Should you wait to buy new Apple gear until after MacWorld?
So, you got a few Apple gift cards or some extra spending cash, and you’re about to burst with excitement over your upcoming Apple purchase, right? But wait, MacWorld is just around the corner; could what you’re wanting to purchase become even shinier, prettier, nicer between now and January 15th? The answer to your question is forthcoming.
One of the nice things about being immersed in the Apple niche of the blogosphere is we hear just about everything. Most things that circulate, around this time of year especially, are what could receive updates or changes, or just be completely new Apple products, come MacWorld.
So, I give you what I like to call an informed guess about what are “safe” products to buy prior to MacWorld and what items you might want to wait for.
Safe items:
- iPods – because iPods were updated not too long ago last year, you can bet your britches (as long as you have a second pair) that the iPod line won’t receive any updates.
- Mac desktops – it’s a pretty sure bet, also, that neither the iMac, nor the Mac Pro will catch any upgrades.
- Apple displays – I like to fantasize about ridiculous price drops in Apple displays; this one, don’t bet your Christmas money on.
- Apple software – with Leopard, we got the best software update that Apple will be releasing for a bit. Though the Mac version of Windows Office should be coming soon enough, I doubt we’ll see Steve say many words about it at MacWorld
Questionable items:
- iPhone – nothing is confirmed yet, but a lot of hopeful iPhone admirers are wondering if the iPhone will receive a slight update, say to 3G compatibility. Others have hopes of the iPhone somehow, someway, making its way to other networks besides AT&T (Don’t hold your breath, though). Either way, wait a couple weeks, just in case.
DO NOT BUY JUST YET!
- Notebooks – That’s right…whatever you do, do NOT buy an Apple notebook unless you absolutely have to before MacWorld, be it MacBook Pro or MacBook. No one knows what’s coming for sure, but the rumor is either an update to the current MacBook line, a new line of “ultra-portables”, probably in the 12-13″ range with flash-based memory and an external disk drive. I can’t stress this enough; even if you know you want a current item, it can’t hurt to wait a bit.
There you have it. Hopefully this little list will give you a better idea of what would be a “safe” buy, in an Apple world where items continuously get better, and you just have to appreciate what you have (unless of course, MacWorld is right around the corner).
Related Posts:
December 31st, 2007
“Apple displays – I like to fantasize about ridiculous price drops in Apple displays; this one, don’t bet your Christmas money on.”
I’d hold off on the Apple displays. I don’t expect a price drop, but I do expect an update to displays. The update will include higher-resolution, to jibe nicely with Leopard’s resolution independence, and built-in iSight.
“iPhone – nothing is confirmed yet, but a lot of hopeful iPhone admirers are wondering if the iPhone will receive a slight update, say to 3G compatibility.”
iPhone, I’d hold off on if you have money burning a hole in your pocket. I’d expect the $399 iPhone to joined by a $599 cousin with 16GB of memory. I wouldn’t expect to see anything more than that, though. 3G will hold-off until about midyear–you might see it come with the iPhone’s unveiling in Japan.
“Mac desktops – it’s a pretty sure bet, also, that neither the iMac, nor the Mac Pro will catch any upgrades.”
I’d consider holding off on a Macintosh Pro or Xserve purchase since Intel just released it’s Penryn family of processors for high-end workstations and servers. I think it’ll be summer or maybe even fall before we see Penryn-based chips in iMacs or Mac minis.