What's the cheapest route to go on getting a new Macbook?

[TabletRevlution]

My brother is graduating High school and wants a Macbook for college, parents are giving him $1200 which can get you on the low end of the Macbooks and Airs so I want to help on getting him the best bang for the buck. I didn't go the Apple way on my college computer so don't know the best way to get one.

My parents just want to go to Best Buy where they are $70 cheaper but that get's eaten up by sales tax immediately. Isn't the best way to buy from the Apple Store directly with the education site? Does the discount extend to refurbished? Would the discount apply to the old Ivy Macbooks once the new Haswell Macbooks roll out? I'm trying to get him to wait on the refresh but so far he won't listen.

 

[louishen]

Seriously consider a refurb, if it gets you a bigger discount than the education discount

You cannot have ed discount on a refurb tho

And with the Macbook airs, you cannot upgrade the RAM, so keep looking on the refurb store to see if an 8 gig model appears

 

[Raz0rEdge]

I second the refurb store option. You can get a bigger bang for your buck there..

 

[TabletRevlution]

Thanks for the information!

 

[pigoo3]

My brother is graduating High school and wants a Macbook for college...

FYI (just for technical accuracy)...Apple no longer sells "MacBooks"...just MacBook Pro's. The MacBook line was discontinued February, 2012. And since currently there are both "MacBook Pro's" AND "MacBook Air's"...just saying "MacBook" leaves room for confusion.

Generally the two cheapest routes are (factoring in that your brother will be a student):

- purchase a refurbished unit from the Apple online Store
- have your brother check out MacBook Pro prices at his schools r store"...since these are generally discounted a bit.

If you're lucky...maybe you can "double-dip"...and get a refurbished unit from the Apple Store AND be able to apply a student discount (got to call to see)

Good Luck,

- Nick