A lot of the questions I’ve been getting since August 2008 from friends and clients are about buying a MacBook or a Macbook Pro. Now that Apple has refreshed their notebooks line, I can now give them better answers.
All prices are in U.S. dollars and for U.S. stores. More disclaimers at the bottom of this post.
Buying MacBook
If you are new to the Macintosh, and wants to get a MacBook, the new Unibody Aluminum MacBook is a no brainer. The downside is that base prices for MacBook are $1,299 and $1,599. The $1,599 model has one thing that any other MacBooks don’t have, and that is the backlit-keyboard. The first complaint about the Unibody MacBook is the lack of FireWire port.
MacBook @ Apple Store (Retail and Online)
MacBook 2.0GHz $1,299 | with Educational Discount $1,249
MacBook 2.4GHz $1,599 | with Educational Discount $1,499
Macbook 2.1GHz Intel Core 2 Duo – plastic White $999
MacBook @ Amazon.com (as of 2008.10.18)
MacBook 2.0GHz $1,294
MacBook 2.4GHz $1,594
Macbook 2.1GHz Intel Core 2 Duo – plastic White $944 and $75 rebate
Usually Amazon adds $75-$100 rebates on each MacBook. Since the Unibody MacBook is just released, there is no rebates added yet as of October 18th, 2008.
Buying MacBook Pro
The Unibody MacBook Pro comes in two 15-inch models. One for $1,999 and the other is for $2,4999. The first one comes with Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz with 3MB L2Cache, 2GB of RAM, 250GB 5400RPM hard drive and 256MB video RAM. The second model comes with Intel Core 2 Duo 2.53GHz with 6MB L2 Cache, 4GB RAM, 320GB 5400RPM hard drive and 512MB video RAM.
If you see the need for better performance, the $2,499 model does have double the L2 Cache and video RAM.
MacBook Pro @ Apple Store (Retail and Online)
MacBook 2.4GHz $1,999 | with Educational Discount $1,899
MacBook 2.53GHz $2,499 | with Educational Discount $2,299
MacBook Pro @ Amazon.com (as of 2008.10.18)
MacBook 2.4GHz $1,994
MacBook 2.53GHz $2,494
Usually Amazon adds $150 rebates on each MacBook Pro. Since the Unibody MacBook Pro is just released, there is no rebates added yet as of October 18th, 2008.
Previous MacBook and MacBook Pro
If you still want to buy Apple notebook but don’t want to spend as much, consider buying the previous MacBook and MacBook Pro models.
@ Apple Store
MacBook 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo – White $1,249
MacBook 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo – Black $1,299
MacBook Pro 15-inch 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo $1,599
MacBook Pro 15-inch 2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo $1,799
@ Amazon.com
MacBook 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo – White $1,234.23 and $75 rebate
MacBook 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo – Black $1,294 with $100 rebate
MacBook Pro 15-inch 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo $1,594 and $150 rebate
MacBook Pro 15-inch 2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo $1,779
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NEXT: Upgrading the MacBook and MacBook Pro
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Disclaimer
If you bought anything through Amazon link above, and I get some kickbacks.
“If you buy Apple notebooks, I can buy a MacBook Pro” to paraphrase the great Robert Schimmel.