Rumor: Apple to sell subsidized notebooks in the UK?

Hmm.. Dont want to get involved in the whole R.O Britain argument (but most of the time we are.. PS3 etc) BUT for once we must admit we got the sweet deal with the iPhone contract if you look at what the US & others got.

As for the subsidized laptop from O2.. Dont bother, the signal from mobile broadband from O2 is appalling. There isn't that many places I can go that I get a 3G signal on my iPhone, so unless O2 get there coverage up-to Vodafone standards I wouldn't want to pay £25 per month for mobile O2 broadband from them.

Hmm.. I wouldn't bite, that's for sure. Without an internal WWAN option, it absoultely would kill the form factor of an Apple notebook.

Nothing new to the dutch crowed. Notebook/laptop are being subsidized for some time now with a data plan. The discount varies between €200 to €400 euro's depending on which provider you take (T-Mobile, KPN, Vodafone, Telfort).

Well at least here in India, every single notebook has seen an upward price revision of 20-30%. Even MacBook White which lost 100$ in the US, has had its price marked-up by 120$ in India. And this is without even including taxes and levies. Here is how the old and new models stack up in India price-wise:
http://www.imacusers.com/new-macbook-prices-in-india-verdict-expensive/

By your logic, customers wouldn't sign up to this deal because it would cost them more over time.

If people didn't go in for that sort of deal then nobody would every buy anything with credit.

yeah, even if it's subsidised O2 plans will be a rip off too. i'm so seeing a deal with iphone and macbook plan... but it just doesn't seem to add up being tied with a 18 month contract.

and let's fix the title fit for british consumption for our american friends, "Rumour: Apple to sell subsidised notebooks in the UK?" LOL, don't take offence. it's been a long monday.

already has been happening in Lithuania for about a year, the largest mobile company Omnitel, is bricking vodafone usb mobile modem adapters with sim cards and macbook pros. not to many takers tho.

Bet Jobsy makes us use EDF electricity too power it,he likes a kickback.Also his calculator is whack!

I wont moan about the price difference between US/UK, but please! If your going to write about it on a 'reputable' site at least check your facts and get it right.

Im SICK of sites telling me the Macbook has gone down in price and is now only $999, when in actual fact the UK price has risen. Its not hard to pick the UK store from the apple site, and not hard to look at the exchange rate. Especialy when writing about the UK, in fact why didnt you quote UK prices anyway? Do you really beleive we all deal in $'s all day?

Who are these mystery stockholders you speak of who want the MacBook prices to go down to an $800 entry point? I haven't heard of any; in fact, the only people I've heard advocating for this are so-called "analysts" and assorted pundits with no knowledge of the Mac market or even Apple's business strategy. Warren Buffet has millions of shares and not even he's made any such statement or advocated for it.

If you're going to make such statements, back them up with names and links to where they are specifically making these statements. No analysts or pundit links allowed; they're not stockholders.