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Buy iMac now, or wait a few weeks for Lion?

O

oxocube

macrumors member
Original poster
May 30, 2007
47
0
I would like to purchase an iMac asap to replace my aging Mac Mini. I assume it'd be better to wait until Lion comes out, so it ships with the new operating system?

Also, I've never upgraded from one Mac to another before. In order to use migration assistant, would it pose any difficulties if the source computer has Snow Leopard and the target computer has Lion? If the answer to this question is 'Yes,' then I suppose that would be an incentive to buy the iMac today (with Snow Leopard) vs. 2 weeks from today.
 
You can buy now and get Lion as a free upgrade (it's only $29 anyway). Migration Assistant works very well. I have never had an issue with it fowling things up though a few MR members have. Make a backup and you'll be fine.
 
Buy it now and get Snow Leopard.

You can get a free upgrade to Lion then, and wait for 10.7.1 to come (the 10.x.0 versions are always affected by a lot of bugs).
 
This made me wonder.
If you buy a Mac after Lion came out, it will have Lion installed on it. Right?
Will you still get a CD with Snow Leopard on it?

Cause didn't they say you need Snow Leopard to download/install Lion?

I mean, how will this work if you need to re-install your OS for some reason?
 
iwan073 said:
This made me wonder.
If you buy a Mac after Lion came out, it will have Lion installed on it. Right?
Will you still get a CD with Snow Leopard on it?

Cause didn't they say you need Snow Leopard to download/install Lion?

I mean, how will this work if you need to re-install your OS for some reason?
Click to expand...

Apple have not explained this yet.
 
They have to us (we're an AASP) you'll need a Snow Leopard Physical Disk, update to 10.6.8 then download Lion from the App store.

Going to SUCK for our enterprise clients :(
 
BUY NOW!! You can get Lion Up-To-Date free upgrade later. But with today's Mac .. you can get a copy of Snow Leopard too. In case something is wrong, or Lion still have some annoying bugs or incompatibility, you can always switch back.

You can't do that with newer Mac that would come with Lion ONLY!! Highly unlikely :apple: would give new Mac double OS (Snow Leopard and Lion restore) on one box. Looks more Lion only, Apple don't want to destroy Lion sales, albeit it comes with bugs and all at first. Just look at what they did with Final Cut Pro :D

Yes, you may have some hassle downloading 4GB Lion upgrade from AppStore. I have quite slow internet, so this is a drawback for me. But if your connection is speedy, not a problem. Even you still able to burn your own version of Lion. Add some nice DVD cover, and you have better copy of Lion, even compared to original restore DVD :p
 
Besk one said:
They have to us (we're an AASP) you'll need a Snow Leopard Physical Disk, update to 10.6.8 then download Lion from the App store.

Going to SUCK for our enterprise clients :(
Click to expand...
You can easily make an "unofficial" install DVD. Just burn the image downloaded from the App Store to a disk, that's it. Or put it on a USB stick for better performance.

I hope they'll add an "official" way of doing this, though.
 
jafingi said:
Buy it now and get Snow Leopard.

You can get a free upgrade to Lion then, and wait for 10.7.1 to come (the 10.x.0 versions are always affected by a lot of bugs).
Click to expand...

ABSOLUTELY! I never install a .0 revision of anything! For Snow Leopard I waited till 10.6.3

No matter how much testing is done with Lion some things, especially 3rd party applications, will not work.

Better safe than sorry!
 
Thanks all for the tips & comments. I never would have realized the difference between setup assistant and migration assistant (until it was too late) had it not been for this thread.

New 27" iMac on its way from Newark.
 
Last edited:
How do we get Lion for free? I bought my iMac mid June and I know I'm eligible for a free upgrade to Lion, but how does it work? How will they know?
 
onthecouchagain said:
How do we get Lion for free? I bought my iMac mid June and I know I'm eligible for a free upgrade to Lion, but how does it work? How will they know?
Click to expand...

Apple would check your serial number along with your iTunes ID, which has been used to register your Mac. If the purchase and registration date proven to be later than June 6th, you're eligible for Lion free download from AppStore.

Procedures has not been announced yet officially. But my prediction would be like this:

1. Assume you bought a Mac after June 6th, and you have registered your machine with your Apple ID.
2. After Lion is officially online and for sale on AppStore, Apple might give special link for Up-To-Date program a.k.a free Lion upgrade.
3. Click on that link, and you may be asked to enter your Mac serial number or your Apple ID.
4. After being checked and you're eligible to get free Lion. An email will dispatched to you, contain redeem code for Lion download
5. Check your email, get your code, copy it to redeem code section on AppStore. Lion is ready to download, and be installed once you're done.
 
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