Apple to Drop Prices of Notebooks?

[slu]

Right now those are the current prices for educational purchases, basically the price students, faculty, and staff of all higher education institutes would pay as long as they can prove they are of said status. All Apple is really doing is extending that price to the general public. Does this mean there's no more educational discounts or will the educational discount be even lower? Probably starting at $949 for the MacBook and $1599 for the MBP would be my guess if they kept the discount. Sorry to burst your bubble people, but Apple really isn't lowering their prices, they're just treating everyone equally now.

Do you have some insider knowledge or something since you present this as fact?

Number 1, even if they dropped the edu discount and treated everyone equally, then it would be a reduction in price, no matter what you say.

Number 2, since they are shipping more Macs than ever before, it stands to reason that they could reduce margins/prices and still make more money in volume.

This is not rocket science. I think a price drop is likely because, true or not, Apple machines are still perceived to be more expensive than their competitors. Components are probably cheaper because of economies of scale and, depending on the amount of the price drop, the reduction in margins can be made up by the increase in the number of machines they sell. And getting the entry price under $1000 USD is a big psychological barrier to overcome that will bring in even more people.

 

[Yebot]

It would make plenty of sense for them to remove all optical drives from the portable line-up.

The time has come. Trim the fat. Lower the price.

 

[iMacmatician]

Specifically, the quote prices starting at $999 (down from $1099) for the MacBook and $1,799 (down from $1999) for the MacBook Pro.

$999/$1199/$1499 MacBooks and $1799/$2299/$2799 MacBook Pros?

The $1799 model looks appealing. That is if the MacBook touch doesn't get to me first.

Sounds like the iPods.

MacBook shuffle Air - MacBook - MacBook Classic Pro - MacBook touch

(Pricing's a little in the Air, but so what.)

They also expect ... "lower-cost" iPod Touches in time for the holiday buying season.

8 GB: $249, 16 GB: $299, 32 GB: $399.

How about the MBA? If the price for the MBP drops to $1,799 (which is currently the price of the standard MBA), how much do you guys think the MBA would cost?

$1499.

I would LOVE to see a slogan like this !!!!!

Same here!!

 

[zsft]

... Apple sold a record number of "overpriced" laptops last quarter.

Record in what category? More like a personal best. I guess you could point out a few "overpriced laptops" in the market and compare sales, but you didn't, and thus I see no merit in this.

 

[Bubba Satori]

Is should have been $999 from the get go, the iBook was $999, they switched to intel which was cheaper than Motorola because of the bulk buy and they charged more. The Mac Mini went up as well. This was all BS since the intel Mac's were cheaper to make than the G4s.

Here's an idea, Macbook starting at $800. The low end model isn't worth more than that anyway.

I always take customers looking for an entry level laptop over to the Macbooks first. Then they ask to see the pcs with the same specs. Every Sunday there are a couple on sale for around $499 for the same spec as the Macbook. Sometimes they accept the reason the Macbook is the better laptop, because of OSX , iLife, ease of use and better hardware and software integration. But none of them think it is a good value for $600 more, even the ones that end up buying the Macbook.

 

[notjustjay]

That would be cool. What's SD? I'm drawing a blank right now..

SuperDrive.

And, yeah, Apple needs to put them in every Mac. Combo drives are so 90's!

 

[vgf]

It figures that I'd buy a new MBP last night to take advantage of the printer rebate deal that ended yesterday, only to wake and find that MBP's could have a price drop and the printer deal was extended through October...

 

[kenichiwat]

Number 1, even if they dropped the edu discount and treated everyone equally, then it would be a reduction in price, no matter what you say.

Yes, but the price reduction would be the same price that students and educators are getting now. So then that wouldnt make a difference for us students and educators...

 

[Tallest Skil]

It figures that I'd buy a new MBP last night to take advantage of the printer rebate deal that ended yesterday, only to wake and find that MBP's could have a price drop and the printer deal was extended through October...

Yeah, the printer deal ALWAYS restarts...

The prices won't drop. It's all baseless speculation in the wake of three sentences in the conference call.

 

[.:R2theT]

I am somewhat confused by this price drop talk. Does $100(on a MacBook) or $200(MBP) really stop people from buying Apple notebooks. It hardly seems like it. It seems like Apple is doing just fine selling these $1k+ MacBooks. And does Apple really want to cheapen its brand? I'm not sold that the 'Ole Piper has this one quite right.

Are we really going to see a redesign(Aluminum?), LED monitors, multi-touch pads, and SSD(perhaps an option?) for less than what we currently pay?

 

[iMacmatician]

Yeah, the printer deal ALWAYS restarts...

The prices won't drop. It's all baseless speculation in the wake of three sentences in the conference call.

Lower margins could mean either a price drop or a bigger upgrade than usual. Prices may even increase.

 

[8CoreWhore]

OpenCL Vs. MS Accelerator

Apple needs a huge push for the OpenCL standard... one way to do that is 4 core notebooks with Snow Leopard at a discount. It's an investment. They need all the other players to adapt OpenCL instead of MS Accelerator or they're dead. Also, this will be the time MS spends a mint bashing Apple in an advertising blitz - which will be a total waste if Apple delivers a one-two punch with a gorgeous product at a gorgeous price.

 

[zsft]

Yeah, the printer deal ALWAYS restarts...

The prices won't drop. It's all baseless speculation in the wake of three sentences in the conference call.

If it's from top firms like UBS, Morgan Stanley, etc, I might give it heavy thought. Morgan Stanley after all hedged against the mortgage crisis and won...and also foresaw the oil price hike long before everyone else among other things. Too bad the article didn't say ibanker from where.

