is it a refresch with new processor going to happen in a month or so or is it jus safe to buy the retina macbook now ?
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buy macbook now or is ???
- Thread starter callawayno1
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Unlikely since it was released just six months ago, but no one but Apple knows absolutely for sure. The safe bet is there won't be a refresh before early 2016.
I somehow doubt they will leave it that late, since Dell XPS and other competitors (Microsoft surface pro 4 ) will release skylake notebooks by october, and will be ready for holidays time. It will be a big mistake form apple to sell one year old generation macobook this holidays, they going to lose on a lot of sales.
It s first generration of macbook, donest matter that it was released only 6 months ago, skylake CpUs avaiable for apple NOW, so im sure by around october time they will update it.
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Apple won't lose any sales. Apple does not compete with Dell or Asus or other WinTel manufacturers. Apple will sell Macs with whatever processors they choose to put in them and as long as they're not too grossly out of date, people will buy them, since only Apple makes Macs.
A small percentage of people who truly care about the specs may hold out, but the vast majority of Apple's customers aren't going to know a Core m5 from a hole in the wall.
My prediction is that Apple won't upgrade the specs on the 12" rMB until April -- one year from the time the first rMB was released.
You'd be surprised how many people are looking at the MacBook as the best Windows 10 machine on the market (raises hand). Sony went out of the VAIO business, they made the thinnest/lightest Windows notebooks for the past decade, you'd be surprised how well the RMB runs Windows. I've owned Lenovo's, Acer's, Toshiba's, HP's, Sony's, this Apple is rock-solid for Windows. I love my RMB, never use it on OSX, ever.
That said, I agree with your April refresh date. It's a niche product and it won't be swapped in a mere matter of months.
My opinion, it's very safe to buy the RMB now. Also keep in mind that Apple has a 14 day return policy, so if you're anxious to get one and start playing with it today you can do so and hedge your bet before next week's keynote.
BJ
Are the Core-M Skylake chips really coming out in October in volume?
A local news source here claims both availability and price of e.g. the Skylake XPS 13 to be "unknown".
The model shown at IFA was an engineering sample, at best. IMO.
Though, on 2nd look it seems like prices for Core-M 6th-gen notebooks are starting to appear in various search-engines.
(From another news-sources)
And the more I look at it the more I'm convinced that this year may not be like last year (or any year actually) and we may in fact be in for a giant refresh-marathon before Christmas.
The increased availability of other notebooks with more recent Core-M CPUs will certainly lend credibility to an "early refresh" cycle at Apple....
A local news source here claims both availability and price of e.g. the Skylake XPS 13 to be "unknown".
The model shown at IFA was an engineering sample, at best. IMO.
Though, on 2nd look it seems like prices for Core-M 6th-gen notebooks are starting to appear in various search-engines.
(From another news-sources)
And the more I look at it the more I'm convinced that this year may not be like last year (or any year actually) and we may in fact be in for a giant refresh-marathon before Christmas.
The increased availability of other notebooks with more recent Core-M CPUs will certainly lend credibility to an "early refresh" cycle at Apple....
Not to mention the fact that it's not like Apple hasnt released an Early-20xx and a Late-20xx refresh for Macs in the same year before. Heck, Apple released the iPad 3 and iPad 4 mere months apart.
History, if anything, has shown that Apple will refresh if they feel compelled to do so.
Yes, there is a history of Apple releasing new versions soon after the previous version, but I think those cases are slightly different. The truth is, no one knows when it will be released, but here is my thoughts on why I don't think that the 2nd gen rMB will be released in a month.
1. Rarely does Apple release their computers with a new generation processor as soon as the processor becomes available. There have been some exceptions, but usually those exception are new processors within the same generation (i.e. the last haswell update on the MBP was to a newer haswell chip, not to a new generation of chip). People always point to the two exceptions to product updates while conveniently ignoring that almost every time, Apple upgrades on a 1-2 year cycle depending on the product.
2. I'm sure there will be some changes to the 2nd gen rMB that they will want to acknowledge, such as a 2nd USB type-C port or increased battery time or something. Any change in the way the internals are arranged (especially with their tiered battery) will have to undergo a few months of testing.
3. Early next year will be one year since the rMB release and a few months after the appropriate Core-M chip release by Intel so that time frame seems sensible to me.
