14 DAY TRIAL // Timing is crucial when it comes to buying Apple hardware. Unless you buy the thing on launch day, the countdown associated with its refresh cycle becomes more evident with the passing of each day.
Redditor blarpsen surely agrees. He’s keen on buying a MacBook Air but is concerned that if he does so, he will miss out on a much better model. He seems to know that Apple usually upgrades the specs while leaving the price intact, but in the case of a Retina upgrade, these rules no longer apply.
“Should i wait for the new series?”
OP blarpsen writes, “Currently i aim for the 13 inch macbook air as i need a (rather small) new notebook. I am not really satisfied with my lenovo, so i thought i'd give apple a try... Would you guys recommend buying it now or should i rather wait for the new model to be released? I heard that theyll [sic] feature retina displays and broadwell cpu's most likely?”
Opinions are divided on the topic. Some say wait, some say go for it. Others prefer to boast their knowledge of the tech industry rather than answer the guy’s question. However, one thing that does seem clear is that people are generally reluctant to buy something when they know an upgrade is just around the corner.
In the case of the Retina MacBook Air, it’s trickier than ever. Here’s why.
12-inch could be the key to keep it at $999
Apple still faces high manufacturing costs when it comes to producing Retina devices. While the screens are certainly less expensive than they were five years ago when Retina was introduced, they’re still more costly than traditional LCDs with pixels the size of a walnut.
That being said, Retina is no longer that expensive. And if the rumors swirling around this 12-inch MacBook Air are to be believed, Apple is doing everything in its power to keep the entry level price intact.
Law of large numbers
Consider this. Despite not dropping its prices every year, Apple incurs ever-smaller manufacturing costs for every year that passes without refreshing a product. The current MacBook Air is well outside that threshold and can sustain another upgrade without requiring a price spike, leaving the profit margins relatively intact.
In other words, 12-inch Retina would cost about as much as the 13-inch non-Retina does today. That’s 1 inch less real estate for everything, including the screen, the battery, and the metal enclosure. It may not sound like much, but when you ship millions of these babies, the bottom line starts to look awfully nice.
The wait-and-see approach never hurt anyone. As long as that MBA isn't an emergency, we'd suggest waiting to see how Apple handles the upgrade. Most industry leaks point to an early-2015 unveiling.
