It’s a very well-known fact that Apple tightly controls distribution of its products, and mostly sells them directly to its customers. Typically, a customer can purchase a Mac by shopping either in an Apple Online Store, or in an Apple Retail store.
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Where to Buy Mac
Apple Online Store
Apple’s Online Store offers a comprehensive arrangement of products to purchase. All of current and many discontinued Apple’s product lines are carried, as well as select brands of accessories. Customers can also select a range of configuration options, and customize their selection to a granular level. These online stores are an increasingly popular way to customize an iDevice; and what’s even better? It is delivered directly to your door!
Apple Retail Store
The Apple Retail Store (or Apple Store) is a chain of hundreds of worldwide retail stores, that are owned and operated by Apple, Inc. These stores operate in most major cities in the United States and many other countries. Their key advantage to visiting a retail store, is that all devices are on display, enabling the customer to get hands-on experience before deciding on a purchase. Apple also has a range of experts on hand in its retail stores that are there to answer questions.
Buying аrom an Apple Reseller
You can also purchase Apple products from an Apple Authorized Reseller; both online and physically. These resellers have passed stringent quality control from Apple, and offer both high-quality knowledgeable service, as well as efficient after-sales control.
Resellers may offer longer warranties, in an attempt to lure customers away from Apple Stores, although fierce price-cutting isn’t a common practice within the Apple retail community. However, an Apple reseller sometimes runs special offers, such as free software or hardware with a new Mac purchase for example, so it helps to pay attention.
Online Authorized Resellers
Online Authorized Resellers also exist, and their websites are worth checking out before making a final decision and purchasing what you want. In fact, sometimes you can find a better deal than you can get directly from Apple by looking at different Online Authorized Resellers.
Exceptions
There are exceptions to the rule, however. For example, the sellers on eBay, Craiglist and other similar websites are unlikely to be Apple Authorized. You may want to be careful about purchasing an Apple product on the listed sites. Having said that, Apple uses an online system to track products via serial numbers and authorize products for repair.
Mac-Versus-Windows Debate
One of the reasons against purchasing an Apple device over any of the other brands, is cost. Apple makes premium computers and other devices, so naturally, they charge a premium. However, when you compare the costs of Apple device to those of Pcs with similar specs, the price is within the same ballpark. It’s just that all Apple computers have high specifications. When an Apple computer costs almost twice as much as a PC, you can normally see upon closer inspection, that the superficially similar PC laptop offers a far lower spec, and may also offer a lower build quality than the MacBook or iDevice it is compared to.
There are several good arguments for paying the premium Apple charges: build quality, superior integrated hardware, efficient OS, more security against malware, less virus threats, industry standard software that is unavailable on a PC, as well as very good and easy to use Apple software (such as iPhoto, GarageBand, etc. That is Mac-only).
None of these arguments mean much if your budget won’t stretch. What can you do if you really want to own a Mac, but simply can’t stretch to the amount that Apple charges
You may qualify for a discount scheme for college students or staff members at any level in an educational establishment. In fact, Apple always offers special discounts.
You can also simply buy an older model, or a second-hand Mac for much less money, as many people are always after the latest models and they are more than happy to sell you their used computer or smartphone. The Apple Resellers may have plenty of old models in stock when a new model is launched, and you can shave one-third of the price off a Mac by simply buying a previous-generation model.
Picking an older or a second-hand model doesn’t mean at all that you are buying an obsolete device. Apple products are typically stuffed to the brim with the fastest components, and have a healthy and functional life span. Note, that Apple also sells second-hand refurbished models. Even last year’s Mac is technically better than most of this year’s Windows-based PC!.
Links
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