When I was faced with the decision of buying a MacBook Pro or waiting, I immediately took the leap of faith without knowing if Apple would be releasing a new unit within the next few weeks or not. As it turns out, I was wrong and Apple did release a new MacBook Pro. However, I did not suck it up and go on ... I went searching for some answers as to what you can do if you are in the same situation. In this post, I'm going to tell you what I found out.

When you purchase a new product from Apple (either through the online store, or though a brick-and-mortar store) you have 14 days to return the product. With this 14-day policy, Apple also gives you price protection. From my understanding this covers both pricing decreases as well as new products coming out.

When I took my MacBook Pro to the Apple Store, they immediately looked at my receipt and asked if I wanted a new one. I thought, "This can't be this easy, can it?" There is a caveat with replacing your old machine with a new model: the Apple Store might charge you a "re-stocking" fee. This is a 10% fee based on the initial purchase price. I questioned them about this and they told me that I would be getting an upgraded product. However, I was able to get my re-stocking fee waived after talking with the manager for a little while.

The Bottom Line
If you bought a MacBook/Pro/Air in the past 14 days and want to upgrade to one of the newer models, it definitely wouldn't hurt to call up your local store (or Apple online customer service at 1-800-MY-APPLE) and talk to them about returning. Don't be surprised if they tell you about the restocking fee, they told me the same story until I took it into the store. Unlike most computer companies, Apple does try to make the situation right, and most of the time, you come out on top of the matter.

Additional Resources

• Apple Retail Site
• Apple Return Policy

For the past few months, we've seen some turbulent waters here at TUAW. I don't think I need to mention the furor that's popped up in the comments multiple times over a number of Apple's past actions. All the iPhone unlocking has stirred emotions we didn't even know you guys had. The ringtones issue made a lot of us question just what kind of company Apple was. And Apple's own developers were pretty shocked when they found out that to develop for the iPhone, they'd need to brush up on HTML and AJAX, not Cocoa. The Apple we've seen the past few months has been making plenty money, but not so much winning our hearts.

But as Macworld points out, change may finally be back in the air, and all in the past week. Apple brought DRM free music back down to normal prices, which is exactly what Jobs wanted to do when he wrote that open letter we all cheered so long ago. Apple has unlocked the iPhone-- albeit in France, and only because they had to, and they'll probably charge a lot more for it, but still, it's progress. High sales of the unlocks there will be more ammunition for getting an unlock everywhere else. And of course, we got the announcement, finally, of a coming SDK for the iPhone.

Apple isn't even close to back in the clear yet-- we may have cheaper DRM-free music, but no one but France has an unlocked iPhone, and all we have is the promise of an SDK with zero details on what that means. It's been a rough road these past few months, however, and we can only hope that Apple is listening to what their fans want, and willing to get back on track

Hey boys and girls, you might be used to trying out phones and getting 30 days to cancel and return the unit (that is, at least, depending on your state of residence). Our Chris tells me that in California, you even get back the activation fee. The iPhone return policy won't be nearly as friendly. Here's a rough-and-ready review of the iPhone policies you should expect.

iPhone return policy. You have 14 days (not 30) to return your iPhone. It must be returned to the original point of purchase. You can't buy at store #1 and return to store #2. If the iPhone isn't unopened and shrink wrapped, you'll be charged a 10% open box restocking fee. Returns must include the phone, all accessories, and all manuals that shipped with the product.

Canceling the agreement. If you cancel within 3 days of iPhone activation, You're entitled to a refund of the $36 activation fee. If you cancel within 30 days, you can terminate service without paying a penalty. After 30 days, you must pay an early termination fee of $175. After fulfilling your 2 year agreement, your service switches to a month-to-month automatic renewal.

Rough Costs

So here's a rough breakdown of how much you can expect to pay under various return scenarios. I'm using the $499 4GB iPhone in these calculation and the lowest ($60/month) plan. I assume about $10 in fees and taxes (including 911 Tax, Federal Telecom Relay Service Fee, Universal Service Fund, Cost Recovery Fees, etc.) and a 5% sales tax on the unit itself.

$50.00. Try it out, cancel service, return unit within 3 days.

$86.00. Try it out, cancel service, return unit within 14 days.

$561.00. Try it out, keep the phone, cancel service within 30 days. (I assume they don't charge you for that month. If they do, the cost is $631.00.)

$946.00 Use the iPhone for 3 months, pay $175 termination fee.

$1576.00. Use the iPhone for 12 months, pay $175 termination fee.

$2241.00. Use the iPhone for 24 months, no termination fee

One of the reasons Apple tries so hard to keep upcoming products under-wraps is something called the Osborne Effect. In 1983, Osborne Computer announced the future release of several new machines that would far out-perform their current offerings. Unfortunately, Osborne was counting on sales from their current machines to pay for production of the next-generation products. As soon as people heard something better was in the pipeline, sales dried up, and Osborne eventually went under. The very same thing would happen if info were to get out about a new iPod or Mac; no one is going to buy an Mac now if they know that by waiting a month they can get a much better one.

The rumor mill however continues to feed that little nagging devil on our shoulder telling us to wait just a few more weeks to see what will be announced. The issue is, there is a good chance that the thing we are expecting to get replaced is left alone, and we will have waited all that time for nothing. And when it comes to the holidays, when gifts are expected on very specific dates, waiting often isn't an option at all.

Lucky for those of you considering the last minute purchase of an Apple product for the holidays, Gizmodo has a quick roundup of purchase safety dates after which you can buy from Apple safe in the knowledge that if Unkie Steve does replace your product at Macworld, you'll be able to exchange it for a new model.