Monday, July 03, 2006, 01:25 pm
Apple adds new MacBook retail configurations
Apple Computer recently added two new retail configurations to its MacBook line of consumer notebooks, both of which are now available at most of the company's stores, AppleInsider has learned.A new 2.0GHz white MacBook configuration packs an additional 512MB of RAM and 20GB of extra hard disk space, for a total of 1GB of RAM (via two 512MB SODIMMs) and 80GB of storage.
The new model retails for $1449, or $150 more than the 2.0GHz white MacBook with 512MB of RAM and a 60GB hard disk. Both configurations included Apple's SuperDrive optical disc drive.
Meanwhile, Apple has also introduced a new configuration of its black 2.0GHz MacBook, dubbed the "MacBook Ultimate."
The $1599 model includes 1GB of RAM (also via two 512MB SODIMMs), but otherwise is identical to the company's $1499 MacBook, which includes 512MB of RAM, an 80GB hard disk and SuperDrive.
The two new configurations expand Apple's MacBook offerings to five retail configurations.
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Is it just me, or is the new 2.0GHz white model a ripoff? Looking at the online Apple store custom configuration page, upgrading to 1GB RAM (+$100) and an 80GB hard drive (+$50) comes to less than the $200 price hike. I guess it's cool that more of the custom configurations will be available in-store, but I don't think $50 is worth the convenience of retail purchase. I'll just wait the 1-2 business days for shipping, thank you very much.
The Ultimate MacBook pricing is just fine though. If I were in the market for that, I would indeed strongly consider going through retail.