Macintoshes are the BMWs of the computer world. Everyone wants one (okay, not everyone), but not everyone can afford one. They look great and generally work very well. When you look at things like “total cost of ownership”, a Mac may actually save you money in the long term, but not everyone can pony up the upfront money so that they can save in the long term. Even if you can, it’s nice to save a few bucks if you can.

Apple exercises tight control over Macintosh hardware prices, so you won’t usually find a new Mac discounted by more than a few dollars. But you may well find decent rebates and bundles and special pricing from Apple itself. Here are a few of the things I’ve seen that may be helpful to you.

I’ve bought several pieces of Mac gear through Amazon rather than directly through Apple, and I’ve been very happy with Amazon in the process. Part of the reason why is that Amazon often offers rebates on Macintosh computers, and all Macintoshes should ship for free, so in general I get a better price on them. I’m also very happy with Amazon’s customer service.

To get the rebate, you’ll need to submit it within 30 days of purchase. You can submit it online, so you won’t need to cut out UPC codes. There’s a limit of one of a particular rebate per household, but Amazon renews the rebates frequently, so you could buy one MacBook with a rebate one month and another with a rebate the next month. Note that rebates only apply to items sold directly by Amazon, not items sold through Amazon by Marketplace sellers.

Amazon also has a very liberal return policy. You can return electronics within 30 days of purchase for any reason. If it’s defective they’ll even pay shipping, so it won’t cost you a thing. If you just don’t want it, you’ll have to pay for shipping but if it’s intact with no wear there won’t be any other fees. Note that if you’ve already submitted the rebate or cut out the UPC code, they will not accept the return.

Amazon will only accept returns of software if they are defective or unopened, so if you buy iWork ‘08 or Applecare and have opened it, don’t expect to be able to return it. You
can read about Amazon’s return policy on their web site.

Finally, Amazon will match their own price if it’s reduced within 30 days of your purchase. They don’t make this very clear, and they definitely don’t advertise it. If you notice that they’ve dropped the price on your computer within 30 days of your purchase, you’ll need to contact customer service to request a refund on the difference. I’ve done this several times and found them to be very prompt and courteous. I believe this only applies to discounts – if they increase the rebate on an item, I don’t think you’ll be eligible for any kind of refund. With the discounts and rebates they already have on Macintosh computers, I doubt you’ll see much price fluctuation there but you may well see better discounts on software and Applecare.

If you want to request a partial refund because the price on a product you purchased has dropped, contact Amazon through their refunds web page. Click on the “Customer Service” button on the page, select your order and write them a polite message requesting a refund for the difference in price. You should hear back from them via email within a day.

Here’s a list of the current prices, discounts and rebates on Macintoshes at Amazon. They also offer good discounts on MaOS X Leopard, iLife ‘08, iWork ‘08 and various flavors of Applecare.

There are reasons to shop directly with Apple – in particular, there may be some build-to-order options (different hard drives, slightly faster CPUs) that they offer that won’t be available through resellers. Amazon also doesn’t offer XServe systems. You likely will not be able to get as good a deal directly through Apple but there are still a few ways to save some money with them. I’ll post another article on that soon.

Remember that prices may change over time. Also, know that if you buy something from Amazon through one of the links I’ve provided here, I get a kickback.

Mac Mini 1.83GHz	price after rebate: $570 (normally $599, $4 off and $25 rebate)
Mac Mini 2.0GHz	price after rebate: $774.99 (normally $799, $25 rebate)
20″ iMac 2.0GHz	price after rebate: $1149 (normally $1199, $50 rebate)
20″ iMac 2.4GHz	price after rebate: $1419 (normally $1495, $5 off and $75 rebate)
24″ iMac 2.4GHz	price after rebate: $1694 (normally $1799, $5 off and $100 rebate)
Mac Pro 8-core 2.8Ghz	price after rebate: $2599.99 (normally $2799, $49.01 off and $150 rebate)
Mac Pro 8-core 3.0GHz	price after rebate: $3399 (normally $3,599, $200 rebate)
Mac Pro 8-core 3.2GHz	price after rebate: $4,149.99 (normally $4,579.99, $230 off and $200 rebate)
White MacBook 2.1GHz	price after rebate: $1019 (normally $1099, $5 off and $75 rebate)
White MacBook 2.4GHz	price after rebate: $1219 (normally $1299, $5 off and $75 rebate)
Black MacBook 2.4GHz	price after rebate: $1394 (normally $1499, $5 off and $100 rebate)
15.4″ MacBook Pro 2.4GHz	price after rebate: $1,818.99 (normally $1999, $30.01 off and $150 rebate)
15.4″ MacBook Pro 2.5GHz	price after rebate: $2,318.99 (normally $2499, $30.01 off and $150 rebate)
17″ MacBook Pro 2.5GHz	price after rebate: $2,608.99 (normally $2799, $40.01 off and $150 rebate)
MacBook Air 1.6GHz	price after rebate: $1744 (normally $1799, $5 off and $50 rebate)
MacBook Air 1.6GHz with SSD	price after rebate: $2,743.00 (normally $2798, $5 off and $50 rebate)
MacBook Air 1.8GHz	price after rebate: $2044 (normally $2099, $5 off and $50 rebate)
MacBook Air 1.8GHz with SSD	price after rebate: $3043 (normally $3098, $5 off and $50 rebate)
MacOS X 10.5 Leopard	price: $109.49 (normal price before disount: $129)
MacOS X 10.5 Leopard Family Pack (5 licenses)	price: $171.49 (normal price before discount: $199)
iLife ‘08	price: $69.49 (normal price before discount: $79)
iLife ‘08 Family Pack (5 licenses)	price: $79.99 (normal price before discount: $99)
iWork ‘08	price: $68.99 (normal price before discount: $79)
iWork ‘08 Family Pack (5 licenses)	price: $79.99 (normal price before disount: $99)
Applecare for Mac Mini	price: $149.99 (no discount)
Applecare for iMac	price: $149 (normal price before discount: $169)
Applecare for Mac Pro	price: $249.99 (no discount)
Applecare for MacBook or MacBook Air	price: $189.99 (normal price before discount: $249)
Applecare for MacBook Pro	price: $299.99 (normal price before discount: $349)

[tags]macintosh, apple, mac, mac pro, imac, mac mini, macbook, macbook pro, macbook air, rebate, savings[/tags]

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