Good or Bad time to buy a Retina MacBook Pro top of the line?

[jimhare]

I'm in desperate need of a Retina MacBook Pro and looking at an almost top of the line. 15", 16GB Ram, 512GB SSD etc.

Is it an okay time or does anyone expect a new model in the next few months?

Looks like the last refresh was February, but was minor.

Let me know if I should hobble through the next few months or if we are far out enough to justify a purchase.

Thanks!

 

[Craig W. Bickerstaff]

The macrumors product guide says that it's roughly mid cycle so if you're really desperate you may as well go ahead and buy one.

 

[jimhare]

Thanks Craig, good to know. Mid cycle would be good enough for me.

If it were being replaced in three weeks I'd hate to buy it in two! :devil:

 

[Adam Eden]

Hi mate i am in the same boat as you.

Personally i am waiting till July because the new models normally get released in june.

BTW, NAB was fun i just got home and i still have money in my wallet so all in all it was a good trip!!!

 

[PatrickFaith]

I'm in desperate need of a Retina MacBook Pro and looking at an almost top of the line. 15", 16GB Ram, 512GB SSD etc.
Is it an okay time or does anyone expect a new model in the next few months?
Looks like the last refresh was February, but was minor.
Let me know if I should hobble through the next few months or if we are far out enough to justify a purchase.
Thanks!

I just bought one last week, decided i just couldn't wait ... it is much more impressive then i was expecting with that 16 gig of ram, 512 SSD and graphics card. It was kind of pricey going with the high end model, like you listed, but i think it's worth it. Ted showed me his retina display one when he demod the monochrome, it's totally worth it if your showing your work to a client (that retina display is killer cool with r3d files).

 

[Andrew clemson]

If you need it now, then buy it now. I seem to have the worst luck for waiting and waiting til I'm sure its the right time, and then a couple of months later the new model comes out.......

 

[jimhare]

Thanks all, makes sense! Went ahead and ordered as I have a few out of town jobs in the next few months which will cover it. Be nice to for once get in right at the start of a cycle, but with the price reduction and spec bump 6 weeks ago, guess that's as good as it gets!

Adam, was great to hang out at NAB. Like you I made it out with my wallet intact so that has to be some kind of success. Still might take up that $299 GoPro 3 Black offer just cause I can!

 

[Sergio Perez]

The Retina Macbook pro (Bought immediately when it came out) was and is the best laptop I've ever bought. I can do almost everything with it. Did a live International event with more than 5tb of storage connected through thunderbolt, with a SOnnet Enclosure and a Rocket doing debayer to prores and the Box even outputting AV signal to my Minidisplayport display. At the same time had an extra USB3 2TB HDD for editing and another slot for the Red SSD Reader. A fantastic powerhouse. We had 2 Macpro's (2008) and they where only on standby. This workflow rocked the house. Fantastic piece of equipment. Very, very fast and reliable. Not sure about the still glossy screen but not as bad as the previous generation screens.

 

[Jeff Kilgroe]

If you really, really need it now, buy it now. It's the best laptop I've ever owned. Seriously. You can't go wrong with this system. There will be an updated version when the new CPUs come out here in a couple months. Don't place too much stock in Macrumors cycle tracking. It's intel CPU release cycles you have to watch. Haswell based systems should be shipping in June: http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/381070/intel-haswell-release-date-confirmed-for-q2

i7-4470K does 4 cores/ 8 threads at a base of 3.5GHz, turbo at 3.9GHz. Should be the flagship CPU at launch and headed straight for an MBP Retina and other high-end laptops.