When to Buy a Mac – Is there a “right” time?

Because Apple doesn’t lay out a product roadmap, knowing the best time to buy a Mac can be difficult. Many people try to predict the release of new Macs to time their purchase. This is in order to avoid the bitterness and envy that comes a newer model being released right after they get their new Mac.

The first question to ask yourself is, “is avoiding the envy worth it?” Will waiting to buy the next model be worth it the opportunity cost? If you will be buying your first Mac, will you miss making a book of your new baby’s pictures or creating a special gift for Christmas by waiting? If you believe the next bump in speed and features will be worth waiting for, read on.

There are no sure-fire ways to know when the next Mac models will be released, but you can look to past history to make an informed guess. The best indicator is how old the current model is. Apple usually refreshes each model every eight or nine months. Both mactactic.com and macrumors.com track the number of days Apple products have been on the market. See Dig Deeper below for web site links.

If your desired model is about that eight or nine months old, you can watch the rumor sites for news of Apple retailers like CompUSA noting the product is at “End of Life” (EOL). This means that the retailer cannot order more units, because Apple won’t ship anymore until the replacements arrive. EOL is an indicator that new Macs should be just a few weeks away. After that point, you should see availability dry up at the web retailers and the shipping time on Apple’s web site shifts to a week or more.

Another strategy is to wait for Apple special events where Steve Jobs, Apple's co-founder and CEO, will make product announcements. The two big special events are Macworld held in early January and WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference) held in early summer. Historically, new products have been announced at these events to capitalize on the publicity that comes with them. The real question is which products will get announced and will they ship right away. If you notice your desired model will be eight or more months old at the time of one of these events, definitely wait and see before buying.

There is also a second tier of Apple special events. Apple either hosts these with invitations sent to the press about a week in advance, or they are scheduled to coincide with industry shows such as NAB or Photokina. These are not very good indicators of new Macs because they are typically used to announce new product categories or industry specific software.

If you do end up buying immediately before a new model is released, Apple does cushion the blow by letting you return it within 14 days for a 10% restocking fee. Another nice gesture from Apple is if you bought from their web site and they haven’t shipped it, they will often hold your order and send you the latest model when it comes in.

On Rumor Sites

Even though I am an avid reader of Mac rumor sites, I wouldn’t use their reports as a basis for timing a purchase. They just aren’t correct very often. And Apple is actively tracking their leaks to the rumors site, leading me to think they deliberately disseminate untrue information to track the sources of leaks. As for accuracy, Apple Matters has investigated the accuracy of the rumor site Think Secret, and found they are right about half the time. I think anyone can predict that Apple will upgrade all their Macs this year with greater speed, more RAM and a bigger hard drive. The real question is “when?” Read these sites as you would a gossip column: Interesting, fun, but probably not true.

Conclusion

I suggest you buy your desired Mac now to get the most out of it sooner rather than later. Trying to guess when the next model will be released may prove more frustrating than vindicating. Accept that technology is a fast moving river and you will be downstream as soon as you jump in. You can spend a lot of time waiting and watching it go by from the edge or you can enjoy the ride!

Did you find help on when to buy your new Mac? Have you Mac users found any other tricks to timing your purchase? Let us know in the Comments section below!

DIG DEEPER

Model Age Tracking Web Sites
Mactactic
Macrumors Buyers Guide

Apple Rumor Sites
Macrumors
Think Secret
Apple Insider

Hilarious and too true spoof of Apple Rumours
The classic Apple Product Cycle spoof
Crazy Apple Rumors

In depth eBook for those that can’t get too much to read, Take control of Buying a Mac.

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