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Help me understand Macbook purchasing...

P

Parker

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 18, 2006
Messages
418
I bought the wife a MacBook Pro 13" on cyber Monday and we have both been enjoying it so far. This is the first apple computer I've had. I do plan to update the memory and harddrive, but while doing the research I found out that this laptop is a mid 2012 model. Looking a little further into this, it appears that we all purchase these laptops according to year model. I'm not frustrated but curious as to why is that? If you go to the store to purchase a new laptop, shouldn't it be new for that year and not one sold as a new laptop but actually from 1 to several years back? When I bought the laptop it was not listed by a year model. Are these all refurbs?
 
Parker said:
I bought the wife a MacBook Pro 13" on cyber Monday and we have both been enjoying it so far. This is the first apple computer I've had. I do plan to update the memory and harddrive, but while doing the research I found out that this laptop is a mid 2012 model. Looking a little further into this, it appears that we all purchase these laptops according to year model. I'm not frustrated but curious as to why is that? If you go to the store to purchase a new laptop, shouldn't it be new for that year and not one sold as a new laptop but actually from 1 to several years back? When I bought the laptop it was not listed by a year model. Are these all refurbs?
Click to expand...
Apple is a business.

The purpose of a business is to get your money.

Setting up a store in a way and design to funnel and encourage people to buy the latest is one way you can make extra money.

Consolidating model names
  • improves branding,
  • improves identification of products (non-technically, for marketing),
  • creates the illusion that there is only one product model (no confusion or complications),
  • and re-inforces stereotypes ("Macs never get viruses unlike WINDOW$$$!", social superiority, etc)

Take my post with a grain of salt. These are my theories and opinions.
 
Apple does have model numbers for example my MacBook Pro from Early 2013 is ME665xx/A.

Did you buy it from the Apple store or somewhere else? If it was Apple, when you buy a refurbished it always says on the page when the model was released. You can always get Applecare when you buy a refurbished laptop from Apple which gives it a full warranty from Apple. Just like a new machine.

My 2013 is a refurbished machine and I have the full Applecare warranty on it.

Apple releases new models each year, and every 6 months they seem to update the specs to put in new processors, memory, etc.
 
It's not a refurbished model. Apple hasn't updated the standard Pro since 2012 and probably won't ever again. All of their development has been the Air and Retina models for the past two years.

The 2012 is still preferred by some customers because the RAM and hard drive can still be upgraded by end-users and it still has an optical drive. It has an i5 and a capable GPU so unless you're doing something special on it there's no reason to be concerned because the Pro is going to last you many years from now.
 
mope54 said:
It's not a refurbished model. Apple hasn't updated the standard Pro since 2012 and probably won't ever again. All of their development has been the Air and Retina models for the past two years.

The 2012 is still preferred by some customers because the RAM and hard drive can still be upgraded by end-users and it still has an optical drive. It has an i5 and a capable GPU so unless you're doing something special on it there's no reason to be concerned because the Pro is going to last you many years from now.
Click to expand...

Yup exactly this. Apple has not updated the hardware in the 13" MBP so they dont change the model name of it. Still a decent machine for basic funtionality and because it hasnt been updated in a long time it will still have hardware support for years to come.
 
After 2012 you could not upgrade the ram. And after 2012 they did not include a optical drive to me just the fact that you can change the ram is a good deal. I would not buy the air or the retina MacBooks because they made it so you could not upgrade the ram at a later date. And Apple says there a green company. No way with the fact that you cannot replace battery because they glue it to the case! Even Microsoft makes it so you cannot repair the surface pros.
 
Airbrushkid said:
After 2012 you could not upgrade the ram. And after 2012 they did not include a optical drive to me just the fact that you can change the ram is a good deal. I would not buy the air or the retina MacBooks because they made it so you could not upgrade the ram at a later date. And Apple says there a green company. No way with the fact that you cannot replace battery because they glue it to the case! Even Microsoft makes it so you cannot repair the surface pros.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, that's the way the portable computer industry is going. Thinner, lighter computers, with soldered on parts. I upgrade my laptop every 3-4 years, so it's not an issue for me in terms of longevity, but it's definitely easy to see the frustration people face when they are forced to buy an entirely new computer when they start to see slowdown with more demanding software.
 
Airbrushkid said:
After 2012 you could not upgrade the ram. And after 2012 they did not include a optical drive to me just the fact that you can change the ram is a good deal. I would not buy the air or the retina MacBooks because they made it so you could not upgrade the ram at a later date. And Apple says there a green company. No way with the fact that you cannot replace battery because they glue it to the case! Even Microsoft makes it so you cannot repair the surface pros.
Click to expand...

Thinner, slimmer, faster, replaced more often... laptops and computers in general are becoming a commodity. Most people fit into one of two categories:

1) Tech enthusiast (or professional): Will replace machines every 1-3 years. Upgradeability not a concern due to frequency of refresh. Up front cost is minimized through sale of past equipment.

2) Non-technie people that use machines until they die or need 'tech support' as to why their 8 year old machine is slow. Upgradability not a concern due to ignorance or otherwise not caring.

If you fit in some sort of third category, sad to say, you're left behind. I used to think I was in a third category, but then I looked at my own purchasing habits and realized I really wasn't. The model is sound, simply get what you need and don't worry about upgrading. Computers are becoming more similar to cellphones, tablets, and consoles at this point. Iterative. Needing to soup up machines after you've purchased them may feel comforting, but is unnecessary.
 
Last edited:
Parker said:
When I bought the laptop it was not listed by a year model. Are these all refurbs?
Click to expand...
If I'm understanding the question correctly, the answer is "no". It is a new machine, probably manufactured in 2014, using the 2012 design/hardware/etc.

For example, if you had bought a Dell instead, you could have bought the Dell Lattitude E6230. It would be a brand new, never before used laptop... But it was designed in 2012. Built in 2014, but designed in 2012.

My Mac Pro is called an "Late 2013" Mac Pro because it was initially released in 2013. Mine was built in October 2014.

Make sense?
 
This happens to be Apple's sales strategy. The good thing is you don't always need the latest model.
 
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