I hear this all the time “but I just bought my new iPod/MacBook/iMac a few weeks ago and now stupid Apple released a new one that’s way better”. I realize it’s not everyones bag to follow Mac news and rumors on a daily basis, so what do you do? Apple keeps future product details and release dates closely guarded. Even if you do follow this stuff you can still be blind sided. Here are a few tips to help you make a decision:

Buy it right away. People like to wait to hear if there’s any bugs or quirks with new products. The longer you wait the more outdated of a machine you will be buying.

When was the last update? Most of their products are updated around every 8 months. You can use a free application like MacTracker to tell when the current model was released as well as the life cycles of all the previous models.

When was the last major revission? They generally only release a major redesign of a product every 2-3 years. For example, the new unibody MacBooks and MacBook Pros just had their major redisign late last year. This would mean that an update this year would be smaller like slightly faster processors, larger hard drive capacities and maybe more RAM capacity. Occasionally they even do a little price reduction. If you were in dire need of a MacBook Pro in a few months and purchase it you might not be devastated by an update a month or so later.

You can always ask me Not that I know anything but I am generally aware of the rumors and product cycles.