About how often does Apple go about releasing new revisions of their hardware/software?
Been looking into getting a MacBook for college (since my course selection uses them primarily due to software selection, may as well have one myself for working at home, and possible future-BMax game development), but I'm unsure when-abouts would be a good time to actually purchase, as I have been screwed in the past where I purchase a slightly-above average piece of hardware (like a video card), just for the company to release a newer equivalently-powered revision of it at a much cheaper price.
http://macpredict.com/events/MacBook-Update-07 has some guessing.
There was a site with the release dates of all macs in the past, but I can't for the life of me find it now.
Hardware - I'd say between 6-18 months...
Software - updates are continously released, but iLife and OSX are about once a year or so.. maybe longer..
maybe... :p
buyersguide.macrumors.com has some good info on the topic.
Not a bad site Winni, thanks for the link.
Anyhow, took a trip to the good ol' FutureShop (basically the store I goto for all my electronical needs for the more obscure games/DVD series), looked at some of the MacBooks they had on display, and holy crap these buggers are expensive.....
Only one on display I found that had adequate specifications for my liking (I believe it was a Core2Duo 2.21ghz processor, Radeon X600, 1gb DDR2 ram {can be bumped up to a max of 2gb}, 120gb {or was it 160gb} HDD, and your other standard stuff) was in the $1600s...., and anything cheaper had an integrated graphics chips, which I want to avoid like the plague since my mac lappy is going to be my primary gaming machine at college.
(not bringing my home gaming-rig over there)
Are there any popular sites for ordering these things that may be possibly cheaper than at a retail shop? Wouldn't mind saving every penny I can when it comes to purchasing something like a laptop with decent hardware, especially when those things can't really be upgraded.
Also, any idea if they come with the actual installation disc for MacOSX? Something tells me I may screw something up when it comes to bootcamp on my future laptop, which may require an HD format....
Since you're taking it to college, why don't you check out the student discount section of Apple's online store?
I think Apple have a pretty strict retail price policy, so you are unlikely to find anything cheaper than the online apple store, unless you go pre-owned. If you think they are over-priced in the US, check out the UK Apple store (and see how much more expensive they are here).