Appletell

So far this summer, Mac users worldwide have raised nearly $50,000 for several charitable organizations through the MacHeist bundle sale and charity drive.

The popular Mac software distribution company has made it a tradition of donating 25% of all bundle sales to philanthropic organizations, including Direct Relief International, Save Darfur and Alliance for Climate Protection. Customers of the popular MacHeist bundles are given an opportunity to choose a charity of their choice to have part of their purchase donated to. Over the years, the Mac community has raised over $700,000.

Various Mac companies are offering their support as well. Customers will now receive a coupon for money off Insanely Great Tees (insanelygreattees.com) as well as a new addition to the bundle: the popular sound-editing application, SoundStudio (normally $79.99, by Freeverse). So far, the bundle is valued at nearly $500 of software, with savings of close to 90% off at a price of $49.

The sale and charity drive ends in 2 days, on Tuesday, June 24th at midnight, EDT.

Product [Macheist.com]

As if the MacHeist Bundle wasn’t an amazingly good deal already, MacHeist has added two more great apps to the mix.  Those apps are Vector Designer from TweakerSoft and Sound Studio from Freeverse. These apps bring the total number of apps in the bundle up to a whopping 14, with the value now weighing in at almost $500. There is an almost 90% discount on the bundle, which sinks the price to a measly $49. To put the icing on the cake, the purchase of the bundle will also help your karma, as 25% of the profits are donated to a charity. The charities to which you can choose to donate to include Direct Relief International, Save Darfur, The Humane Society, Action Against Hunger, The Natural Conservancy, Save the Children, World Wildlife Foundation, Prevent Cancer Foundation, AIDS Research Alliance and the Alliance for Climate Protection.

Although Vector Designer is available in the Bundle now, Sound Studio will not be available until $50,000 has been donated to charity, which is about $15,000 away.

Via [Mac OS X Rumors]

MacUpdate has unlocked Parallels Desktop in its Promo Bundle, making it slightly worth the money. It seems like sales might not be as great as expected, because it took quite a while to reach the 5,000 sales needed for SoundStudio, and somewhere before the 6,000 mark, it seems they manually unlocked the remaining two apps, BannerZest and Parallels.

The bundle now includes software that retails for a combined $475, though the actual value price is more around $100-$150, in my opinion. Parallels is the only real reason to buy this bundle. If you don’t need Parallels, I cant see a reason for buying the bundle. Other worthwhile apps include Hazel (review coming soon), Typinator, and MenuCalendarClock, but those can be had for much less than the bundle price. All in all, it seems most of the apps in there are filler.

Product Page [MacUpdate Bundle]

Not digging the MacHeist bundle? Well you’re in luck because MacUpdate has just released their OWN bundle of software. In my opinion, it is a much better deal than the MacHeist Bundle, offering more unique applications. The bundle is priced at $64.99 and will end April 29th.

The star of the show is Parallels Desktop, which at retail price of $79.99 is made a great deal in this bundle, even if you are only buying for the one application. The other applications included are Hazel (a task manager for OS X), Art Text (vectorized text creator for banners and logos), MenuCalendarClock (a date and time expander), Leap ("a combination Spotlight, Bridge, Finder, and more"), StoryMill (writing aide to visualize time setting, plots, etc.), Typinator (a text shortener), DVDRemaster Pro (DVD recompression), Sound Studio (multipurpose audio recorder and editor), and BannerZest (a WYSIWYG Flash editor).

As of this writing, Sound Studio, BannerZest, and Parallels are locked, and are set to unlock at certain sales levels. In the past, all levels have always been met. Individually, each program is over $20 (MenuCalendarClock is $19.95) so even if you only want a few, its still a great deal.

Check out the bundle [MacUpdate]

All Prices USD.

MacHeist is a fairly well known name around the Mac community. They have fun “Heists” with some free software, ending in a severely discounted software bundle after all the heists. Now they have released a “retail version” of the bundle, for the same $49 price. It includes some great programs, but a whole bunch of repeats from previous bundles as well. I’m not going to go into details here about the ethics, promotional schemes, or any other moral stuff about MacHeist here. What this article is for is breaking down for whom the bundle is worth it, and for whom it is not.

New Mac User - If you are new to the Mac world, this is a stellar opportunity to get your hands on a nice amount of applications designed with the Mac in mind. You get money management software, an iTunes front-end, a word processor, a shortcut/application launcher, a password and sensitive info vault, three games for the Mac (Nanosaur is especially cool in 3D) and more. If you have a fresh new mac and $50, I’d recommend this bundle in a snap unless you have absolutely no interest in any of these apps.

