Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Tell me not to get an rMBP 13

W

willcapellaro

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 20, 2011
345
6
I just need to be talked down from the ledge...

Currently have a 2010 MBP 15". I love it and only wish it had one extra mini displayport. I tried a USB monitor solution for more than a year but it was laggy and then lost support in Mountain Lion.

I need a portable system to bring between two office setups, a home studio, and teaching gigs once a week. When I'm at an office, I am seeking to run more than one external monitor. That's the only real problem I'm trying to solve with a new laptop purchase.

On my Mac I use Use Adobe CS5 and CS6 (Indesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, AE), Office Apps, a little Rhino and Keyshot, Sketchbook and hopefully Autodesk Maya and ZBrush soon. But 98% of my work is 2D adobe work.

If I win the lottery I will buy a Cintiq HD Touch 24" and get my drawing chops back up.

The rMBP15 is an insane powerhouse that can power enough. Adobe has updated photoshop and illustrator (though CS6 is a bulky palletted mess), which means I can update without worry.

Updating to the rMBP 15 makes sense right? It's noticeably slimmer and lighter than my current unit.

But the 13 is so portable ... I just worry about the lack of GPU. But I wonder if I will even notice the lack of it. Seems like Adobe benefits from a good GPU but it's not really using it. If it means that some renders in keyshot are slower, I can handle that.

* (forgot to mention that I often have a brick of a work-provided crap dell in my bag most times as well.)

I do enjoy gaming but I'm a console man. It would be nice to have the option to run the next installment of Starcraft II. But my laptop is mostly for work.

I can wait but I don't think things are going to change. Everything is so kludgy now, I worry that it still will be even with an rMBP... because I probably won't buy new monitors immediately, which will be even more kludgy because I'll have to buy multiple TB>Ethernet adapters to access networks.

If this post offends anyone's sensibilities, sorry. I've just had a hell of a time knowing how to spend my money (all to get one extra display port working). I'm honestly not trolling or trying to start flame wars. Would love to know any experience or honest assessment of what I should do to have 2-3 years of less kludge.
 
E

efirmage

macrumors member
Apr 13, 2010
94
0
The GPU shouldn't effect your usage much, but the 15' is a much better buy as far as price/performance.

Your needs might be better met if you wait until the 13 inch rMBP has an update integrated graphics card. Your current machine sounds great for you now and should last the 6-10 months until the retina is updated.
 
D

Dominus Mortem

macrumors regular
Aug 3, 2011
233
62
I had a 13" rMBP and it cost nearly as much as my 15". On value alone you should get the 15" because by the time you spec out a 13" with a 256gb hd (and you pretty much should always do this) you are only $100 less than a base model 15" with that bigger screen, same sized hard drive I7 instead of I5, discrete GPU, quad core instead of dual core...

The 13" is only slightly smaller in my opinion and the weight is hardly noticeable. The 15" is very portable, it's way lighter than anything we had in this form factor even a year ago. I used to think a 9lb 17" laptop was portable, it's odd how we think that would be crazy to lug around these days but it was a godsend a few years ago.
 
Ice Dragon

Ice Dragon

macrumors 6502a
Jun 16, 2009
989
20
You can do whatever you wish but $1,700 and no discrete graphics = a no buy for me.
 
E

Essenar

macrumors 6502a
Oct 24, 2008
553
186
First, this forum is riddled with a lot of people who window shop with other peoples' wallets. A lot of people, like the person above me, don't really even consider your needs and turn into "Yes Men" to the Retina 13.

Let's just break this down, compared to the 15", what the 13" offers:

Core i5 Dual Core 2.5 vs Core i7 Quad Core 2.3
8GB DDR3 vs 8GB DDR3
128GB SSD vs 256GB SSD
Intel HD4000 vs Nvidia GT 650M 1GB GDDR5

Can you get by with 128GB of SSD storage? I sure hope so because upgrading in the future is going to be a doozy if you can't. So let's say you upgrade the hard drive... Now your 13" Retina MacBook Pro costs $1999 compared to the $2199 15" base which has the same hard drive, but approximately triple the GPU power and a much better processor.

What's that you say? Oh but it's lighter? By how much? Do you even KNOW?

The 13" weighs 3.57 pounds.... Yeah that's pretty light. The 15" weighs a whopping, back breaking, hernia inducing..... 4.46 pounds. Wait what? It only weighs .89 of a pound more? That's about as much as a can of pepsi or a paperback book. Maybe an apple. (Like that one?)

So how much mobility do you lose by going with the 15"? Not much, but you certainly lose a lot of value for the money by going with the 13".

My vote is, either get a classic MacBook Pro 13". ($1600 into a classic MacBook will get you 16GB of DDR3, a 256GB SSD with a 750GB mechanical drive for back up storage, and the upgraded i7 processor) or just get the 15" Retina because you get MUCH more computer for the money.
 
rrm998

rrm998

macrumors regular
Jun 15, 2012
198
4
Houston, TX USA
JUMP JUMP JUMP!

Are you trying to decide between the 13 or 15 rMBP or whether to buy a rMBP at all?

I suggest the 15". Whether or not the discrete graphics would make a difference, the quad core processor certainly will. My 15" rMBP is my first laptop larger than 13". I was very concerned about size. I've been surprised how little an issue the size difference has been. It still fits in my backpack so I'm good. And the larger screen means I don't feel the need to dock with the external monitors nearly as often as before.
 
Y

yinz

macrumors 6502a
Apr 12, 2012
641
5
15" is a MacBook Pro with Retina Display. 13" is a MacBook Air with Retina Display..
 
