Get this. I own each of the Apple Editing Suite of apps, purchased seperately, not as a boxed set. I was curious as to the upgrade path for the new Suite, so I called Apple to find out. Well, to my amazement and bitter disappointment, I will have to pay the $699 to upgrade, just like someone who owned ONLY FCP!!! I am not entitled to the Suite Upgrade price of $499. I was told this by 2 different Apple employees. I am at a loss for words to express my feelings about this, and what few words do come to mind are not fit to print!! Eric, meet Avid, Avid, Eric. Arrgghhhh!!

Oh come on. It's only a $200 difference and you'll be getting full versions of all the other apps besides FCP.

Sell your current copies on Ebay and you might even come out ahead.

I'm in a worse boat that you. I actually bought the Suite, only I already had FCP 4.5 so I sold off the upgrade that came in the Suite. Without it, I too have to pay the $699 upgrade price.

That was YOU screaming those obscenities?!? I heard you shouting... hehehe

Eric, meet Avid, Avid, Eric. Arrgghhhh!!
I just looked at Avid's prices. Even if you spent $1299 on Final Cut Suite (compared to Avid) you're getting a great deal. $699 isn't nearly as bad. I agree with you that it would have been better had Apple contemplated situations like yours regarding upgrade pricing.

I already have full versions of all the other apps, don't quite get your point. Regardless, it's not so much the extra $200 I would have to pay, as much as it's that there is absolutely no justifiable reason that I should have to pay it!! It's not like Apple provided something more to the buyers of the boxed set that I'm not entitled to now. They just threw them all together in the same box, and gave you one serial # instead of 3. It's really just a matter of the computer recognizing serial numbers, fer chrissake! The Apple guy on the phone even admitted as much, haha. It's just wrong, period.

Yeah it's wrong. Keep raising a funk though and Apple may capitulate. They have before.

I was told by someone on another forum that he called his Apple Store on 2 different ocasions to ask about the same issue, and was told that he DID qualify for the $499 upgrade. So, I guess more sleuthing is in my future. Too bad I left my magnifying glass at Watson's place.

I've had similar things happen lots of times. Actually it seems like every time I buy something it happens. I bought FCP2, 3 came out a month later, I had to pay to upgrade, I bought DVDSP2, 3 came out a month later, I had to pay. I bought a new Laptop and DVDSP and FCP4, and then 4.5 (HD) came out, but it was free (finally something nice happened) then the Studio Bundle came out and I was completely screwed because I could have saved a ton buying it that way! (the studio bundle is cheaper than JUST buying FCP and DVDSP alone!) It's just a fact of life, doo-doo happens.
Look at just the upgrade price for ALL of the apps separately which are FCP5 $399, SoundTrack Pro $99, Motion 2 $99, DVDSP4 $199 for a total of $796!
$699 isn't sounding quite so bad now is it? It doesn't seem fair at times I know but look at it from their perspective, how do they "KNOW" you actually bought ALL of the apps in the Bundle? They could probably put some kind of serial tracking mechanisms together that would allow you to enter all of your serial numbers and registration information and issue you a new serial number for the whole suite but that's a lot more work (which means they need to recoup those costs as well). Whenever you buy anything there is always the risk that it will become redundant as soon as the ink on the check dries. Apple usually has some kind of free upgrade path for the very newest purchasers but it usually only lasts a few weeks to a month most times. I've been bitten by the same bug many times and it stinks but I just write it off as a cost of doing business, and Apple is by far not the only one who does this.

Since my plain old vanilla DVD burner (Pioneer 106D) that came with my G5 just magically turned into a HD-DVD burner...I'm going to forgive them for the higher upgrade cost.

If you think about it - it's a lot of upgrade for the money. My friend in CA is pretty upset because of his situation...he's got to pay the full amount too....and he doesn't have a G5! We're lucky if we have G5's..

Also, I switched to Apple from PC's about 3-4 years ago. In that time, I've spent WAY less time dealing with computer problems. No viruses, no crashes (98% of the time), no bugs (in 98% of the programs) and overall WAY easier to use. The extra cost for the Mac is worth every cent - they earned my money because I've saved at least 1 year of my life from not dealing with PC crashes!! I'm probably not alone...the PC years (that's what I call them) were so bad. Apple charges a little more, but I learned why after I "switched". I'm paying the extra for upgrades and I don't feel to bad about it.

I'm right with you. I've only been 'PC free' for about 9 months, but it's been great.

If Apple came out and said 'No upgrades, $1300 for the Studio package" I'd be surprised, but I'd be buying.

I'm right with you. I've only been 'PC free' for about 9 months, but it's been great.

If Apple came out and said 'No upgrades, $1300 for the Studio package" I'd be surprised, but I'd be buying.

I'd be furious...again! But I'd still be buying it, it's just too good a package to pass up. I was absolutely thrilled with FCP4 and the goodies that came with it.

