Discount on .mac account with new purchase? (1 Viewer)

[Jonathan_]

I was under the impression that I could get a .mac account for $70 instead of $100 since I purchased my first Mac. The only thing I see is a 60 day trial which I am doing, but I would purchase a full membership now if I could get it for $70. Is that an old promotion that Apple is doing anymore? Thanks for helping out a Mac newbie.

 

[Christian Behrens]

DON'T spend any money on .Mac. At next week's World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC), Apple will (rumor has it) present a totally revamped .Mac service (which might not even be called that anymore).

-Christian

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Ya, I am interested in hearing what improvements are being
made to the .mac program this morning.

I was able to get a $30 discount with my Mac Pro purchase,
and I believe they offered the same discount with my iMac
purchase.

At this point, the only advantage to .mac (as far as I can see)
is for those that own two Mac computers and need to sync
bookmarks, iCal and their Address Book between them. For
that purpose alone I find the program essential, but highly
overpriced. If I didn't use it as a business write-off I might
think otherwise because of its $99 renewal price.

In order to attract more people to .mac it really needs its
features expanded.

I am certain we will get some great news on this product
later today.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

New information today as a result of the 2008 WDC...

.mac is being upgraded to MobilMe which stores
your info so you can get to it anywhere using any of your
devices -- Mac, PC, iPhone -- it will push information up and
down to keep everything up to date all the time." Push email,
contacts, and calendars... everything is up to date wherever you
are. Photos are synched over the air too. Includes incredible
Web 2.0 applications to provide a desktop-like experience on the
web to work with all of the data. Me.com. It's available for $99
per year -- 20GB of storage. A 60-day free trial will be available
along with the iPhone 2.0 software in early July.


If you can get a discount right now on .mac, by all means buy it
as subscribers are automatically upgraded to MobileMe.

Also, I see from the Apple store that you get a $30 discount
of MobileMe with any new Mac computer.

 

[KeithAP]

I am not sure if everyone understands this, but you do not have to auto-renew through Apple to continue your .mac/mobileme membership. You can buy a retail package of .mac anywhere ($70 at Amazon for instance) and apply that to your current account before it auto renews. This allows you to save a few bucks.

I would agree that .mac was pricey for what it offered. The MobileMe service looks to add some value to that equation and makes it a somewhat better deal.

-Keith

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Keith,

You have me a bit confused.

I'm a current .mac subscriber. My account is not set for renewal
for another 7 months.

How do I get the new MobileMe software? Is that offered through
a software update or do I have to buy the new software and go
through a rebate process?

I just saw the video for MobileMe on the Apple site and I am very,
very impressed with it. It really keeps all your PCs, Macs,iPhone and
iTouch in perfect sync...always!

 

[Craig S]

Ron, Keith is just talking about when your account comes up fro renewal, you can either have Apple do automatically via CC, or buy another retail package and put in the number that comes with it. The reason for going the latter way is that you can often get the retail package at a discount (i.e., through Amazon) and save a little money.

MobileMe is not yet available, but from what I'm reading current .Mac subscribers will be moved over to MobileMe automatically. No money involved.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Thanks for the clarification.

I just received an email from Apple moments ago with details
of my transition from .mac to MobileMe.

 

[KeithAP]

Yeah, what he said.

-Keith

 

[Craig S]

Sorry for stealing your thunder, Keith...

 

[KeithAP]

That is OK. I need to learn to be more eloquent with my prose. See, it is working already!

By the way, Apple is warning .mac users to sync Safari with their .mac bookmarks before June 30th. Sync .Mac Bookmarks with Safari before June 30, 2008

-Keith

 

[Ronald Epstein]

MobileMe was the most exciting thing to be announced
yesterday at the WDC.

The prospect of being able to keep all my devices (iPhone, Mac Pro,
Macbook Pro) in perfect sync automatically is phenomenal. I love
the fact that everything is also accessible and changeable via web
as well. It's also terrific that PC users get to take as much advantage
of this software as MAC users.

Looking forward to its release on July 11th.