MacBook Pro buying advice

Hi, I am looking to buy a 15 inch Retina display Macbook Pro, I have been wanting to buy one for a few months and my sister just bought a 13 inch Macbook pro, so I want one even more now! My question is, is it worth buying one now, or should I wait a few months for an update next year. I am thinking of waiting as I cannot afford the whole price and will have to use finance, and if I wait and save up for a while it will be much cheaper finance as I could put down a much bigger deposit. So what do you think I should do? And also, what kind of updates will apple make on the 2013 model, would it be just software or hardware updates as well?

Thanks, James

JamesEGill said:

My question is, is it worth buying one now, or should I wait a few months for an update next year.

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Don't know…Apple releases updated models when they feel like it (no set schedule).

JamesEGill said:

And also, what kind of updates will apple make on the 2013 model, would it be just software or hardware updates as well?

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We don't know what hardware changes/improvements Apple will make…Apple doesn't announce this sort of info ahead of time. Software changes are OS related…not hardware related. OS changes/upgrades are usually a separate announcement/release.

The bottom line is…if you need a MacBook Pro now…get it now. The MacBook Pro with retina display was just released in June (3 months ago)…so I doubt that Apple will be updating them anytime soon.

- Nick

Personal opinion follows, for what it's worth...

I think the current Retina MacBook Pro has some significant flaws in terms of serviceability and expansion. Beyond that, it's quite pricey even compared to the standard MacBook Pro, which is not exactly cheap. What you get for the money is a super-high resolution display, which is not without its flaws (especially when using software not designed specifically for it) and an extra sliver of thinness, which IMO is not all that significant, compared to the standard MacBook Pro, which is already one of the thinnest notebooks in its class.

In all honesty, it reminds me a LOT of the first generation MacBook Air... it was pricey, somewhat limited functionally and really didn't come into its own until the second generation.

Unless you absolutely must have it, I would definitely wait for the second generation. I have a feeling a lot of those criticisms will be addressed, just as they were in the MBA.

JamesEGill said:

I am thinking of waiting as I cannot afford the whole price and will have to use finance

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I think you should wait as long as necessary until you can afford to pay cash for the entire amount. Unless it's for a business, and the computer will produce income in a rather direct fashion, financing computers is a terrible idea.

That issue aside - there will always ALWAYS be something better coming out 6 months down the road. You can play the "wait and get the update" game forever. No matter when you buy, a better deal is just down the road.

But the absolute WORST deal is financing whatever you buy.

Anyway - I just got the 13" a month ago and I really like it. I also paid cash.

Thanks for your replies, a Macbook Pro would definitely help me with me now, but it is not yet essential, not until I start A-Level photography next year, so I think I'll wait until Apple have released a second generation and fixed any problems as said by cwa107