Things to buy this year: OSX Tiger, FCP5 Studio and a Panasonic HVX200! These are the new must haves for me!

I'm with you both. Between last year and this year...it's an incredible 2 years for equipment and software. The HD10u was amazing in 2003, the G5 has been awesome...FCP HD is totally mind-blowing and my HDTV has been as much fun as Disney world for adults. Now it's the Z1U, my G5 still kicks ass, FCP Studio is out in about a month and I'll be able to play HD-DVD's on my HDTV through a forthcoming HD-DVD player by years end.

Whew!

I'd be furious...again! But I'd still be buying it, it's just too good a package to pass up. I was absolutely thrilled with FCP4 and the goodies that came with it.

Things to buy this year: OSX Tiger, FCP5 Studio and a Panasonic HVX200! These are the new must haves for me!

What about Shake 4? That looked really cool today. I had no idea how many movies used that software! And now it's looking immensely simplified!

Eric wrote: Well, to my amazement and bitter disappointment, I will have to pay the $699 to upgrade, just like someone who owned ONLY FCP!!!

Well - according to Apple's site - your outrage is misplaced. You can upgrade to the full suite for $499 if you already own all the applications separately. See http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/topquestions.htmlCan I upgrade to Final Cut Studio for $499 if I purchased all of the individual applications separately?
Yes. If you purchased Final Cut Pro HD, DVD Studio Pro 3 and Motion separately, you qualify for the upgrade.

TIme for everyone that was complaining to now start talking about how cool Apple is. :D

This is a good thing they have done.

Eric wrote: Well, to my amazement and bitter disappointment, I will have to pay the $699 to upgrade, just like someone who owned ONLY FCP!!!

Well - according to Apple's site - your outrage is misplaced. You can upgrade to the full suite for $499 if you already own all the applications separately. See http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/topquestions.html
Thanks Boyd. Now, someone needs to tell the 2 Apple employees I spoke to about that as well.

Just goes to show you, there's no substitute for doing your own "due diligence." The information is easily found on Apple's website. Who did you ask at Apple? Since you asked on the first business day since the product was announced, it isn't all that surprising that people weren't aware of some of the finer details.

Just goes to show you, there's no substitute for doing your own "due diligence." The information is easily found on Apple's website. Who did you ask at Apple? Since you asked on the first business day since the product was announced, it isn't all that surprising that people weren't aware of some of the finer details.
A TON of people called Apple Sales and asked about this, myself included.

My bet would be that they made the change after getting all these calls.

Of course that's possible, who knows? Also another good reason not to buy something on the first day that it's released :-)

What about Shake 4? That looked really cool today. I had no idea how many movies used that software! And now it's looking immensely simplified!
Shake 4 does look really nice but I was surprised that the video tours on Apple's web site don't even mention the MAJOR addition of working in 3D space! Since that is the biggest thing they added you would think they might want to at least mention it. Kind of baffling to me.
It is funny that you don't always hear too much about Shake and it's used in TV and Film production constantly. It's used even more than it gets credit for too. I've also wondered why they never mention Renderman. I mean, I know it's not "made" by Apple but since they share the same CEO you would think there could be a nice co-marketing opportunity for ultra high-end users. Maya, Renderman and Shake go together like peanut-butter, grape jelly and Wonder Bread!

I'm glad to hear that they "are" going to offer the $499 upgrade to current owners of all the products, that's a nice surprise (and a little out of character for them too).

I've been a Mac user forever (my first Mac was a Mac plus with the massive 20mb hard drive... that's dating myself, my daughter doesn't call me "dad" anymore, it's "oldness on the loose")

I've found in the last couple years that apple will often try to work with you on issues like these. It may take a few calls though; I'd assume this situation was a "nobody thought of it" deal; Apple is generally pretty liberal about "fairness of upgrades".

I'm obviously on board with the "macs rock" thoughts... I'm amazed how much stuff you really have to know to keep a PC running well. Mac's aren't as seamless as apple posits in their marketing, especially when you get a little esoteric with complex software (3d modeling & rendering packages in particular). But lordy-- my daughter was 12 when she decided to fool around with iMovie; in one night, she shot a stop-motion flick with my digital still camera, edited it, added music and dialog, and rendered it for emailing. I wouldn't be surprised if we have a real renaissance in film around 2015 or so, when all the kids that have learned to shoot, light, edit, and write in their childoods get jobs in the business. Something akin to the home-recording revolution of the 80's-90's.

Which leads me to ponder... picked up a musical equipment catalog lately? Hopefully the economies of scale in killer, affordable mics, recorders, etc. that began with tascam's portastudio will happen with cinema gear before long.

FWIW, if you have the Adobe Creative Suite (like me) you can upgrade to CS2 for $349 (as did I, only in Swiss Francs). If you own the three components of the suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign) you can upgrade for $499 ... the same price as if you own Photoshop alone. Them's the breaks I guess.