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MacBook Pro Update Due for Launch as Soon as Tomorrow?
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Forgive me for this newbie question, but I have always worked for companies that have furnished my Macs so I never had to pay much attention. Now that I am self-employed, I've been making these investments on my own. Once the new machines are released, will it be impossible to get my hands on one of the current models? I'm not sure if Apple will still have some in the refurb store, or if retail outlets stop selling the old when the new are released.
Hi guys,
Just thought that I would share what Apple's customer relations department have just told me. I Was one of the many unlucy people who bought a 27" iMac and had problems with the yellow screen issue. To resolve the problem after 3 replacements and numerous LCD panel replacment (plus some appalling customer service) customer relations contacted me today and offered me as a replacement :- a new mac book pro (yay) they went on to say that because new ones were due they were happy to give me one of those if I was prepared to wait a little while, when I asked how long they told me that the new ones were due out in 4 weeks time, ie late April in the UK.
Hope that's a usefull bit of info for all those people looking to buy one.
Just thought that I would share what Apple's customer relations department have just told me. I Was one of the many unlucy people who bought a 27" iMac and had problems with the yellow screen issue. To resolve the problem after 3 replacements and numerous LCD panel replacment (plus some appalling customer service) customer relations contacted me today and offered me as a replacement :- a new mac book pro (yay) they went on to say that because new ones were due they were happy to give me one of those if I was prepared to wait a little while, when I asked how long they told me that the new ones were due out in 4 weeks time, ie late April in the UK.
Hope that's a usefull bit of info for all those people looking to buy one.
that whole situation seems a little fishy. But that date would work well be the US back to school free ipod deal. Applecare does replace computers, but i've never heard of imac to macbook pro
Yeah gd for you, then why are you still lurking around... some of us may not be as fortunate as you since you have so proudly put up whatever u own....
Maybe some of us just dont wanna blow more than $2K on an outdated product be it Apple, Sony , Toshiba or whatever company company that is taking us for a ride....
I don't care what you did , sold , bought , upgraded blah blah sounds like my dog barking cause i cant hear him anymore its just noise...
maybe some of us like to wait in anticipation , all of us have a life maybe its you who doesnt....
anyway drifting from the topic plus wasted 3 minutes OF MY LIFE typing to this quote....
PS: i have more than enough cash to blow on a couple of MBP but i refuse to buy an outdated product....
Power to the consumer...
Just stay away from stores like bestbuy and you won't have to worry about that problem. Try buying only from an Apple store or an Apple certified reseller.
When we bought my grandmother's iMac back in mid 2007, we bought from bestbuy and I didn't know it at the time but it ended up being a 2006 model.
I really hope that's true because I wanted to buy a new MBP this week but stumbled across this site and I'm glad I did. It would be stupid to buy a new one today when in a months time there will be a new version out.
That would be a painful, but hilarious, joke!
Or better yet, if they post that they are releasing the MBP with these dream options and then later change it with "APRIL FOOLS" that would be even harsher... LOL
From what I've seen of Jobs, he does in fact not seem to have a sense of humor.
Yeah gd for you, then why are you still lurking around... some of us may not be as fortunate as you since you have so proudly put up whatever u own....
Maybe some of us just dont wanna blow more than $2K on an outdated product be it Apple, Sony , Toshiba or whatever company company that is taking us for a ride....
I don't care what you did , sold , bought , upgraded blah blah sounds like my dog barking cause i cant hear him anymore its just noise...
maybe some of us like to wait in anticipation , all of us have a life maybe its you who doesnt....
anyway drifting from the topic plus wasted 3 minutes OF MY LIFE typing to this quote....
PS: i have more than enough cash to blow on a couple of MBP but i refuse to buy an outdated product....
Power to the consumer...
+1
Plus, half of the fun (for me at least) is waiting for the updates. It's exciting checking this site every Tuesday and the Apple Store.
I agree, I have never heard of a cross platform replacement. I replaced a MBP from June 2009 I dropped in my living room with a unit in early February of this year. After numerous problems and issues with a terrible mac genius and customer service rep, customer solution finally offered to replace the whole thing. They gave me an order number Monday that says the item will ship in 24 hours. It has now been nearly 72 and they can't give me a straight answer on the shipping. I assume it might be due to the fact that the stock is low with an impending update. It says I am in line for my model, but maybe they will switch it up when the update finally comes. Hopefully soon, the lack of my SMS to protect my hard drive is really bothering me. Mind you, most Apple genii and customer service representative are pleasant, I have to say. But every now and then, you get a rugrat at the end of his shift that just does not care about your baby remotely as much as you do.
