GigaOM » Apple

Apple introduces new budget iMac for education

Darrell Etherington — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 12:15:11 +0000

Apple rolled out a new, budget-priced iMac early Monday morning, but it comes with a catch: You have to be an educational institution to get the deal. The $999 iMac also features slightly less impressive specs when compared to its consumer retail siblings. Even powered down, it should be an attractive option, and it’s a good sign that Apple still knows the children are its future.

The budget iMac (which is available only to institutions, not school students or faculty) features a 3.1 GHz dual-core Intel Core i3 processor, a 250 GB hard drive and just 2 GB of RAM, along with a 21.5-inch display. It also offers an AMD Radeon HD 6750M graphics card with 256 MB of memory and only comes with Mini DisplayPort, not Thunderbolt. Apple’s entry-level consumer iMac, by comparison, has a 2.5 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor, 4 GB of RAM, a 6750M card with 512 MB of memory and a 500 GB hard drive, for only $150 more.

That may not seem like a great savings to some, considering the new education iMac’s considerably reduced specs, but for volume shoppers purchasing 10 or more machines for a computer lab or library, the extra savings will add up quickly. And if the computers are primarily being used for brief sessions made up of less-specialized tasks, the extra muscle in the $1,149 Mac (the standard $1,199 model, after a $50 education discount) isn’t necessary. Apple also still offers an $899 20-inch 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo iMac which uses the previous aluminum and glass body design used on machines before the 21.5- and 27-inch models were introduced.

The introduction of the new iMac shows that Apple is still keen on attracting education customers, which is a great way of getting its product in the hands of students, one of its core demographics. Apple’s attempts to win favor with students also includes the yearly back-to-school deal and special pricing for individual educational customers, which usually knocks at least $50 off the price of any Mac. According to recent research, it’s a combined strategy that’s working very well.

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Refurbished Wi-Fi iPads Get a Discount from Apple

Darrell Etherington — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 20:39:30 +0000

Looking for a last-minute gift for someone really special? As of Dec. 8, Apple has discounted the prices of refurbished Wi-Fi model iPads by between $20 and $50. The discounts were originally labelled “Special Limited Time Price,” but Apple has removed that caveat as of this writing, though the deals remain.

The deal is only available in the U.S. online store, and doesn’t apply to the Wi-Fi + 3G iPad models. The price of the 16GB Wi-Fi model is $20 cheaper than it usually is, making the total discount $70, while the 32GB and 64GB models get $50 over and above their existing discounts, bringing the total savings for those bigger-capacity iPads to $100.

Refurbished iPads come complete with brand-new external casings and batteries, and the same one-year warranty that brand-new units enjoy. You can’t get custom engraving on refurb iPads like you can with new ones, and the refurbs generally come in generic packaging, but, as anyone who has experience with Apple’s refurbished products will likely tell you, you’re basically getting a new product.

If you aren’t willing to wait to see what iPad 2 has in store, this is a pretty good deal. The 32GB Wi-Fi model is an especially good deal, with the highest total savings percentage-wise (16 percent vs. 14 percent for the others) and a price tag that matches that of the Wi-Fi 16GB model brand new. I know I wouldn’t complain if that ended up under my tree, plain brown box notwithstanding.

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AT&T Premier: Save Some Money On Your iPhone Plan

Christopher Ryan — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 14:34:59 +0000

If you’re a college student, hopefully you’re no stranger to some awesome discounts you can get on a Mac. Right now, you can even get a free iPod touch after rebate when you buy a new Mac, just for being a student. But what if you had your eyes on a shiny new iPhone 4? Here’s a quick way to save some money on it too.

Regardless of how you feel towards AT&T’s quality of service in the U.S., the company is good for at least one thing and that’s offering some lucrative discounts. Why not save some money if you can?

It’s called AT&T Premier and it’s a service that AT&T offers to select business partners and in return, those affiliated with the partners can reap nice discounts on AT&T hardware (iPhone 4 excluded) and discounts on the monthly rate plan and data plan.

So who qualifies for AT&T Premier? AT&T offers a tool on its website to check your eligibility. Simply enter in your work email address and go. The best part is, when you get the discount, it doesn’t extend your contract. And if you ever leave the company, the discount will still apply until you tell AT&T otherwise.

