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What surprised you most about your 15" rMBP?

zakee00

zakee00

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 7, 2004
244
0
I've had mine for a few days now and it's performed as expected: amazingly. However, I just sat down and put on Spotify and the speakers in this thing are way better than my last laptop! Makes quite a good little boombox.

Anyone else particularly surprised with any feature?
 
I agree on the speakers. I'm surprised how quiet it is. Even when the fans fire up it's pretty quiet, but it's effectively silent the vast majority of the time. It's just weird how they (a "royal they") can keep making things thinner, more powerful, and still manage heat with less ruckus.
 
I'm kinda new to MacBooks, so every time it turn it on I am amazed, plug in an external device, it works, swipe the touch pad and it works. Everything just works. I know it's not a big deal, but for me it makes me smile.
 
The lack of issues (IR, lag, battery consumption) compared to what people on forums were saying. Yeah, there's a little bit of lag in Safari and Itunes store is sometimes choppy. But who cares?
 
It's my very first Mac and the longer i use it the more i like it, been a hardcore Windows user since Windows existed and i don't wanna go back :) (except i use bootcamp for gaming)

Been most surprised by the internal speaker quality, battery life and just how fun it is to use OS X.
 
I used a 27" Thunderbolt Display and an external speakerset with my Mac.

I'm currently residing abroad for a few months and I couldn't bring all my goodies. So I solely brought my rMBP.

Thruth be told, I really have never missed the external speakerset because this is pretty spot on as well. OF course, some adaptation in the beginning was needed.

It's also dead silent, most of the time.
 
that I couldn't write to my NTFS USB stick/HDD without buying 3rd party software for 20 pounds...
 
Its weight, how issueless it is despite some people on here insisting that it's plagued with bugs, and the quality of its speakers. They're not outstanding but for laptop speakers they definitely sound good - better than most laptops I've heard so far.

One other thing was the noise. It's virtually silent during normal operation - although when it gets really fired up, it's honestly louder than I expected. I'd say it's louder than my old one, in fact - although maybe because it has dual fans rather than just one. It's not irritatingly loud, but it's louder than I thought given how much of a big deal Apple made over the fans. That's only when the fans spin over 2000rpm, though - 90% of the time it's dead quiet and that's lovely.

swipe the touch pad and it works.
Click to expand...

The touchpad in my first MBP amazed me a lot and this one's just as good. I'll never understand why Apple touchpads are the only ones that seem to be any good, quite honestly. A touchpad that, well, works should be standard in every laptop.
 
what? the speakers are really loud

most likely its the file you are playing

my 320kbps mp3s are loud..In Flames

the only thing that surprised me is how quiet it runs...nearly silent

but also, how hot it gets above the f1 keys
 
It is the second best Mac I have ever purchased. The best Mac I ever purchased was the initial Mac mini tower in 1984. While I had to give up my first Mac for the corporate world, as soon as I retired this spring I went back to Mac. How many products bring you back after 28 years? ;)
 
Those speakers are amazing on it. I am also surprised that I can lift it with one hand without worrying about dropping it. It does worry me though that it gets very hot between the G & H keys. It almost burns me it gets that hot and this is only browsing the Internet.
 
playsontheleft said:
The touchpad in my first MBP amazed me a lot and this one's just as good. I'll never understand why Apple touchpads are the only ones that seem to be any good, quite honestly. A touchpad that, well, works should be standard in every laptop.
Click to expand...

I remember when I got my first macbook in 2006 and how the trackpad was just SO amazing compared to any other laptop I touched and when they hit the unibody design it was even better.

Whenever I touch other laptops - even other higher end models - I'm always shocked at how bad they are compared to Apple's. It's hard to believe so many companies can get touch screens right but they can't seem to sort out trackpads.
 
rgr555 said:
what? the speakers are really loud

most likely its the file you are playing

my 320kbps mp3s are loud..In Flames

the only thing that surprised me is how quiet it runs...nearly silent

but also, how hot it gets above the f1 keys
Click to expand...

He's talking about the fans when they fire up. If you're playing games, editing movies, or running VMs there's a good chance you'll hear them.
 
I just bought mine yesterday and I have to say that I love love love the quality of the screen. I put this in this thread because between looking at it at Best Buy and then coming home and actually using it I am just so pleased with the screen. I do have an LG screen but no evidence of any image retention or anything yet. I've only used it a few hours though.
 
Maczor said:
May I ask what is your hand doing above the f1 keys ?
I mean, are you stroking the display all the time or what ?
Click to expand...

LOL! Doesn't everyone?

----------

Like many here I spent some time comparing the Retina display to the standard display in stores. I didn't see a major difference there. I ultimately decided to "just go for it" and was surprised how great the Retina display is once I started looking at my content.

Having moved from a 2.5 pound 13" laptap, I was surprised how little impact the extra weight and size of the rMBP had. Indeed, I tend to use my external monitors less than I use to due to the larger internal screen and excellent trackpad.

I was surprised that the 15" is thinner than the 13" rMBP.
 
Maczor said:
May I ask what is your hand doing above the f1 keys ?
I mean, are you stroking the display all the time or what ?
Click to expand...

Oh, I stroke my rMBP all the time. Especially above the f1 key. Really, what a question. :D
 
rrm998 said:
I tend to use my external monitors less than I use to due to the larger internal screen
Click to expand...

Glad I didn't waste $$ & splurge on Thunderbolt Display while buying 15 rMBP. I've had to change it as my permanent main display while I throw extra content, background video etc to 24" Samsung display, if I even bother plugging it in ;)
 
Maczor said:
Seriously now... 0.04" ( ~1mm ) difference ?
You must be joking or high...
Click to expand...

Not joking. Apple loves their consistent design specifications. That 0.04 difference suggest to me that they had a design issue with the 13" that they simply couldn't overcome without the extra space. Maybe they needed a bit more battery capacity or maybe better air flow. Rumor in June was that the 13" design was having thermal issues.
 
I've had my rMBP for about 3 weeks now and love it more each time I use it. Certainly the best computer I've owned. So far I have not experienced any of the issues that have populated the forums. I do look for IR but not all that closely and I never bothered to figure out what kind of screen I have. I have noticed a touch of lag on some sites like Facebook--or with a lot of pictures. But nothing serious or even bothersome. Temperatures are very cool--right now it is operating at 93F. I played WoW yesterday for the first time and the fans cranked up to around 4K--still very quiet--and still ran pretty cool--the fans did their job and as soon as I stopped playing the temps--and fans--went right down. I guess since I paid the premium, I have to say the screen is indeed the best part but all of the other parts work in harmony to compliment the screen--the rMBP is definitely one fine machine!
 
How often it crashes. Mail crashed almost every day until recently and I've had the system completely lock up twice. Much much worse stability than experienced with windows 7.
 
I'm surprised a bit about how much of an improvement in every way, they have attained. This is hands down the best laptop ever produced.
 
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