Retina MacBook Pro: must be purchased by end of month, and refreshes

[exi]

Looking for some MacRumors thoughts on this.

Have a certain amount of money available to me through my position which I could put towards a new Retina MBP or something else.

I am currently using a ~2009 era 15" MBP.

Thing is, the device would have to be purchased within the next 1-2 weeks. My concern is that there is likely an upcoming refresh to the Retina MBP, seeing as how by the Buyer's Guide, we're at 206 days since refresh as of today (12/10), with average time elapsed since a refresh being 214 days as of today.

Device is used for a variety of relatively lightweight things. Occasional (rare) gaming, nothing strenuous, though I wish to keep the horsepower just in case. Will be used for streaming to an Apple TV. As this is my primary machine, I prefer a larger screen as far as laptops go, and as a techie, top shelf is required.

All that being said: am I really looking at missing a refresh because I "have" to purchase the device within the coming week or two? While obviously I care, should I care?

 

[T5BRICK]

All that being said: am I really looking at missing a refresh because I "have" to purchase the device within the coming week or two?

The new rMBPs will probably be released in February.

While obviously I care, should I care?

No, because the quad core i7 CPU in the 2015 15" rMBP absolutely destroys the dual core Core2 CPU in the 2009 15" MBP you currently have.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

I think new ones in march/april myself, but I'm not as optomistic as T5Brick, either way far too late for you if you must do it in the net couple of days. A 2015 15 inch rMBP will be so much better than your 2009 it's not evn worth thinking about whether you'll be disappointed, The next rMBP might get a slight design overhaul and TB3 so if you plan on using an external GPU or a 5K screen it's worth having otherwise I don't think it will make much difference to your use case.

 

[ABC5S]

Other wise OP, no refresh or new Pro's. Buy one now

 

[maflynn]

Thing is, the device would have to be purchased within the next 1-2 weeks.

My concern is that there is likely an upcoming refresh

You're not going to see a refresh until 2016 and only after Intel releases its chipset that will go into the MBP. As you posted, you have an immediate need, so buy it now and don't worry about what apple may or may not do.

 

[exi]

Took you all up on it and ponied up for a 15" MBP with the currently offered Radeon chipset and an i7 at 2.8 GHz.

Going to be annoyed if the next refresh comes with things I want, but hey, a substantial portion of the purchase price is covered by doing it now.

Wonder what even day-to-day things will be like, going from an ancient nVidia chipset on a Core 2 Duo at 2.53 to hardware many, many generations ahead.