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Is Amazon a good deal for current RMBP 13"?

B

BlockEight88

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 20, 2013
217
32
I'm assuming Apple won't update the retina MacBooks today with Haswell. I'd wait, but need one for school. A brand new RMBP on Amazon is $1599. That's with 2.6 GHz/8GB/256GB hd. I can use my student discount on Apple and before tax it's the same price but that's the price I'd pay on Amazon with no tax. Can always add AppleCare and get that cheaper later on.

So is the best deal for a brand new unopened rMBP? I do not want a refurbished. Nothing wrong with refurbs, just my personal preference.

Thanks

P.S I hope I don't have to do this and Apple just updates the MBP today.
 
Get it from Amazon, if its the lower priced one, but depending on your needs, you may need to pay for shipping with Amazon, so keep that in mind of you're not an Amazon prime member.
 
Thanks for the reply. I do have Amazon Prime and shipping would be free and 2 day. I'm just wondering if there is a better deal out there for a new sealed in the box rMBP.

Avoiding eBay.
 
Check out BestBuy and maybe MacMall, but you'll probably not see any major sales or savings.
 
I'd say no considering the new one is so close to coming out.

You could get a used/refurb for $1200-ish. That's what I sold my 8/256 for ($1150)
 
Thanks for the Apple insider website. Never seen it before and I can already see that it's super useful.

Is it still a good idea to purchase the mc975ll/a model? I'm still rocking an early 2008 MBP so it be a while before I upgrade again if it last just as long!
 
robvas said:
I'd say no considering the new one is so close to coming out.

You could get a used/refurb for $1200-ish. That's what I sold my 8/256 for ($1150)
Click to expand...

As stated above, not interested in refurbs. Thanks

Krazy Bill said:
B&H $1580

Free Shipping
No Sales Tax (If not in New York)
Free copy of Parallels

Or go here for a comprehensive price guide for retailers
Click to expand...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Parallels 9 coming out soon with full support for Mavericks?
 
Haswell for the Airs meant another 4-5 hours in battery life, better graphics performance, but roughly the same CPU performance, unless you got the i7, then you see a 20% upgrade instead of just 10%.

I'd expect similar results for the rMBP.
 
robvas said:
Haswell for the Airs meant another 4-5 hours in battery life, better graphics performance, but roughly the same CPU performance, unless you got the i7, then you see a 20% upgrade instead of just 10%.

I'd expect similar results for the rMBP.
Click to expand...

Well I've debated getting the Air until I saw the screen. Horrible colour gamut.

The Apple store is down a little early, so that's a sign they might be upgrading the MacBook Pros today.
 
BlockEight88 said:
Well I've debated getting the Air until I saw the screen. Horrible colour gamut.

The Apple store is down a little early, so that's a sign they might be upgrading the MacBook Pros today.
Click to expand...

The screen's the reason I'm returning my Air. I was hoping I could live with it, but the actual panel quality is poor enough that it bothers me anytime I use it. 1440x900 would be a perfectly fine resolution for this screen size if it had either a good IPS panel or at least a high quality TN (for example the 1920x1200 17" MBP display is amazingly good for a TN panel).

Aside from the color accuracy (poor) it has notably lower brightness (compared to rMBP and my old 17" MBP), making it extremely difficult to use outside if you live in a sunny area. I've seen both displays (Samsung/LG) and they're both bad, though in slightly different ways.

I think you're going to regret it if you buy a new rMBP right now, but obviously you may not have an alternative option if you absolutely need a laptop now. Amazon does have an excellent return policy; If you buy the machine and the new models come out within the next 30 days you could always return it. I'd probably wait as long as possible to order to maximize the chances of that happening if I had no other choice.
 
If you ever buy from the Apple store, I have trick for you.

This does have one requirement: A Discover Credit Card.

If you go through ShopDiscover (click-through to Apple from Discover's online site), you get 5% back. This stacks on top of the Apple student discount as well!

But wait, there's more. Discover has rotating categories that give 5% extra cash back (up to $1,500). Turns out that this OCT- DEC (2013), any online purchases will get another 5% back.

This means you can stack the student discount + 5% back from ShopDiscover + 5% back from rotating category (will be 1% back on the remaining amount after $1,500). I believe Apple's student giftcard promotion is over but if it isn't, more power to you.

PLEASE NOTE: I believe this is the first time Discover has a rotating category called "Online Purchases." Expect 5% all the time though.
 
I bought a used- very good from amazon for $1125
late 2012 rmbp 13" 256gb ssd and 8gb ram

It was literally brand new and 10 battery cycles. No blemishes what so ever! The only thing that was ruined was the mac box but as long as it is brand new im okay. It also has apple care till december.

My friend as well bought a very good from amazon his did have 2 tiny blemishing and 14 cycles.


Id say you wait till more used stock comes out.

t8aoti.png
 
Atomic Walrus said:
The screen's the reason I'm returning my Air. I was hoping I could live with it, but the actual panel quality is poor enough that it bothers me anytime I use it. 1440x900 would be a perfectly fine resolution for this screen size if it had either a good IPS panel or at least a high quality TN (for example the 1920x1200 17" MBP display is amazingly good for a TN panel).

Aside from the color accuracy (poor) it has notably lower brightness (compared to rMBP and my old 17" MBP), making it extremely difficult to use outside if you live in a sunny area. I've seen both displays (Samsung/LG) and they're both bad, though in slightly different ways.

I think you're going to regret it if you buy a new rMBP right now, but obviously you may not have an alternative option if you absolutely need a laptop now. Amazon does have an excellent return policy; If you buy the machine and the new models come out within the next 30 days you could always return it. I'd probably wait as long as possible to order to maximize the chances of that happening if I had no other choice.
Click to expand...

Amazon has a 15% restocking fee unless its damaged or DOA.
 
BlockEight88 said:
I'm assuming Apple won't update the retina MacBooks today with Haswell. I'd wait, but need one for school. A brand new RMBP on Amazon is $1599. That's with 2.6 GHz/8GB/256GB hd. I can use my student discount on Apple and before tax it's the same price but that's the price I'd pay on Amazon with no tax. Can always add AppleCare and get that cheaper later on.

So is the best deal for a brand new unopened rMBP? I do not want a refurbished. Nothing wrong with refurbs, just my personal preference.

Thanks

P.S I hope I don't have to do this and Apple just updates the MBP today.
Click to expand...

Check Amazon Open Box deals. Just bought a 2012 13 inch retina, MD212LL/A with 256GB SSD for my daughter for $1152; it was like new, box and all accessories (had 9 cycles on battery) and its warranty started on March of this year, so covered until March of 2014. Hard to beat that deal!
 
BlockEight88 said:
Amazon has a 15% restocking fee unless its damaged or DOA.
Click to expand...

Amazon does not charge restocking fees. They used to, apparently (when I searched on this topic I could only find old discussions on the subject).

They certainly didn't charge restocking fees on the 2 TVs I returned last November.

Unless I'm missing something really obvious...

The only cases of partial refunds and restocking fees seem to be listed here, and opened laptops isn't on the list: http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=901926
 
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