Hi folks, Im not sure about the validity of this story however it does tie in with information that I have been told from Marks and Spencers Mac department in the UK. We will be getting the iPads in late April so I suspect that they may just tie in both....although a release anytime in April wouldn't do any harm...please
It's quite simply really. When they offer you a replacement usually it's in the form of a new computer in box. That means you can pretty much ask for store credit and then use the store credit to buy whatever other computer you want.
I know this because the Apple Store wanted to me issue me a replacement 17" MacBook Pro over 2 years ago. When I got to the store I asked if I could get another computer, so the manager just issued me store credit for the price of the 17" MacBook Pro plus tax. With that I bought myself a 15" MacBook Pro and some accessories instead.
Same thing would apply there. Instead of getting another iMac, you put in the request that you would rather have another model and Apple will most likely let you do so especially if they offered you a replacement in the first place. This is definitely possible if the store manager or Apple believes that giving you an alternative product will prove to result in less complaints.
I guess I should have written, I have never seen it, but it had also never occurred to me. The "release" sent to me from Apple Corporate certainly does intimate that they can employ a number of things to "settle" your dispute with them. I am in the US so hopefully this update comes within the week. I would have expected Apple to have some sort of media event, like they did when they unveiled the (very quickly) updated unibody Macbook Pro's with the 7 + hour battery and SD slot. This update, although I would still like to benefit from it, feels like it will be very slight (processor speed, no core i3, 5, or 7) hard drive upgrade. RAM will stay the same since everyone else is at about 4GB standard configuration outside of Apple. I will say this, when I was in the Apple store, I asked if they could swap out the unit in store, I was told that "We don't carry this model." I was shocked since it is a standard configuration 2.66 Ghz chip model. Hell, they are still being sold on the Apple site. Who knows? Maybe Apple is satisfied with this Macbook Pro's right now and probably don't want the iPad to overshadow any meaningful update. Maybe there is just an production and shipping bottleneck due to all the attention on the iPad. Maybe I should get an iPad...no. I will pass on the iPod Big. For now. Until I get jealous of someone in Starbucks watching Star Trek. Okay, I am getting one.
Well, I can certainly see why no one wants to buy one of those sucky 'obsolete' MBP's. Fedex just dropped one off to me today, and what a dog: cold startup, from chime to full desktop, 13 seconds. Shutdown, 3 seconds. Open Safari, Mail, or Calendar, less than one second; virtually instantaneous. And as I sit here typing, five apps open, it's reporting that I have 8 hours and 35 minutes of battery power left.
This one is an Apple 'refurbished'. Right. There was not one scratch, eyelash, or fingerprint anywhere on the computer. I'm pretty sure that right now 'refurbished' means taking it out of a box that says 'MacBook Pro' and putting it into a plain white box. 15", 2.8 GHz, 256 GB Solid-state drive. If this is 'old and slow', I think I can live with it.
This one is an Apple 'refurbished'. Right. There was not one scratch, eyelash, or fingerprint anywhere on the computer. I'm pretty sure that right now 'refurbished' means taking it out of a box that says 'MacBook Pro' and putting it into a plain white box. 15", 2.8 GHz, 256 GB Solid-state drive. If this is 'old and slow', I think I can live with it.
There seems to be a fundamental lack of communication on this forum between two groups of people. Every page or so, someone makes a comment to the effect of "I'm not going to buy one of the current gen MBPs, they are outdated and overpriced. I'm waiting for the new model." To which someone else inevitably responds, "I have a current gen MBP" or "I just got a current gen MBP" and "its so fast". Optionally, they make some comment to the effect of "what do you need a core i7 for?"
