Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

boomdog

macrumors regular
Original poster
I posted an earlier question about whether to buy an iMac or a rMBP and following the feedback received and a trip to the apple store to have a go on both I've decided to go for the rMBP.

I'm aware that the new MacBook Pro is likely to be released soon however as I am purchasing the Macbook through a work scheme which offers about a 40% saving I won't be able to get the new release. My real question is, how much will I actually be saving?

The model I am looking at currently retails at £2300 and I will end up paying about £1600 for it. This includes Microsoft Office, extended warranty to 3 years and some other additional software. I'm aware this only looks like a 30% saving but the additional cost of office and warranty make up the difference. Both of these things are important additions for me anyhow.

In your experience of previous updates, how much would the purchase price for the current rMPB drop by when the new version is released? Surely they won't just stop selling it immediately?

Thanks

Sebastian
 

macs4nw

macrumors 601
I posted an earlier question about whether to buy an iMac or a rMBP and following the feedback received and a trip to the apple store to have a go on both I've decided to go for the rMBP.

I'm aware that the new MacBook Pro is likely to be released soon however as I am purchasing the Macbook through a work scheme which offers about a 40% saving I won't be able to get the new release. My real question is, how much will I actually be saving?

The model I am looking at currently retails at £2300 and I will end up paying about £1600 for it. This includes Microsoft Office, extended warranty to 3 years and some other additional software. I'm aware this only looks like a 30% saving but the additional cost of office and warranty make up the difference. Both of these things are important additions for me anyhow.

In your experience of previous updates, how much would the purchase price for the current rMPB drop by when the new version is released? Surely they won't just stop selling it immediately?

Thanks

Sebastian

It's not a foregone conclusion, the MacBook Pro is going to survive this coming round of laptop updates; there have been rumors they might be discontinued in favor of an all-retina lineup for the MacBook Pros.

Apple is known to have a pretty tight handle on their supply chain, and I wouldn't count on being able to still purchase a brand new, current version rMBP when the new one is released. You might have to turn to Apple resellers, or the Apple refurb store, where the discounts are typically 10-15% max.

Your 30% discount looks pretty good from where I'm sitting. It all comes down to, if you want the latest machine with Haswell (battery-life alone, should make a significant difference) at full price, or if you are willing to wait till the newer machines filter down to your employer purchase program, and save yourself that 30%.

As I said before, I don't think you can realistically expect more than 10 or 15% max discount on the outgoing machines, through the regular channels, once the new ones arrive, assuming you can even get your hands on one of those prev gen units.
 

Moonjumper

macrumors 68030
Jun 20, 2009
2,740
2,908
Lincoln, UK
It seems strange that your work scheme would exclude the new model when it arrives. It is not like the old model rMBP is likely to still be on sale.

There could be price reductions as SSD's have dropped in price, and the retina screens should be cheaper now. It also depends on if the non-retina MBP survives. This is less likely if they can bring the retina prices down. The 15" that you appear to be looking at might get a base version with an Iris integrated GPU to fill that price point.
 

gnasher729

Suspended
Nov 25, 2005
17,980
5,565
In your experience of previous updates, how much would the purchase price for the current rMPB drop by when the new version is released? Surely they won't just stop selling it immediately?

Prices _don't_ drop. They _do_ stop selling immediately. Any remaining stock will be sold as "refurbished", usually about 15% cheaper, and usually with some delay, like a few months. There may be shops other than the Apple Stores selling older models at a reduced price.
 

boomdog

macrumors regular
Original poster
Thank you all for helping me speculate. I believe the work scheme hold a stock of certain macbook pro' sand iMacs and return unsold units after the scheme closes. The scheme only opens for 45 days a year so if I want to wait it will be a whole year of waiting. I'm probably going just go ahead and order one.
 

NorEaster

macrumors regular
Feb 14, 2012
239
23
Prices _don't_ drop. They _do_ stop selling immediately. Any remaining stock will be sold as "refurbished", usually about 15% cheaper, and usually with some delay, like a few months. There may be shops other than the Apple Stores selling older models at a reduced price.

Is that ~15% cheaper than current refurb prices or are you just commenting that current refurb prices are ~15% lower than new pricing?

I'm in a similar boat. I'm trying to decide: Should I get a refurbished current gen 15" rMBP (target is 16GB RAM, 512MB flash) NOW...or wait until the updated rMBP's are released (in hopes that the pricing of refurbished current gen rMBP's will drop further).
 

