Buying an iBook

[katiedidit]

I was hoping to get some advice about buying an iBook. I was going to go ahead and get one of the G4 models that are out now but someone told me Apple was going to be releasing a new model. I was wondering if anyone could tell me more about the new model, including guesses about pricing...I'm a college student and the G4 iBook is perfectly in my price range. If the newer model is going to be a whole lot more, it may not be an option for me. If you could give me any guesses about price and any info about specs, that would be awesome. Thanks!

[PB PM]

Since it isn't out its hard to say, but a good guess would be that the specs are like those of the Mac mini. Price, could stay the same, or might go up a little, only time will tell.

[Wyatt]

Even if the price does go up, places like Amazon.com and other online resellers will likely still have iBooks in stock for a little while. They shouldn't be hard to find if you don't want to pay the extra money.

[katiedidit]

Is there a release date on the new models?

[Wyatt]

Is there a release date on the new models?
Hehe, you don't follow Apple closely, do you? :D

Apple doesn't pre-announce products. What we know about them is pretty limited and may be incorrect. However, the iBook has gone longer without an update than any of Apple's computers (about 9 months, if I remember correctly), and the last update was pretty weak anyway. More than likely the new model will be released later this month (possibly next week), but it could be as late as July (very unlikely).

[katiedidit]

Haha, no, I'm afraid I don't follow the inner workings very closely. I've always used PCs and recently borrowed a friend's iBook for an extended period of time and loved it. My current laptop is on it's last legs, so I'm pretty excited for an iBook. :)

[Wyatt]

Haha, no, I'm afraid I don't follow the inner workings very closely. I've always used PCs and recently borrowed a friend's iBook for an extended period of time and loved it. My current laptop is on it's last legs, so I'm pretty excited for an iBook. :)
Macs are great. I'm sure you'll be very happy with whatever one you get. I personally just got the new MacBook Pro this week, and I'm loving it. FYI, the new iBook won't actually be called an iBook. Apple wants to have the name "Mac" in all of its computers from now on, so the iBook will be called the MacBook (same as the PowerBook replacement, but without the "Pro" on the end).

[katiedidit]

Thanks! Probably would have figured that out eventually, but it might have taken awhile. Oh man...now I feel obligated to wait until this new model comes out to see what it has to offer.

[Meltedbutter421]

I would deffinatley wait. The "MacBooks" are RUMORED (not deffinate) to come out this Tuesday, so if you can wait, I would for sure.

[Robo]

Apple scheduled a press event at their new Manhattan flagship store on Thursday of next week.

That probably means they're going to announce something, and the logical "something" is the MacBook (which many of us were expecting next week anyway).

So, I'd say it's a very safe bet to expect MacBooks on Thursday.

Happy waiting!

[katiedidit]

Do you all think it might be wise to order the iBook now and sell it if the MacBook seems like a viable option? I'm just afraid that the price of the MacBook will be jacked up a few hundred dollars, which I really can't afford, and then I'll be unable to order the iBook of Apple's website with the student discount and the bigger hard drive I was planning on ordering. Would I still be able to sell the iBook for a similar price--and if buy the iBook now, should I hold off on ordering the extended warranty until I know which computer I'm keeping?

[Luca]

No, I'd say wait anyway, for a few reasons.

The MacBook may increase in price, but if it does, it'll only be by $100. Apple has done this in the past, and it's generally temporary, but they've never increased the base price of the iBook by more than $100 and I don't think they'll start now. The low price of the iBook is one of the main features and they can't afford to throw that away.

Once the MacBook comes out, you can bet that the iBook will drop in price significantly. You are right in that you won't be able to order it with a larger hard drive anymore, but Apple's BTO hard drive options are overpriced anyway. With the money you save from waiting (should you choose to get an iBook after the MacBook announcement), you should be able to easily afford a large external hard drive, even a portable one.

If you get an iBook now and sell it a week or two later, after the MacBook is introduced, do you know how much money you'd lose? It wouldn't be pretty. You'd spend around $1200 (after figuring in a larger hard drive and sales tax) and you could probably only get $700-$800 back.

[katiedidit]

Fair enough, thanks for the advice. I appreciate it!