I'm a teacher, I cannot afford a new mac

maflynn said:
There were definitely some comments that seemed more blaming then helping him.
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There were some that were just blaming the OP (always are) but I still think the majority were trying to be helpful by suggesting that the OP look at Windows, buy a used older laptop or budget for a newer Mac.

If the OP really wants a new Mac, the only solution is to budget / save for one.
 
What about those of us who can't afford a new Mac not in terms of money but in terms of time. Who is going to help us?

I think I need about half a day to buy one, give it a reasonable test to make sure it looks OK and migrate data. I would really like a new Mac but I don't know when I will get that kind of spare time and I am probably not alone in that.

Large parts of life revolve around pressures of time and money. It's just life, not Apple's fault.
 
koyoot said:
Apple is NOT a Ferrari. In Ferrari cars there is no FIAT parts. But sometimes FIAT can use Ferrari parts. Apple hardware IS NOT a statement product. It is increasingly embarassing to own Apple products, all over the world. Because of Apple's reputation being successively destroyed with each new product release and faults found in it, and by Apple users community, and how it is considered.

You do not want to be seen as one of those idiots, that believe in marketing lies, and reality distortion field.
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Why would you care so much how people will see you? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
magicschoolbus said:
You do know Best Buy and even Apple has financing plans? Nobody likes putting that amount on a card, but if it's 0% and fits your budget better to pay $100.00 a month instead of 2200 all at once, then why not just do that?
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By mentioning that he is in a top 10 GDP country, I doubt he is in the US (he would have probably said he was in the US or the top GDP country). He may not have access to a Best Buy store or have access to affordable financing.

I'm also of the opinion that if someone needs financing (other than a car or house), they should probably reconsider their purchase. I wouldn't consider buying an Apple product unless I had the cash on hand.
 
Honestly, a lot of people mention Swappa and the like, but also if you have a version of Craig’s or Next Door where you live, check that as well.

I sold my 2013 13” for $300 to a neighborhood kid. Granted it isn’t a new Mac, but a 5 year old MBP beats a 10 year old one and $300 is a budget friendly price
 
maflynn said:
There were definitely some comments that seemed more blaming then helping him.
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To be fair, the OP was more of a whine than it was a request for help/suggestion.

The reality of life is we are surrounded with more things we'd like to have than we have funds to buy. So we each have to prioritize those things we individually feel are most important, set our goals, and take the appropriate steps to get there.

Even then, we won't be able to have everything we want.

Most of the posts you quoted were pointing that fact out in their own ways.

Honestly, I think @Absrnd made the best point/suggestion of any post in this thread. Computers, like phones and cars, are consumables. Whatever you buy today will have a finite usable lifetime. Might be three, four, or even ten years or more. You can ignore that fact and find yourself in a pinch (and paying money in financing interest you could have used elsewhere) -- or you can plan ahead and put the money away today towards the future purchase.

Absrnd said:
You could have saved up in those 10 years, (like I had done after buying my previous iMac) and you will get a student discount as a teacher, good luck :/
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SDColorado said:
I sold my 2013 13” for $300 to a neighborhood kid. Granted it isn’t a new Mac, but a 5 year old MBP beats a 10 year old one and $300 is a budget friendly price
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You are braver than me :). I would never sell anything I own (even if I think it's in perfect condition), to someone I know.
 
Plutonius said:
By mentioning that he is in a top 10 GDP country, I doubt he is in the US (he would have probably said he was in the US or the top GDP country). He may not have access to a Best Buy store or have access to affordable financing.

I'm also of the opinion that if someone needs financing (other than a car or house), they should probably reconsider their purchase. I wouldn't consider buying an Apple product unless I had the cash on hand.
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I see nothing wrong in financing a large purchase (something over 2k) as long as there is 0% interest and those payments fit your budget accordingly.

People that finance a new Yeti Cooler or a Apple Watch.... well, that's a differnet story.
 
Plutonius said:
You are braver than me :). I would never sell anything I own (even if I think it's in perfect condition), to someone I know.
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I didn’t know him per se. He lives somewhere in my subdivision or knows someone who does and saw my listing.

I knew it was gently used (didn’t like the 13” for my own use) and in pristine condition. Still had him sign an “as is” purchase agreement. But that was in June and I haven’t heard from him yet. So guessing all was OK or he was afraid to come back after the “As Is” if not?