3lite

macrumors 6502a
Nov 7, 2011
635
29
Is that ~15% cheaper than current refurb prices or are you just commenting that current refurb prices are ~15% lower than new pricing?

I'm in a similar boat. I'm trying to decide: Should I get a refurbished current gen 15" rMBP (target is 16GB RAM, 512MB flash) NOW...or wait until the updated rMBP's are released (in hopes that the pricing of refurbished current gen rMBP's will drop further).

If you're getting the new rMBP, wait.

If you're getting the refurbished model, wait.
 

boomdog

macrumors regular
Original poster
If you are in the UK, which from your use of £ pricing I assume you are, then the extended warranty is an expense you can avoid as you are already covered under EU law for 6 years.

http://www.apple.com/uk/legal/statutory-warranty/

I am in the UK, good assumption ;)

I know that technically I have a warranty for 6 years but it's not quite as inclusive as the official apple warranty. From my experience with both my iPad, iPhone and girlfriends MacBook, Apple seem more than happy to replace anything that is broken / mildly faulty so long as it is in warranty. This weekend I popped in to the Genius Bar with a lock button complaint on my iPhone 5 and I walked out with a new one 20 mins later, previously I was at the Genius Bar with my iPad that had a sticky home button and they also replaced that, during the same visit I was asking them for advice on which RAM I needed to upgrade my girlfriends MacBook and the Apple guy noticed a tiny crack in the keyboard surround. He asked if I could part with the MacBook for a day or two so they could replace it. The replaced the keyboard and plastic surround and I didn't even ask them to. All three were still inside their warranty, when I took my iPhone 4 in with faulty volume controls it was one week out of warranty and the best they would do was replace the phone for £125!

That's why I favour a warranty, especially with a mac that is so difficult to work on DIY style!

Thank you though for responding. I'm going to call the scheme tomorrow and will probably go ahead and place an order.

Thanks for all the responses
 

CelestialToys

macrumors 6502
Aug 4, 2013
359
168
up above the streets and houses
Yes it's certainly easier to get them to do repairs if you've paid for Applecare, but that doesn't mean that they can screw you over on the 6 year warranty even though they will try.The law is the law after all, and the only thing you get extra by paying for Applecare is the telephone technical support.
 

boomdog

macrumors regular
Original poster
Point taken. I wish I'd pressed harder with the iPhone 4 now. I do not mind paying though for a good service, an easy service at that. I appreciate that some people may not have had the same luck as me when dealing with apple but I've been treated well
 

gnasher729

Suspended
Nov 25, 2005
17,980
5,565
If you are in the UK, which from your use of £ pricing I assume you are, then the extended warranty is an expense you can avoid as you are already covered under EU law for 6 years.

http://www.apple.com/uk/legal/statutory-warranty/

Sorry, but you are just clueless.

The "six years" is the claim period. That's similar to a statute of limitations. It means that six years after a sale, it is impossible to make any claims. It doesn't mean that up to six years you will win a claim. Quite the contrary. What you actually get is that for six months, the seller (which may or may not be Apple) must fix problems unless the seller can prove that it is not his fault. For 24 months, the seller must fix problems if you can prove that it is the seller's fault. After 24 months, you'd have to be able to present an extremly good reason to a court to get a computer fixed under this law.
 

CelestialToys

macrumors 6502
Aug 4, 2013
359
168
up above the streets and houses
Sorry, but you are just clueless.

The "six years" is the claim period. That's similar to a statute of limitations. It means that six years after a sale, it is impossible to make any claims. It doesn't mean that up to six years you will win a claim. Quite the contrary. What you actually get is that for six months, the seller (which may or may not be Apple) must fix problems unless the seller can prove that it is not his fault. For 24 months, the seller must fix problems if you can prove that it is the seller's fault. After 24 months, you'd have to be able to present an extremly good reason to a court to get a computer fixed under this law.

And paying for Applecare does not grant you any additional rights that you don't already have.
I personally have had 5 year old Apple products repaired for free because of this, and I didn't have to go to court to get it.
Extended warranties in the UK are a waste of money unless they specifically cover more than your statutory rights, Applecare does not.
but thanks for calling me clueless :rolleyes:
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.