Ok, so what did the first guy say. Did he claim that the current generation MBP is insufficient to perform the tasks he wishes to perform? Well, no. Did he claim that the current generation MPB is a piece of junk? Well, no. Rather, he made a simple claim that the current generation MBP is behind the competition in terms of technology, and that the hardware one gets when purchasing a current generation MBP (which has been priced statically by Apple since its release) does not have the same relative performance as it did say 6-9 months ago. This statement is perfectly factual. It is not, a priori, an inflammatory remark (though some might make the point in this way). Rather, it is a simple statement that while the hardware landscape in the laptop/notebook market has changed significantly in the time since the last MBP update, Apple has made no changes. The fact that they are overdue for a hardware overhaul on the MBP line only exacerbates the situation.
Now I understand how those who only recently purchased a current generation Mac Book Pro might become defense at the remarks of person A. None of us (or at least most of us) are saying that your beautiful new laptop is bad, or inadequate or too slow. We're not saying that you won't be able to do everything you want to do on it without skipping a beat. No, we're just saying that for those of us who are interested in the Apple computing experience, but who also care a great deal about the hardware value we get for our hard earned money, Apple is exhibiting some fairly disappointing behavior. Clearly, Apple does not have to update the hardware anytime soon. We all understand how capitalism works; and we all comprehend that they can adopt whatever hardware update strategy they want and that they will tend to do whatever maximizes the bottom line. However none of this offsets the fact, even one bit, that their current line of Mac Book Pros is significantly behind the price/performance curve; especially when one considers that they have been priced statically since their release. I don't expect this little rant to clarify previous statements made by many of the posters, but I just needed to get that off my chest.
Ok, so what did the first guy say. Did he claim that the current generation MBP is insufficient to perform the tasks he wishes to perform? Well, no. Did he claim that the current generation MPB is a piece of junk? Well, no. Rather, he made a simple claim that the current generation MBP is behind the competition in terms of technology, and that the hardware one gets when purchasing a current generation MBP (which has been priced statically by Apple since its release) does not have the same relative performance as it did say 6-9 months ago. This statement is perfectly factual. It is not, a priori, an inflammatory remark (though some might make the point in this way). Rather, it is a simple statement that while the hardware landscape in the laptop/notebook market has changed significantly in the time since the last MBP update, Apple has made no changes. The fact that they are overdue for a hardware overhaul on the MBP line only exacerbates the situation.
Now I understand how those who only recently purchased a current generation Mac Book Pro might become defense at the remarks of person A. None of us (or at least most of us) are saying that your beautiful new laptop is bad, or inadequate or too slow. We're not saying that you won't be able to do everything you want to do on it without skipping a beat. No, we're just saying that for those of us who are interested in the Apple computing experience, but who also care a great deal about the hardware value we get for our hard earned money, Apple is exhibiting some fairly disappointing behavior. Clearly, Apple does not have to update the hardware anytime soon. We all understand how capitalism works; and we all comprehend that they can adopt whatever hardware update strategy they want and that they will tend to do whatever maximizes the bottom line. However none of this offsets the fact, even one bit, that their current line of Mac Book Pros is significantly behind the price/performance curve; especially when one considers that they have been priced statically since their release. I don't expect this little rant to clarify previous statements made by many of the posters, but I just needed to get that off my chest
.Just an idea of pricing...
http://www.dse.com.au/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/en/product/XC6486?utm_source=week40_tactical&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=XC6486
core i5 430m unit. 4GB ram. 500GB hdd (admittedly 5400 rpm). 15" screen. Yes, it has a inbuilt camera as well, and a card reader. DVD burner. 3 USB ports, and gigabit ethernet to boot. No dedicated GPU, so for games, it'll suck.
Yes, I know battery life will suck. Yes, I know it doesn't have OS X installed. Yes, I know that build quality sucks. OS X sells for AU $40. Imagine hacking the BIOS to allow OS X to run (just an example, I'm not vindicating piracy etc). Ignore the poor build quality and low battery life. It's well under a grand cheaper than a 13" MBP, make it $1300 plus for a 15" unit. Does the Aluminium unibody cost that much to make? The battery? I'm not sure, but I do suspect that Apple is going to start losing out to competitors at least on quality of build, and performance and more importantly, pricing.
