Apple Laptop Upgrade Cycles?

[Aristotelian]

Dear All,

So I was a longtime user of Sony's Z series of laptops, and unfortunately they are not being made any more. After looking long and hard, I am inclined towards a retina Macbook Pro (13"), maxed out - and at around EUR 2300 (Belgium), I was wondering if a refresh of the rMBP 13" is envisaged any time soon. I did some google-ing and saw indications that the Macbook Air will be updated to get a retina display.

I'm very out of touch with Apple products in general - there's a yearly event where Apple tends to announce its updates, right?

Essentially - if you were going to spend around EUR 2300 on a macbook now, would you wait (refresh coming soon?) or would you just buy one now?

Thanks

 

[Tweak155]

Found this useful - tells you last release date and average upgrade release time. Obviously you can't assume everything is 100% accurate, but it goes by historical data where available:

http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/

 

[Eug]

2014 should be an interesting year in terms of new product releases IMO. Personally, I would wait until summer or later unless you absolutely have to buy something right now.

The most interesting thing for me are the rumoured Retina MacBook Airs. I like the MacBook Pros, but find them too heavy. I want something with a better quality screen than what the current MacBook Airs have, and Retina, but in a form factor that is closer to the Airs than the Pros. I don't need top end CPU or GPU speed.

That said, it seems you want a maxed out machine, which means you'll stick likely want a Pro. Still, it may pay to wait. In the very least, in 4 months it may mean you may get the current model with a refurbished discount.

 

[Kadarin]

Around this time of year, updates usually get announced at WWDC, in early June.

 

[manly]

Isn't Broadwell delayed until end of this year at the earliest? I don't expect a MBP update anytime soon. Although a minor Haswell speed bump is possible, I think it's more likely that Apple shoves as many updates as possible into the holiday quarter. That seems to be the new MO under Cook.

 

[Eug]

Not end of this year. Probably calendar Q3, which means summer. So, 3-5 months from now... Hopefully.

 

[TreVader]

Broadwell won't be released until Q4 2014. Apple always releases new iPhones in september and usually refreshes laptops in october (unless they're releasing something totally new)

 

[C_A_S]

Dear All,

So I was a longtime user of Sony's Z series of laptops, and unfortunately they are not being made any more. After looking long and hard, I am inclined towards a retina Macbook Pro (13"), maxed out - and at around EUR 2300 (Belgium), I was wondering if a refresh of the rMBP 13" is envisaged any time soon. I did some google-ing and saw indications that the Macbook Air will be updated to get a retina display.

I'm very out of touch with Apple products in general - there's a yearly event where Apple tends to announce its updates, right?

Essentially - if you were going to spend around EUR 2300 on a macbook now, would you wait (refresh coming soon?) or would you just buy one now?

Thanks

There are big updates and small updates, and the MBP line seems to be on the speed bump sort of upgrade path for the time being. i7 chips, the thinner cases, and the retina monitor push have been the big changes. Thunderbolt 2 is in already, as well.


I think the next change is they drop the non-retina models, speed bump the processors, and possibly upgrade the GPU (but more relevant for bigger units than the 13inch)

You can get trapped in this cycle of waiting, and if you baby the machine it will hold value and you can always sell/upgrade. I have to say, I used to do that every 18 months (easier bc I live in London, where my resale values are even higher) but I'm still on my MBP 17 inch from 2011 because once I got a thunderbolt quad core, I've not lost much ground from later models. At some point I'll give up and sell for a retina 15", but not for a while

 

[Eug]

There are big updates and small updates, and the MBP line seems to be on the speed bump sort of upgrade path for the time being. i7 chips, the thinner cases, and the retina monitor push have been the big changes. Thunderbolt 2 is in already, as well.


I think the next change is they drop the non-retina models, speed bump the processors, and possibly upgrade the GPU (but more relevant for bigger units than the 13inch)

You can get trapped in this cycle of waiting, and if you baby the machine it will hold value and you can always sell/upgrade. I have to say, I used to do that every 18 months (easier bc I live in London, where my resale values are even higher) but I'm still on my MBP 17 inch from 2011 because once I got a thunderbolt quad core, I've not lost much ground from later models. At some point I'll give up and sell for a retina 15", but not for a while

I've found that in the last few years, Apple laptops haven't retained their value quite as well as in previous years. I suspect that's because there's so damn many of them around now.

 

[Tegeril]

Eug, part of it is that for the past few revisions, every time something new comes out, it also drops in price. And then Apple has refurbs of the old ones even cheaper. So the used market automatically comes in below that to even start with something perfect.

 

[rootlesstree]

yeah, after my 5-year-old macbook died, i switched to mbp then mba (due to the weight) literally changed every year, and i feel it's worth what i paid. but this year, just chips upgraded and even cheaper, and I start to think the mba is devalued years after years. why? why not Jobs but Cook doing this to me :____;

 

[C_A_S]

yeah, after my 5-year-old macbook died, i switched to mbp then mba (due to the weight) literally changed every year, and i feel it's worth what i paid. but this year, just chips upgraded and even cheaper, and I start to think the mba is devalued years after years. why? why not Jobs but Cook doing this to me :____;

I think the top spec laptops hold value better, even if they start from a higher cost the percentage of value holds better because they date more slowly.

I think this is mostly due to CPU and GPU being more future-proof at a higher spec, and these aren't upgradeable.

The Airs and 13" MBP are underpowered on both fronts, the larger MBP have better discreet graphics and more powerful quad core chips. My 3 year old 17" has a quad core i7, for instance

 

[manly]

yeah, after my 5-year-old macbook died, i switched to mbp then mba (due to the weight) literally changed every year, and i feel it's worth what i paid. but this year, just chips upgraded and even cheaper, and I start to think the mba is devalued years after years. why? why not Jobs but Cook doing this to me :____;

yeah I can't believe Apple released a speed bumped MBA last month.

They should've strong-armed Intel into exclusively releasing Broadwell months ahead of schedule so that the MBA could get a more significant upgrade.

Damn Apple for reducing price and using barely faster procs!