Apple Releases Minor Update to White MacBook

[rushmere]

The pound is going strong against the dollar, back up to something like £1:$1.88 or $1=£0.53, the price of the macbook went up despite this.

The UK pound has recently strengthened against the dollar, but not by that much. It's somewhere just under $1.60 right now. That means the cheapest Macbook is now just under $1200 here.

It's a nice machine, but it's a bit expensive for it's target market in the UK. They'll still sell, but I'm guessing probably not in very significant numbers over here compared to the competition.

However, the price is about right compared to the US price when you take into account VAT and the fact that costs are generally a bit higher here.

 

[andyjam]

Couple of points - firstly, Apple would never use WWDC to relaunch the unibody mac line... It is a DEVELOPERS conference, thus the focus is always on the iPhone or software element (or at least it has been the past few years). We are more likely to get a keynote from Jobs after his return telling us about any new MacBook lineups. Ideally, Apple would go with (this is in Aussie dollars)

MacBook Pro (unibody) 13, 15 and 17 inch - $1999 to $3999 - would allow Apple to stick a faster processor in the 13 inch unit and some optional graphics, without dropping the price in line with exchange rates...

MacBook 13 inch - $1399 - The white model. Substantial price drop, same insides but expanded to include 2 or 3 models... ie a 2.1GHz, 2.2GHz and 2.4GHz...

MacBook Air 13 inch - $1999 - Price drop, similar design, perhaps some more black plastic on there somewhere (base, bezel). Very similar insides...

MacBook Touch/Tablet/iBook 10 inch - $999 - New product which would be the focus of the keynote. 10 inch multi touch screen, aluminium and black design with full glass face. No physical keyboard, Atom processors, 2GB memory, options of SSD or 1.8inch HDD's (so 64, 128GB or 120GB). Introduction of suite of apps specially made fore larger touch screen device, such as advance handwriting rec, notes apps, eBook reading app, diary etc... Would also open up a whole new segment of App store, for more substatial apps, office suits, touch painting tools, touch video and image editing etc...

Also - The Aussie dollar dropped heaps, and Apple released the new line of products at its worst point, making them horrendously expensive here, but it's back from about 50c to 70-80c, which is likely why we got a price drop.

Also - I really doubt that Apple would come out with a 16" laptop/notebook... They love their parts sharing, so would just use the 15" screen out of the MBP... And I doubt they would do a cheaper 15", it's part of the incentive to pay the extra for the MBP (you have to think like Apple here... There's money to be made!!)

 

[yetanotherdave]

The UK pound has recently strengthened against the dollar, but not by that much. It's somewhere just under $1.60 right now. That means the cheapest Macbook is now just under $1200 here.

It's a nice machine, but it's a bit expensive for it's target market in the UK. They'll still sell, but I'm guessing probably not in very significant numbers over here compared to the competition.

However, the price is about right compared to the US price when you take into account VAT and the fact that costs are generally a bit higher here.

Doing the sums, the pre VAT price now is equivalent to $1,020, which is pretty close. Maybe they were undercharging for the white macbook before. Doing the same sums means the base macbook pro should go from £1,369 to £1,379, just £10 difference. I hope they keep that difference fair as I'm buying a MBP soon.

 

[Henri Gaudier]

How the F*U*C*K can Crapple put up their prices again in the UK? The direction of this company in europe beggars belief. In my local town every little business is closing down and they put prices up. My GF is English so we watch the currency exchanges for her to convert to euros and so I'd noticed the £ rallying against the $ and I really thought it would go down to £699. They use the currency rates against people outside the US but never compensate the other way. Having said that I note Australia had a small drop: must have let the yanks build another snitch station on Aboriginal land or something

 

[Chase R]

This is a really solid notebook for under $1000. Good job Apple.

 

[wilmor42]

meh its all foreseeable anyway..
apple needed to do better, so they got steve jobs back..
he then turned the company around and made it more popular than ever..
and now that the nazi's that run apple dont need steve anymore, they poisoned him (amongst other things) which made him very ill and are now slowly killing him off.

and all they care about are phones nowadays.. err Hello!!
and you know, steve jobs looks at this forum nearly everyday.. shame on you steve

 

[BillyBobBongo]

and all they care about are phones nowadays

LOL! Never a truer word spoken!

As for the rest of the post....er....you do know that sniffing glue is bad for you!?

 

[wilmor42]

i know sniffing glue is really bad - and no im not a nutcase..
i really do think apple has something to do with steve jobs' illness and i think that the timing of it was too convenient.. who knows

They still have ridiculously expensive machines..