Previous Bundle Buyer - Chances are if you’ve already bought the MacHeist bundles, it’s not for you this time around. Over half of the applications in this bundle are repeats of previous bundles. It may, however, still be worth it. If there are a couple apps in there that you like that total up to more than $50 by themselves, then of course the whole bundle is a great buy.

Gift Giver - This also fits in with the previous. If you just want a couple apps, why not give the rest away? Hold a contest on your blog if you have one, or just give them away to friends as presents, or perhaps to a relative along with a new Mac. The games will be especially great for kids.

Who Else? Can you think of anyone else who would benefit from these apps? Sound off in the comments below!

For those of you who missed out on the downloadable MacHeist Bundle, MacHeist recently announced that a hard-copy version will be for sale soon.  At MacHeist.com, there is a teaser video, showing a vault with the Bundle in it getting robbed, and a line at the end that tells you to buy it before the time runs out.  Below are more info on some of the apps with which I have had personal experience:

Cover Sutra:  When paired with iTunes, Cover Sutra acts as a control for your music from the Desktop.  You can customize its great UI to your preferences, making this a good looking, though fairly pointless, app all the better.

MORE »

As you may or may not know, MacHeist customers have been having problems with an app included in the recently sold bundle, Speed Download 4. The app was included in the MacHeist II bundle, however Speed Download 5 was released very soon after the bundle sale. Yazsoft, the creators of Speed Download, gave Speed Download 5 to MacHeist users for a price even though non MacHeist purchases were eligible for free upgrades. After much arguing, both MacHeist and Yazsoft have reached an agreement. Yazsoft is now offering free Speed Download 5 upgrades to all MacHeist Speed Download 4 purchases. However, they’re only running this for a limited time until March 27th, so go on over to the upgrade page to enter your details. If you’re looking for two keys and a free upgrade to Speed Download 6, Yazsoft is offering that as well for $15.

[Speed Download Upgrade] Via [TUAW]

The MacHeist Bundle has gotten even bigger, jumping from 11 to 14 applications. Now valued at almost $500, it really is a good deal at only $49. Granted, most people wont find use for even 25% of the apps in the bundle, but $49 is a great price to pay (plus, you can sell licenses later, technically.)

The Bundle now includes VectorDesigner (unlocked at $300,000 for charity, which is not far off at all), Snapz Pro X, Pixelmator, CSSEdit, AppZapper, Tiki Magic Mini Golf, 1password, CoverSutra, Cha-Ching, iStopMotion, Awaken, Speed Download, Wingnuts 2, TaskPaper, all for only $49. If you refer 2 friends, you will also recieve LaunchBar and Notebook, a $70 value.

There are only 2 more days to buy the bundle, however, so get in while you can.

Buy [MacHeist]

The MacHeist 2 Bundle is now underway. It is a great opportunity to support indie mac developers, yet not burn a whole in your pocket.

The Bundle Includes:

• 1password
• CoverSutra
• Cha-Ching
• iStopMotion
• Awaken
• AppZapper
• TaskPaper
• CSSEdit (Unlocked at 5000 Bundles sold)
• Snapz Pro X (Unlocked at an undisclosed time)
• Pixelmator (Unlocked at an undisclosed time)

Make sure you check it out at MacHeist.com.

As if MacHeist II hasn’t caused enough hype on the Apple blogosphere, here’s some more MacHeist II news. According to TUAW’s sources, they have learned that the contents of the final bundle will be announced on January 9, and it will cost the same as last year’s bundle: $49. Pixelmator is the only known app out of the 9 others that will be included in this bundle. But you’ll definitely be getting a good deal - an amazing deal in fact. Pixelmator alone costs $59, so combine that with 9 other apps and price it at $49 and you get the MacHeist bundle. Plus, as last time, 25% of the profits will go to a charity - so you’re donating to a good cause, saving money and getting more software than you could want - sounds good to me.

I think John Casasanta and Phil Ryu have got a guaranteed large paycheck from the second MacHeist. Although, there have been concerns about how much developers are receiving from this event. The MacHeist team should not be ripping the developers off, as they are making a large profit from this event. The developers are the ones who have put time and effort into making the software that is being distributed, and they should be credited equally for their work.

Via [TUAW]