are you sure? I was on the phone this afternoon with Apple business sales trying to order the 17in MBP with the 160G 7200 RPM drive and the HD screen. I first tried apple.com, and when I added the 7200 RPM drive, the ship date was listed as 4-6 weeks. So I called Apple business sales to see if it was really at least a month out, and they confirmed.

In the end, I had to order the 17" MBP with HD screen and the 5400 RPM drive. That will reside in the machine until I can get the 7200 RPM drive, at which time I will swap out the drive. If there was anyway I could have got the machine in four days with the faster drive, I would have....

All the same, I cannot wait to see this new machine!

four days

macscam said:

Four days, are you sure? I was on the phone this afternoon with Apple business sales trying to order the 17in MBP with the 160G 7200 RPM drive and the HD screen. I first tried apple.com, and when I added the 7200 RPM drive, the ship date was listed as 4-6 weeks. So I called Apple business sales to see if it was really at least a month out, and they confirmed.

Click to expand...

I ordered from the Australian web site so this may have had something to do with the delivery times.

Bilal said:

Hello all,

I've just registered after having browsed the forums for a few months. I'm a student and am definitely set on getting a 15'' low-end MBP. My question is, should I go ahead and get it? I've read somewhere here that if one waits untill WWDC is over, Apple might offer a free upgrade to Leopard for those who purchased new hardware after the conference.

Click to expand...

Have you considered buying as a student developer? Then, you will most likely get Leopard for free within the month it is released. Plus, you'd save some money on the MBP itself.

only if you want to get an imac instead of a mbp

evilspider said:

My boss rings me today and says happy birthday and tells me to go ahead and buy one of the new Macbook Pros as a performance bonus. Exactly 60 seconds later I have orderd a 17" MBP, 7200 RPM drive and the high resolution screen. Now I just have to wait until it turns up in four days. Nice bonus!

Click to expand...

Does your company still hire?