PS. bit off topic but if you want to have a good laugh whilst you're out and about, just go into a UK apple store and ask a question.. any question, its like having a free comedy channel. absolute bunch of retards

 

[gregorsamsa]

The pound is going strong against the dollar, back up to something like £1:$1.88 or $1=£0.53, the price of the macbook went up despite this.

I had a feeling they were doing this when the model took much longer to appear in the UK store than in the US one. It's really low that the UK are getting shafted, again (Mac Mini).

This time I am actually shocked by the price increase, it made sense last time, but this time it feels unreasonable.

How the F*U*C*K can Crapple put up their prices again in the UK? The direction of this company in europe beggars belief. In my local town every little business is closing down and they put prices up. My GF is English so we watch the currency exchanges for her to convert to euros and so I'd noticed the £ rallying against the $ and I really thought it would go down to £699. They use the currency rates against people outside the US but never compensate the other way. Having said that I note Australia had a small drop: must have let the yanks build another snitch station on Aboriginal land or something

I agree & expect posts like this are a fairly accurate reflection of the general sentiment this will invoke. At a time when MS attack Macs as over-priced, IMO, this is far from a smart move from Apple & is bound to further alienate some of those contemplating buying Macs.

The overall impression here: some people in Apple's hierarchy seem to be so far up their own backsides, they refuse to even see these things. I'd expect further slight falls in market share over the next few months as sentiment continues to be negative about this, probably increasing when Win 7 is out. Love Macs, but I call it as I see it.

 

[BlizzardBomb]

WTF apple!

Uk price went from £719 (this morning) for the old model to £749 for this 'new' one...
come on, seriously.. im at the end of my tether with this company, ridiculous prices full stop. apple is really becoming the new rich mans toy.. and the new microsoft..

I predicted this back here. As when I wrote that, we were £1 -> $1.52, and we're now hovering around the $1.59 mark, the rises shouldn't be as big as predicted and we should be in for some Mac mini and iMac price drops come next update.

 

[VicMacs]

that is a surprise. i bought a white macbook and got it yesterday...

go and return it theyll give you the new one, no charge

 

[Evangelion]

i know sniffing glue is really bad - and no im not a nutcase..
i really do think apple has something to do with steve jobs' illness and i think that the timing of it was too convenient.. who knows

So you are claiming that Apple somehow poisoned their CEO for some nefarious reasons?

Um, OK....

 

[alhasa]

Any idea when this will be available for the UK?

its available now... along with the back to school promotion with £145 off an iPod touch.

 

[nick9191]

How the F*U*C*K can Crapple put up their prices again in the UK? The direction of this company in europe beggars belief. In my local town every little business is closing down and they put prices up. My GF is English so we watch the currency exchanges for her to convert to euros and so I'd noticed the £ rallying against the $ and I really thought it would go down to £699. They use the currency rates against people outside the US but never compensate the other way. Having said that I note Australia had a small drop: must have let the yanks build another snitch station on Aboriginal land or something

£749 minus VAT into dollars is $1020. It's quite simple really. They are overcharging you about $20, which is about right considering the business unfriendly laws in this country.

People who believe Apple increase prices just to piss them off are priceless.

 

[mckyvlle]

Omg!

I totally missed the silent update on the white MacBook in January! Fell off my chair when I saw that it has NVidia 9400 graphics!

A totally redesigned motherboard for the old case, and with FireWire too! Man, I wish Apple would bring back the black polycarbonate MacBook. Surely if the rebranding rumour is true, there's some wiggle room for a BlackBook?

Although I wonder if iFixit or anyone has thought about retro-fitting an older polycarbonate MacBook with the new motherboard...

 

[Alan Menhennet]

Christmas come early

With my Edu discount the White macbook is $1499 AUS, which is nicer to my wallet, and its mildy faster. It just didnt feel right the 2.0ghz IMO

So now i get more bang for less buck

Im getting one as soon as I can

 

[asphyxiafeeling]

£749 minus VAT into dollars is $1020. It's quite simple really. They are overcharging you about $20, which is about right considering the business unfriendly laws in this country.

People who believe Apple increase prices just to piss them off are priceless.

/thread closed. this guy just killed it (or at least that discussion)!! awesome!!

 

[myca]

£749 minus VAT into dollars is $1020. It's quite simple really. They are overcharging you about $20, which is about right considering the business unfriendly laws in this country.

People who believe Apple increase prices just to piss them off are priceless.

Monetary calculations aside I think that increasing the price is a slap in the face to UK users.

