Comments on: Never Buy Version 1 of an Apple Product?

By: mikhailovitch

mikhailovitch — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 08:48:57 +0000

It’s just as meaningful (and true) to say never buy the first version of anything in the computing world, regardless of manufacturer. In 6 months or so, if the company is any good, the product will be cheaper and/or better. That’s the way the world works. Why single out Apple?

By: Ron Evry

Ron Evry — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 03:48:50 +0000

Yeah, my wife and I wound up buying TWO Rev A Macbooks. But I figure it’s Apple’s loss, not mine. If I could easily upgrade it to the faster “N” standard, then I’d have a reason to buy a new Airport base station at home. Since I can’t, then I have no need to spend the money. Apple’s loss, not mine. My Mac Pro is hard-wired to the network, so it runs just as fast as can be.

I call this the “Mac of the Month Club.” It doesn’t just apply to first models. A rule of thumb is that no matter what you buy, something faster, better, and maybe even cheaper will come out a week or two later.

The attitude to have is, when you buy a replacement model, say, five years later, the difference in the price you’ll get selling your old machine compared to what you would get if you had the next model to sell is either negligible or non-existent.

Take a look at going prices for five-year old Macs compared with four-and-a-half year old similar ones. You’ll see what I mean.

By: James

James — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 00:14:45 +0000

“1st Version Mac Mini: cheapest model only came with Intel Core Solo CPU.”

Actually, 1st Mac Mini was a G4 processor, not Intel at all!

By: Mr. Reeee

Mr. Reeee — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 21:41:52 +0000

Rev. A Macs often have a negative one-two punch of hardware glitches and some software compatibilities.

The shift to a full 32-bit OS in System 7.
68000 processors to PowerPC.
Mac OS 9 to Mac OS X.
PowerPC to Intel processors.

Wasn’t it over 18 months before Adobe released an Intel native version of Creative Suite? 2 years for MS Office to do the same (not that I use it).

I’ve suffered through those transitions and it’s better to wait until Rev.B or C.

BTW, I couldn’t be happier with my Rev.C MacBook Pro!

By: Mr. Reeee

Mr. Reeee — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 21:33:17 +0000

The WORST omission from Rev.A of the MacBook Pro was FireWire 800.

Just before the Rev.A MacBook Pro was released, there were plenty of rumors. I had been burned a couple of times buying first release Macs: Mac IIcx (should have waited for the IIci), PowerMac 8500/120, PowerBook G3 Lombard, PowerBook Titanium G4 500 (Rev.A).

So, I decided NOT to wait for the release of the first Intel Mac laptop and opted for the LAST Rev. of the Aluminum PowerBook G4.

It may not have had the raw speed of the first MBP, but because it was a tried, tested and MATURE design, it worked perfectly, with none of the hassles that my early-adopter friends experienced.

By: ThiH

ThiH — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 20:45:37 +0000

Well, I got the first version of the iPod–monochrome screen and click wheel.

Then I got an iPod Nano 1st generation

Then a 5th generation iPod

And now am considering selling the 5th generation iPod (but it’s 60GB!!!) and upgrading/downgrading to the iPod Touch. It’s an up/downgrade because up for features but down for the capacity 🙁

By: Adam

Adam — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 19:06:31 +0000

Face it Apple doesn’t need your money, not happy don’t use Apple products period.

By: PetieG

PetieG — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 18:22:47 +0000

uuhh… 802.11n wasn’t available when the original MBP, mini probably couldn’t handle the heat (or they got a good deal from Intel), blah, blah, blah… You don’t like it, don’t buy apple. I bought the iPhone after positive reviews and I wasn’t pissie cause they dropped the price a few months later — i know what I was buying and i’d buy it again today. This is all the “price you pay” (ptp) for purchasing Apple products. Try buying a Dell computer w/ the lowest CPU speed and then try to buy it 2 month later, and you’ll find the lowest CPU speed is now the middle one when you were purchasing it. While Dell’s thing maybe economies of scale, Apple’s is ‘economy of cool’ and those Apple faithful can and will buy anything that comes out of the company regardless … with no other Mac OSX (legit) choice, we will all continue to drink the Kool-Aid regardless of timing (and possibly price).

By: William

William — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 17:45:45 +0000

In retrospect it’s easy to criticize version 1 of anything. That’s why it’s important to decide: “does this product do what I need” before buying. A future revision will always be better, but if the product does what you need now, then buy it without regret. True version 1 failures like the Apple /// won’t be around to have a second revision.

The original Mac Portable weighed 16lbs and had the speed of a Mac SE. Nevertheless, it was what some people needed even at the $3,000 price. The Mac PowerBook 100, was the second mac portable and it made the original Mac Portable look like a overpriced whale. The PB100 was a grand cheaper and ten pounds lighter. But it also came out more than a year later, and to some people: having a portable Mac at all was what they were paying for.

Ebay is a great place to sell old Apple goods. You will find old Apple equipment to keep it’s value for much longer than the windows PC marketplace. If you look like you’ll like version 2 more, sell your version 1 product quickly and buy version 2.

By: hltr

hltr — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 17:11:49 +0000

What version 2 of any product is not improved? Isn’t that what an update is all about?