Buying refurb MBP 13 now? or wait til lower price...

[tracid]

Hi all,

I dont post here often but any help would be appreciated.

I'm pretty dead set on buying a refurbished 13" macbook pro since it fits all my needs as a student and I've heard good things about apple refurbished products.

Since there's a retina 13" macbook pro about to be released this october or early next year, do you think there will be an immediate drop in price for the refurbished models?

Do you think I should buy now? I just dont want to get burned if prices do drop.

Thanks in advance.

 

[calvol]

Watch the sales events, Fry's has 128/4 13" MBP's for $999 now. I think as student you can order a new one in that config direct from Apple for $1020. Open box from Best Buy might even be cheaper.

 

[LaunchpadBS]

Amazon have em for less than Apples refurb price, also look at the refurb price of the 2011 MBP, they haven't dropped at all. But at 15% less it's a steal.

 

[tracid]

Thanks for the input but I should have been more specific with my post.

I've been looking at the low-end 2012 13" macbook since it has the 4000 Intel HD graphics upgrade from the old 3000

Originally released June 2012
13.3-inch (diagonal) LED-backlit glossy widescreen display, 1280-by-800 resolution
4GB (2 x 2GB) of 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM
500GB Serial ATA @ 5400 rpm
8x double-layer SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Intel HD Graphics 4000

Fry's and amazon.com is not an option since I live in Canada. Do you think apple will push out another current-gen macbook pro before the release of Haswell chipsets?

 

[designs216]

We're not even four months from the last refresh. I think the prices in the refurb bin will creep down more over the next few months. They should reach the best price right after the new models are released. So if you can wait, wait.

 

[macrominnie]

I don't think a 13 inch rMBP is going to push down the refurb prices of the regular 13 inch MBP. The rMBP 13" will likely be priced at a premium to the base 13, maybe $400 more, just like the 15" line.

I also don't think there will be any notable update of the MBP line until the Haswell chip machines next spring/summer. The 13" rMBP will boost attention for the MBP line before then.

The product cycle differences of the laptop lines have been slower than the phone/tablet ones. With the retina screen, USB 3.0, Thunderbolt, and optional or standard SSD in place, I don't see any big hardware leaps to drive new models before Haswell in 2013.

Sadly, I think 2013 will see a shift to non-removeable RAM & SSD's in most or all of the MBP line. These are just my estimates of trends.

Check the Black Friday/holiday sales. Apple refurbs are fine but the sales may have new models priced in a similar range.

 

[tracid]

I don't think a 13 inch rMBP is going to push down the refurb prices of the regular 13 inch MBP. The rMBP 13" will likely be priced at a premium to the base 13, maybe $400 more, just like the 15" line.

I also don't think there will be any notable update of the MBP line until the Haswell chip machines next spring/summer. The 13" rMBP will boost attention for the MBP line before then.

The product cycle differences of the laptop lines have been slower than the phone/tablet ones. With the retina screen, USB 3.0, Thunderbolt, and optional or standard SSD in place, I don't see any big hardware leaps to drive new models before Haswell in 2013.

Sadly, I think 2013 will see a shift to non-removeable RAM & SSD's in most or all of the MBP line. These are just my estimates of trends.

Check the Black Friday/holiday sales. Apple refurbs are fine but the sales may have new models priced in a similar range.

Thanks for your input. I agree it's sad to see that newer models of macbooks won't be as configurable which is why I'm opting to go with current-gen and upgrading ram and ssd.

I guess it's good enough time to buy.