How long do we chafe at the bit?

[Eusebius]

Like many people on this forum, I'm a MS Windows user who's impatiently waiting out the Mac conference before crossing to the Apple side. Everyone says, "only four more days..." But how long does it take for Mr. Jobs's promises to actually hit the store shelves? If, for example, the conference discloses an update for iLife or iWorks, when will the new iMac I've been longing for,with the latest updates, really reach the shops? And will Europe, where I live, lag the U.S? Four days...or four weeks? I can't stand the wait much longer.

And for the sake of the people (hordes of them, judging from this forum) who crave an "iPhone" or iTV, how long would they have to wait before any bombshell announcements in San Francisco transform themselves into touchable hardware?

 

[Eraserhead]

depending on whether you live in the UK or Continental Europe, if you live in the UK it's pretty quick otherwise up to 4 weeks to translate it, but either way you get iLife/iWork 07 for €10 rather than €100, if you buy a computer which has iLife/iWork '06 after the keynote.

For the iTV and iPhone, i have no idea.

 

[Queso]

Ever since the official Apple Stores opened in the UK, we've been able to get the new models/software a lot quicker than we used to, even in the resellers. It's quite typical for the just-announced equipment to be available the next day, or even the same night in the Apple Stores themselves as they stay open later.

Only exceptions to this are high-up models like the Mac Pro, which are usually announced with a "shipping in four to six weeks" caveat anyway.

 

[MacBoobsPro]

Usually the UK web store is updated around 10.30 - 11pm. Happy shopping and welcome to enlightenment.

 

[rdowns]

iLife will likely ship immediately and be available on store shelves in the US and at Apple Stores. May take a week or 2 for all Macs to ship with them (probably a CD dropped into the box until preloading can occur)

iWork is not included with new Macs and will likely have the same availability.

 

[Eusebius]

Thanks for the info! €10 for a post-conference update seems a bit mean: for that pittance they might as well make it free.

I apologize for neglecting to say that I live in Austria, not in the UK, though I assume the information applies everywhere. There are no Apple Stores in Austria, about 3 -4 authorized dealers here in Vienna.