I’ve just broken all the rules for buying a Mac; my colleagues think I’m dumb. I grabbed a relatively unpopular high-end model, the 17″ MacBook Pro with the 133dpi 1920x display, within weeks of an expected replacement from Apple. But it fulfills my sole requirement, to immediately replace a 24″ iMac with the nearest portable equivalent. Moreover, I got a fair deal on a refurb, paying a little over $2k instead of the $3k I’d be paying if I waited for the new one and bought it fresh.
MacWorld has its own shakeup of the rules today, declaring that the Mac Pro is unnecessary for all but extremely specialized purposes (“for most mainstay applications, the high-end iMac and MacBook Pro models are plenty fast”) and that no, you do not need an upgrade path. It says the performance difference between MacBooks and iMacs are negligible, so get a laptop unless you want to save money. Accordingly, you don’t need a desktop for the desk and a laptop for travel. The higher CPU options aren’t worth it, either–spend the dough on more RAM instead. And while Macs are expensive, you shouldn’t use price as a guide to performance, as “the differences between the various Mac lines have diminished.”
The upshot of it all is, funnily enough, that power users should “buy a 17″ MacBook Pro” if they’re not anchored to a desk. Bravo! To which I will add: but you really should wait a few weeks, unless you’re cheap.
The new rules for buying a Mac [Macworld]
Somehow I would think that Mac world, which probably gets a lot of ad dollars from Apple wants you to buy a new one.
When I became a serious musician in my teens I used to read lots of music magazines and take the reviews and advice seriously until I found out just how underhanded and low these magazines were about ad money. They had a pay up or we will sink you policy towards music equipment advertisers.
The Mac Pro is great as a recording computer, the best portable out there.
It’s simple:
Significant updates to Apple products are always announced at WWDC (June) and MacWorld (January). Minor updates are released in March (“refresh”) and August/September (“back to school”).
The real heuristic is that since Apple pricing is essentially static†, always buy immediately after an update because it’s the longest period of time you can use your “latest” computer before the model is updated again.
MacRumors has a historical extrapolation of this phenomenon provided as a buyer’s guide.
†Granted, this doesn’t account for the erratic availability of refurbished (mostly returns and overstock) Apple hardware at discount prices — which include the “option” of AppleCare support.
I bought the same refurb MPB17 you did. Look at this this way, we got the most refined unit of the form factor, the new one will only begin another debug phase where the early adopters get hit hardest.
hi i want toif it is avaible for sale