Apple is amazing

In June last year I ordered a Developer Transition Kit (DTK). The idea is that you paid Apple $999 and they sent you an Intel-based Mac you could use for development and testing. The market value of the machine must have been way over $999 but the catch was that you’d have to return the unit to Apple before the end of 2006. In other words, you were effectively renting the machine, not purchasing it.

I figured this was a fair enough deal. After all, when you purchase a Mac for, say, $2,000, and you sell it a year and a half later for $1,000 you’ve effectively invested $1,000 in "renting" the machine for 18 months. This is the way buying and selling computers works. And having the DTK has allowed me to get my products converted to Universal Binaries in time for the release of their first Intel-based machines.

Well, today Apple announced their DTK Exchange Program. In short, you return your DTK to Apple and they give you one of the new Intel-based iMacs. Yes, they give it to you (or sell it, if you want to look at it that way). From the FAQ:

5. Will I own the iMac received via the DTK Exchange Program? Yes. The Hardware Purchase Agreement Terms and Conditions apply to the iMac received via the DTK Exchange Program.

So my $999 "rental" of the DTK has turned into a 6-month rental of a DTK with a free iMac thrown in! A similarly specced iMac bought from the Apple store would cost you about $1,299. And check this out:

8. Do I have to pay for shipping costs? Apple will pay for the shipment of the exchange system as well as the return of the DTK to Apple.

That’s something that really matters to me, seeing as I live in Spain and shipping either of the machines would prove to be quite a costly exercise. Talk about acting in good faith… Let it not be said that Apple doesn’t treat its developers well. It’s all about developers, developers, developers, developers…