How many will consider 13" rMBP if next MBA doesn't have upgraded display?

skaertus said:

Let me put this way: it was a good display when the current generation MBA was released, back in 2010. But then IPS displays were only available in the iPhone and in the iPad, and only the iPhone was retina. Time has passed.

Now, look at the offerings. Several ultrabooks in the Windows world which sell for a lower price than the MBA have IPS displays with higher resolutions. And these ultrabooks will adopt retina-like resolutions in the following months, following the release of Haswell.

If Apple keeps the current displays in the MBAs, they'll be poor quality by the end of the year. They'll only be matched by budget Windows laptops. It's not a display for a US$ 999+ machine anymore.

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Ouch, then I guess the MBA is not for me. I like good displays. Always. It's why I didn't get a iPad mini. I can't go back.

Mr. RPG said:

Ouch, then I guess the MBA is not for me. I like good displays. Always. It's why I didn't get a iPad mini. I can't go back.

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The MBA has a TN display with a resolution of 1366x768 in the 11-inch model and 1440x900 in the 13-inch model. The 13" rMBP has a resolution of 2560x1600, which is much higher. Windows ultrabooks such as the Zenbook Prime, the Dell XPS 12 and XPS 13, the Samsung Series 9 and the Acer Aspire S7 all have resolutions of 1920x1080 (Full HD). And they are all IPS.

skaertus said:

The MBA has a TN display with a resolution of 1366x768 in the 11-inch model and 1440x900 in the 13-inch model. The 13" rMBP has a resolution of 2560x1600, which is much higher. Windows ultrabooks such as the Zenbook Prime, the Dell XPS 12 and XPS 13, the Samsung Series 9 and the Acer Aspire S7 all have resolutions of 1920x1080 (Full HD). And they are all IPS.

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I have always looked at Apple as leading the way in putting advanced screen technology into their products. It would be down right shocking if they didn't improve the displays in the nearly three year old MBAs.

iRun26.2 said:

I have always looked at Apple as leading the way in putting advanced screen technology into their products. It would be down right shocking if they didn't improve the displays in the nearly three year old MBAs.

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I created a thread where I listed the retina-like displays in mobile devices. These screens have multiplied in the last year. Apple may well put a retina display on the MBA now. Acer, Asus, Dell, Toshiba, Samsung, HP and Fujitsu are doing it. Why can't Apple?

skaertus said:

I created a thread where I listed the retina-like displays in mobile devices. These screens have multiplied in the last year. Apple may well put a retina display on the MBA now. Acer, Asus, Dell, Toshiba, Samsung, HP and Fujitsu are doing it. Why can't Apple?

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Apple is stuck on high profit margins. So maybe they can't put a retina in there without lower the profit margin, or increase the price. Or, the usual product differentiation, with incremental upgrades (it's not time for retina yet, they can milk a bit more, so to speak). Or, they think battery life is sacrificed, somehow. We'll never really know.

If Apple is that far behind, then I think Apple will announce something new regarding the displays on MacBooks next week.

MacBook sales aren't exactly killer.

i simply cannot use a retina screen because 1. the pixelation is awful for my works (microsoft office/visio/firework running in vmware in windows 7/8). i do a lot of screen shots and whenever u handle screenshots, with retina screen, you are pretty much screwed. just try it yourself. take a screenshot and paste it in windows virtual machine. 2. the power/performance tradeoff is incredibly punishing. i much rather my cpu/gpu to be running my os and applications than driving 4x the size of a needed screen real estate.

i def will buy a MBA, unless it comes with a freaking retina screen. if the new MBA has a retina screen, i will have to buy a PC instead. (my company dictates windows software such as teradata sql assistant, OBIEE 11g that won't work in mac, etc.)

btw, 80% of my coworkers (in a 50k+ employee company)) use macbook pro (from work) and we all run boot camp or vmware on it and work almost exclusively in the windows os. i know it's very ironic lol but it seems to be the norm now. in my line of work u just have to use windows os, yet everyone prefers the mac hardware because they simply look cooler and cost more than the thinkpad. since company is paying for it, everyone picks the "cooler" option.

btw, outlook in osx (the latest version) SUCKS in comparison to Outlook 2010 or 2013....look in outlook 2011 (osx version) you can't even embed a photo correctly in outlook (with photo effect) or utilize corporate template. MS really sucks at supporting their osx software, and outlook is more than 50% of where i spend my time in (meeting & lengthy email threads).

11" or 13" retina

Hi,

For me, the choice would not be between the 13" air or the 13" retina. Those are too similar: if I'm going for 13", it will be the retina.

The real choice is: all for portability, or sacrifice a bit of that to get a laptop that's easier when used for long periods of time. The differences would be:

- About 600gr, which is more than half of the weight of the 11" MBA. In other words: I can slip an 11" MBA into a bag and hardly notice it, or I can slip in a 13" rMBP and it feels like a laptop bag. The wedge shape certainly helps the in-bag-slippability of the MBA. This may become less of a difference if the new Haswell rMBP is indeed slimmer (and maybe a bit lighter ?)
- 16:9 vs 16:10 screen. A 16:9 is actually not so bad for work because it's easier to fit two full windows side-to-side. On the other hand, the retina screen can resize really well, which compensates.
- Smaller work area: keys have less travel, the trackpad is slightly smaller and overall space for hands is reduced on the 11" MBA.
- Tech specs: the rMBP has a faster processor, but the only other difference is that it can take a 768GB SSD, which I don't need. I'm hoping the 13" rMBP gets an upgrade to also take 16GB memory, which I would get to futureproof it.

That's it. For me, the main thing to decide is whether I want something to drag along anywhere as if it's a PDA, or something to work on for long periods of time.


Peter.

2IS said:

I said 1920x1200, not 1080 That gives it the same aspect ratio as it currently has and 1920x1200 is a more common resolution than 1728 not to mention a higher resolution.

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Fair enough, I missed that.

But 1920 x 1200 is no solution, it is just too high res for a 13" non-retina screen. The upper useable limit for a 13" screen is around 1080 (or retina equivalent). Even 1080 is starting to push it, at around 153 PPI.

I find the current 11" screen hard enough to read text, and that has a much lower PPI (135) than 1920 x 1200 would in a 13" (170 PPI).

If they are going to upgrade the 13" Air res then it has to be either 1728 x 1080, or full retina (ie double the current res).