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Is it safe to buy a MacBook White?

T

timROGERS

macrumors member
Original poster
May 3, 2009
87
0
I am in the UK and an planning to buy a MacBook White with my student discount :)

I am hoping to buy it at the end of June, after my exams. Is this a good time to buy it? It is after WWDC so hopefully any updates will have gone through.

However, I am worried that they might drop the MacBook White from their product range and then there will just be the expensive unibody left which I cannot afford.

What do you guys think?
 
Given the current economic climate I don't think they are going to drop the cheap MacBook.
 
I personally think that sometime in either June or July, Apple will remove the White MacBooks altogether and replace them with 10" touchscreen MacBook Touch's.

So if you really want the 13" screen for that price, buy now.
 
Honestly, the current spec white macbooks are great. I have a santarosa blackbook and it has the intel gma chipset in it. Which blows. It's really nice that the current white macbooks actually have the nvidia chipset in them. I'd jump on it. I doubt they're going to go anywhere because apple seems to be trying to gear themselves towards putting out a few cheaper models. the white macbook will only go down in price if it stays on the line. the plastic body macbooks are great as well. i've had mine for almost a year and half now, and it's still running strong.
 
This is when things get confusing, as people have different opinions.
I just really hope they don't get rid of it...

Should I order before WWDC or wait until after?
 
I don't think Apple would want to have no notebooks below $1000, so I'm guessing whether they get rid of it or not, they'll still be something around that price. I say wait.
 
timROGERS said:
This is when things get confusing, as people have different opinions.
I just really hope they don't get rid of it...

Should I order before WWDC or wait until after?
Click to expand...

to be quite honest, it doesn't matter when you order it or even which model you order. no matter what, your going to have a computer that will last you a long time, and you'll be satisfied with it. most of us just have really bad gas (gadget-acquisition-syndrome) and want the new and shiny toys at all times.
 
alexbates said:
I personally think that sometime in either June or July, Apple will remove the White MacBooks altogether and replace them with 10" touchscreen MacBook Touch's.

So if you really want the 13" screen for that price, buy now.
Click to expand...

If they add a netbook it'll be a separate product like the MacBook Air.
 
plus, if it is dropped, than it will only go down in price. You could definitely still find some in the refurb store or at 3rd party retailers. Even ebay and amazon. Apple not making notebooks for under $1000 is, once you think about it, good for us. Everyone complains "macs are too expensive" and wishes that they would drop the price. However if the price is lowered, then more consumers will purchase macs, as the result of a higher demand. As demand goes up, Apple will have to mass produce even more of the units and will be looking for ways to cut corners to reduce the cost of production. Not to mention, if Apple computers were being made for the same price and in the same amount as popular PC manufacturers (HP, Dell) then what motivation is there for Apple Stores? Sure, the price drops, but so does the quality, customer service, and the exclusivity of owning a mac. Then comes the whole market share related to viruses aspect. Call it....the Apple Price Point Conundrum.
 
Apocrathia said:
to be quite honest, it doesn't matter when you order it or even which model you order. no matter what, your going to have a computer that will last you a long time, and you'll be satisfied with it. most of us just have really bad gas (gadget-acquisition-syndrome) and want the new and shiny toys at all times.
Click to expand...

my thoughts exactly!
 
timROGERS said:
This is when things get confusing, as people have different opinions.
I just really hope they don't get rid of it...

Should I order before WWDC or wait until after?
Click to expand...

Well, that is what you get for asking for people's opinions, more or less. We obviously have no way of KNOWING what apple will do, so it is all just best guess.

Personally, I'd say wait and buy. Even if they do drop it from the line at WWDC, it will probably stay on Apple's clearance pages for a few weeks, and definitely on other retailers' stores for some time as well. It's not like if they announce a new one, the old ones disappear immediately.
Plus, with rumors of a cheaper Mac (netbook? tablet?) coming out, you would be smart to wait either way and see what your options are.

Apocrathia said:
to be quite honest, it doesn't matter when you order it or even which model you order. no matter what, your going to have a computer that will last you a long time, and you'll be satisfied with it. most of us just have really bad gas (gadget-acquisition-syndrome) and want the new and shiny toys at all times.
Click to expand...

haha I like that. I totally would have bad GAS too, but my cheap-bastard-ness is able to keep my GAS is check well enough :)
 
Apocrathia said:
to be quite honest, it doesn't matter when you order it or even which model you order. no matter what, your going to have a computer that will last you a long time, and you'll be satisfied with it. most of us just have really bad gas (gadget-acquisition-syndrome) and want the new and shiny toys at all times.
Click to expand...

hahahah Dude I have that!!!! :D
 
alexbates said:
I personally think that sometime in either June or July, Apple will remove the White MacBooks altogether and replace them with 10" touchscreen MacBook Touch's.

So if you really want the 13" screen for that price, buy now.
Click to expand...

I agree with you on dropping white MacBooks. I think they want to be green and PlasticBook is not nearly as green as GlassBook. BUT, I do think they will lower the price of the aluminum MB to $1099 and could even do $999 now. I think the margin has to be super high on the MB and Apple could do it in this economy. But, maybe they would fear backlash of people being pissed over buying early at $1299, then price drops. We did see a rumor that Apple was changing pricing to match current market for MB and iMac. Then the new tablet netbook thing will take over the lower priced Mac Notebooks.
 
To be honest, I think that anytime is a good time to buy, unless you know a upgrade will definitely be coming in a few weeks. I mean, If you wait a few months for a new laptop that might not even be coming it will be time that you could of had a perfectly awesome laptop.
 
Doesn't matter much

Just keep saving money and when you think the time is right for a new macbook, buy it.
I think they always will have a less than 1000 bucks laptop and it doesn't matter if it is aluminium or polycarbonate.
It works. That is the important thing. And for a student; a 13" is good readable and it is portable.
I'm not a student, but I've got a 17" hires and a 13" macbook, the macbook is for on the road, the 17" is nice for working long hours at home.
But I didn't get the 17" on the road since I got the 13". If it is just for writing notes, minutes etc. it works very well.
Save a bit more, buy a keyboard, screen and mouse and the 13" can perform just like my 17" at home.

It's just not a good game computer, but if you are prepaired to pay another 1700 bucks orso, you can also get a good gaming computer. For that money? buy a game-console! And safe the rest of the money.
 
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