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Best Buy Labor Day Sale Takes Up to $1,000 Off M3 MacBook Pro

Sheepish-Lord said:
Feels like this is most aggressive discounting I’ve ever seen in MacBook history. Sad to see that this is how much we as consumers get hosed as well.
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Nah this is quite normal near the end of a cycle. Buying macbooks after their initial release directly from Apple is in general not recommended because Amazon/Best Buy and other retailers are going to aggressively cut to clear out inventory.

$1,000 off is pretty sweet, but way more computer than I will ever need on the go.
 
MysteriousStain said:
If nothing else, I have learned to never buy a laptop directly from Apple ever again. Just wait a bit save hundreds.
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Depends where you live.

Here is Australia it’s nearly impossible to get deals like this. Even after the M3 Air launch places were still selling the M1 airs at full retail!

They never went down.
 
Thinking about that 18GB M3Pro 14" for $1499.

Realistically, what advantages am I looking at in waiting for the next go round of M4? I expect the screen/body/make to be the same. We'll get more efficiency on the cores. But will we get more cores?

From what I see, a presumably in-place replacement, with entry-level M4-pro 14" would be worth $1999 compared to the M3-pro current at $1499.

But the M3-pro may well be worth it for me. Just thinking about best use of money long run, say 2-3 years down the road when presumably I may want to upgrade.

Not doing high-end video or animation.
 
Dozer_Zaibatsu said:
Thinking about that 18GB M3Pro 14" for $1499.

Realistically, what advantages am I looking at in waiting for the next go round of M4? I expect the screen/body/make to be the same. We'll get more efficiency on the cores. But will we get more cores?

From what I see, a presumably in-place replacement, with entry-level M4-pro 14" would be worth $1999 compared to the M3-pro current at $1499.

But the M3-pro may well be worth it for me. Just thinking about best use of money long run, say 2-3 years down the road when presumably I may want to upgrade.

Not doing high-end video or animation.
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Having more cores won't help normal user, cause most programs aren't programmed to to take advantage of multithreading. More cores will help with multitasking but most people are only using one program at a time.
 
One of our laptops is dying so I am jumping on the $1,499 M3 and passing my M1 to another family member. Also stacking with the $300 Apple Card promo so IMHO it is a great deal.

Going black this time.
 
OasisNYK said:
One of our laptops is dying so I am jumping on the $1,499 M3 and passing my M1 to another family member. Also stacking with the $300 Apple Card promo so IMHO it is a great deal.

Going black this time.
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$300 Apple Card promo?

edit: ah for new applicants. That’s a ridiculous offer!
 
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macfacts said:
Having more cores won't help normal user, cause most programs aren't programmed to to take advantage of multithreading. More cores will help with multitasking but most people are only using one program at a time.
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Yeah. Indeed.

What gets me is that I'm not wedded to MacOS. I have loved my M1. Been the most reliable computer I've ever had. (Including a few different Macs.) I was expecting AMD and Intel to leapfrog over Mac Silicon with their next iteration.

A little bit. Maybe? Depending on how you count it, they get single-core processing up wicked fast. But Windows is gimping itself with Copilot and intrusive ads everywhere, and that can fark right off.
 
MysteriousStain said:
If nothing else, I have learned to never buy a laptop directly from Apple ever again. Just wait a bit save hundreds.
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I've gone one step further and never bought a new computer from apple full stop.
Every single Apple device I own and my businesses devices are all second hand.

I let someone else pay the instant unboxing depreciation game. I bought a mint 32gb 1tb 16 inch M1 Max Macbook for 200,000 yen and sold my mint 16gb 1tb 14 inch M1 Pro MacBook for 170,000 yen. $200 for that upgrade was well worth it IMO. I'll do the same next year once M3 MacBooks fall to stupid prices.

Same goes for my Nikon gear. in 30 years I have never purchased new and am able to tax write down all my gear in 2 to 3 years instead of 5 or 10 since it's all second hand.
 
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0423MAC said:
$300 Apple Card promo?

edit: ah for new applicants. That’s a ridiculous offer!
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what kind of benefit is this actually? credit or debit on future apple purchases? can it be used to purchase something right away? i don't usually sign up for unnecessary lines of credit for minor benefits, but am on the edge of needing a new laptop, so would be useful if it can be used in conjunction with that purchase.
 
its93rc said:
I've got a base M1 Pro looking to upgrade to a base M3 Pro (Space Black) mostly because I love the color, or should I just wait for the M4? I use basic software. Would the new device be future-proofed for AI, etc? I'm not well-versed when it comes to chips and RAM.
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This is how I made my decision to upgrade now. Bestbuy had a sale, the device I wanted was at a price point I could live with paying. I knew that waiting for the M4 was not an option because I would not buy this device with M4 at full price.
 