Australian PC Authority is touting the Dell Adamo XPS as a MBP equivalent (without OS X of course). My boss has a really nice high end Dell unit (not sure of model) and it *flies*, looks sexy and is very solidly built (from Aluminium). Perhaps not as good as a MBP, but probably 95% as good imho. Yes, 4.5k to him, 6.5k to the average person (he gets discounts cos we buy lots of Dell servers etc). Just note that it's a 17" high end unit that can do 1920*1200 resolution with a high end 2D GPU. The screen looks every bit as good as the MBP as well (glass, glossy, plenty of definition). Other manufacturers are starting to take note of battery life and build quality and sexiness too. Yes, I know they all lack OS X, and that's a BIG part of moving to Apple products imho, but Windows 7 isn't that bad. It has all the features and security improvements of XP/vista, faster than XP, some nice UI designs/changes.
Where am I going with this post? For Apple to spread, it needs to lower its prices. Yes, quality costs money, I understand this. But I still think that even given quality, Apple can lower costs even more, and that means the MBP etc will be even more competitive against the competition. That means more sales, and thus, more marketshare. Apple is starting to become old school in what it's offering, and some customers do look at this. Not all, but some. Don't get me wrong, as I've stated before, for the average user, the current MBP range are plenty a powerful imho. Just remember that a lot of people switching from Windows to Mac are younger people who game. Most of the MBP units don't really cut it when it comes to real gaming. That said, most Windows based laptops don't either I admit. Some, like Alienware are powerhouses that can run a game just as good as your desktop computer.
Ah well...I'm not bashing Apple, just think they could do EVEN better than they are.
Dave
edit: I think this is what my boss got:
http://www1.ap.dell.com/au/en/business/notebooks/workstation-precision-m6400/pd.aspx?refid=workstation-precision-m6400&s=bsd&cs=aubsd1
I'm pretty sure he got the 17" WUXGA RGB LED Back-Lit Display option, Windows 7 pro x64, 8GB RAM. He put in his own 500gb SSD drive...I'd need to check which GPU he has...yes, it's pricey, but compare it to a 17" MBP...oh and he has the core 2 duo quadcore extreme CPU as well...oh and he considered a 17" MBP specced out and decided the Dell was both cheaper and more powerful, and he can get gold support from Dell which comes out to *you* within 4 hours. Yes, 4 hours. Apple offers NOTHING like this. That was a big deal to him. Oh, and he doesn't like the fact that for repairs, he has to send in the entire MBP unit, including HDD, with confidential corporate business information. With Dell, they have no problem with him removing the HDD and just sending the rest back in if need be...to him, that was *important*. A similar specced 17" MBP (but with only 256GB SSD and Core 2 Duo CPU, no on site support (and not within 4 hours), cost over AU 6 grand! Oh, and it has a much lower end GPU. I'd suspect that if Apple could match a 17" MBP with the exact same specs as his Dell unit, he'd have paid over 9 grand. That just isn't going to cut it with business people. He seriously considered going Apple. One of my colleagues at work is a hardcore Mac user, I like 'em, our lead developer is a hardcore Mac user too, and we couldn't convince him...
http://www.dse.com.au/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/en/product/XC6486?utm_source=week40_tactical&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=XC6486
core i5 430m unit. 4GB ram. 500GB hdd (admittedly 5400 rpm). 15" screen. Yes, it has a inbuilt camera as well, and a card reader. DVD burner. 3 USB ports, and gigabit ethernet to boot. No dedicated GPU, so for games, it'll suck.
Yes, I know battery life will suck. Yes, I know it doesn't have OS X installed. Yes, I know that build quality sucks. OS X sells for AU $40. Imagine hacking the BIOS to allow OS X to run (just an example, I'm not vindicating piracy etc). Ignore the poor build quality and low battery life. It's well under a grand cheaper than a 13" MBP, make it $1300 plus for a 15" unit. Does the Aluminium unibody cost that much to make? The battery? I'm not sure, but I do suspect that Apple is going to start losing out to competitors at least on quality of build, and performance and more importantly, pricing.
Australian PC Authority is touting the Dell Adamo XPS as a MBP equivalent (without OS X of course). My boss has a really nice high end Dell unit (not sure of model) and it *flies*, looks sexy and is very solidly built (from Aluminium). Perhaps not as good as a MBP, but probably 95% as good imho. Yes, 4.5k to him, 6.5k to the average person (he gets discounts cos we buy lots of Dell servers etc). Just note that it's a 17" high end unit that can do 1920*1200 resolution with a high end 2D GPU. The screen looks every bit as good as the MBP as well (glass, glossy, plenty of definition). Other manufacturers are starting to take note of battery life and build quality and sexiness too. Yes, I know they all lack OS X, and that's a BIG part of moving to Apple products imho, but Windows 7 isn't that bad. It has all the features and security improvements of XP/vista, faster than XP, some nice UI designs/changes.
