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Buying New IMac should I wait?...

M

mark1k

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 6, 2007
17
0
I was all ready to go buy a new IMac this week when I started hearing about the possibility of new Imacs being announced.

If Apple announces a new product line, do you think it will be 6 months or so before they are available for sale? I know that with the Iphone, it was announced in January and not available until June.

Any advice on what I should do?
 
Wait about 18 hours or so before you make your decision. The iPhone was a special case as they had to submit it to the FCC for approval and during that process the images and details are made public (or leaked). Apple wanted to do the annoucing rather than the FCC.
 
The announcement is in less than 24 hours!!

Just wait until tomorrow morning, and make your decision then -

New iMacs (immed. availability) = Buy those!
No New iMacs (Not Immed. Availability) = Buy Current!
 
when i bought my macbook pro, they were available the next day in stores from when they were announced i believe.
 
mark1k said:
I was all ready to go buy a new IMac this week when I started hearing about the possibility of new Imacs being announced.

If Apple announces a new product line, do you think it will be 6 months or so before they are available for sale? I know that with the Iphone, it was announced in January and not available until June.

Any advice on what I should do?
Click to expand...

You know, I have exactly the answer that you need, but I'm a bit busy now: can you wait until, say roughly noon tomorrow (Tuesday) for an answer? :D


Okay, more seriously, there's going to be some sort of announcement tomorrow (Tuesday). Understand also that the iPhone "in 6 months" announcement was a very rare occurrance. Usually, these announcements are of the sort of "here it is, available now".

If the iMac is going to be updated, I would expect that it will probably be available with a short leadtime ... at most, a couple of weeks.

And even if you need your new machine sooner than that, this new product announcement will also invariably result in some sort of price change on the existing model. Odds are that it won't go up :rolleyes: so it again pays to wait overnight to see what tomorrow's announcement brings.

If it were me, I'd wait the ~20 hours until I hear what Tuesday's announcement is going to be, instead of ordering tonight.


-hh
 
This thread almost made me want to scream WAAAAAAAAIIIIIT!!!

iPhone was a really unusual case, as explained by xUKHCx. Apple *usually* ships items as soon as they are announced; pre-announcements of AppleTV and iPhone were just flukes, hopefully.

I estimate the odds as:

- 95% that a new iMac will be announced tomorrow
- 90% that it will be available for online ordering immediately
- 80% that it will be available in stores by the end of the week
 
Um, I'd wait. If you can't wait, well buy it today, do not open it tonight and return it tomorrow for the new one! :D
 
iPhone was a really special case...and steve made that clear. I recall him saying that had he not announced it, the whole can of beans would have been spilled by the FCC.

Oh yeah, and definitely wait!
 
A product upgrade is almost always going to have zero interlude between announcement and retail distribution. Otherwise it would be a big detriment to sales of the existing line. In other words, just enjoy the media tomorrow and go buy a new one wednesday. Two days for decent boost in design and performance isn't too bad a wait, esp. for those who have been waiting about six months... grumble grumble grumble
 
Wayfarer said:
An intelligent Apple shopper would always consult the MacRumor's Buyer's Guide if they are unsure when to buy a new Mac. Just a heads up. ;)
Click to expand...

That is not true. If everyone trusted what you say, then people would have wanted to buy an iMac half a year ago, but since the "buyers guide" said wait, they waited. Look where its gotten them :) The only good thing about the buyers guide is that it says how many days its been since an update. But it has been proven time and time again that the whole "DONT BUY NOW" thing is nearly useless.

If a product is less than 100 days old, it is a good time to buy, almost no matter what. If a product is more than 100 days old, then you might have to do some more research into whether or not is a good time to buy.
 
Much Ado said:
Your stats were impossible, i was just being pedantic.

(The chance of it being available can't depreciate over time. Oh, don't worry ;) )
Click to expand...
I, too, really don't see a paradox in the given odds, since the 90% probability of it being immediately available was about the online Apple Store, whereas the 80% probability of it being available at the end of week was about the physical Apple Stores.
 
KevAllen83 said:
The announcement is in less than 24 hours!!

Just wait until tomorrow morning, and make your decision then -

New iMacs (immed. availability) = Buy those!
No New iMacs (Not Immed. Availability) = Buy Current!
Click to expand...

Another possibility: New iMacs, get the current model on the refurbished store for much less than yesterday.
 
gnasher729 said:
Another possibility: New iMacs, get the current model on the refurbished store for much less than yesterday.
Click to expand...


Good point. And with the rumor of the new price points being 1199/1499/1799, I'd imagine the refurb price on the old 24" is going to be something like 1499. That would be a great deal I'm thinking. :)
 
You should wait and see if anything new is announced. If iMacs are announced then the current revision will go to the refurb store at a discounted price. That way you can decide if you want the latest and greatest, or you can get one of the current (as of August 7th at 10:13 EST, 3 hours before the show) ones at a discount.
 
Bengt77 said:
I, too, really don't see a paradox in the given odds, since the 90% probability of it being immediately available was about the online Apple Store, whereas the 80% probability of it being available at the end of week was about the physical Apple Stores.
Click to expand...
It depends whether you interpret minus signs as bullet points or arithmetic subtraction [another pedant].
 
Bengt77 said:
I, too, really don't see a paradox in the given odds, since the 90% probability of it being immediately available was about the online Apple Store, whereas the 80% probability of it being available at the end of week was about the physical Apple Stores.
Click to expand...

The keynote is underway. One of the online live feed blogs said that the official word is that the new iMacs are "Available now".

In this case, it means "as soon as the Apple Store comes back online". :D


Still tuned in to see what else is in store...sounds like a iLife 08 is shipping too, which is rumored to be significant update. Might be worth checking on this software status even if buying a refurb or leftover today.


-hh
 
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