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Pay full price or wait for sales

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Blake123abc

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 8, 2019
37
3
Hi,

Do you normally pay full price for Apple Products specifically the MacBook Air 15inch or do you normally wait for a sale like at Best Buy, Amazon, etc? I’m seeing sales for the MacBook Air come up every once in awhile even today, but I’m not ready to buy it yet (hopefully soon) and although it’s tempting to buy it at the sale price, I might have to buy it at full price when I’m ready to buy it. Is it worth paying full price? Thanks
 
I often try to wait until something has been out long enough to show up in Apple's Refurbished section. As time goes on, availability of BTO models gets better. Right now you can get tons of 13" M2 MacBook Airs in different configurations. A few months down the line, you'll probably start to see the 15" Air there as well.

The one drag about that is, you can't do Apple trade-in credit with refurbished products.
 
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ilikewhey said:
depends on what you buy, if its a base spec just wait, base spec of any mac goes on sale quite frequently, however if you have a BTO spec in mind then yeah buy it now cause chance of that on sale is much more rare.
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Thanks, yeah I’m looking to buy the base spec, I’m hoping like Amazon has a sale next weekend for Labor Day weekend
 
ilikewhey said:
depends on what you buy, if its a base spec just wait, base spec of any mac goes on sale quite frequently, however if you have a BTO spec in mind then yeah buy it now cause chance of that on sale is much more rare.
Click to expand...
Thanks, yeah I’m looking to buy the base spec, I’m hoping like Amazon has a sale next weekend for Labor Day
ignatius345 said:
I often try to wait until something has been out long enough to show up in Apple's Refurbished section. As time goes on, availability of BTO models gets better. Right now you can get tons of 13" M2 MacBook Airs in different configurations. A few months down the line, you'll probably start to see the 15" Air there as well.

The one drag about that is, you can't do Apple trade-in credit with refurbished products.
Click to expand...
Thank you, yeah that’s a good idea about buying from the refurb section on Apple
 
You can get an M1 MBA 13.3 for $749 through Amazon, Costco, and Best Buy currently. I was looking to get one for my son. Then I saw that while Best Buy had the M2 13.6 MBA for $999 and Costco had it for $1,049, the Apple Certified Refurb store had them for $929. So I ordered one from them. I figured for the extra $170 he gets a 2nd gen with M2, Magsafe which the M1 MBA doesn't have an a couple other improvements.
 
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ilikewhey said:
depends on what you buy, if its a base spec just wait, base spec of any mac goes on sale quite frequently, however if you have a BTO spec in mind then yeah buy it now cause chance of that on sale is much more rare.
Click to expand...
Fully agreed. And IMO few if any folks reading MR should ever buy base spec; the only exception would be someone intentionally planning an arbitrarily short two-year life cycle. Even though the Mac OS will always make things work, today's base RAM will be limiting in 3 years if not much sooner.

2017 I saved ~$1k+ buying a loaded 2016 MBP, but such deals on fully loaded boxes are uncommon. 2023 I paid full price for an M2 MBP with 96 GB RAM, even though today I only need 64 GB.

P.S. Apple refurbs are a great way to reduce cost if one can find what one wants.
 
Last edited:
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I buy from Apple, where I can configure my devices as I wish, and in Sweden I know Apple’s service is top notch. It’s not so often I make those purchases, and I rather not compromise on the quality and service around those.

I definitely can go look for cheap prices around other more consumable things, and often buy a lot of stuff on Amazon. Not just my Apple stuff.
 
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Not just Apple products, anything I buy I try to determine if it is a need or want. If need, such as for work, I will get what I need now. If I just want to upgrade something, I wait and plan for sales or the next gen if not needed now.
 
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I bought the base spec MacBook Pro M1, but upgraded the storage to 512 GBs. My plan is to upgrade probably in 2026. Do you have the Amazon Store card? I bought mine using that and paid monthly installments for 12 months.
 
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We got a lot of the devices in this household brand new from Apple.
That was, however, before inflation went hard all over the place.

While Apple keep pointing out "the same great price as before" on a lot of their devices, prices in this country have increased quite a bit. My iPad Air 5 would now cost me roughly 150 Euros more than it did when I bought it, for example. Amazon usually have some decent offers but nowhere near as drastic or frequently as in the US, UK or even Germany.

So, recently, I've started considering used and/or refurbished more seriously.
 
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I did buy my M2 MBA on release day, only because I was drawn to the new design and wanted that specific device. Usually, though I wait until a device comes on the refurb store and save a bit. Not that you save much, but you know, I am Scottish, and every penny is a prisoner :)
 
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I have a 2016 13" MBP with max specs and was wanting to upgrade. I see Apple has the educational discounts on right now, during check out gives me $200 off and a $200 gift card. I priced out both MBP and MBA 13" maxed out and they are $100 difference (MBP costing more). I am leaning towards an air and maxing out for product longevity.

Are these sales common? The price on the MBP with out the discounts are still cheaper then what I paid 7 years ago.
 
attk11 said:
I have a 2016 13" MBP with max specs and was wanting to upgrade. I see Apple has the educational discounts on right now, during check out gives me $200 off and a $200 gift card. I priced out both MBP and MBA 13" maxed out and they are $100 difference (MBP costing more). I am leaning towards an air and maxing out for product longevity.

Are these sales common? The price on the MBP with out the discounts are still cheaper then what I paid 7 years ago.
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going back to school event happens every year during the summer, so its pretty common, if you are looking at the 14inch mbp they are on sale from costco and walmart here and there.
 
Speaking for myself I purchased 2 M1 MacBook Airs when they were on sale at Best Buy. Saved myself $500
 
I usually check out Apple's own Refurb & Clearance site. Kinda hidden on the Store website in the fine print at the bottom of main page.

New products may take a couple of months before appearing, but tend to appear before Apple-sanctioned sales at retail, or waiting until next season's model for discounts on 'old' stock.

Their refurb (which can be customer returns - buyer's remorse, wrong config, wrong colour, etc or minor tech issue) arguably better than new as each is individually checked, repaired as needed, tested and repackaged. Full warranty as new and eligible tor AppleCare. Save some bucks.
 
ignatius345 said:
I often try to wait until something has been out long enough to show up in Apple's Refurbished section. As time goes on, availability of BTO models gets better. Right now you can get tons of 13" M2 MacBook Airs in different configurations. A few months down the line, you'll probably start to see the 15" Air there as well.

The one drag about that is, you can't do Apple trade-in credit with refurbished products.
Click to expand...
This.

My MBA was Apple Refurb and for all intents and purposes it was brand new and at a good price. It was even cheaper a few month later.
 
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I configure from the Apple site so I can customize my configuration. Then I ask around to family and friends to find the best corporate or educational discount I can borrow/use, then I pay them to get me the Mac I want “as a gift”.
 
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