October 18th, 1999

[8:45 AM] Apple Comes Full Circle Announces They Will Honor All G4 Pre-orders Before 10/13!

In a fantastic change of corporate heart, Apple has announced its full policy regarding the G4 pricing/availability issue. Apple will now honor all orders taking before 10/13/1999, the day before they announced the new product line, including those from resellers. As of Friday, Apple had agreed to honor pre-orders from Apple Store customers only. Also in a surprising move, Apple made this announcement, which amounts to a full-blown apology, in a press release open to the public. According to Apple:

Apple® today announced it will honor all orders for its Power Macintosh® G4 computers placed before Wednesday, October 13, at the originally quoted prices, including those placed with the Company's resellers which were accompanied by a purchase order, or a cash or credit card deposit.

“We aim to delight our customers, and we clearly dropped the ball in this instance. We apologize to our customers for upsetting and disappointing them during this past week,” said Steve Jobs, Apple's interim CEO. “Our actions today will hopefully set things right. As the old business proverb says: Good companies make mistakes. Great companies fix them.”

Customers who ordered the 400 MHz and 450 MHz models will receive their Power Mac™ G4 systems as ordered at the originally quoted prices. Customers who ordered the 500 MHz model, which has been delayed until early next year, will be offered a 450 MHz model at its originally quoted price. Since Wednesday, October 13, Apple has only taken orders for its reconfigured Power Mac G4 line which includes processors running at 350 MHz, 400 MHz and 450 MHz, priced at US$1,599, US$2,499 and US$3,499, respectively.

The Mac Observer Spin: This is such good news! Apple has stepped up to the plate under withering fire from the Mac press, the mainstream press, and, most importantly, their customers, and done the Right Thing. Even more importantly, Apple has done so publicly. This is a far cry from many similar actions in the past where Apple has never actually apologized for widespread customer snafus, and only dealt with those customers affected.

While this may have been influenced by the mainstream press and even the financial press commenting and reporting on this issue, we prefer to look at this as more responsive Apple. In any event, Apple gets a big Mac Observer Salute for taking the high road on this contentious issue.

Apple