How dumb is it to buy a Mac Pro now?

[sash]

I guess my question is how much better do people think the new Mac Pros will be? Better bang for the buck? Should I wait? How much better will the new ones be?

At this point it depends on how desperate you need this machine. I've bought my MBP CD -- knowing that C2D should come out in a few months, and a difference will be quite a bit -- because having to go to Africa in a week or two for shooting and writing with a near-dead laptop seemed a bad idea. Without this urgency I'd probably wait.

Problem is, nobody here knows when Apple will launch this new MP.

 

[Sinarman]

I agonized over this very issue for most of August and then, six weeks ago, I just went ahead and bought my Pro and ADC.

Result = Happiness! No more scouring the forums wondering if someone knows something I don't and whether the "new" Mac Pro will be so amazing that purchasing the current model would be akin to buying a round-trip ticket on the Titanic.

Give your karma a break and buy now; you could wait forever for a "better" spec Mac - like tomorrow, it never comes. We'll always be waiting for the next new model and we'll always think it's so much better than the present one. That's marketing.

I had my last Mac for 12 years and, finally, was forced to upgrade in order to run the latest software.

I don't see any reason for not keeping this machine just as long and in 2020 I'll, no doubt, spend my summer agonizing over the same question, yet again. Ah, the pleasure and the pain...

 

[mingus51]

So assuming you COULD wait but don't NEED the newer bells and whistles...is there any advantage to buying the current MP the day AFTER the new MP comes out?

In other words, if you're looking to buy the current model at it's cheapest, when do you guys suggest buying?

I've seen iPods go on sale when new models come out at authorized retailers but not sure if you'd get that deep a discount on towers...

 

[Umbongo]

So assuming you COULD wait but don't NEED the newer bells and whistles...is there any advantage to buying the current MP the day AFTER the new MP comes out?

In other words, if you're looking to buy the current model at it's cheapest, when do you guys suggest buying?

I've seen iPods go on sale when new models come out at authorized retailers but not sure if you'd get that deep a discount on towers...

If you are wanting to buy refurb then now is fine. If you are wanting a used system then after the new ones come out will get you a better deal. New systems aren't likely to see much decrease, probably not beyond what you could get a refurb for now.