I would like to see peoples thoughts about waiting for the late 2014 Broadwell/Maxwel rMBP or waiting till 2015 for Skylake for DDR4 memory, and if you wait for Skylake would you then wait one more year (2016) for Pascal, nVidias next graphics with 3D chip stacking and yet less power consuption, when does it end?
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The waiting game
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My opinion with technology has always been to buy what makes sense when it makes sense. Obviously I wouldn't buy an Apple product if they have an event scheduled soon to discuss some new product but the same goes for everyone.
The performance on the rMBP with SSD and Haswell has been great. I bought it in december 2 months after release. To me it seems nuts, someone talking about waiting for a late 2014 model that may be 6-7 months away or more. As we know, Apple isn't scared to refresh when they feel they need to refresh but the most recent model won't become obsolete or anything.
I think the obsession over the best/brightest/newest/flashiest can be maddening. Its impossible to keep up with everything.
The performance on the rMBP with SSD and Haswell has been great. I bought it in december 2 months after release. To me it seems nuts, someone talking about waiting for a late 2014 model that may be 6-7 months away or more. As we know, Apple isn't scared to refresh when they feel they need to refresh but the most recent model won't become obsolete or anything.
I think the obsession over the best/brightest/newest/flashiest can be maddening. Its impossible to keep up with everything.
Buy now, it is the latest model. You will go into a never ending loop waiting for the next best thing.
Barney
Barney
Don't know if this will make any sense, .... but think of it like this. Let's say you upgrade every 2 years.
Situation 1: You bought the Haswell rMBP at the end of 2013. The next time you upgrade will be at the end of 2015, which will be the Skylake version.
Situation 2: You buy the Broadwell/Maxwell rMBP at the end of 2014. The next time you will upgrade will be at the end of 2016, which let's say will have NVIDIA Pascal graphics.
Now let's look at the years.
End of 2015. If you are in situation 1, you will be happy and upgrade to a kickass Skylake rMBP. If you are in situation 2, you have to wait and use your "old Broad/Maxwell" rMBP for another year. So to be happy at the end of 2015, you should be in situation 1.
End of 2016. If you are in situation 1, you will be sad. You just got your Skylake rMBP a year ago, so no upgrading to the new awesome rMBP with Pascal graphics. Gotta stick with an old Skylake rMBP. If you are in situation 2, you are happy. You get to upgrade to the newest model, yay.
In situation 1 you will be happy in 2013, 2015, 2017, etc. Sad in 2014, 2016, 2018, etc (these are the years people in situation 2 are happy).
Conclusion, the waiting game makes no sense. The sooner you buy, the sooner you will upgrade again.
Keep in mind that the year over year changes usually aren't world-changing, for multiple reasons.
Situation 1: You bought the Haswell rMBP at the end of 2013. The next time you upgrade will be at the end of 2015, which will be the Skylake version.
Situation 2: You buy the Broadwell/Maxwell rMBP at the end of 2014. The next time you will upgrade will be at the end of 2016, which let's say will have NVIDIA Pascal graphics.
Now let's look at the years.
End of 2015. If you are in situation 1, you will be happy and upgrade to a kickass Skylake rMBP. If you are in situation 2, you have to wait and use your "old Broad/Maxwell" rMBP for another year. So to be happy at the end of 2015, you should be in situation 1.
End of 2016. If you are in situation 1, you will be sad. You just got your Skylake rMBP a year ago, so no upgrading to the new awesome rMBP with Pascal graphics. Gotta stick with an old Skylake rMBP. If you are in situation 2, you are happy. You get to upgrade to the newest model, yay.
In situation 1 you will be happy in 2013, 2015, 2017, etc. Sad in 2014, 2016, 2018, etc (these are the years people in situation 2 are happy).
Conclusion, the waiting game makes no sense. The sooner you buy, the sooner you will upgrade again.
Keep in mind that the year over year changes usually aren't world-changing, for multiple reasons.
My strategy has always been the following: if you think that the currently available device will improve your experience (and make you happier), you should go for it. Its all about what you get for the money. I like to estimate the relative worth of my purchases by looking how much I spent on them over the time they were actually actively used. The laptop is a big part of my life, I use to for work, recreation, organising my personal and social life. It used to cost around 2200 Euro, which is about 20 euro per month at its current age. The value I got from it is tremendous - its much less then money I spend on my phone connection. As a matter of fact, this is a price of a cocktail in a good bar in the city where I live (sure, its one of the most expensive cities in the world, but still).
My last laptop was the 2009 C2D MBP - when the first rMBP came out I estimated that it would make my life and work much easier, so I went for it. Never regretted it so far.
P.S. I think my next update will be the Broadwell in 2015. I very much doubt that we will see any Broadwell-based laptops this year.
My last laptop was the 2009 C2D MBP - when the first rMBP came out I estimated that it would make my life and work much easier, so I went for it. Never regretted it so far.
P.S. I think my next update will be the Broadwell in 2015. I very much doubt that we will see any Broadwell-based laptops this year.
The only reason I am not buying now is because I simply don't have the money....and it will take me that many months to save up enough to upgrade. I don't even have a Retina model right now. But it's plenty fast!
If you are having to get financing for it, why not save the money that you would be spending on paying back that financing, wait as long as you can (basically until your current computer doesn't meet your needs) and then buy whatever the current machine is then and not worry about paying as much interest.