Jedi

Jedi

macrumors regular
Apr 28, 2008
183
9
SEVENTEEN LOL

Seriously , I asked the same question , as if there was some magical power
about the 13" :eek:

There isn`t !!

Get the 15 " :D

Later , :)

Gary 
 
V

Valkyre

macrumors 6502a
Dec 8, 2012
525
410
Do yourself a favor my friend and get the 15 inch over the 13inch. If 13inch had a dedicated gfx card I would tell you to get the 13inch no questions asked.

Right now though the 15 inch is a far far FAR more appealing buy, it is basically a bargain for what the machine has under the hood at the price it is.

Again, get the 15inch. No questions asked! :)
 
Z

Zwhaler

macrumors 604
Jun 10, 2006
7,090
1,564
Don't get an rMBP yet. I have a 2010 gen too, it still has plenty of life in it. Wait for the next or the next next gen it will be worth it and should have better performance and graphics.
 
V

Valkyre

macrumors 6502a
Dec 8, 2012
525
410
Zwhaler said:
Don't get an rMBP yet. I have a 2010 gen too, it still has plenty of life in it. Wait for the next or the next next gen it will be worth it and should have better performance and graphics.
Click to expand...

Τhis logic will not change in 2 years time. You could very well be saying the exact same thing even after the next next rmbp comes out, since the next next next one will obviously be even better.

You are never tech proof.
 
whg

whg

macrumors regular
Aug 2, 2012
234
153
Switzerland
I have both the 13" and the 15" Retina. I started my Apple journey with the 13" cMBP 3 years ago. After half a year I switched to the 13" Air because of the higher screen resolution.

When the 15" Retina became available I thought it has the same weight as my first 13" MBP and even more screen space than the Air if needed. Everything felt really nice with the 15" Retina until I started to suffer from the cramped space in Swiss railways.

I seriously considered going back to the 13" Air, but when the 13" Retina was available I had to get it because I was already addicted to the Retina screen.

So, for me the weight difference was no issue, but the slightly bigger size of the 15" turned out to be important. I completely agree that the 15" is a much better value, but for traveling I still prefer the 13".

If I could only afford one of them I would take the 15" for sure. The 13" Retina is more of a luxury item that I really like to take everywhere. The 15" mainly stays at home for home office work or an occasional game.
 
maflynn

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,438
43,346
Personally for PS, I'd opt for the 15" MBP (either rmbp or cmbp). I had a 13" MBP and found the screen real estate too constraining when using PS. I'm now on a 15" and I have no regrets
 
R

racer1441

macrumors 68000
Jul 3, 2009
1,863
616
Do it. I have the 13 rmbp, used the same way. Great laptop, but then I'll plug to 27 inch monitors in at my desk.

Sweetness is unbelievable.
 
J

jemesouviens

macrumors member
Oct 31, 2012
51
0
Don't do it!

I decided to fight the lure of the new, wait for Haswell and hope GPU performance increases significantly.

Performance wise the rmbp 13 is rather similar to the Air and when I played with one in a shop hooked up to a single external display the machine got noticeably warm - so do test out your use case in-store to see how it copes with 2 monitors!

Even the rmbp 15 has teething troubles so it makes sense to wait until these niggles have been ironed out by early adopters (bless 'em) and software has been adapted for the higher screen resolution.

Good luck, whatever you decide!
 
lwilliams

lwilliams

macrumors 6502
Nov 27, 2012
426
209
Athens, GA
After re-reading your original post......

I am an IT manager, I work with Microsoft machines all day. I use Mac for home, travel, and hobby. I use Mac because it works every time, all the time.

I use my Mac for video editing mainly. I was using a MacBook Air. The only issue I found with it was the SSD was not large enough and I kept having to off load data to work on files....big hassle.

I had a similar delimma as you. I was trying to choose between a fully loaded MBA and the rMBP. My first concern was staying with the 13" size. I carried 17" and 15" machines for years and do not want to go back to anything that large.

I had everyone tell me: get the MBP 15, more for your money, Retina not worth exta cost, etc. Well, I can tell you the Retina display is worth the dollars!

Considering what you use yours for, go for the Retina display. Then decide if you wan the size and weight of the 15 or the portability of the 13. Go for the largest SSD you can afford just for breathing room.

As a computer "pro", I can tell you the Retina is worth the dollars.

Now, this is just my opinion. It is not right for everyone. But, if you are doing a lot of Photoshop, you will really appreciate the difference.
 
S

Snowshiro

macrumors 6502
Jan 12, 2008
387
6
Take a look at the 13" and 15" both specced with the same SSD and with the i7 upgrade on the 13" to bring it as close as possible to the 15".

13" Retina Macbook Pro - $2,199 (BTO with processor upgraded to i7 for comparison)
Dual core i7 with 4 MB shared cache
Integrated graphics
13" display (2560-by-1600 native resolution)
256 GB SSD
8 Gig RAM


15" Retina Macbook Pro - $2,199 (base model)
Quad core i7 with 6 MB shared cache
Integrated graphics plus nVidia GeForce GT 650M with 1GB of GDDR5
15" display (2880-by-1800 native resolution)
256GB SSD
8 Gig RAM

I think that tells you all you need to know about how much of a better deal the 15" is. Significantly better CPU, discrete graphics and a better display, all for the same price as a 13" specced with the i7.

If money is really tight and you simply can't afford anything more, then by all means get the 13", but I think it's worth spending a little more and getting a lot more power for your dollar with the 15".
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom