Waiting for Haswell MBP Mega Thread

[Jordan-D]

What's to stop me from buying an Ivy Bridge rMBP now, returning it within the 30 days, then using the $100 gift card towards the purchase of a Haswell rMBP when it finally arrives?

PDFiero beat me to answer you but just to confirm he's right here a quote from Apple's website

Returns

I purchased my qualifying product from the Apple Online Store for Education, from an Apple Retail Store, or from calling 1-800-MY-APPLE. I have already redeemed or deposited my App Store Gift Card. Can I still return my Mac, iPad, or iPhone?
Yes, as long as it falls within the return period of the purchase. However, your Mac, iPad, or iPhone refund may be reduced by $50 or $100 per redeemed App Store Gift Card (even if no purchases have been made against the value of the card).

 

[sofianito]

Alright! BTS sales starting tomorrow according to rumour. Logic from return policy says new rMBP's aren't going to happen until at absolute least 14 days after the sale. so, looks like I'll be buying current rMBP gen!!!

To everyone whose been waiting: it feels amazing to finally know I don't have to wait anymore. Feels better than the 1 or 2 extra hours of battery life ever will.

Don't give up now!. Stay hungry. Stay foolish!. Does it remind you something?

 

[bill-p]

Well, leak-less refreshes have happened before. Apple already had a stock-clearing week-long sale in May to get rid of IB MBPs, currently they are out of stock at most 3rd party vendors. February hardware "refresh" was complete BS and everyone knows it.

The February hardware refresh revised the cooling system slightly to avoid the EFI throttling bug.

And please state one recent refresh that was made without any prior leak.

And whether they are out of stock at 3rd party vendors or not, the fact that Apple itself has stock still remains, and it's also a fact that they want to push all of the cMBPs away before discontinuing them.

Also, I think appealing to the younger generation is important for Apple, more so than professional users. Plus it doesn't really make sense to sell the IB cMBP 13" with just $100 off in store credit, because it was on sale for cheaper than that in May.

Appealing to the younger generation hasn't been Apple's goal since forever. Look at their pricing tiers and tell me if you think those are geared toward starving students.

There's a reason the Retina MacBooks are called "Pro" instead of just "MacBooks", you know.

That's not to say that your conclusion is wrong; I think there should have been some sort of leak by now if the Haswell refresh is happening tomorrow. Perhaps they'll put it up for pre-order, shipping in the coming weeks, while dropping cMBP prices.

Well, by now, it's already clear that there is no Haswell refresh coming today...

I mean... seriously, all of this waiting could have been avoided had people been more realistic about the release schedule when they saw the February hardware bump.

Not that I'm saying waiting is bad, but... if you seriously need and want a computer NOW, then just go ahead and buy it. If there's something new coming out later, then sell your current computer for a small loss and buy the new one instead. At least you won't be out of a computer to work with.

If it's not for work, then why would you want a Retina MacBook? Any other MacBook (like the Air line) would work just as well.

 

[Stetrain]

Plus it doesn't really make sense to sell the IB cMBP 13" with just $100 off in store credit, because it was on sale for cheaper than that in May.

The $100 gift card is in addition to the $200 education discount for that model.

 

[sofianito]

Be aware of Apple sales folks in this forum. They are recognizable in their subtle way of trying to push people to clear out Apple old tech stock...

 

[Baadshah]

Bah.
Gotta stop following this thread.
Just makes me think about when the release will be.
And if its October that's 100~days from now :S

Having no laptop what so ever to use is getting seriously annoying.
Sold my laptop 2 weeks before WWDC. :/

If i had waited i would have got so much less for it since Haswell was released after and a lot of new computers with better battery and such have come since then.
So it was the right choice from a financial point of view. But now it starts to get annoying :S

I am in a exactly same situation as you, sold my 2012 rMBP 2 weeks ago, and is now without a laptop, I can wait until Sep till my uni starts but after that it can be difficult

 

[Ironsyde]

The February hardware refresh revised the cooling system slightly to avoid the EFI throttling bug.

And please state one recent refresh that was made without any prior leak.

And whether they are out of stock at 3rd party vendors or not, the fact that Apple itself has stock still remains, and it's also a fact that they want to push all of the cMBPs away before discontinuing them.



