A lot of people are asking whether they should wait to purchase the new Intel iBooks, but I don't really think that's the way I want to go. I really want to know if a price drop in the current iBooks can be expected after the new (tentatively speaking) ones are announced? I missed out on Amazon's fire sale that brought them under $800 earlier in the month, and I'm kicking myself. But I need a new laptop and the iBook 12" is the way I want to go. Should I buy now or wait two weeks for a potential price drop? thanks
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Is an iBook G4 price drop in January something we should expect?
- Thread starter JimmyDTU
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refurb/sale
any remaining g4 ibooks will prolly go onto the apple sale page or be sold as refubs.JimmyDTU said:
I wonder if Apple will sell a PPC-based machine when the iBooks go Intel like they have with the PowerMac G5's: There's that one G5 model with PCI-X and AGP instead of PCI-Express. There's also the OS X and OS 9 bootable PowerMac G4 MDD's from a while back, too. MWSF can't come any faster... 
I think that regardless of the details, once the new iBooks are announced at MWSF the existing PPC ones will indeed go on sale. I would say wait.
The PowerBook "may" continue on for awhile -- they just put a new chipset in it, and didn't in any other G4 machine.applekid said:I wonder if Apple will sell a PPC-based machine when the iBooks go Intel like they have with the PowerMac G5's: There's that one G5 model with PCI-X and AGP instead of PCI-Express. There's also the OS X and OS 9 bootable PowerMac G4 MDD's from a while back, too. MWSF can't come any faster...
So a slight chance that either Apple intends it to stay as the legacy G4 -- either that, or Freescale screwed up.
Problem is, the likelyhood of Freescale molesting the pooch is higher than Apple redesigning a machine and manufacturing an all new PowerBook just for legacy purposes.
JimmyDTU said:
I would wait another two or three weeks and see what Apple is releasing on MWSF. If they really do start shipping Intel based iBooks you might be in luck to pick up a PPC iBook for a discounted price. Nothing is for certain right know. Like I said I would wait it out.
alexstein said:
Exactly. If it was a few months, I would say just go for it, but with MWSF just around the corner, it only make sense to wait a couple more weeks.
Definitely wait. or, buy a refurb now, if they have one. The iBooks probably won't go lower than what teh refurbs are now...
bodeh6 said:
Another vote for wait. I got on the Amazon deal, but remember, that included a $100 mail-in rebate, on which I'll have to wait 8-10 weeks. I can't see the price of the current ibook going up so the only direction it can go is down if you wait. Worst case, it'll be the same price. And you won't have to wait that long... another 2 weeks till announcement
.sw1tcher said:
I'm defanately interested in the powerbook. new ibooks would likely bump up to 1.5 GHz, thus equaling the 12"pb. any sellers still selling them would likely have to drop the price to clear out what they have (unless apple's crippling of the iBook is bad enough to make a difference )
dirtskier said:
Scenario #1 is that the iBooks essentially become the current PowerBooks in terms of specs, while the PowerBooks adopt Yonah.
Scenario #2 is that the iBooks adopt Yonah right off the bat, and it is announced that PowerBooks will adopt Yonah as well in a couple months when the performance version is available.
No matter which way things work, Apple's portable solutions are finally going to get the boost they have needed for a long time!
EricNau said:
I personally don't think they will be. Apple will probably just offer them with better specs to justify the same (or slightly higher) prices.
I'm thinking we'll see things like:
widescreen (and higher res.) displays, larger HDDs, better GPUs, new slicker enclosure, etc.
Thanks a lot everyone, you've been a big help.
Follow-up question...
Can anyone justify to me that buying a refurb from Apple is a good idea? I just don't know how I feel about it, but I'm not really against it. I guess where I'm going is asking if anyone else has ever bought a refurb and how it turned out for them.
Follow-up question...
Can anyone justify to me that buying a refurb from Apple is a good idea? I just don't know how I feel about it, but I'm not really against it. I guess where I'm going is asking if anyone else has ever bought a refurb and how it turned out for them.
JimmyDTU said:
I haven't yet, but I would certainly consider it. I guess it depends on the price difference between the Apple refurb store and Ebay.
With the Apple refurb store, you know that you are going to get a pristine Apple that has been soak-tested, has a known history (isn't bootleg) and comes with a warranty. You can even get AppleCare support. They typically seem to be offered for around 20% off the full retail price.
Of course, with Ebay you take your chances but depending on the model and age, the price difference might be significant. Interestingly, some Apple Macs sell for more on Ebay than they do from the refurb site. I have bought computers off Ebay several times but wouldn't buy my main computer from there (I can afford to be without one of my additional computers for a time).
Hi All, Newb here ...
Thought I would post my question in here since it is somewhat related to this thread.
I want to buy a new Powerbook g4 laptop, and I was wondering if you think that price will drop on those in the next month?
Or is it only the iBook that the price will drop because of the new intel chip?
Thought I would post my question in here since it is somewhat related to this thread.
I want to buy a new Powerbook g4 laptop, and I was wondering if you think that price will drop on those in the next month?
Or is it only the iBook that the price will drop because of the new intel chip?
DinoMac said:
PowerBooks are just around the corner as well. The only question is will they receive this first batch of dual core Yonah chips immediately, or will Apple wait to update the line until the performance version is released a couple months later. So, I don't know if the price will drop in the next month, but it definitely will one way or the other in the next few months. I would wait until MWSF, see what Jobs says, and go from there.