But wait — didn’t you get the vibe I was aiming this at college students? Most universities also qualify for AT&T Premier discounts just for being an enrolled student at a college or university in the U.S. So before you graduate, see if you qualify for a discount!

Are you an AT&T Premier customer? How much money have you saved? For me, it was about 15 percent off my rate plan and a pretty darn good deal on another non-iPhone for another member of my family. Check it out and let us know what you think.

Head Back to School In Style With a Free iPod touch

Christopher Ryan — Tue, 25 May 2010 12:19:59 +0000

While those who recently graduated may be missing their Apple discount, those who are going to be heading back to school this fall can take advantage of Apple’s standard college student discount with the added bonus of a free iPod touch.

Similar to “Back to School” promotions offered by Apple every summer, college students as well as faculty and staff members of any K-12 school or college in the U.S. are eligible for the promotion. Simply head into an Apple Store, purchase any Mac (except a Mac mini or refurbished Mac) and buy an iPod at the same time. The rebate is for $199, so even if you are coveting that awkwardly classic 160GB iPod or a larger iPod touch, you can still get it, though you’ll only get $199 back. Unfortunately, the offer doesn’t apply to iPhones or iPads.

The promotion runs from May 25, 2010 through September 7, 2010. Traditionally, these promotions have served as an effective way for Apple to clear out its remaining inventory of iPods, so you can pretty much plan for new iPods to be released around the first week of September. These promotions also tend to move a lot of Macs and iPods out the door, so this quarter for Apple will probably look pretty rosy.

If you’re considering the switch to Mac, this is one of the best times to save the most money on switching. From the lucrative discounts on hardware (ranging from $50 on the entry-level MacBook to $200 on the MacBook Pros) to the $100 rebate that you get when buying an eligible printer with your Mac, you can seriously save some cash. Add in a MobileMe subscription for $30 off retail and a free iPod touch ($199), why wouldn’t you switch? Oh, by the way, if you were wanting iWork with your new Mac, you can get that for $30 off too.

For those looking to learn more about their Mac, including iWork and iLife, check out our 101 series of screencasts (subscription required).

However, there are a few disclaimers. Unfortunately, the Back to School promotion is only available to U.S. customers. If you are wanting to buy a new Mac, but will require some custom configurations, such as different graphics cards or hard drives, you’ll need to complete your entire purchase online instead of in the store. For more details on any of these promotions, visit Apple’s promo website.

Even if you already have an iPod touch or printer, if you’re in the market for a new Mac, find a college student and go save some money. If you end up selling your printer or iPod touch on eBay, you’ll still come out ahead. Have you been waiting for this promotion to switch to the Mac or upgrade your current setup? Do you really need one more iPod or Mac in your family? Tell us your thoughts!

MacHeist 3 Bundle Announced

David Appleyard — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:07:22 +0000

Today, MacHeist announced the contents of their latest application bundle, providing the opportunity to purchase software to the value of $558 for the bargain price of $39. A huge range of applications are included, ranging from eBay companions to professional 3-D animation tools.

Over the past few months, various ‘missions’ have given regular readers the chance to gain additional discounts on the bundle and gather free licenses for various applications. The final bundle will be on sale for two weeks, with 25 percent of all money paid being donated to a charity of your choice. This analysis will take a brief look at each application on offer to see just how far your $39 can go.

iSale (SRP $39.95)

iSale is a fully fledged desktop application for eBay, allowing you to create really good looking auctions with ease. Interesting features include the ability to easily integrate video descriptions into your auction, and a companion iPhone app. iSale’s main competitor is GarageSale.

Picturesque (SRP $34.95)

Pitched as “Making Images Gorgeous,” Picturesque is a simple image editing tool which allows you to quickly and easily add interesting effects to your photographs and graphics. It isn’t a great image editor as such, but more of an enhancement tool for adding reflections, 3D effects, curves, shadows, borders etc. It isn’t an app I’d pay $35 for, but is good to have included.

SousChef (SRP $30.00)

As someone who loves cooking, I’m very interested to give SousChef a try. I’m not generally a fan of desktop software for managing recipes (searching the Internet generally works fine), but the fact that SousChef collates every users recipe into a searchable ‘cloud’ does offer an interesting angle. It also has a great large text mode for viewing your recipe across the kitchen.