Appealing to the younger generation hasn't been Apple's goal since forever. Look at their pricing tiers and tell me if you think those are geared toward starving students.

There's a reason the Retina MacBooks are called "Pro" instead of just "MacBooks", you know.



Well, by now, it's already clear that there is no Haswell refresh coming today...

I mean... seriously, all of this waiting could have been avoided had people been more realistic about the release schedule when they saw the February hardware bump.

Not that I'm saying waiting is bad, but... if you seriously need and want a computer NOW, then just go ahead and buy it. If there's something new coming out later, then sell your current computer for a small loss and buy the new one instead. At least you won't be out of a computer to work with.

If it's not for work, then why would you want a Retina MacBook? Any other MacBook (like the Air line) would work just as well.

The February "refresh" didn't add anything; in software terms, it was a minor bugfix release than a feature one. Even so, Apple is pushing the cMBP, which hasn't seen an update in nearly 400-days.

They are promoting Macbook Pros to students, as there are no regular Macbooks anymore, so I don't see your point. Not all students are starving, and Apple Education/BTS is important for pushing sales. Additionally, Apple could've have easily sold off its remaining stock through Amazon.

Honestly, the entire situation is quite baffling; they must have really overproduced IB MBPs to warrant this kind of sale. One possibility is that they will refresh rMBPs around the time of the investor conference, while continuing to sell IB cMBPs before discontinuing them later this year. Another is an October release, though I am not sure what features this delay would add.

Also, I'd guess most people in this thread are not in dire need of a laptop. I bought and returned last year's rMBP due weak third-party retina support, deciding to wait until the next generation, and well, here I am.

 

[Jordan-D]

Apple has a clearance section on their refurb store, they could use it to sell their last rMBP but not with their current stock

 

[toneLA]

This is beyond ridiculous. For once I will not be drinking the Kool-Aid. I bought the maxed out 15-inch rMBP a couple months ago but fearing the WWDC update I returned it within the 15-day Apple refund window. I just bought the new maxed out i7 11-inch Air (which I needed too for travel purposes) so I can wait in the meantime. But trying to push the rMBPs is non-sense. Let's not even talk about the classic one. The rMBP's February update was not an update. 0.1GHz doesn't even really qualify as a spec bump - more of a joke. When we really look at the facts, Apple is selling a computer that's been engineered at least 2 years ago from today with an Intel architecture soon to be 'obsolete' by computers standards, especially with Haswell that's really a breakthrough in terms of energy savings and a new defining standard. I quite frankly don't understand how they are ok with having the Air with HD5000 and the 13-inch rMBP with the sub-par HD4000. It's quite alarming that my i7 Air gets the same geekbench scores, if not superior, than the current entry-level rMBP. They always talk about 'cannibalization avoidance' : well now that only people who desperately need a MBP will buy one, we'll see how happy they are with the new sales figures.

 

[bill-p]

The February "refresh" didn't add anything; in software terms, it was a minor bugfix release than a feature one. Even so, Apple is pushing the cMBP, which hasn't seen an update in nearly 400-days.

They are promoting Macbook Pros to students, as there are no regular Macbooks anymore, so I don't see your point. Not all students are starving, and Apple Education/BTS is important for pushing sales. Additionally, Apple could've have easily sold off its remaining stock through Amazon.

Honestly, the entire situation is quite baffling; they must have really overproduced IB MBPs to warrant this kind of sale. One possibility is that they will refresh rMBPs around the time of the investor conference, while continuing to sell IB cMBPs before discontinuing them later this year. Another is an October release, though I am not sure what features this delay would add.

Also, I'd guess most people in this thread are not in dire need of a laptop. I bought and returned last year's rMBP due weak third-party retina support, deciding to wait until the next generation, and well, here I am.

The February release also dropped the price of the 13" rMBP. It was a quick fix for all of the problems Apple accumulated for the rMBP lineup, and it was also intended to bring both the 13" and 15" together on their 8-month release cycle. It was just 3-4 months since release for the 13", but it was already 8 months for the 15" in case you haven't figured that out yet.

