I bought a MBP a few months ago because I was travelling to the UK and the low pound made it a no brainer (I saved 350€) but part of me was annoying at missing out on the latest version that was about to be released.

It looks like I dodged a bullet; in 4-5 years, when I'll need an upgrade, all these issues will be solved, USB-C will either have become standard or gone firewire's way, the pointless emoji board will be quietly shelved, more RAM will be possible, etc