World of Goo (SRP $20.00)

World of Goo is a physics based puzzle/construction game with, as the name would suggest, copious amounts of goo. Its unusual, cartoon style graphics coupled with a reasonably realistic physics engine make for a reasonably odd experience. If you’re not really into puzzle games, I expect it will only provide a few hours of entertainment, though it’s received some very good reviews.

PhoneView (SRP $19.95)

I’ve been trying various applications similar to PhoneView for some time, a tool which allows you to access and manage iPhone data from your Mac. In particular, I like to maintain a backup of all my SMS messages for safe keeping. While I do generally trust iTunes, PhoneView looks like a great application for keeping your own additional iPhone backup.

LittleSnapper (SRP $39.00)

LittleSnapper is a brilliant application for storing and editing screenshots or web page ‘snaps’. The interface is delightful, it integrates with all major web browsers, and vector based editing tools allow you to annotate your images in a really impressive fashion. If you need an app for keeping track of inspirational websites, graphics and screenshots, the inclusion of LittleSnapper alone justifies the $39 price tag.

Acorn (SRP $49.95)

Acorn isn’t an application I’ve come across previously, but again falls into the category of an “image editor for the rest of us.” It strips away all the Photoshop bloat and provides a simple way for a regular Mac user to edit photographs or create simple graphics.

Kinemac (SRP $299.00)

Dubbed a “3D real time animation & presentation app,” Kinemac allows you to create impressive 3-D animations without requiring vast amounts of knowledge. It’s a reasonably technical tool, and while undoubtedly impressive, probably won’t really appeal to the average Mac user. The high price tag does bump up the value of the MacHeist bundle, which is undoubtedly one reason for its inclusion.

WireTap Studio (SRP $69.00)

WireTap allows you to record any audio which is being played by your Mac. Similar to Audio Hijack Pro, it provides a simple way to record audio in a lossless format, organize and store clips, and export to a variety of formats. Very useful for recording podcasts, iTunes audio, or Skype conversations.

This app is only ‘unlocked’ when $100,000 is raised for charity (likely to only take a couple of days).

BoinxTV (SRP $199.00)

We’ve covered BoinxTV in an in-depth review previously, so I’d recommend reading Matthew’s comments from a few months ago. Essentially it is a simple way to create and edit great looking video presentations, save them to disk, and broadcast them in real-time if desired.

This app is only ‘unlocked’ at a certain point, which is yet to be announced.

The Hit List (SRP $69.95)

The Hit List is a direct competitor to Things, providing a simple tool for organizing lists and “Getting Things Done.” It combines a simple interface with a powerful feature set, genuinely helping you to stay on top of your tasks. It’s definitely worth trying out.

This app is only ‘unlocked’ at a certain point, which is yet to be announced.

Espresso (SRP $80.00)

Espresso was only released from beta a couple of days ago, and offers an impressive text/code editor, integrated FTP, CSS editing tools, powerful preview functionality, and plugin support. It’s a fantastic competitor to Coda for web developers, and is another gem in this bundle of apps.

This app is only ‘unlocked’ at a certain point, which is yet to be announced.

Big Bang Board Games (SRP $24.95)

The seemingly obligatory board game app for MacHeist, Big Bang Board Games offers an impressive 3-D interface for playing Checkers, Chess, Reversi, Backgammon and more. Online multiplayer support is also built in, and it’s a fun app to open when you need to kill a few minutes — a huge step forward from Minesweeper!

This app is only available for the first 25,000 buyers.

Conclusion

As ever, this year’s MacHeist bundle packs a decent punch across a wide range of software genres. There will be an app (or two!) for you whether you’re looking for games, web development, image editing, or audio/video tools.

The price of $39 is an absolute steal for such a powerful collection of applications, and I’d definitely urge you to consider it a good investment for your software needs over the coming year!

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Discount AppleCare On eBay

Nick Santilli — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 13:55:17 +0000

I’m rarely one to buy into extended warranties. I worked at Best Buy (I was young and stupid, cut me some slack) long ago, and swore I would never waste money on those coverage plans. All that being said, I recommend all my friends cover their Mac with AppleCare — it can be expensive (depending on the model you buy) but in my own experience, has almost always paid for itself. But how do you swallow that hefty warranty price tag after dropping some serious coin on a shiny new computer? An interesting post at Wisebread may have the answer.