And history has shown that Apple has the highest sales during holiday seasons, which happen AFTER B2S. So there is no reason to believe students make up a huge portion of their sales and warrant that much attention.

Please feel free to correct me on that if you have data pointing to otherwise.

And Amazon is also a business on itself. It's not like they'd just take over all of Apple's stocks and sell them off at a loss.

And as mentioned above, Apple has typically refreshed their MacBook lines every 8 months as of late (starting in 2010). So October was already a sure sight. Hoping for otherwise is just wishful, not factual.

And I'm not sure what miracle you guys are expecting for the next rMBP. The 13" will likely see a great boost in graphics performance, but... other than that, I wouldn't expect battery life to improve greatly since the display is still the highest power draw (50% brightness gives me an estimated 8-9 hours of usage while 100% gives barely 4.5 hours), and the performance gain in Haswell has been shown to be quite minimal on the processor side.

Thunderbolt 2.0 is basically Thunderbolt 1.0... but now with the ability to combine bandwidth to 1 port. But that shouldn't matter since some people would be connecting multiple Thunderbolt peripherals anyway (display, SSDs, video processors for instance).

802.11ac would only be the real update. But then the world is still mostly stuck on 802.11b/g/n or even Ethernet and Dial-up in some cases. Maybe it'll make network file transfers at home faster, but... what else would it be good for?

 

[sofianito]

but... other than that, I wouldn't expect battery life to improve greatly since the display is still the highest power draw (50% brightness gives me an estimated 8-9 hours of usage while 100% gives barely 4.5 hours)

My understanding is that IGZO panels would save energy and reduce heat...

 

[Ironsyde]

The February release also dropped the price of the 13" rMBP. It was a quick fix for all of the problems Apple accumulated for the rMBP lineup, and it was also intended to bring both the 13" and 15" together on their 8-month release cycle. It was just 3-4 months since release for the 13", but it was already 8 months for the 15" in case you haven't figured that out yet.

And history has shown that Apple has the highest sales during holiday seasons, which happen AFTER B2S. So there is no reason to believe students make up a huge portion of their sales and warrant that much attention.

Please feel free to correct me on that if you have data pointing to otherwise.

And Amazon is also a business on itself. It's not like they'd just take over all of Apple's stocks and sell them off at a loss.

And as mentioned above, Apple has typically refreshed their MacBook lines every 8 months as of late (starting in 2010). So October was already a sure sight. Hoping for otherwise is just wishful, not factual.

And I'm not sure what miracle you guys are expecting for the next rMBP. The 13" will likely see a great boost in graphics performance, but... other than that, I wouldn't expect battery life to improve greatly since the display is still the highest power draw (50% brightness gives me an estimated 8-9 hours of usage while 100% gives barely 4.5 hours), and the performance gain in Haswell has been shown to be quite minimal on the processor side.

Thunderbolt 2.0 is basically Thunderbolt 1.0... but now with the ability to combine bandwidth to 1 port. But that shouldn't matter since some people would be connecting multiple Thunderbolt peripherals anyway (display, SSDs, video processors for instance).

802.11ac would only be the real update. But then the world is still mostly stuck on 802.11b/g/n or even Ethernet and Dial-up in some cases. Maybe it'll make network file transfers at home faster, but... what else would it be good for?

No one wants to buy older technology (let's be honest, the core components of the rMBP haven't changed since WWDC 2012) when newer models are just around the corner. Also, cMBPs were never on a strict 8-month cycle, and the current one hasn't seen an update in 16-months, though it might be discontinued mid-BTS like the white MacBook.

I agree that Apple wouldn't miss too many sales by launching in October, but it makes sense to launch now, when Haswell is ripe (most flagship PC laptops already have Haswell, e.g. Razer, Alienware, Sony). Obviously Amazon wouldn't buy cMBPs at a loss, but they could sell them off for a decent price on Apple's behalf.

 

[devilcm3]

Not that I'm saying waiting is bad, but... if you seriously need and want a computer NOW, then just go ahead and buy it. If there's something new coming out later, then sell your current computer for a small loss and buy the new one instead. At least you won't be out of a computer to work with.

