Moving from 2012 15" rMBP to 2011 15" MBP?

[gametime10]

I've been loving my mid-2012 15" rMBP (2.3 i7, 16GB, 512GB), but I'm not looking forward to the coming drop in price when Apple releases a refresh this fall. I try to sell my gear before the price drop happens, get a good deal on some older gear, and then upgrade to the latest several months later.

Anyways, I'm currently being offered to trade my rMBP for $800 + a late 2011 15" MBP (2.4 i7, 16GB, 1TB Fusion Drive [256GB SSD + 750GB HDD]). This is the model with the ATI Radeon 6770M 1GB VRAM. It also comes the anti-glare high-res screen.

I'll certainly miss the retina screen (though anti-glare will be nice) and thinner profile. And the battery life won't be nearly as good. But will there be any noticeable change in performance? This still seems to be a solid machine. Cosmetically it's got a couple light dings on the bottom, so that hurts its value, but its nothing that I can't live with.

 

[B...]

That is not a good trade considering Apple's pricing for the 16 and 512 upgrades you paid.

 

[gametime10]

That configuration is $2200 in the apple refurbished store with full one year warranty. If I can get about $2000 equivalent, I think I'm doing pretty well, no?

 

[srsub3]

giving to that mac a 1000 $ value.... plus the ssd value and 800$... to me is a fair trade in... 2000$ minus or plus is the actual real market value of your machine.....

 

[ugahairydawgs]

Is there a particular reason why you feel compelled to upgrade when the newer models ship? You seem to have a dang good machine now.

 

[gametime10]

Is there a particular reason why you feel compelled to upgrade when the newer models ship? You seem to have a dang good machine now.

You're totally right... There should be a name for this syndrome to want to upgrade.

 

[devilcm3]

the problem is , when the MBP is refreshed.
your 'soon to be' 2011 MBP value also deteriorates.

there's no reason for keeping even an older model, recent models fetch more resale value.

 

[gametime10]

That's a good point. You're making me rethink my strategy. The question would be whether the 2011 would decrease value by less? But still, it's not certain either way.

 

[twingo]

You get good money for your retina Macbook even when the new model arrives. So why live several months without retina display?

 

[NewishMacGuy]

the problem is , when the MBP is refreshed.
your 'soon to be' 2011 MBP value also deteriorates.

That's a good point. You're making me rethink my strategy. The question would be whether the 2011 would decrease value by less? But still, it's not certain either way.

On an absolute $ amount, the 2011 will almost surely depreciate by less. On a percentage basis it'll be closer, but the 2011 will likely still do better. Just like with cars, Mac laptop depreciation curves flatten out over time, even though the penalty for "driving it off the lot" isn't as steep.

I suspect that we may also see outright price drops in the Retina as well.

Still you're left with a question and a problem:

Question is whether or not you're "buying" the 2011 cheaply enough. I think you're correct in figuring the value of the 2011 at $1200 (which is conservative) and given the spec, I doubt that it'll trade down below $1100-$1200 within the next 6mo to 1yr, meaning that it likely won't depreciate AT ALL in the near term. That's a pretty good deal on that machine.

Problem is that you've already taken the "depreciation" hit from Apple's overpriced upgrades and "driving it off the lot." That's sunk cost now, but buying the new rMBP on announcement will sign you up for that sunk cost all over again. If your current rMBP is satisfactory, why would you want to do that?



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[bbishop93]

Only sell it now if you already have a backup. Monetary wise and adding in depreciation, it makes no sense to sell a current model now, buy an older model, and then sell that older model to get the newest a few months from now. You'd save more money just selling the rMBP when the newest comes out, just keep it in good shape. You got to remember too there is a large market of people who wait for the new models to come to get the old ones a bit cheaper so you can appeal to that market. It will certainly be larger than the used 2011 cMBP market....especially when the new retinas come out.