saxamaphone

I did this when i bought my powermac last year. It makes sense if you are going to buy a machine over 2700$. first purchase an Apple Developer Connection membership for $500US (~$550 canadian) then use your 1 system discount to buy your mac. it will be cheaper!

Eg. In the pre-intel powermac days. The quad was $3899 retail and $3099 thru the apple developer store. also, all the accessories (memory, hard drive, airport, bluetooth, wirelss kybd/mouse, eveything) is cheaper to BTO.

After an initial look at the new macpros in the developer store based onthe

standard config doesnt save you anything but you get the idea...
retail store = 2799
developer store = 2239 (+550 for ADC) = 2789

for the 3GHz its $750 less
retail store = 3759
developer store = 3007 (+550 for ADC) = 3557
the more you customize it the more the price differential grows, savings on displays are substantial as well.

its cheaper by $200 with the adc PLUS you get all the leopard previews mailed to your door, plus apple gives you CD/DVD copies of all supported operating systems. Plus you get access to all the developer tools and many other pieces of apple software. Plus you get developor mailings every month with the latest and coolest tips and tricks. And the one thing I know will sell it for many of you... you get a T-SHIRT! ...and a cool BOX to put all that crap they mail you!!

Its really a good deal and Im surprised apple doesnt promote it more!

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Hi-diddly-ho neighbourino!

ArtistSeries

I wonder what the terms are for Apple Developer Connection membership...

monokitty

No requirement. You could BS your developer status and they don't care. You're paying Apple $500, so why would they? Heck, they can use your help in bragging about how many people are on the program.

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ACMT
Mac mini (Mid 2011) 2.7 GHz i7, 8GB RAM, Crucial M4 256GB SSD + 500GB + 1TB FW800 OWC Mercury Elite Pro mini
iPhone 4S • iPod nano 8GB • Sound System Audio Engine A2 • Display UltraSharp U2412M 24"

TommyC

There are some additional clauses that you agree to when you use the hardware discount. Cant remember exactly what they are but I think it said that you could only use it for development purposes (how they'd tell Im not sure) but also you cant sell the system within a year of purchase. I dont think they'd every follow up on them but be aware that you do agree to them by using the hw discount.

However if you do want to take advantage of this and you are a legitimate student (ie they ask for valid proof of enrollment) Apple does offer the student membership for $100US which comes with a once per lifetime hardware discount which gives you the same prices as the ADC select store. and you get the free copies of the OS, developer DVDs and other promotional stuff (Ive got three tiger "spotlight on innovation" t-shirts in the past year and a bit) The only difference between student and select developers is that students dont get pre-release sw or any support incidents.