Apple's Policy On Offering Lion To iMac's Already Purchased

[spcdust]

We all know that Lion's announcement is imminent (WWDC) but can anyone recall what Apple's past policy has been on offering the latest OSX to recent purchasers of their hardware? I know that in the past if you purchased an Apple computer within a defined time frame prior to an announcement (or is it release?) Apple usually offer the OS upgrade at a greatly discounted price but what time frame are we talking - 10 days, 30 days? Also, can anyone recall, does it apply from date of order or date of delivery?

 

[Hellhammer]

When Snow Leopard's shipping date was announced in WWDC '09 (June 8th to be exact), all Macs purchased after that were eligible in up-to-date promo which let you buy SL for 9.95$.

Obviously, nobody knows what Apple will do this time but unless Lion will ship right after WWDC, I doubt a purchase made today will be eligible.

 

[spcdust]

When Snow Leopard's shipping date was announced in WWDC '09 (June 8th to be exact), all Macs purchased after that were eligible in up-to-date promo which let you buy SL for 9.95$.

Obviously, nobody knows what Apple will do this time but unless Lion will ship right after WWDC, I doubt a purchase made today will be eligible.

I've been waiting for the Back To School iPod promo which one suspects will commence this week, might be worth me hanging on for an extra ten days for WWDC to see if they make the announcement.

 

[tsugaru]

I pay the extra to get the most of a new machine now, and not just wait for a new OS to justify my new hardware expenditure.

But that's just me.

 

[daneoni]

I pay the extra to get the most of a new machine now, and not just wait for a new OS to justify my new hardware expenditure.

But that's just me.

Exactly. People spend $$$$ on a new computer but balk at the thought of spending an extra $29-$129 for the new OS and decide to wait just for that. Even though the new OS will be buggy initially.

I find that quite funny.

 

[iSayuSay]

Plus if you purchase iMac now....you get double OS

Snow Leopard on Restore Disk
Lion on Retail box if you purchase it later

That way you can have a choice, Snow Leopard still going to be supported long long way

I'm going to get Lion Retail Box this Christmas whatever they cost (as long as no more than $200 ), unless Apple offer some kind of discount for newly purchased iMac ... than I'd buy it soon, maybe via Mac AppStore

So ... still so much time to regain wallet power after purchase your iMac

 

[spcdust]

Exactly. People spend $$$$ on a new computer but balk at the thought of spending an extra $29-$129 for the new OS and decide to wait just for that. Even though the new OS will be buggy initially.

I find that quite funny.

Difference between me ordering next week (which was also a worth while wait as I'm in the market for an iPod Touch) or waiting until WWDC is around 10 days. Waiting 10 days for an additional saving of £100 (I'm guessing Lion, unlike Snow Leopard, will be a full price upgrade), seems not that daft. Having a young family and purchasing Apple products are not necessarily compatible with regards to finance so any saving becomes more relevant.

Plus if you purchase iMac now....you get double OS

Snow Leopard on Restore Disk
Lion on Retail box if you purchase it later

That way you can have a choice, Snow Leopard still going to be supported long long way....

Chances are I'll get Snow Leopard pre-installed and installation discs with the iMac and then be able to get the retail discs for Lion at a token price as part of the up-to-date program. Not forgetting the £130-£150 rebate off the cost of an iPod - Patience has it's advantages.

 

[iSayuSay]

Difference between me ordering next week (which was also a worth while wait as I'm in the market for an iPod Touch) or waiting until WWDC is around 10 days. Waiting 10 days for an additional saving of £100 (I'm guessing Lion, unlike Snow Leopard, will be a full price upgrade), seems not that daft. Having a young family and purchasing Apple products are not necessarily compatible with regards to finance so any saving becomes more relevant.

IF Apple going to launch Lion on WWDC, it doesn't mean they gonna put it immediately as restore disk or preinstalled on every new Mac purchased.

It would still take a while before Lion going standard in the box, say 2 or 3 months. For a while Apple would just sell it as a retail (physical or digital download) Reason? Well Apple wouldn't want decreasing sales number because people wait for Lion going standard as restore disk on new Macs.

In return, Apple would give OS upgrade discount for Mac purchased certain period of time before Lion released, that would make the best sense.

You want Lion become standard in box? well you may have to wait longer, good chance you'll miss the iPod rebate promotion by that time

 

[spcdust]

IF Apple going to launch Lion on WWDC, it doesn't mean they gonna put it immediately as restore disk or preinstalled on every new Mac purchased.

It would still take a while before Lion going standard in the box, say 2 or 3 months. For a while Apple would just sell it as a retail (physical or digital download) Reason? Well Apple wouldn't want decreasing sales number because people wait for Lion going standard as restore disk on new Macs.

In return, Apple would give OS upgrade discount for Mac purchased certain period of time before Lion released, that would make the best sense.

You want Lion become standard in box? well you may have to wait longer, good chance you'll miss the iPod rebate promotion by that time

My assumption is that even if Lion is announced at WWDC (very likely) it won't be released immediately. It could be a three month wait, although looking at the developer releases of late they seem to be close to having the golden master ready for release. Based on that any iMac I order immediately after WWDC will likely have Snow Leopard pre-installed with the up-to-date promo available applicable on purchases made after Lion is announced. Basically, the point of my original post was to have my memory jolted how they have previously applied the up-to-date promo - Hellhammer has reminded me that previously it has only applied to hardware purchases made after the announcement and will not necessarily apply to purchases made prior to the announcement.

Bottom line, I use Mac Pro's daily at work and can "survive" another 14 days without upgrading my home iMac to get a clearer picture of the lay of the land.

 

[Georgio]

In the UK snow leopard OS was sold full price for £25.00.
I'm not going to lose sleep over that sort of money if Lion is offered for the same.

 

[Hellhammer]

In the UK snow leopard OS was sold full price for £25.00.
I'm not going to lose sleep over that sort of money if Lion is offered for the same.

Macs sold after June 8th, 2009 were eligible for up-to-date price which was only 7.95£ in the UK. Although we don't have any concrete information, it seems to be rather unlikely that Lion would be only 29$, considering that SL was mainly under-the-hood changes while Lion will include some new features too. As we don't know the price, it is worth it to wait for WWDC. If it turns out to be 129$, then you just saved a nice amount of $.

 

[spcdust]

In the UK snow leopard OS was sold full price for £25.00.
I'm not going to lose sleep over that sort of money if Lion is offered for the same.

£25.00 was not full price, as Snow Leopard was more of a "tweaks under the bonnet" version of Leopard (10.5) Apple offered it for the reduced price of £25.00. Previous OSX upgrades are usually around the £100-£129 for the upgrade. As Lion is a full and proper upgrade so the expectation is the cost will be more in line with their usual pricing policy unless Apple plan on re-defining their OS pricing structure.

PS. Hellhammer, you beat me to it

 

[Amnesiac1]

I've been waiting for the Back To School iPod promo which one suspects will commence this week, might be worth me hanging on for an extra ten days for WWDC to see if they make the announcement.

That's exactly what I am going to be doing. Why not wait an extra 10 days, right? I was originally just going to wait for the Back To School promo, but I don't want to compromise my eligibility for the Lion offer.

 

[Codpeace]

I am waiting both for the developer's conference to see what develops there and for people to receive the new models with SSD factory-installed to see what develops there.

I guess I have just gotten to an age where I CAN stand to wait a bit LOL...