One of my favorite blogs about being frugal, Wisebread, has taken the dive and purchased AppleCare protection via eBay. Doing so saved $158 off the extended warranty for a Mac Pro — not shabby at all! Registering the code online went off without a hitch, so no immediate red flags at least. Writer Torley acknowledges no issues to test the coverage with as of yet, but there have been no communications from Apple to believe otherwise.

Despite some people around the web sounding a battle cry against AppleCare, I’ve yet to have a bad experience. I’ve had screens replaced for bad pixels, multiple logic boards on a single machine replaced, the machine finally replaced, and so on. (The question of Apple’s quality slowly degrading opposite their rise in popularity is probably a different post altogether…) But I do indeed swear by the coverage, not to mention that it can up the resale value if you try to trade up before the 3 years are up. Oh, and if you don’t have the extra cash on hand at the time you purchase your new slice of heaven, you can add AppleCare protection up to 1 year from the original purchase date.

Have you used eBay, or some other discount ‘provider’ of AppleCare for your Mac? If so, please share the good, bad, and ugly experiences you may have had!

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Give Good Food to Your Mac: Software Discounts

David Appleyard — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:00:59 +0000

The idea of a ‘bundle’ promotion is a common occurrence in the Mac software world. The most widely publicized event centered around great deals on indie Mac software is MacHeist. The general idea is that bundling a package of applications together leads to a great deal for you, the user, and also generates a huge amount of publicity for the featured applications.

A similar promotion has launched this week, with a few notable differences. Give Good Food to Your Mac (organized by Aquafadas) offers a huge range of different applications, with discounts increasing progressively depending upon the number of applications you purchase.

Claudia Zimmer, Aquafadas’ CEO explains:

We are pleased to introduce the Third Edition of ‘Give Good Food to your Mac’. It’s a chance for us to build a community among developers and together, create opportunities that would not be possible alone. Mac users benefit from it as they can discover our software at great prices.

The Discounts Available

While the promotion doesn’t feature the world’s catchiest name, it does give some great discounts. Buying 3 apps saves you 20%, 4 apps saves 30%, and 5 or more knocks a whopping 50% off the normal retail price. As you add applications to your cart, it’s simple to see how much you stand to save, along with how many more applications you need to reach the next level.

Applications Featured

Rather than the MacHeist route of featuring only a few, large applications, Give Good Food to Your Mac includes a fairly formidable list of developers and apps. Everything from games and fitness apps, through to organization tools and web design software. Several applications which have been featured in bundles previously (such as DEVONthink and Rapidweaver) are present and, while there is some junk in there, the list is fairly impressive:

AlienConverter from AlienCrypt
Amigos Number Puzzles from Amigos Software
Amigos Spanish from Amigos Software
BannerZest from Aquafadas
BannerZest Pro from Aquafadas
Bee Docs’ Timeline 3D edition 2.2 from BeeDocs
BeFit – Get Fit, Stay Fit, BeFit! from Jon Brown Designs
Blue Crab from Limit Point Software
Cheetah 3D from MW 3D-Solutions
Comic Boom from Toon Boom Animation Inc.
DejalNarrator 2.0.3 from Dejal
DEVONagent from DEVONtechnologies, LLC
DEVONthink Personal from DEVONtechnologies, LLC
DiscLabel from SmileOnMyMac
dJay 2.1.3 from Algoriddim GmbH
Dossier from Vortimac
Dragoman from Dare to be Creative Ltd.
FastCut 3.0.6 from TimesForFun
Flip Boom Classic from Toon Boom Animations Inc.
Fluffy’s Log 1.1.1 from Shallot Patch
French Verb Game from Amigos Software
FunBooth 0.9.3 from SourceBits
Geoaze Pro from SilverLint Creative Software
Geoaze Standard from SilverLint Creative Software
GhostReader English Version from ConvenienceWare
GhostReader French version from ConvenienceWare
HoudahGeo from Houdah Software
HoudahSpot from Houdah Software
Hydra 1.6 + Aperture plug-in from Creaceed
iArchiver from Dare to be Creative Ltd.
iDive from Aquafadas
iKanji 1.0 from ThinkMac Software
JABMenu 2.0.1 from JNSoftware
Kameleon From Option-6 Products
Librarian Pro from Koingo Software
MacCleanse from Koingo Software
MacPilot 3 from Koingo Software
Mail Attachments iConizer from Lokiware
Mental Case from MacCoreMac Software
Money 3 from Jumsoft
Nutritionist from Dr. Frank Kowalewski
PearNote 1.0 from UsefulFruit Software
PulpMotion from Aquafadas
Pulpmotion Advanced from Aquafadas
RapidWeaver 4 from Realmac Software
Relationship from Jumsoft
Renamer4Mac from Dare to be Creative Ltd.
ResizeMe 1.2.0 from Dare to be Creative Ltd.
RubiTrack from Toolsfactory software inc.
Scorecard 1.4.1 from CynicalPeak Software
ScreenAudit 1.3 from ArtenScience
Scribbles from Atebits
Secret of the Lost Cavern From Coladia
Share Tool from Yazsoft
ShoveBox from Wonder Warp Software SP
Speed Download 5 from Yazsoft
SplitFuse 1.3 from LikelySoft
SWF&FLV Player from Eltima Software
Syncmate from Eltima Software
Tangerine! from Potion Factory
Today 1. 3 from Second Gear LLC
Together from Reinvented Software
Toon Boom Studio From Toon Boom Animation Inc.
VideoPier HD from Aquafadas
Voice Candy from Potion Factory
VoltaicHD from Systemic pty Ltd. Trading as Shedworx
You Control: Desktops 1.3 from You Software
Yummy Soup from HungrySeacow Software

The “kitchen” will remain open between the 17th of November and the 1st of December 2008. It’s worth taking a look at the above list — if any more than 3 applications stand out, you’ll be in for a great discount.

Enjoy the Christmas meal!

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Growing Mobile Data Use Turned Up Heat on Carriers in Q3

OmniFocus: Dropping in January

Nick Santilli — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 00:08:55 +0000

The Omni Group has been working feverishly on their version of a GTD (Getting Things Done) application for the Apple platform. They’ve been letting 16,000 individuals play with their “sneaky peek” of the application and enhancing the code daily for months.

Well I just heard today – and you can verify this on their website – that they’ll be releasing the 1.0 application on January 8, 2008. At that time it will cost $79.95 for a license – however if you act fast, you can pre-purchase your license for half the cost ($39.95)! Now there’s a deal for ya!

If you’re unfamiliar with OmniFocus and what it does, you can of course check out the website, but in the meantime, here’s what Omni Group has to say:

Let us worry about keeping your goals and tasks, both personal and professional, in one ordered, easy to access system that you can depend on.

With features like Task Management, the ability to capture tasks in almost any way that fits your workflow (Quicksilver, or Services menu for instance), Securely storing your data, and smart auto-completion of items upon entry, it’s a great step forward in this application space. And if you’re one who likes integration, they’ve got you covered there too with iCal, Mail, and Spotlight tie-ins. Lovely!

As I’ve used OmniFocus for the past few months, I’ve also learned to leverage the GTD system to help organize my life. I’ve tried several of the offerings in this area – iGTD, Kinkless GTD, etc – and have never found the sweet spot (remember of course that your mileage may vary). Other applications seem to do too much, or have too much interface and options available – really, there can be too many features sometimes! – and I always found it rather daunting trying to get my tasks captured and manage them. The whole point in GTD is to capture these things without much effort so you can focusing on the ‘doing’ of these things, rather than the management. In my opinion, OmniFocus is the sweet spot for these needs.

This is in no way meant as a review of OmniFocus, just that it’s been a breath of fresh air as I’ve been testing it these past months. If you’re looking for a superb GTD application, or are finally ready to give this ‘craze’ a try, OmniFocus is a great starting point – and for now, a great price point as well!

If questions still remain, check out Ethan Schoonover’s (if you’ve been following along at home, Ethan is the creator of Kinkless GTD, and has now taken up employment at Omni Group) great new Quick Start Guide of this awesome new productivity application. Happy GTD’ing!

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