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I wonder if Apple ever plans to allow Apple Card Monthly Installments on these.
 
They are already dumping them. Ex: the Microcenter deals like $1200 off are closeout deals, won't be restocked. Wait too long and you'll miss out.
Can't speak to Microcenter in particular but there's definitely a bigger glut of supply in the retail channel than previous years, Black Friday is only 1 month away. You can see the recession is severely slowing down consumer demand.
 
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I've purchased a refurbished macbook and a couple refurbished iPads, over the years they all looked & performed like brand new.

Of course, if you can get an actual brand new product for the same price from another retailer, all the better.
 
Don't forget that the Apple Refurbished store discount also stacks with any miltary/veteran/education discount that you'd normally get from the Apple Store. That 14" base MacBook Pro goes from $1709 to $1538, with the additional discount. Which beats even the best deals from Amazon and other retailers.

I'm currently torn between doing this and waiting for the new M2 Pro. Wish I would have jumped on that Amazon deal though since their return period lasts through January 31st!
 
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Yesterday I ordered the same MBP 16 with M1 max, 32gb ram, and 1 TB ssd new from Costco for $2599 ($2890 with tax) and 4 year warranty... Don't know why people bother with refurbished anymore.



$3,449.99 - 350.00 - 500.00 (Shop card promo) = $2,599.99
Just did the same. Incredible deal.
 
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Trying to decide if, for the money, I'll be better off with a discounted M1 Max or an new M2 Pro
Are you looking at the 14" or 16"? From what I've seen the M1 Max can overpower the formers case.

Also do you need 32GB of RAM? Apple forces you to buy that when you get the Max.
 
Are you looking at the 14" or 16"? From what I've seen the M1 Max can overpower the formers case.

Also do you need 32GB of RAM? Apple forces you to buy that when you get the Max.
Definitely 16"... doubt I need the ram, but that's kind of what I'm getting at... would a tricked out M1 Max machine likely outperform a lower-spec'd M2 machine.
 
Definitely 16"... doubt I need the ram, but that's kind of what I'm getting at... would a tricked out M1 Max machine likely outperform a lower-spec'd M2 machine.
Depends on if what you're doing is CPU vs GPU limited in M1 Pro vs M1 Max

CPU wise there isn't a huge difference, as they're both 10 cores. You can see this in Apple's marketing material as they don't break down the gains vs Intel separately. M2 Pro will be better than an M1 Max in this department. Assuming similar gains as the M1 vs M2, the next gen should be about 20% more powerful.

GPU wise though, there's a big difference. M1 Max gets way more powerful the more GPU cores it has. If you're getting the M1 Max then I'd say it's definitely gonna be more powerful or at least on part with an M2 Pro.

It's also very likely the new MacBook Pros will get Bluetooth 5.3 and WiFi 6E seeing as the iPad Pros did.

May see more colors as well. All of this is conjecture though until the new ones actually come out.

TL;DR: CPU intensive tasks? Wait. GPU Intensive tasks? Buy at a discount.
 
Funny—I just picked up a base config Air M1 today at Best Buy. After price-matching with Amazon and trade-in of a 9th-gen iPad and ancient Surface Pro 2 it came to $623. Also the same day the new Ventura RC comes out, like it was meant to be. :)

These models still seem crazy expensive but I’m sure they’re lovely.

I thought you meant iPad Air M1 and I was horrified by that price + trade in.
 
I've purchased a refurbished macbook and a couple refurbished iPads, over the years they all looked & performed like brand new.

Of course, if you can get an actual brand new product for the same price from another retailer, all the better.

That's my experience too. I think the boxes/packaging are different but the actual products were perfect. They sell them as refurbs, not scratch/dent or "open-box". There's a difference.
 
You can get better deals on brand new devices on amazon on a weekly basis.

I don't think so, maybe the "renewed" but idk about those, I trust Apple to accept returns and test them before reselling more than a random 3rd party store on Amazon...i've seen too much sketch in my life my trust is shot lol
 
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Apple refurbished is the way to go. Good news.

I wish Apple would let me trade in my old laptop for a refurbished new one all thru them, that's the dream scenario. It'd be good for them anyways, i'd use the saved money to buy a set of AirPods Max or whatever else anyways:)
 
Keep waffling back and forth between the various 14" models to replace my 2019 16" that bit the dust after dropping it.

8-Core vs 10-Core
512 GB vs 1 TB

Or do I just wait for the M2 Pro? What if the new model starts at 10-cores! Plus it be nice to have Bluetooth 5.3 and WiFi 6E. In the mean time I've discovered that my iPad cannot function as my main computer even with a keyboard.

I usually keep my laptops for about four years, though seeing Face ID and OLED displays would get me to pull the trigger again sooner (which don't seem to be expected till 2024/2025).
 
I thought you meant iPad Air M1 and I was horrified by that price + trade in.
It’s funny, debating over a new iPad was exactly what led me here. Why get a tenth-gen with a measly A14 and 4GB RAM coupled with an overpriced keyboard for ~$500 after trade-in when I could just get an actual computer with a desktop-class chip, four times the storage, and twice the memory for less than $200 more?

Perhaps someday I will bridge the gap between my iPhone 13 mini and Macbook Air with an iPad mini, but for now I think I made the right call :)
 
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Depends on if what you're doing is CPU vs GPU limited in M1 Pro vs M1 Max

CPU wise there isn't a huge difference, as they're both 10 cores. You can see this in Apple's marketing material as they don't break down the gains vs Intel separately. M2 Pro will be better than an M1 Max in this department. Assuming similar gains as the M1 vs M2, the next gen should be about 20% more powerful.

GPU wise though, there's a big difference. M1 Max gets way more powerful the more GPU cores it has. If you're getting the M1 Max then I'd say it's definitely gonna be more powerful or at least on part with an M2 Pro.

It's also very likely the new MacBook Pros will get Bluetooth 5.3 and WiFi 6E seeing as the iPad Pros did.

May see more colors as well. All of this is conjecture though until the new ones actually come out.

TL;DR: CPU intensive tasks? Wait. GPU Intensive tasks? Buy at a discount.
Thank you for the thorough response! I'm mainly in VS Code, so I guess I'm better off waiting... and here I was hoping I could justify ordering something today 😂😭
 
Thank you for the thorough response! I'm mainly in VS Code, so I guess I'm better off waiting... and here I was hoping I could justify ordering something today 😂😭
Oh I get it. I'm desperate for a new Laptop, since I'm stuck using my iPad right now.

I've convinced myself to wait though, since while it's a small update we could get some meaningful features...
  • Guaranteed:
    • Faster CPU/GPU Performance in M2 Pro/Max
      • New base model 14" could start off at 10 CPU Cores
    • WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 (which includes BT LE Audio)
  • Possible:
    • Port Updates
      • HDMI 2.1
      • UHS-III
    • Colors? (I'd love a Midnight MacBook Pro)
The latest Apple has introduced something recently in November is the 15th, so we should see them before then. If not, they aren't going to happen until next year as hardware doesn't come out in December (and only rarely in January).

If you absolutely have to get something right now, stores are starting up their holiday return periods which generally let you return stuff until January 31st. Amazon has started. Apple usually begins around November 1st.

Not to mention we may see even better prices on these M1 Pro/Max MacBooks during Black Friday.
 
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How much of a difference would a base model 14" m1 pro be compared to my ancient 2014 8gb mbp? I usually only run Ableton with a few plugins so nothing crazy, but what I have now is just not getting anything done.
 
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