I’m a student and graphic designer currently in the market for a new (fairly well specced) 15” Macbook Pro. As October creeps ever closer, my window to buy a Macbook Pro with student discount and free beats closes — I’m in the market for new headsets a well. The discount would be substantial (>€300) and the headphones would be nice too.
It seems, however, that the new Macbook Pro with 16” screen is just around the corner… Should I wait and (most likely) forego my discount, or should I buy one now?
P.S. I don’t have a problem with the current keyboard-feel (which isn’t to say that I think Apple did a good job with this keyboard, especially concerning its reliability)
You say “fairly well specced”, but how well specced a computer are you considering? Rumors are that the 16” model is going to be a very expensive (base model in the neighborhood of $3000).
How happy would you be with the 15” if they never released the 16?” How much/how easily do you think you could sell the 15” for if they released the 16” soon after your purchase (whatever that means to you?)
Is there a chance you just really want the headphones and could get by with a $200 purchase and using your old Mac? How many months would you have to delay your Mac purchase to make up for not getting the ~$500 discount plus headphones and could you manage that?
It’s a personal decision but these are the questions I’d be asking myself.
Edit: Chris makes a good point about the price. I paid about $3k for a 2017 15” MBP specced to my needs, so I would expect the 16” to perhaps go to $3500-4000 for the equivalent.
The model I’m currently considering is the 8 core with a 1tb ssd and possibly an upgraded GPU. So it’s in the $3000 range. (Not discounted)
So it kind of depends on what the base model 16” is going to be specced like. If it’s going to start at $3000 but has good specs, which I’d expect for that kind of money, it’s okay, but if it’s just a premium of $500 I’d essentially be paying a double premium (no discount + 16” premium).
Thanks Cornchip. Some helpful questions. My current Macbook Pro will get a new home somewhere around december. So I’ll have to get a new one before then, regardless of whether the 16” has come out yet. But my current one still suffices for the time being.
The 16” is probably going to start at at least the 3000 dollar range, so if you have money left over that’s fine… but I don’t see ANY student buying the 16” macbook pro.
And why would you, what would you gain from that 1 inch?
What tangible (not emotional) benefit would it bring to wait for a 16" that will certainly be more expensive as opposed to spending the almost certain price increase on something now of greater utility for the 15" (e.g. an external SSD)?
The 16" may be great, but it may also have issues. Some first-generation hardware is great (iMac Pro) but some is not (MacBook Air, Apple Watch, 12" MacBook). I wouldn’t want to sink $3,000 of my money into the first-gen of an Apple product.
Not only that, but if you get it and it is disappointing, then having missed the discount will “hurt” even more. Or even worse: they could announce it and you realize that it isn’t what you want, and then you would have missed the “window” and didn’t even get the “new shiny”.
I always recommend waiting as long as you can until you can’t, but if you’re ready to buy, there will always be “something better” that seems to be “right around the corner”. Life goes on.