To anyone uncertain about if they should buy a 16" MBP now or wait

[macness]

2 things,


1) We are about 4 months away from it being a year since the release of the 16” MBP and Apple just gave a spec bump to the high end 16”, so it’s unlikely we will get anew one. When the 2018 iPad got a redesign, they went well over a year without upgrading for redesigning it.


2) On the recent episode of The Talk Show With John Gruber, he sat down with Craig Federighi and Greg Joswiak form Apple. At the 49:40 mark, Craig not only confirms that it’s a great time to buy a Mac , but Greg even says “And just to even emphasize more on that point, I’ll put my money where my mouth is. I bought my daughter, who’s off to college in the Fall, a 16” MBP yesterday.”

Link to podcast episode

 

[dooyou]

Good, then his daughter is still in the return period and can return it because of overheating and loud fans.

 

[macness]

Good, then his daughter is still in the return period and can return it because of overheating and loud fans.

LMAOOOOO. I am yet to have this issue

 

[Janichsan]

2) On the recent episode of The Talk Show With John Gruber, he sat down with Craig Federighi and Greg Joswiak form Apple. At the 49:40 mark, Craig not only confirms that it’s a great time to buy a Mac , but Greg even says “And just to even emphasize more on that point, I’ll put my money where my mouth is. I bought my daughter, who’s off to college in the Fall, a 16” MBP yesterday.”

What's that to prove? Did you expect them to say: "Oh, no, don't buy a 16" MBP right now! We have a new model right around the corner and the upcoming switch to Arm would make it obsolete in no time anyway!"

For one, they are major Apple representatives. Of course, they would say anything to make you buy their products right now.

Secondly, even if Greg bought his daughter a current MBP, and Apple would release a (significantly different) new model in the foreseeable future, do you think he would be so strapped for cash that he couldn't get her one of the newer and better models immediately?

 

[Billiejoe87]

What's that to prove? Did you expect them to say? "Oh, no, don't buy a 16" MBP right now! We have a new model right around the corner and the upcoming switch to Arm would make it obsolete in no time anyway!"

For one, they are major Apple representatives. Of course, they would say anything to make you buy their products right now.

Secondly, even if Greg bought his daughter a current MBP, and Apple would release a (significantly different) new model in the foreseeable future, do you think he would be so strapped for cash that he couldn't get her one of the newer and better models immediately?

I don't think we will see a new 16 inch Macbook Pro anytime soon. Apple literally just added a GPU option to the existing Macbook Pro. If we were due for a new release surely they wouldn't have bothered engineering it into the existing product.

In my mind, the more powerful mac's are probably the better option as I doubt any ARM mac is coming out of the gate with GPU's as powerful as the top end Radeon's.

 

[Stephen.R]

Secondly, even if Greg bought his daughter a current MBP, and Apple would release a (significantly different) new model in the foreseeable future, do you think he would be so strapped for cash that he couldn't get her one of the newer and better models immediately?

Or just maybe she just needs a laptop to do her school work on, and isn't an obsessive compulsive forum poster who needs to constantly have the newest thing to brag about it?

Before we became more profitable, I ran my company (doing dev, tooling, infra consulting, some training/mentoring) on a (at time of replacement) 7 year old laptop.

She could get a masters degree and that MBP would likely still provide more than enough for what she'll need, the entire time she's studying.


Holy **** do you people live somewhere with a ****ing laptop fairy who comes and takes your old one the moment a new one is released?

 

[Billiejoe87]

She could get a masters degree and that MBP would likely still provide more than enough for what she'll need, the entire time she's studying.


Holy **** do you people live somewhere with a ****ing laptop fairy who comes and takes your old one the moment a new one is released?

I agree, I'd say virtually any apple laptop now would be fine for studying for years to come.

Realistically even if apple didn't move to ARM processors, we'd still be getting year on year better specs. A few weeks after buying my 16 Inch Macbook Pro, the option to get a 5600m graphics card became available. This is technology and someone will only ever have the latest and greatest for a small amount of time until something else comes along. All you can do is buy what you need from what is available at the present time.

This consumerism trait where we need to have the latest and greatest tech all the time is not healthy, nor feasible for the majority of the population due to how expensive it is. I say that as someone who is often guilty of it myself.

 

[dooyou]

Apple can do eyerthing, there's no guarantee for anything. The MBP 16" came relatively soon after the last 15" update.

 

[alpi123]

Of course they will say to buy it right now, did you expect to hear "Don't buy a MBP right now, there's going to be an update in October"?

 

[jgorman]

We are about 4 months away from it being a year since the release of the 16” MBP and Apple just gave a spec bump to the high end 16”, so it’s unlikely we will get anew one.

1. I would not be so confident about the 16-inch MBP only based on its graphics options update this month. In May 2019, Apple updated the graphics options for the 15-inch MBP to include Vega graphics. Apple discontinued the 15-inch MBP a little less than six months later in November 2019. Likewise, the 16-inch MBP could receive an update early next year.

I bought my daughter, who’s off to college in the Fall, a 16” MBP yesterday.

2. Greg Joswiak is the VP of Product Marketing. He is responsible for sales. He will want people to continue buying macs during the transition. Furthermore, while he bought his family member a 16-inch MBP, that says little about its longevity, because he likely has the capability to switch models at will with little regard to software support or resale value.

 

[akuraktz]

I'm waiting for a new 16 MBP and hopefully will be ARM. There are way too many issues with the current 16 inch and ARM might solve it, also, a better screen is a possibility. I dont need one now so I cant wait no problem.

 

[PBG4 Dude]

Of course they will say to buy it right now, did you expect to hear "Don't buy a MBP right now, there's going to be an update in October"?

Exactly. No way they’re going to Osborne themselves during a podcast.

 

[clangers23]

Exactly. No way they’re going to Osborne themselves during a podcast.

Nice reference, I'm hoping the first gen Apple silicon based Mac looks exactly like an Osborne 1. Look a built in display.

 

[Heelpir8]

Greg even says “And just to even emphasize more on that point, I’ll put my money where my mouth is. I bought my daughter, who’s off to college in the Fall, a 16” MBP yesterday.”

Big bucks salary + employee discount = ability to easily move his daughter to a new ARM MBP anytime.

 

[jerryk]

2 things,


1) We are about 4 months away from it being a year since the release of the 16” MBP and Apple just gave a spec bump to the high end 16”, so it’s unlikely we will get anew one. When the 2018 iPad got a redesign, they went well over a year without upgrading for redesigning it.


2) On the recent episode of The Talk Show With John Gruber, he sat down with Craig Federighi and Greg Joswiak form Apple. At the 49:40 mark, Craig not only confirms that it’s a great time to buy a Mac , but Greg even says “And just to even emphasize more on that point, I’ll put my money where my mouth is. I bought my daughter, who’s off to college in the Fall, a 16” MBP yesterday.”

Link to podcast episode

I am going to guess that Greg does not pay retail for MacBooks at the employee store. Microsoft used to sell items at 60-70% in their employee store. Using the 60% discount at the employee store his $3000 MBP 16" could have run $1200. And I don't know how many Apple shares Greg owns but I imagine is quite a few and acquired at grant prices. So his budget might be a little different than the average college student's parent.

 

[JPack]

Of course he bought his daughter a 16-inch MacBook Pro.

That's only because he isn't allowed to let her take the pre-production ARM MacBook Pro in his office.

 

[Grohowiak]

Of course he bought his daughter a 16-inch MacBook Pro.

That's only because he isn't allowed to let her take the pre-production ARM MacBook Pro in his office.

Or maybe because they don't have a ARM chip to match the 16" this year.