These Are the Worst Times to Buy New Technical Equipment.
During the holidays, tech gifts are great gifts, but new technology purchases happen all year round. Your laptop stops turning on, so you buy an updated MacBook Pro; Your Android can’t hold a charge, so you’ve upgraded to Pixel 6 Your old TV just doesn’t support 4K, so you get an LG OLED. Buying new technology is fun. But sometimes, when you buy something, it is just as important as what you buy.
There is nothing better than splurging on an expensive multifunctional device that its manufacturer has put on websites, in subway ads, and on billboards, only to see them ditch the product entirely as soon as they release something- something new. This new product also conveniently removes the complaints you have about the product you just bought, so here it is.
But you can’t live your life worrying about these things, can you? There is always something new; you will never buy technology that is always cutting edge. The only sane way to participate in this tech boom is to buy a device, value it for what it is, and ignore fancy, fresh stuff until you really need to buy something new.
While this is certainly true, you can be careful when buying your technology without dwelling on what comes next. In truth, these are really bad times to buy technology for several reasons.
Companies often stick with annual updates
While it seems that new technologies are falling all the time, in reality they are not; it is more like once a year where the drops of the product are spread throughout the whole year. Most big tech companies – at least those that make fast-paced consumer products like smartphones and tablets – release new products around the same time every calendar cycle.
Take Apple. The company regularly announces new iPhones in September and makes them available shortly thereafter. There are exceptions – announcements are delayed, or supply chain issues cause delivery times to fail – but the company has been releasing a new iPhone every year since the dawn of time (2007), and you can bet your bottom money will be released in the coming months. autumn.
In fact, many companies release new technologies in the fall. So much so that some fondly call the time period “Techtober”. You can see this Android Central poll asking readers if they were most excited about the launch of the Google Pixel, Galaxy Unpacked, Apple Unleashed, or the launch of the Sony Xperia, which happened around the same time.
So, if you want to buy a new phone, but this second you don’t need it and the leaves change and people are drinking pumpkin spice latte, don’t buy it.
Different products come out at different times
The tricky part is that companies often don’t release all of their new products at once. Apple, for example, has some product launches that fall in the spring, such as the iPad Pro, which were updated in May. (We’ll talk more about how to keep track of these timelines later.)
It’s not just about the latest technology. When a company announces a new product, their existing products drop in value. If the company still sells the product, you will likely find it at a good discount, but third-party sellers are the best option. Often you will find great prices that cut the original price down a lot, especially if a store or carrier is running a promotion, or if they are just trying to liquidate old stock.
There are many exceptions to this rule. Console makers like Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft don’t update their consoles once a year (and even when they do, they struggle to produce enough of their new products, which could remain in short supply on shelves for years). But even companies that do not renew their rosters very often sooner or later have to do something new. And when they do, you don’t want it to be the day after you bought their old product.
So what can you do?
The internet can help you track rumors
Unless you’re one of those people who constantly keep an eye on the latest tech timelines and rumors, knowing if this is a good time to buy tech can definitely sound overwhelming. The best thing to do is google it! A quick search for the product in question and determining if this company can brew something sooner or later will yield a lot of results from people who keep an eye on it.
MacRumors, for example, has a buyer’s guide that tracks products since their original release date and gives an idea of how “safe” it is to buy. The iPhone 13 released just a few months ago is not a problem, but the iPad Air released over a year ago is dangerous as it will be updated soon.