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Buy used now or wait until after WWDC?

SirithX

SirithX

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 21, 2007
434
135
San Francisco
I'm thinking of upgrading from my current MacBook Pro, a mid-2012 model, to something newer. I definitely wouldn't mind one of the newest ones, but I'm trying to upgrade at the lowest price possible so I've been looking more at used/refurb 2015 and 2016 models. Do you all think the MacBook Pros in the market will lower in price once new Kaby Lake MBPs are released? Or should I just go for the best deal I can find right now regardless?
 
SirithX said:
I'm thinking of upgrading from my current MacBook Pro, a mid-2012 model, to something newer. I definitely wouldn't mind one of the newest ones, but I'm trying to upgrade at the lowest price possible so I've been looking more at used/refurb 2015 and 2016 models. Do you all think the MacBook Pros in the market will lower in price once new Kaby Lake MBPs are released? Or should I just go for the best deal I can find right now regardless?
Click to expand...

Truthfully, if you can wait, that's what I would do. I wish I would have waited, I just purchased my 2016 model two weeks ago. And now I passed my return. Although I'm very happy with mine, I wish I would have considered WWDC knowingly if there was a refresh coming in two weeks.
 
If the absolute lowest price is what you are after, then you should probably go used and wait until after the announcement, as there will be a flood of listings. My recommendation would be to buy one still within Apple warranty.
The refurbished route from Apple is not the cheapest, but probably the best price for as close to new as you can get. I got a 2015 rMBP from Apple's refurbished section a few months ago - indistinguishable from new and came in a sealed box like a new computer. The site Refurb Store is great for getting alerts when the exact configurations you are looking for become available on Apple's site.

@Relentless Power If you bought from Apple, you could still probably get away with returning it if it is a few days after the 14 day window if you can afford to be without one for a couple weeks. Not a guarantee, but it is worth trying if you may want whatever maybe released at WWDC.
 
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WWDC's coming in just a couple of weeks so unless you need a new computer I'd wait. I'm hoping prices on the 2015 models come down significantly so I can snag a nice 15"...
 
Makes sense, if the upgraded models are available near immediately then I'm thinking it's a pretty good possibility that many used MBPs will enter the marketplace.

I'm just not sure if pricing will change much, particularly I'm looking at slightly used mid-2015 15" models (16 GB RAM, 500GB, discrete graphics) for around ~$1600, which seems to be the best deal available right now. Not sure if it's fair to expect that price to lower even more, but if the market is flooded I imagine there should be even cheaper ones.
 
If you wait two weeks you'll be able to :

a) Get the new model with the same amount of money or less since Apple usually lowers the prices of their products after the 1st gen ..

b) Buy the previous models at a much cheaper price ..

c) Verify that Apple hasn't released new laptops and will probably not until Autumn ..

If you buy one now instead, you're risking a&b .. Not worth it in my opinion ..
 
Not so sure if Apple will lower the price of previous models. Look what happened to the 2015 models last year when the 2016 models were released...
 
A WWDC refresh is extremely likely at this stage...

Screen Shot 2017-05-23 at 15.32.38.png

Screen Shot 2017-05-23 at 15.31.52.png
 
If there's nothing particularly wrong with the 2012 MBPro, it makes no sense to "buy now".

Wait another month and see what develops.

I predict that buy July 1, you will have many more options from which to choose.
 
I hope the WWDC refresh skips Kaby Lake and goes straight to Coffee Lake, which is expected to release by Intel in Q3 this year.

Don't know if WWDC is too early for that though.


Coffee Lake is about a 15% performance improvement and 15% better battery life than current Skylake Macbook Pro's



A touchbar Macbook Pro with a 12 hour bettery life? Yes, please.
 
HelpfulGuy said:
I hope the WWDC refresh skips Kaby Lake and goes straight to Coffee Lake, which is expected to release by Intel in Q3 this year.

Coffee Lake is about a 15% performance improvement and 15% better battery life than current Skylake Macbook Pro's
Click to expand...

We'd never buy computers at this rate. ;)
 
I usually don't buy new Macs until they are on the Apple Refurbished Store. Just bought a 15" MacBook Pro refurb, saved a lot. Got it fully loaded with everything. 2TB SSD! Any machine revealed at WWDC (if we even see that) would not be subject to such savings anytime soon.

There's always something faster and better coming, but I'm happy with this machine. So fast.
 
My current 15" tbMBP is a fantastic machine, but the rumors of there being a 32GB version with more power-efficient processors coming have me salivating. Unfortunately I bought this in January so I'm well past the return phase, and it was the right machine at the right time.

So if you can wait, wait. Worst case scenario is no update and you buy the machine you were going to buy anyway. If you need it now, get it now.
 
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