<p>I heard that Apple somtimes gives a free iPod with the purchase of a MacBook Pro. I am going to get a new MacBook Pro for college, and am wondering if anyone here knows anything about their typical summer promotions. I heard they may be giving away a free iPod touch, which I'm not sure if that would actually be true...anyone have any information on this?</p>
<p>In the very near future (next couple of weeks), Apple will probably announce their back-to-school promotion. In the past, the promotion included rebates on a printer and/or an iPod Touch when you purchased a computer. The rebates would cover the cost of a lower-end printer ($100) and an 8GB iPod Touch ($150). You could buy a more expensive printer or iPod, but the rebates only covered the first $100 and $150. We did this for both our kids when they entered college, and both of them got a free printer and iPod. It took a month for the rebates to come come back to us.</p>
<p>^Thanks, and so for your kids, this happened approximately when in the summer- like around this time in the next few weeks? I just don’t want to wait until like late July or early August and then only have 2-3 weeks til I leave for college to learn how to use a Mac (switching over from PC for college). I want the iPod touch 32 GB, so I’d love to get the 8GB rebate towards that!</p>
<p>Does Apple just announce this on their website?</p>
<p>Yeah they’ll usually just set up their initial welcome screen on apple.com to announce it. They’ll also email you if you’re on the mailing list. There was another thread that was started on this same board a couple of days ago which is a bit more in depth and could help you out with your questions. </p>
<p>Heres the Link:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-computers/1148589-will-apple-store-have-better-deals-students-closer-august.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-computers/1148589-will-apple-store-have-better-deals-students-closer-august.html</a></p>
<p>Keep checking the website; the promotion should start very soon. As a PC-to-Mac convert, I can assure you that the transition is relatively easy. I purchased my MacBook in late July of last year.</p>
<p>Also, wait until Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) comes out before purchasing.</p>
<p>Do you know when the new OS will be released? Like June/early July or like late July/August??? I have to leave for college in mid August, so…</p>
<p>^This question. Also looking to buy a mac, but want to have time to transition over from PC before school starts…</p>
<p>The only thing that I have heard from Apple is, “in the Summer”.</p>
<p>“In summer” is a big time frame, and I want to get my Mac for sure by mid July, so just waiting around forever til like August is a little late to buy a Mac (when you’re used to PC) and learn how to use it in the first 2 weeks of August while shopping for college stuff (because that’s going to be a crazy time shopping for all that stuff with my mom…ughhhh) and I have to leave in the middle of August.</p>
<p>^its not that hard to learn it. Won’t take you a week. I bought a MBP in '09 before I started college and had almost 0 knowledge of macs. Picked it up rather quickly. Its not as huge of a transition as you might think. With win7, you’re already used to the dock. The only other big things would be the menu bar, app installs, and maybe the finder. I’d seriously just wait. You’ll be saving yourself quite a bit of money with Lion already installed. </p>
<p>The wait is just so you’ll get the new OS. You’ll eventually need to have it anyway so why not just have it preinstalled? Some would say what about the “Vista” factor of the OS being buggy as hell or rushed out to early, but Apple has a pretty good track record of pleasing their customers so I wouldn’t worry. If anything is majorly wrong, they’ll send out a system update within a week or 2 of release that fixes it. Its all part of the software release process.</p>
<p>Apple will probably release a specific date in June. You would be wise to wait if possible.</p>
<p>Big Cat is correct about the transition. Going from PC to Mac took me less than a week. Apple’s website also has some tutorial videos that will help you, but I never needed them. Macs are very intuitive.</p>
<p>Another rumor from Macintosh News Network:</p>
<p>"Apple is planning to announce its annual Back to School promotion at WWDC, which begins June 6th, a new report claims. Deals are in general expected to be consistent with past years, revolving around discounted Macs with the bonus of a free iPod touch or up to $229 towards any other iPod. Apple may also, however, be willing to offer up to $200 off the cost of an iPad, the source says.</p>
<p>Such a deal might reflect not only the growing popularity of the iPad, but also declining iPod sales and a desire to get the iPad into as many hands as possible. The iPad is a relatively expensive device, and may not be worth full price for students who need a computer first and foremost. Some schools have started buying iPads in bulk for students, but such arrangements are relatively rare."</p>
<p>I hope this deal comes out soon!</p>
<p>I’m waiting until they announce it to buy mine :)</p>
<p>it starts the 6th! at least i am pretty sure</p>
<p>That would make sense. I’m sure after Monday they’ll start coming with OS X Lion too.</p>
<p>Yeah, I hope the new OS comes out soon! I wanna get my Mac with that too!</p>
<p>Rumor has it that Apple is going to announce their Back To School promotion tomorrow, and they may offer $200.00 off the iPad 2 with the purchase of a Mac.</p>
<p>I hope they offer the free iPod Touch with the purchase of a Mac…or maybe they could do a choice of a free iPod Touch or $ off an iPad with purchase of a Mac…</p>
<p>As far as I know, there’s no deal out yet today from Apple…</p>