Black Friday is a very, very good time to buy a Mac. Really

As Black Friday approaches, there are already some fantastic MacBook Air and Pro deals, and more are likely on the way. And don’t hesitate to buy one.

With the recent announcement that Apple won’t be releasing any more new Macs until next year, you might have decided to put off that Mac purchase. While you could absolutely wait until next year to get a better model, we think Black Friday is the perfect time to invest in a new Mac. If you’re unsure whether to buy now or wait until later, here are some reasons why you should go ahead and invest.

It’s a perfect storm of offers

Apple hasn’t released a new Mac since the Air arrived in July, so every model is ripe for steep discounts. The old but still excellent M1 Air is currently on sale for $799 and the new M2 Air is $150 off. The 14-inch MacBook Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro are both $500 off. And the Mac mini is down to $750. Even 24-inch iMacs are $150 off.

To help you with your shopping, we’ve put together some guides to help you find the best Black Friday deals. We will follow the offers and publish them in the articles below.

The waiting game

If you tend to wait, you will wait a long time. Speculation is that Apple won’t release new Macs until March 2023, likely at the end of that month. It’s four long months away (three months if your new Mac purchase is a December holiday gift). That time could be spent enjoying the benefits of a new Mac – the improved speed, better graphics, new designs.

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When Apple releases its new Macs, they’ll be on sale at their regular prices, and you’ll have to wait several more weeks (or even months) before they see substantial discounts. Macs that are replaced could also see discounts, but are you willing to wait and see what the odds are that prices won’t drop much further?

Because Apple updates its products regularly, it’s easy to get caught up in a cycle of always waiting for the latest and greatest. But you’ll benefit from a new Mac almost immediately, and recoup that money quickly in the time saved from a better experience.

Further reading: Black Friday could be your last best chance to buy a Mac before prices skyrocket

Marginal and massive gains

I mentioned the improved processing speed as an immediate benefit and that’s especially true if you’re upgrading from an Intel Mac to a Mac with an M1 or M2 processor. The boost of the M1 compared to Intel can be well over 30%, and more with the M2.

But the improvement in performance from M1 to M2 is relatively marginal, between 10 and 15%. You have to do some serious math to notice this difference. In general use (web access, productivity tasks, and common Finder tasks), the difference isn’t noticeable at all – and that’s the bulk of the upgrades we’re expecting from next year’s updates. .

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If you’re using an Intel Mac and want to wait for the M2 versions of the Mac mini or the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros, you can certainly do that. But unless you’re creating 3D content, making videos, writing apps, or doing other CPU-intensive tasks, you expect extra performance you won’t notice.

No major changes along the way (with one exception)

If you’re waiting to see if Apple makes any design changes to its Macs, you’re going to be waiting a long time. The iMac, Mac Studio, MacBook Air, and 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros have designs that are just over a year old or less. Apple isn’t going to change these Macs anytime soon. The 13-inch MacBook Pro probably won’t change either, as Apple is using it to cater to a certain segment of the market without having to make a significant investment in a new device.

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Mac mini enthusiasts have a more complex situation. Apple’s $699 and $899 models with an M1 feature a design that’s been in use since 2010. Reports say Apple may release a redesigned M2 Mac mini in the spring of 2023, but some rumors also say the new model could just be a top. of range. replacement for the current $1,099 Intel-based Mac mini. Also, even though the new Mac mini is smaller than the current model, the current Mac mini is small enough to start with. So unless you really, really need a smaller Mac than the current Mac mini, there’s really no reason to wait.

The only Mac worth the wait is the new Mac Pro. Apple currently only offers Intel-based models, and when it introduces an M-series Mac Pro, it will likely have a new design as well. However, the Mac Pro is not the kind of product to go on sale on Black Friday and it is also bought by the type of user who does not wait for sales because he needs power at present. So Mac Pro buyers can sit through 2023.