If it's not for work, then why would you want a Retina MacBook? Any other MacBook (like the Air line) would work just as well.

the only people who are ranting about how slow the refresh are those who wants the new MBP, include me .

those who needed it would have purchased and went AWOL in this forum

 

[nikizwan]

i need a laptop right now. shall i wait?

if the new rMBP will come out this sept . i can wait.

but i dont wait to wait till early 2014.

please hellp!!

 

[bill-p]

My understanding is that IGZO panels would save energy and reduce heat...

There is no guarantee that the next rMBP would have IGZO panels.

Especially if the MBA didn't come with those, the chances are very slim that the next rMBPs will have them unless Apple is playing favorites.

No one wants to buy older technology (let's be honest, the core components of the rMBP haven't changed since WWDC 2012) when newer models are just around the corner. Also, cMBPs were never on a strict 8-month cycle, and the current one hasn't seen an update in 16-months, though it might be discontinued mid-BTS like the white MacBook.

If by "around the corner", you mean "4 months from now" and "8 months from February" then... sure...

And cMBPs WERE on a strict 8-month release schedule since 2011. Let's take a look:

February 2011
October 2011
June 2012
February 2013

Coincidence? I think not.

The white MacBooks also lingered around for a long while before it was officially gone. My guess is that Apple has more stock of the cMBPs now so they're lingering around longer. But that's more incentive for them to push cMBPs away before releasing new rMBPs.

I agree that Apple wouldn't miss too many sales by launching in October, but it makes sense to launch now, when Haswell is ripe (most flagship PC laptops already have Haswell, e.g. Razer, Alienware, Sony). Obviously Amazon wouldn't buy cMBPs at a loss, but they could sell them off for a decent price on Apple's behalf.

Competitors don't have any pressure on Apple because they still haven't introduced anything that's close to the quality of a rMBP even with Haswell technology.

I mean... please point out another laptop with a 13" 2560 x 1600 IPS panel or a 15" 2880 x 1800 IPS panel on the market. Aside from the 13" Chromebook Pixel, which is very useless and costs almost as much as a 13" rMBP, there is really nothing out there that competes with the rMBP.

And you're forgetting the fact that if Amazon was to sell the cMBPs off for Apple, they'd want a cut of the pie as well. Their prices are already low enough that Apple would be getting back even lower than if they'd just throw those cMBPs on the refurb section instead. So economy comes in play here. Smart move: promote the living hell out of the cMBPs and offer discounts instead. Also make sure nothing can cannibalize that sale (like new rMBPs coming out and forcing current rMBPs to refurb at prices even lower than new cMBPs).

the only people who are ranting about how slow the refresh are those who wants the new MBP, include me .

those who needed it would have purchased and went AWOL in this forum

Well ya. But what I mean is... all of this waiting could have been avoided and you could have just bought yourself a nice new rMBP months ago.

I know there were issues with the first batch (heck, I had my fair share), but you could always let Apple "fix" those issues with AppleCare instead of playing the "exchange" game. I had my display swapped for a Samsung one, and they somehow cleaned up the fan and cooling system for me, too. Mine is now nothing short of "perfect". To the point where I'd dread having to pick up a new Haswell rMBP only to find the same issues. There's no guarantee the next version would be perfect.

 

[brandonx76]

i need a laptop right now. shall i wait?

if the new rMBP will come out this sept . i can wait.

but i dont wait to wait till early 2014.

please hellp!!

Basically...if you're like me, and you have a need to use the machine in an applicable situation..you want to consider buying a new or slightly used rMBP, and be prepared to sell it within the next 4-5 months at any time....then take an approximate $400 to $600 loss to resale...consider it rental time...how much rental time depends on how much Apple wants to stick it to ya! haha

Don't over-think this stuff folks...it's not worth the mental frustration

 

[jamstock]

buy now!

Well, I couldn't wait any longer (I have to work), and bought the cMBP 2.6 ghz with a hi-res screen. Loving it so far. It's a beast, and looking back on it now, I don't know why I waited so long.

Seriously, The current machines are definitely powerful enough for most people's needs, and will be for a long time to come. So why wait?? If you need it now, then get it now!!

Even if the new MBP comes out tomorrow, I won't be upset. Well, not that upset

 

[Watabou]

Seriously, The current machines are definitely powerful enough for most people's needs, and will be for a long time to come. So why wait?? If you need it now, then get it now!!

