Wait for minor refresh, or buy now and take advantage of the Student Deal?

[Rbk23]

Now that we know the new Broaswell chips will be delayed well into 2015, should I just bite the bullet now, or wait till the fall in hopes of a refresh?

Positives of waiting
Newest machine
Will likely have higher resale value being a year newer
May see a price decrease
specboost
perhaps the baseline model will come with more Ram or bigger SSD.

Cons of waiting
Waiting
Not being able to take advantage of the Student Deal
8 months into the cycle, most bugs should be worked out.



What would you do in my position? If the new processors were coming out this year it would be a no brainer.

 

[raptor402]

Now that we know the new Broaswell chips will be delayed well into 2015, should I just bite the bullet now, or wait till the fall in hopes of a refresh?

Positives of waiting
Newest machine
Will likely have higher resale value being a year newer
May see a price decrease
specboost
perhaps the baseline model will come with more Ram or bigger SSD.

Cons of waiting
Waiting
Not being able to take advantage of the Student Deal
8 months into the cycle, most bugs should be worked out.



What would you do in my position? If the new processors were coming out this year it would be a no brainer.

Personally, depending on my need, I wouldn't wait for a spec-bump. The best you can hope for is a 100MHz clock bump. Lower price on the rMBP is highly unlikely (my personal opinion). I would recommend 2.4GHz / 8GB / 256GB as an ideal configuration (I'm guessing that you're going with the 13" rMBP). You can also upgrade to the 2.6GHz i5 if budget permits.

Best of luck
Raptor

 

[Rbk23]

Personally, depending on my need, I wouldn't wait for a spec-bump. The best you can hope for is a 100MHz clock bump. Lower price on the rMBP is highly unlikely (my personal opinion). I would recommend 2.4GHz / 8GB / 256GB as an ideal configuration (I'm guessing that you're going with the 13" rMBP). You can also upgrade to the 2.6GHz i5 if budget permits.

Best of luck
Raptor

Yea I am thinking that 13" configuration.

Right now with the Student deal, I can get it for $1449 Canadian, with a $110 GC that I will use towards Apple Care making it cost only $114 out of pocket. So I would be saving at least $100 if there is no price drop this fall.

Does anyone know how much the Student Deal takes off normally? Right now it's $100 off + the $110 GC. Normally, is it just $100 off?

 

[Erphern]

I'm trying to make myself wait, but it's difficult. I have a late 2013 13", but it turns out I really need at 15" - my job recently became more application development intensive, and the extra real estate would really help.

The only reason for waiting at this point - for me - is to have a 2014 model. All spec changes are going to be close to irrelevant for my needs.

 

[FrozenDarkness]

well the 850M should be much better than 750m, so there is an upgrade there

 

[Rbk23]

well the 850M should be much better than 750m, so there is an upgrade there

Well I am not buying the high end 15" so it wouldn't benefit me there.

 

[ourmountain]

Is a 100mhz spec bump worth $200+ to you? That's what you need to ask yourself.

 

[sdimas]

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1753876/
Take a look at this thread that I made. Buying a current model may be even cheaper than you think.

 

[squidkitten]

I've been considering waiting for the spec bump but the deals right now are too good to pass up. I was really set on getting a 2014 model for the resale value, but honestly, the late 2013 rMBP models are very excellent machines and I feel like it's completely worth it to just get one now with the student deal and forget about a potential spec bump.

There's always something new around the corner, I suppose!

 

[Sifinity]

im buying the max 15" and if they release only a spec bump in september/october im going to be so utterly pissed lol , but since its the max 15" im willing to wait , if it was others then theres no point you can't actually tell the difference between the minor spec bumps

 

[maflynn]

What would you do in my position? If the new processors were coming out this year it would be a no brainer.

Well, its difficult to say what I would do in your position because you didn't state if you have another computer that you can use, or that you have an up and coming need, i.e., going to school, in the fall, etc.

I'd say all things being equal, its not worth waiting until next year for the new MBP, I'd get what you need now and enjoy it now.

 

[capathy21]

Get it now. In the long run, the enjoyment you get from using it now will outweigh any very slight increase in resale value down the line. You will not be able to tell the difference in speed from a minor spec bump.

 

[Serban]

Maybe if you are not set for Macbook Pro, maybe in fall they will release a new Macbook Air. I know, lots of "maybe" but you can wait i suppose if you are asking here for opinions

 

[Gpulvi]

Go for it! Take advantage of the discounts. Everybody supposes the specs bump will be minimal, so there's no need to wait.

 

[OzyOly]

Does anyone know if you can use the £60 apple store voucher to get iTunes vouchers of the same amount to buy iBooks with?

 

[GoneDrinkin]

Will the spec bump affect the integrated graphics on the 13" does anyone wonder?

 

[mtneer]

How long do you intend to keep the machine for and what do you plan to do with it? If you are going to keep this for the next 3 - 4 years the difference in resale value for a minor bump will smoothen over and become negligible. It may not be worth waiting a few months now to get $25 more in resale in 2018...

 

[Rbk23]

I went for it

Almost pulled the trigger on the 15" but decided the 13" would be just fine for my basic needs.
I ran the burn in test and everything seems fine. Tint is good.

My read/write speed is 700/550 which seems to be lower than some, but I guess you can't win them all.

 

[Sifinity]

I went for it

Almost pulled the trigger on the 15" but decided the 13" would be just fine for my basic needs.
I ran the burn in test and everything seems fine. Tint is good.

My read/write speed is 700/550 which seems to be lower than some, but I guess you can't win them all.

well if your buying the 13" then it was good decision , honestly the only people that should wait are the ones buying the high end 15"

 

[kupkakez]

Does anyone know if you can use the £60 apple store voucher to get iTunes vouchers of the same amount to buy iBooks with?

Yes you can, I bought a stand for my rMBP and used the rest on an iTunes gift card.

 

[OzyOly]

Yes you can, I bought a stand for my rMBP and used the rest on an iTunes gift card.

Awesome. There are few expensive books I'm after.

 

[horsebattery]

If you don't mind getting a refurbished one, you might be better off going with that and getting AppleCare from places like B&H since they carry it for cheaper than Apple. Other places would include ebay, but it's a tad riskier because you may end up with a dud (although filing a dispute is pretty easy). Or hell, go through places like Best Buy (unless you want a configuration third-parties don't normally carry), since they're generally cheaper than Apple this late into the cycle.