Should I wait or buy now?

[ukflyer]

I have never owned a Mac before, and have always had P.C.s.
My current Acer is on it's last legs and I need a new notebook.

I do like the Acer P7, however, I cannot stand Windows 8!

I have, in the past few years, fallen for iOS with The iPhone 4 and 5 and then the iPad with retina display. I am hoping that the Mac OS is as intuitive and easy to switch to.

This has convinced me it is time to take the plunge and switch to the Mac.
I am thinking about the Macbook Pro with retina display. 13 inch and 256Gb SSD.

My question is this: Should I go ahead and order now, or should I wait to see if there are any updates in the June presentation of new products? I am guessing they will add retina displays to the iPad mini and the Macbook Air, but will they do anything to the Macbook Pro with retinas??

Should I wait or should I buy. I am very anxious to get one, but do not want to regret not waiting a couple of weeks.

Any advice welcomed.

Thank you, everyone.

Ukflyer.

 

[parkm13]

I would wait. Why spend that much when the refresh is so close. However, if you really want it right now just go for it. There will alway be something bigger and better out there so it's not that big of a deal, especially if you don't really need the power. The current rMBP is a very, very good laptop

 

[Petulka]

120% wait, retina macbooks will get haswell cpus especially the 13' you are looking for will get 5xxx integrated gpu which is much better than current 4000.

 

[Quu]

There are literally 17 days between now and WWDC 2013 on June 10th.

So obviously, wait.

 

[ukflyer]

Thank you. Please excuse my ignorance, but what is a haswell CPU? Is it better than the Intel i5? If the feeling is that there will be improvements, I can wait a few weeks, but I hope it is not going to be months before any new ones come out. Are the Macbooks generally released close to their announcements?

 

[Quu]

Thank you. Please excuse my ignorance, but what is a haswell CPU? Is it better than the Intel i5? If the feeling is that there will be improvements, I can wait a few weeks, but I hope it is not going to be months before any new ones come out. Are the Macbooks generally released close to their announcements?

Basically Intel has different "Architectures" for their processors. Each Architecture takes a few years to develop.

The Core i3/i5/i7 product range is currently in its 3rd generation of Architecture.

We had Nehalem then Sandy Bridge and the current generation is called Ivy Bridge. Intel is releasing the newest generation codenamed Haswell later this month, supposedly on the 27th of May.

It will feature dramatically lower idle power consumption over current Ivy Bridge based processors (the current i3 / i5 / i7 CPU's) and will increase performance around 5% to 10% dependant on the task being performed.

So to just reiterate, Haswell = Codename for the next Architecture the CPU's will be based on. Core i3, i5 and i7 = Processor brand names.

 

[ukflyer]

Basically Intel has different "Architectures" for their processors. Each Architecture takes a few years to develop.

The Core i3/i5/i7 product range is currently in its 3rd generation of Architecture.

We had Nehalem then Sandy Bridge and the current generation is called Ivy Bridge. Intel is releasing the newest generation codenamed Haswell later this month, supposedly on the 27th of May.

It will feature dramatically lower idle power consumption over current Ivy Bridge based processors (the current i3 / i5 / i7 CPU's) and will increase performance around 5% to 10% dependant on the task being performed.

So to just reiterate, Haswell = Codename for the next Architecture the CPU's will be based on. Core i3, i5 and i7 = Processor brand names.

Fantastic info Quu. Much appreciated and in a way that even I can understand. I am leaning towards waiting, but finally, do you think the prices will be higher or the same? I.e. will they be new models or just updated versions of the existing ones?

 

[B...]

Fantastic info Quu. Much appreciated and in a way that even I can understand. I am leaning towards waiting, but finally, do you think the prices will be higher or the same? I.e. will they be new models or just updated versions of the existing ones?

Not higher, but the same or maybe a little lower ($100). Expect only updated computers, no huge redesign.

 

[fskywalker]

I have never owned a Mac before, and have always had P.C.s.
My current Acer is on it's last legs and I need a new notebook.

I do like the Acer P7, however, I cannot stand Windows 8!

I have, in the past few years, fallen for iOS with The iPhone 4 and 5 and then the iPad with retina display. I am hoping that the Mac OS is as intuitive and easy to switch to.