1. Rarely does Apple release their computers with a new generation processor as soon as the processor becomes available. There have been some exceptions, but usually those exception are new processors within the same generation (i.e. the last haswell update on the MBP was to a newer haswell chip, not to a new generation of chip). People always point to the two exceptions to product updates while conveniently ignoring that almost every time, Apple upgrades on a 1-2 year cycle depending on the product.
2. I'm sure there will be some changes to the 2nd gen rMB that they will want to acknowledge, such as a 2nd USB type-C port or increased battery time or something. Any change in the way the internals are arranged (especially with their tiered battery) will have to undergo a few months of testing.
3. Early next year will be one year since the rMB release and a few months after the appropriate Core-M chip release by Intel so that time frame seems sensible to me.
I doubt Apple is going to follow up with a gen 2 before early 2016. If you pick one up at Best Buy though, you'll get 15-45 days to return it depending on how much you've spent there this year. They're also $65 off right now and you can drop a movers coupon on top of that. Enough of a discount that you'll get a good chunk of the cost back if you decide to sell it and pick up gen 2.
Keep in mind, even if you buy it now and they refresh it this year, yours will still work as well the day after the announcement as the day before. Keep it in good shape and you could resell it at minimal loss if the new one is that much of an improvement.
I agree with several others in this thread: I don't think it will be refreshed until early 2016.
I agree with several others in this thread: I don't think it will be refreshed until early 2016.
I have no doubt that Apple would like to sell the current line-up for as long as they can (and then some...).
I think there's even a precedent from a while ago where Apple continued to sell most of their lineup with an "outdated" chipset while the rest of the industry had already moved to the the next chipset.
But the past is the past.
They can probably delay their Skylake release for a month or two - but if Intel delivers chips to everybody else and hardware is available for Black Friday (except from Apple), it might pose a slight but noticeable problem.
Though, I admit, any problem with any Mac product that isn't in the "it blows up in your face, burns away your eyebrows and gives you a bloody nose"-category is probably insignificant compared to the slightest of non-problems with the iPhone. Half a day of iPhone sales is most likely more than most of us earn in our entire life...
I think there's even a precedent from a while ago where Apple continued to sell most of their lineup with an "outdated" chipset while the rest of the industry had already moved to the the next chipset.
But the past is the past.
They can probably delay their Skylake release for a month or two - but if Intel delivers chips to everybody else and hardware is available for Black Friday (except from Apple), it might pose a slight but noticeable problem.
Though, I admit, any problem with any Mac product that isn't in the "it blows up in your face, burns away your eyebrows and gives you a bloody nose"-category is probably insignificant compared to the slightest of non-problems with the iPhone. Half a day of iPhone sales is most likely more than most of us earn in our entire life...
I too would wait. My brother was after a MacBook but I told him to wait for sky lake, the improvements in graphics for Core M alone is worth it, along with the fact that we should see maybe an extra hour of battery life.
I think we may also see an extra USB-C port, as correct me if I'm wrong, but Broadwell Core M only allowed for one USB 3 port, whereas Skylake Core M has the possibility for 2?
Anyhow, I got him a used MacBook Air from ebay for £500 which should tie him over until early next year, I suggest doing the same, just make sure it has Applecare.
I think we may also see an extra USB-C port, as correct me if I'm wrong, but Broadwell Core M only allowed for one USB 3 port, whereas Skylake Core M has the possibility for 2?
Anyhow, I got him a used MacBook Air from ebay for £500 which should tie him over until early next year, I suggest doing the same, just make sure it has Applecare.
As much as it pains me and i too would love to get one, i think I'm going to wait for Sky Lake. I think i'd be annoyed if bought one soon then they release it next year.
To be fair my current one can hold up until then
To be fair my current one can hold up until then
I was on jury duty today, must have been 10 people with Pro's and Air's and the room stood still as I opened my Retina and took in the keynote.
BJ
I would bet very strongly against Apple updating the rMB this year. After all of the announcements at today's event, word on the street is that there's not going to be another Apple event this fall. If that's the case, I doubt there will be an update until 2016 since IMO it's extremely unlikely that Apple would "silently" update the rMB with Skylake. I think we'll see a silent update to the 21" iMac to give it a Retina display when El Capitan is released and that'll be it for this year.
You are now aware the current mid-2017 model is $250 off and going for $999 at Costco:
https://www.costco.com/CatalogSearch?sortBy=PriceMin|0&keyword=mac0302&dept=All