But as all designers know and experience, all good things come to an end and staring ceaselessly at the spinning beach ball of death 
signals the time to think about upgrading.
Rushing out and picking up the best 27” iMac you can afford will see your production workflow speeding along happily at a smooth and responsive manner, but is it the best bang for your buck? Any investment in Mac is technically quite heavy, but it does usually span 3 years, so getting the timing right is important. There’s nothing worse than investing heavily, then one month later, Apple blindsides you with an announcement of a new and improved model. That love affair just turned sour.
Desktop products go through cycles of upgrades and Apple has a bad tendency to let some things stagnate — particularly if it’s not the latest in consumer trends. Unlike the iPhone which have a clockwork yearly update, Apple’s desktop products can be a little more hit and miss with updates. So, when is a good time to buy?
The right time to buy any tech product is when you genuinely need one. If the Mac you rely on suddenly dies, you are not going to worry about the Mac release schedules and soldier on, computer-less, for six months. No, if you need it now, buy it now.
If you do have time to plan your upgrade, then one of the best resources to help decide when to buy your next piece of Apple hardware is the MacRumors Buyer’s Guide. This provides you with a traffic light system that uses the average time between refreshes, and the time since the last refresh to deliver a verdict on whether or not now is a good time to buy. If the buyer’s guide shows green for your product of choice, you can rest assured a recent update has taken place and it is a good time to purchase.
You’ll also find the latest Rumours articles listed to the right of each product, which should be factored into your decision. For example, iMacs are showing “Don’t Buy” (at the time of writing), and the latest rumour article explains that a major processor update is on the way in the next couple of months. Indicating if you can hold out that little bit longer, it will be well worth your while to continue your love affair with Macs.