Where am I going with this post? For Apple to spread, it needs to lower its prices. Yes, quality costs money, I understand this. But I still think that even given quality, Apple can lower costs even more, and that means the MBP etc will be even more competitive against the competition. That means more sales, and thus, more marketshare. Apple is starting to become old school in what it's offering, and some customers do look at this. Not all, but some. Don't get me wrong, as I've stated before, for the average user, the current MBP range are plenty a powerful imho. Just remember that a lot of people switching from Windows to Mac are younger people who game. Most of the MBP units don't really cut it when it comes to real gaming. That said, most Windows based laptops don't either I admit. Some, like Alienware are powerhouses that can run a game just as good as your desktop computer.
Ah well...I'm not bashing Apple, just think they could do EVEN better than they are.
Dave
edit: I think this is what my boss got:
http://www1.ap.dell.com/au/en/business/notebooks/workstation-precision-m6400/pd.aspx?refid=workstation-precision-m6400&s=bsd&cs=aubsd1
I'm pretty sure he got the 17" WUXGA RGB LED Back-Lit Display option, Windows 7 pro x64, 8GB RAM. He put in his own 500gb SSD drive...I'd need to check which GPU he has...yes, it's pricey, but compare it to a 17" MBP...oh and he has the core 2 duo quadcore extreme CPU as well...oh and he considered a 17" MBP specced out and decided the Dell was both cheaper and more powerful, and he can get gold support from Dell which comes out to *you* within 4 hours. Yes, 4 hours. Apple offers NOTHING like this. That was a big deal to him. Oh, and he doesn't like the fact that for repairs, he has to send in the entire MBP unit, including HDD, with confidential corporate business information. With Dell, they have no problem with him removing the HDD and just sending the rest back in if need be...to him, that was *important*. A similar specced 17" MBP (but with only 256GB SSD and Core 2 Duo CPU, no on site support (and not within 4 hours), cost over AU 6 grand! Oh, and it has a much lower end GPU. I'd suspect that if Apple could match a 17" MBP with the exact same specs as his Dell unit, he'd have paid over 9 grand. That just isn't going to cut it with business people. He seriously considered going Apple. One of my colleagues at work is a hardcore Mac user, I like 'em, our lead developer is a hardcore Mac user too, and we couldn't convince him...
Maybe I should have made this clearer in my last post. I am being upgraded from a 27" i7 iMac to a top end new MacBook pro not because of the yellow screen issue with the iMac ( allthough it maybe was a factor), but because I have had so many problems with Apple's customer support.
As one advisor said to me ( the first and only time I spoke to him) " sir, I have no idea how you have found and fallen into this black hole within our customer service and support. But I will be taking over your case now and will do my utmost to resolve the issues you have been having"
after some shocking customer service that has gone on for months, when I explained that I wanted a refund and would be waiting to purchase a new MacBook pro and a 3rd party screen they initially offered me an upgrade to an existing MacBook pro as a good will gesture. When I declined because I knew they were soon to be releasing a new range the person I was speaking to asked me to be patient for a few days whilst she took my case details to her managers. The end result being a call back where she then said she had been autherised to offer me one of the new MacBook pros on release which when I asked she stated would be in 4 weeks time.
Hope that clarifies my previous post which was regarded as being a bit " fishy"
As one advisor said to me ( the first and only time I spoke to him) " sir, I have no idea how you have found and fallen into this black hole within our customer service and support. But I will be taking over your case now and will do my utmost to resolve the issues you have been having"
after some shocking customer service that has gone on for months, when I explained that I wanted a refund and would be waiting to purchase a new MacBook pro and a 3rd party screen they initially offered me an upgrade to an existing MacBook pro as a good will gesture. When I declined because I knew they were soon to be releasing a new range the person I was speaking to asked me to be patient for a few days whilst she took my case details to her managers. The end result being a call back where she then said she had been autherised to offer me one of the new MacBook pros on release which when I asked she stated would be in 4 weeks time.
Hope that clarifies my previous post which was regarded as being a bit " fishy"