FaceTime for Mac exits beta, costs 99¢ in the Mac App Store

By on Feb 24, 2011 at 11:59 PM
Software February 24, 2011

Apple’s FaceTime video chat service for Mac exited beta on Thursday to coincide with the release of the company’s refreshed MacBook Pro line. It also comes bearing a new price tag: 99¢. FaceTime is Apple’s branded video calling service that allows Mac, iPhone, iPod touch and soon, iPad users to make video calls for free over land-based Internet connections. The service is free to use and the associated app is free on Apple’s iOS-powered devices, but now it carries a small, one-time fee on existing Mac computers. The app is free and pre-installed on Apple’s new MacBook Pro models, however.

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32 Comments

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  • Neoofthesith

    Charge the people who pay about twice as much for desktops over MacBooks?

  • Jerry1ken

    Ha ha ha . . . 1 dollar? Apple please!

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR6HpRLyzMY Walter Sobchak

    They could’ve charged like $99. Think of how much money they could have made that way….. Like 99X more.
    Where’s TheNewReign? He knows more about this than I.

    • werd

      we have a genius here guys, how about 100X

      • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR6HpRLyzMY Walter Sobchak

        No its 99X, I double checked my math with a calculator.

      • Guest

        You FAILED at math. $.99 * (( = $98.01 you nimrod.

        $.99 * 100 = $99.

  • Anonymous

    Damn you, Apple.

    From one of your loyal customers.

  • http://twitter.com/chriscanty chris canty

    I love people freaking out over $1. Dont like it? Don’t buy it. People that have MacBook Pro’s aren’t sweating a buck. Skype charges for certain features to. Get over it people. This app might actually be worth $1, compared to some of the other crap that is in the App Store.

    • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR6HpRLyzMY Walter Sobchak

      Who’s Freaking out? If you just spent 2 grand for that little laptop, what’s a dollar?

      • Anonymous

        if only u knew how awesome my 2G laptop is…i haven’t had to buy a new one for 4 years and its still better than any new PC…and yeah a $1 c’mon…m sure you spend more than that at McDonalds buddy.

      • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR6HpRLyzMY Walter Sobchak

        I’ve never had a bite of McDonald’s. Hippie dad didn’t cram happy meals in our gullets out of laziness.
        I bought a $2200 dell laptop once that I used for 6 years.
        And really, your 4 year old Mac is better than any new PC? What are the specs on that machine there hoss?

      • Anonymous

        @walter… any specs are better than a PC for me. My industry runs on Mac (audio engineer), so its the best option for me.

    • http://www.youtube.com/jeromeo1980 Jeromeo

      Skype to Skype is completely free.
      Incidentally, I’d really like iApple to charge a 99c fee to logon to the iApp store and a 99c fee to logout of it.

  • Lechero

    OMG $1, hmm guess ill have to get a grande instead of a venti, and still have an extra dollar. OMG OMG what to do.

    • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR6HpRLyzMY Walter Sobchak

      What’s a venti?

      • Anonymous

        A size larger than Grande at Starbucks.

      • …

        don’t act like u don’t know….sure u had all the sizes big man…yumm

      • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR6HpRLyzMY Walter Sobchak

        I think its from a Paul Rudd movie. Anyways, it’s Italian for twenty right? Much like Spanish?

      • Rawrmonster

        trollls like walter will be trolls

  • http://twitter.com/a1by Alberto Plantilla

    Seriously? Why even waste the transaction fees?

    • Dean

      Its an accounting must that they charge for FaceTime, just how they had to charge for iPod Touch OS updates… Something with the wacky US tax law

      • Anonymous

        No it isn’t. There is no tax law that requires you charge for a services such as this. It is Apple’s way of picking up a quick few million dollars.

  • Thomas

    Mac – sux
    jew corporation.
    Linux, only linux.

    • Anonymous

      May Bear Jew and Lt. Aldo Raine catch you in a dark alley, you anti-Semitic piece of trash.

  • serpentor

    Only 99 cents more than what I’d pay for it.

  • Anonymous

    From what I hear they don’t have a choice. It’s supposedly an accounting requirement, similar to how they have to charge iPod touch users for some updates.

    Before anyone gets their panties in a bunch, think of it logically. It’s doubtful this will be much of a revenue stream for apple and otherwise they really have no reason other then finance legalities to do so for a format they’re trying to push.

    • Anonymous

      Do you guys actually believe that it is an accounting requirement? If it is, it’s the strangest application of a GAAP requirement that I’ve ever seen. I’m guessing there must be an imaginary FASB OSX that accounts for the distribution of free software to customers.

  • Jboch

    Notice the images are flipped… somehow Facetime magically mirrors every image to your friends! Raise your right…er…left hand! Shame the company can’t hire a decent photoshop expert…

  • Octotron

    If I have to talk to people who look like that on Facetime, I am glad I am not going to get it.

    • Anonymous

      I was just about to say that. They are the lamest looking hipsters I’ve seen in a “Long” time.

  • Anonymous

    Oh lame.

  • Joebutler85

    This goes along with the continuing theme of paying for basic functionality that you can get for free with basically any other platform that doesn’t have a fruit logo on it.

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