Edit: As for the $300 price tag, SellYourMac only offered $329 and I had to ship it to them, so I listed it at $350 and took $300. I could live with the $29 loss and not having to box and ship
 
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Hey OP, I hear you. I forked out for my MacBook Pro, but only because I wanted it to learn Swift. And only because I got education pricing. The £1700 RRP, is insane for what was a 13” dual-core, 256GB machine. Yes, it feels premium, but Apple could easily add a little more value for their UK customer base and not have near parity of prices with the US.

Am ashamed of some of the snooty replies here saying they’re fine with the prices. Apple used to provide good value at the low end but that’s dried up in the last generation or so.
 
Plutonius said:
I'm not sure if anyone offers 0% interest outside the US. That being said, most people would be better off financially if they financed as little as possible.
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True.. I try to avoid anything with an interest rate. My last Mac i purchased back in 2012 i financed through best buy's 0% for 24 month program and paid it off well in advance and it's still my main computer.

I was unaware countries outside of the US did not have access to 0% financing.
 
magicschoolbus said:
True.. I try to avoid anything with an interest rate. My last Mac i purchased back in 2012 i financed through best buy's 0% for 24 month program and paid it off well in advance and it's still my main computer.

I was unaware countries outside of the US did not have access to 0% financing.
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I'm not sure what financing other countries have although I always assumed the 0% was native only to the US.
 
CJM said:
Apple could easily add a little more value for their UK customer base and not have near parity of prices with the US.
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Let's take the base MBP15 -- $2399 plus sales tax in the US -- or £2349 including VAT of approx. £392.

Comparing VAT-inclusive pricing vs pre-sales-tax pricing is going to be skewed by the taxation, which Apple has no control over.

Now that UK before-tax price of £1957 would be US$2547 today, thus a US$148 or £114 difference -- under 6% difference in UK vs US pretax pricing...

Seems like near parity to me. :p
 
You should by according to your budget. If you cannot buy a mac then nothing stops you from buying a Windows computer nor is apple's fault that you can't afford their asking prices. Apple has always been a company in the premium sector.

I'd love to own a brand new bmw but I'm not self entitled enough to demand them to lower their prices so that i can afford one.
 
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Macbook Airs are often on sale for around 700. That's a pretty good deal, although the machine is outdated at this point. It still works fine for basic computing.
 
I am just not getting all the car references. Some people do work where job’s are best served by a Mac because that’s what is used in their job environment.

Nobody needs a BMW or Ferrari for their job environment unless you happen to work for BMW Mottorad or race for Ferrari.

There has to be a better analogy than car brands with models ranging into the 100’s of thousands?
 
Have you considered an iPad 2018 ($299 with education Discount)? Add a Logitech Slim Keyboard Case ($80 on sale). You might be surprised at how much you can do with this rig.

Also, in our school district, all of th students are getting Chrombooks and the teachers are getting MacBook Airs.....so, we are fortunate that the community just passed a $270 million bond issue that mainly covers large facility maintenance and repairs.....but, they did earmark a fraction of th money for technology. My point is that you do not need the highest spec and latest technology to be effective. The MacBook Air is still a very viable options for the class room. Go to a college campus. You will see MBAs everywhere.....super popular machines for education.
 
SDColorado said:
There has to be a better analogy than car brands with models ranging into the 100’s of thousands?
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There is. I also mentioned watches, baggage, movie tickets, glasses etc. But it applies to any product at all.

People just get more emotional because it's something they immediately want.

Apple's objective isn't to break even. Nor it's to make a little bit of money. Their objective to make lots of money. As much as they can, actually. That's what businesses do. We all know this but we pretend that we don't and then get emotional and use words like "greed" or we pretend that Apple was a charity under Steve or whatever.

Ferrari are in the market for expensive luxury sports cars. They're not in the market for cheap family sedans.
Rolex is in the market for luxury watches, they're not in the market for the $25 digital watch range you might find a Walmart.
Apple is in the market for expensive computer stuff.

A successful company will target the market they believe they can penetrate in order to make as much money as they can.

This is really simple and routine stuff.

Reading this forum it's like being in an alternative universe where people think that profit driven organizations sit around and say "Well we've designed this widget, and it cost us $7 to make. We know that people will pay $4,458 for it, but you know, let's make it $400, because we don't really need to make the extra money."

It's basic economics. Cars work as an analogy because it's an obvious one, but you can pick any product and you'll find that there was analysis done prior to the product going on sale to see where the company felt they could set the selling price to maximize the return.

If people understood simple economics then the car analogy would not be needed. But we very obviously need car analogies.
 
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