But that said I say it's a smart move. They probably started to feel like the 8% market share is too little. Consider it an investment necessary to convert those Windows users with doubts (like me) to become a full blown Mac user.

 

[nick9191]

Anyone ever heard of false economy here?

This is terrible. There turning into Dell. They sell dirt cheap products with negligible profit margins, in a highly competitive market. Lets hope he's right when he says cheaper as in $999 and $1799, not as in $399 per unit.

Customer service = worse
Build Quality = worse

Go back to the early 2000's I say, where a mac was at least twice as much as a comparable PC, at least the thing never broke down, and of course it kept the rif-raff out.

 

[DB1989]

Great! But when?

 

[iMacmatician]

Apple needs a huge push for the OpenCL standard... one way to do that is 4 core notebooks with Snow Leopard at a discount. It's an investment.

Given current prices of quad-core mobile processors, I doubt it.

Quad-core iMacs are more likely, but only if Apple ditches the "GHz Rule." Maybe they could ask Intel to deliver custom 2.0/2.27/2.4/2.67 GHz quad-cores at up to 55 W.

 

[crowdedstr]

Right now those are the current prices for educational purchases, basically the price students, faculty, and staff of all higher education institutes would pay as long as they can prove they are of said status. All Apple is really doing is extending that price to the general public. Does this mean there's no more educational discounts or will the educational discount be even lower? Probably starting at $949 for the MacBook and $1599 for the MBP would be my guess if they kept the discount. Sorry to burst your bubble people, but Apple really isn't lowering their prices, they're just treating everyone equally now.

that would be great if this is the case...

especially since my mom is a teacher, so i'll just have her place the order and charge it to my CC...

starting at the lower price point i think would convince a lot more people to give mac some more serious thought.

 

[evillageprowler]

More speculation from a financial analysts. Just what we need.

not saying they're wrong though

Not saying that they're right either, but I do know that many (most?) of the analysts really do their homework on the stuff before making any speculations. The ones servicing the tech industry frequently have technology backgrounds of some sort, and they work very hard to build relationships within their target market.

For example, a coffee analyst will try to visit the various relevant regions, follow the political and climatic forces, and even generally develop very good nose and palette for the beans.

I guess what I'm saying is that they try very hard to make educated guesses...

EVP

 

[vendettabass]

$1499 montevina MBA please!

 

[mustang_dvs]

The iRack
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw2nkoGLhrE

Am I the only one who finds MadTV chronically un-funny?

Right now those are the current prices for educational purchases, basically the price students, faculty, and staff of all higher education institutes would pay as long as they can prove they are of said status. All Apple is really doing is extending that price to the general public. Does this mean there's no more educational discounts or will the educational discount be even lower? Probably starting at $949 for the MacBook and $1599 for the MBP would be my guess if they kept the discount. Sorry to burst your bubble people, but Apple really isn't lowering their prices, they're just treating everyone equally now.

Unless you know more than your post has led me to believe, there's no indication that Apple plans to eliminate educational pricing -- it's part of what has led to Apple's dominance in the higher education market. If they drop the retail price, it stands to reason that the educational price will drop as well.

It figures that I'd buy a new MBP last night to take advantage of the printer rebate deal that ended yesterday, only to wake and find that MBP's could have a price drop and the printer deal was extended through October...

The printer rebates are perpetual -- if you bought in an Apple Store, go back and talk to the manager to see about a return (if you haven't opened the box) -- the Apple retail staff are well aware of the perpetually-extended printer rebate (it's been going on for 5-6 years, now).

If the price changes within the next 14 days (the return period), you can arrange a price adjustment refund by taking your receipt to the store.

 

[messedkid]

All I am hoping for...

..is a cheaper iPod Touch..with a camera.

 

[tmelvin]

Anyone ever heard of false economy here?

This is terrible. There turning into Dell. They sell dirt cheap products with negligible profit margins, in a highly competitive market. Lets hope he's right when he says cheaper as in $999 and $1799, not as in $399 per unit.

Customer service = worse
Build Quality = worse

Go back to the early 2000's I say, where a mac was at least twice as much as a comparable PC, at least the thing never broke down, and of course it kept the rif-raff out.

I wasn't around for the 2000 thing, so I can't comment. I have seen the $399 Walmart specials, and yes they're crap! What's funny is that a good number of the more expensive laptops aren't that much better. A company I worked for was a DELL shop. They bought all of us brand new D830's, with the high res screens. They were horrible. Keys popped off, lock ups, screen issues. Of the 10 purchased, 4 went back more than twice for major fixes.

No matter what you buy, there are chances it could be a defect. I just happen to think that Apple has fewer, and you get to use a great OS...

 

[SirOmega]

Yea I don't get the $100 price drop is all that useful. 1100->1000 is no big deal.

Now $899 would be a huge leap. No edu discounts though at that price.

The mid-level laptop would be $1099, with the bumped up CPU and 2GB of RAM. Those would be the only two choices though. (they could offer a "third" configuration which would just be the second config with more RAM and a bigger HDD).

MBAirs would start at $1499, and MBPs at $1799.

 

[carrjar]

Old?

PowerBook G4 is still working great for me. I guess when it comes to technology, things may seem "old". Just like I'm using the "old" iPhone. Great to hear about price cuts!

 

[IJ Reilly]

The price trend, especially on laptops, is down -- so it makes perfectly good sense to assume that Apple's revised laptop line is going to get cheaper. Making that prediction doesn't exactly require an MBA.