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macfacts said:
Having more cores won't help normal user, cause most programs aren't programmed to to take advantage of multithreading. More cores will help with multitasking but most people are only using one program at a time.
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needing a new laptop soon. my 2011 pro is shaky. normal consumer usage. probably have it 10 years. what's the big difference between the standard pro and the max pro? cores? considering the $1500 m3 14" listed above. falls within my upper price level. would be a massive upgrade over my 2011 (except for superdrive!). will these sales continue well into the m4 release? should i wait it out a little longer? will prices/incentives get any better?

i am looking at refurb as well. because i will keep it for a long time, i will stay away from private used.

i keep hearing about best buy membership being a good discount option. is it in reality? don't need to join more clubs.
 
Dozer_Zaibatsu said:
Thinking about that 18GB M3Pro 14" for $1499.

Realistically, what advantages am I looking at in waiting for the next go round of M4? I expect the screen/body/make to be the same. We'll get more efficiency on the cores. But will we get more cores?

From what I see, a presumably in-place replacement, with entry-level M4-pro 14" would be worth $1999 compared to the M3-pro current at $1499.

But the M3-pro may well be worth it for me. Just thinking about best use of money long run, say 2-3 years down the road when presumably I may want to upgrade.

Not doing high-end video or animation.
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Significantly better AI/ML performance. If they stick to the 6+6 CPU, 18 core GPU and 12 channel IMC, there won’t be much more than a 10-15% improvement in anything else. If they double the GPU and memory bus over the M4, like with the M1 and M2, gaming and other bandwidth sensitive GPU tasks will see a much bigger improvement. I wouldn’t expect it to start at $1999, though. If you’re not doing anything intense or using AI tools extensively, the $1499 M3 pro is probably a good bet. It’s definitely a better value than any 16GB M3 configuration, especially considering future resale/trade.
 
sdedalus83 said:
Significantly better AI/ML performance. If they stick to the 6+6 CPU, 18 core GPU and 12 channel IMC, there won’t be much more than a 10-15% improvement in anything else. If they double the GPU and memory bus over the M4, like with the M1 and M2, gaming and other bandwidth sensitive GPU tasks will see a much bigger improvement. I wouldn’t expect it to start at $1999, though. If you’re not doing anything intense or using AI tools extensively, the $1499 M3 pro is probably a good bet. It’s definitely a better value than any 16GB M3 configuration, especially considering future resale/trade.
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I use AI significantly. Running checks on code for instance. Or as a very involved "Ask Jeeves" interface for some general questions I can avoid using a search engine for. All based on being connected to a network and it's based on my browser speed.

What is it that they're saying will be running on the local hardware and what will it be doing? The AI we've always been using, such as in Photoshop, has been around for decades and takes advantages of each hardware update.

Any update with new/more/better/efficient processors will be reflected in the software for it. But what is it in AI or "NPU" that is game changing? Locally? An "Ask Jeeves" that sits on my tray and looks at his nails while he waits for me to ask something?

My suspicion is that the M4 (As well as all the "AI" branded Intel and AMD offerings) are just normal chip evolutions with new marketing spin.

And the AI software running locally is just functional data collection.
 
rwh63 said:
what kind of benefit is this actually? credit or debit on future apple purchases? can it be used to purchase something right away? i don't usually sign up for unnecessary lines of credit for minor benefits, but am on the edge of needing a new laptop, so would be useful if it can be used in conjunction with that purchase.
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I believe it is cash bonus
 
reluctantly, just signed up for, and set up, an Apple Card/Pay. now just have to spend $1500 in 60 days to claim the $300 reason. should i wait for the m4 release, and keep an eye on the m1-m3 availability? that m3 for $1499.99 seems like it fits the bill, but who knows exactly what will come out of the next update. when is the next release?
 
rwh63 said:
reluctantly, just signed up for, and set up, an Apple Card/Pay. now just have to spend $1500 in 60 days to claim the $300 reason. should i wait for the m4 release, and keep an eye on the m1-m3 availability? that m3 for $1499.99 seems like it fits the bill, but who knows exactly what will come out of the next update. when is the next release?
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Rumors say November. The M3 Pro is plenty of computer IMHO.
 
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