This has convinced me it is time to take the plunge and switch to the Mac.
I am thinking about the Macbook Pro with retina display. 13 inch and 256Gb SSD.

My question is this: Should I go ahead and order now, or should I wait to see if there are any updates in the June presentation of new products? I am guessing they will add retina displays to the iPad mini and the Macbook Air, but will they do anything to the Macbook Pro with retinas??

Should I wait or should I buy. I am very anxious to get one, but do not want to regret not waiting a couple of weeks.

Any advice welcomed.

Thank you, everyone.

Ukflyer.

If you are looking to buy new wait, if you are willing to buy used, factory refurbished or open box, this is a good moment to buy at substantial discount under MSRP; may get up to 40-50% savings.

 

[NewishMacGuy]

If you are looking to buy new wait, if you are willing to buy used, factory refurbished or open box, this is a good moment to buy at substantial discount under MSRP; may get up to 40-50% savings.

I would definitely wait, less so for Haswell (as processor speed is currently overkill and I really don't believe the hype that you won't need a dGPU with it) but you're REALLY going to want 802.11ac.

Even if you're going to buy used or refurb though I'd still wait as everything will be cheaper in fairly short order (despite the aggressive global money-printing by our central banking masters).


___

 

[Freyqq]

I'm waiting until Haswell

 

[ukflyer]

I would definitely wait, less so for Haswell (as processor speed is currently overkill and I really don't believe the hype that you won't need a dGPU with it) but you're REALLY going to want 802.11ac.



___

Sorry... Again please excuse my ignorance, but what is 802.11ac? It sounds like wifi but if it is new can my Virgin super hub upgrade to it? Any benefit to me? Thanks.

 

[B...]

Sorry... Again please excuse my ignorance, but what is 802.11ac? It sounds like wifi but if it is new can my Virgin super hub upgrade to it? Any benefit to me? Thanks.

It's a new, faster Wifi method (should be 2x faster for regular Internet users). Source.

It only works if your modem and devices support AC.

 

[Weaselboy]

Sorry... Again please excuse my ignorance, but what is 802.11ac? It sounds like wifi but if it is new can my Virgin super hub upgrade to it? Any benefit to me? Thanks.

No it can't, so to get any benefit from AC wifi you would need a new device like a Macbook with AC wifi and also a wifi router that supports AC... and your Virgin device does not. Even then, it will not speed up access to the Internet, it will just give you faster wifi speeds inside your local network around the house.

 

[Hildegerd]

Buy now, I believe the 13" MacPro is gone soon.

 

[B...]

Buy now, I believe the 13" MacPro is gone soon.

MacBook Pro?

 

[Hildegerd]

MacBook Pro?

Yes.
Together with the 11" MBA.

 

[B...]

Yes.
Together with the 11" MBA.

Why would Apple get rid of the 11" MacBook Air: their ultimate portable line?

 

[Hildegerd]

Why would Apple get rid of the 11" MacBook Air: their ultimate portable line?

I do not know, i just think things will be even worse before Apple comes to their sences.

 

[B...]

I do not know, i just think things will be even worse before Apple comes to their sences.

1) What things are bad in their MacBook line?
2) What would get even worse?
3) Why would Apple coming to their senses mean getting rid of their ultimate portable line?

 

[fskywalker]

Buy now, I believe the 13" MacPro is gone soon.

That is very unlikely to happen

 

[GermanyChris]

Buy now, I believe the 13" MacPro is gone soon.

It's there best selling computer, I don't think it's going to disappear anytime soon.

 

[LeeM]

Yes.
Together with the 11" MBA.

i think 13" air and 15" pro will go.
leaving the 11" ultraportable, 13" entry level pro, 13" and 15" retina.

theres a place for the 11" air but not really the 13" as the retina pro is almost as thin and light. the 13" pro is the one you see around the most i think as well, at least in my experience at university.

 

[Digital Dude]

It's a new, faster Wifi method (should be 2x faster for regular Internet users). Source.

It only works if your modem and devices support AC.

Excellent response and thanks for the source link. I'm also in the market for the new Haswell MBP. I'm headed out to overseas and I really need it. I hope they have a Retina version ready on day one so I can have it in time. Never fails when I get ready to go to Europe all the new products are dragging.

BTW, I'm pretty sure they'll be a few other tweaks that make the Haswell worth the wait.