I'll be ready to upgrade my current MacBook by the end of this year, I'd of had it for 2 years by that point, but as thing stands in that two years if I upgrade I'll be paying more money for nearly identical specs.

If you take out HD and RAM, which I always upgrade myself the new macbook has a better GPU, still not discreet, a superdrive, and a speed bump of 133Mhz. in 18 months that's not much really, and charging more for these scraps is what annoys me, and others by the sound of it, about Apples pricing in the UK, and Europe. I don't see how they ever expect to garner a larger market share out of the US unless they get more aggressive with their prices.

I've no doubt it's a good notebook, and it would seem to be pretty good value 18 months ago, but not so much now.

On a side note I was annoyed about the recent MacPros, a quad core for nearly 2 grand that wouldn't work with some of my software (hyperthreading issues with DAWs), and my PowerMac was getting long in the tooth, no refurbs anywhere so I built a quad core eFix hackintosh for less than half the price, and it flies.

 

[Mal]

Monetary calculations aside I think that increasing the price is a slap in the face to UK users.

I guess you didn't actually read the monetary calculations. Apple didn't increase their pricing. The simple fact is that the exchange rates and VAT caused the price increase, and Apple is not making any more off of the computer than they were last year.

jW

 

[polaris20]

The pound is going strong against the dollar, back up to something like £1:$1.88 or $1=£0.53, the price of the macbook went up despite this.

Welcome to American companies screwing over European and UK countries. It's not fair, but they're hardly the only ones to do it.

 

[myca]

I guess you didn't actually read the monetary calculations. Apple didn't increase their pricing. The simple fact is that the exchange rates and VAT caused the price increase, and Apple is not making any more off of the computer than they were last year.

jW

I think you missed the point of my argument, in nearly 2 years one would expect (with Apples, and most PC makers history) to have better specs for the same/similar price, or same specs for a lesser price. Yet the macbook has stuck to nearly identical specs and the price has increased, the same happened with the recent iMac refresh, same specs (OK rebranded GPU) for a higher asking price.

For those points above, consumers in the UK and Europe are gonna be put off, but with more aggressive pricing over here I'd imagine they'd make more sales and get a larger market share. If I could have found a refurbed MacPro I doubt I'd have gone with the hackintosh, likewise if the new MacPros all had 8 cores I'd have seen the asking price as good value, but Apple lost a sale with me at least due to their IMHO odd pricing.

 

[BillyBobBongo]

I feel we're going to get into a similar discussion as we did with the Mac Mini, so I'll say the same thing I said in that thread. All calculations aside it makes no difference what the exchange rate is. At the beginning of the week the MacBook cost a certain amount...now the figure has been increased. The wages for people in the UK didn't increase so now it takes that bit more work to buy the item.

The UK is being hit pretty hard but the current economical climate so I can imagine it would leave quite a sour taste if you were thinking of buying one. It's about how the consumer feels....and as has been noted from this thread...they don't seem to feel too happy about it, again.

 

[myca]

I feel we're going to get into a similar discussion as we did with the Mac Mini, so I'll say the same thing I said in that thread. All calculations aside it makes no difference what the exchange rate is. At the beginning of the week the MacBook cost a certain amount...now the figure has been increased. The wages for people in the UK didn't increase so now it takes that bit more work to buy the item.

The UK is being hit pretty hard but the current economical climate so I can imagine it would leave quite a sour taste if you were thinking of buying one. It's about how the consumer feels....and as has been noted from this thread...they don't seem to feel too happy about it, again.

Agree, enough of my b*tching

Good little speed bump, as a long time user I'd prefer more aggressive pricing in the UK, and as someone who may upgrade his notebook by the end of this year I'm hoping for something worth upgrading to.

Also to answer an earlier question.

Any idea what Firewire chipset is most likely in this Macbook (Lucent/Agere/TI)?

The previous macbooks had the Lucent/Agere FW 400 chipsets so I would imagine the new ones will too, but these were fine with audio interfaces, the problem was and is the Lucent/Agere FW800 chipset which has had issues with some pro audio interfaces, which as it turns out was the reason I got the macbook rather than the MBP when I got this machine.

 

[Fizzoid]

I guess you didn't actually read the monetary calculations. Apple didn't increase their pricing. The simple fact is that the exchange rates and VAT caused the price increase, and Apple is not making any more off of the computer than they were last year.

jW

It was £729 yesterday and it's £749 today. As the exchange rate only dropped by 1 cent yesterday, did I miss some overnight VAT rate increase?

 

[priller]

Funny how apple didn't drop the price when they were making more because of the exchange rate