Well it's not really about the performance, but the better battery life and probably the new Iris Pro which is much faster than the HD4000.

If it was just performance, I would just buy the current rMBP in a heartbeat.

 

[dragonjinse]

You are brave! I still can't decide if I should wait for MBP undate or not.
I also don't sure if I should get cmbp or rmbp.
I don't care about retina. I want 15" screen.
I NEED a laptop with a great speakers/audio qualities.

People here suggested me to get rmbp (which I got it before but I didn't quite like the quality much). They said rmbp's speaker is way better than cmbp.

I tried both of them at apple store, but I still can't tell which one is better due to the noises in the store.

Well, I couldn't wait any longer (I have to work), and bought the cMBP 2.6 ghz with a hi-res screen. Loving it so far. It's a beast, and looking back on it now, I don't know why I waited so long.

Seriously, The current machines are definitely powerful enough for most people's needs, and will be for a long time to come. So why wait?? If you need it now, then get it now!!

Even if the new MBP comes out tomorrow, I won't be upset. Well, not that upset

 

[jamstock]

You are brave! I still can't decide if I should wait for MBP undate or not.
I also don't sure if I should get cmbp or rmbp.
I don't care about retina. I want 15" screen.
I NEED a laptop with a great speakers/audio qualities.

People here suggested me to get rmbp (which I got it before but I didn't quite like the quality much). They said rmbp's speaker is way better than cmbp.

I tried both of them at apple store, but I still can't tell which one is better due to the noises in the store.

Listening in the store I would agree that the retina speakers are marginally better. For me that's irrelevant though as I would use headphones/ external speakers. classic with hi res screen was the way to go for me due to upgradability

 

[MacAttackMark]

With the BTS promo out it's getting really hard to wait. The promo was my waiting incentive now I just want to wait and pull the trigger on a macbook 2013 air.
Though I recently went to try both out rather than continue reading threads and people weren't kidding about how great the screen was so now I'm contemplating if I should get a 13 retina, although I've heard a lot of glitchy problems with the current first gen retina so I'm a little hesitant. I would like to have the laptop by August as I will be starting college again.

Is the haswell retina worth the wait? Or should I just opt now and save the frustration in contemplating.

 

[Watabou]

I think a bunch of people are asking the same things as you are and my semester starts in August too and I would love to have the rMBP by then.

I think if you really need the laptop now, and you can't wait, then you should go ahead and purchase the current gen.

However, if you can wait until August, then just wait. It's about a month away and if Apple comes out with the laptop this month or even the beginning of August, you're going to regret it, even if by a bit, because you know you could've waited but chose not to.

It really depends on your situation though, the current rMBPs are fantastic already. I'm just waiting because battery life is important to me and Haswell will help with that.

 

[Apple Mac Daz]

With the BTS promo out it's getting really hard to wait. The promo was my waiting incentive now I just want to wait and pull the trigger on a macbook 2013 air.
Though I recently went to try both out rather than continue reading threads and people weren't kidding about how great the screen was so now I'm contemplating if I should get a 13 retina, although I've heard a lot of glitchy problems with the current first gen retina so I'm a little hesitant. I would like to have the laptop by August as I will be starting college again.

Is the haswell retina worth the wait? Or should I just opt now and save the frustration in contemplating.

Haswell in its self isn't much more powerful than the current rMBP it's more about extending battery life. Might be 5-10% more CPU power wise but will have better GPU too especially the 13" due to current gen having a iGPU HD4000.

Over all it's what other upgrades Apple do to the rMBP which would be worth waiting for it you can.

 

[MacAttackMark]

I'm quite fine with the battery life, I realized I will probably end up carrying my charger around with me anyway and 7 hours is already a huge improvement compared to my current laptop.

Though what I'm hesitant about is all the problems the current first gen retina has been getting.

 

[Apple Mac Daz]

I'm quite fine with the battery life, I realized I will probably end up carrying my charger around with me anyway and 7 hours is already a huge improvement compared to my current laptop.

Though what I'm hesitant about is all the problems the current first gen retina has been getting.

Pretty sure the issues were sorted out in the Feb refresh.