The way to exit that loop is to convince yourself that the next one will bring a truly lasting difference. Which is why I'm still waiting for GDDR7 GPUs with my 4GB RX 480.

Get the math co-processor! It'll rip.

I just only buy every fourth or fifth whatever it is. Usually the previous model, too, when I do, sometimes used or official-refurb. Works great.

I've had several devices fail right before the new model was released.

So frustrating.

That's why my desktop CPU is 11 years old.

Hehe yeah, same when I think about it… I guess best thing to do is buy on launch and update every 2-5 years.

If staying on the latest model isn’t important to you, there’s significant cost savings to be made from just buying the previous version.

It entirely depends how long you keep your devices. I try to keep my iPhones until release year + 6, so I would need the price of a previous version to be reduced by more than 1/6th on a new version release, which is usually not the case.

Similar to cars, most depreciation happens in the first year.

So owning a device for 6 years between age 1 and 7 will generally have a lower cost than owning a device between age 0 and 6.

For Apple products it’s generally feasible to effectively buy first hand devices aged 1+ because they’re still available for sale (at least in some retailers) after a new edition is released.

so wait for M5 to buy M4

That’s a good strategy with most things that aren’t prone to mfg variability . For cars having a launch version there are a lot of initial manufacturing defects that need to be worked out.

Yeah, feels like if you don't buy in the first few months you might as well hang on for the next one.