Anyone go from mid-2012 MB Air 13" to MB Pro 13" with Retina?

[Young Turk]

I was absolutely blown away by the Retina screen on the new 13" MB Pro I stumbled onto the other day at Best Buy, so much so that my less than 4 month old, beloved, all-Samsung 13" Air (4/256) is on eBay right now and is sure to sell as my reserve has been met.

Am I crazy to do this? Anyone else do the same? Any regrets?

This would be my main computer, and at my office I do have the Apple Thunderbolt Display with the Apple BT mouse and keyboard for when I run the Air in clamshell mode.

Thanks in advance,

YoungTurk

[maxosx]

I own both, they're excellent.

The initial advantage of retina is the incredibly good first impression it makes "at first glance" to those who've never seen one before.

After several months of using both retina & non retina MBP's I own, the retina loses a bit of its charm. Unlike some that buy into everything Apple declares as magical, I prefer to trust myself & rely on my years of Apple experience.

If one has just one computer & it's retina, you've got no basis of comparison. Those who say once you go retina you can't go back, come across more as someone justifying the high price & seeking validation of their purchase.

Don't get me wrong, retina is nice, but with the number of hours I spend working in front of my macs, I think they're a bit overrated.

That's just my take on it.

[Buck987]

Originally Posted by maxosx

I own both, they're excellent.

The initial advantage of retina is the incredibly good first impression it makes "at first glance" to those who've never seen one before.

After several months of using both retina & non retina MBP's I own, the retina loses a bit of its charm. Unlike some that buy into everything Apple declares as magical, I prefer to trust myself & rely on my years of Apple experience.

If one has just one computer & it's retina, you've got no basis of comparison. Those who say once you go retina you can't go back, come across more as someone justifying the high price & seeking validation of their purchase.

Don't get me wrong, retina is nice, but with the number of hours I spend working in front of my macs, I think they're a bit overrated.

That's just my take on it.

I tend to agree.....maybe its the dirty screens at Best Buy but I was not that impressed with the retina when placed against the screen on the 13 air.

I'm going to check the retina out at an apple store this week.

[gregpod9]

I will be ebaying my early 2011 model 13" MBP sometime next week. A couple of months ago I upgraded to 8GB of memory and to a Samsung 830 series 256GB SSD. I was at the Apple store yesterday to try out the 13" rMBP and 15" rMBP and I really like the screen on both of them, but decided that the 13" rMBP was the right one for me, because the 15" is too powerful for what I need and I like the form factor on the 13" rMBP. This morning I ordered the 13" midrange refurbished rMBP at Apple's website.

[Young Turk]

Originally Posted by maxosx

I own both, they're excellent.

The initial advantage of retina is the incredibly good first impression it makes "at first glance" to those who've never seen one before.

After several months of using both retina & non retina MBP's I own, the retina loses a bit of its charm. Unlike some that buy into everything Apple declares as magical, I prefer to trust myself & rely on my years of Apple experience.

If one has just one computer & it's retina, you've got no basis of comparison. Those who say once you go retina you can't go back, come across more as someone justifying the high price & seeking validation of their purchase.

Don't get me wrong, retina is nice, but with the number of hours I spend working in front of my macs, I think they're a bit overrated.

That's just my take on it.

Really, really appreciate the perspective. Ironic b/c I'm typing this on the mid-2012 MB Air I'm replacing, and as I'm reading your post, I'm thinking to myself, 'hey, this (Samsung) screen is pretty darn nice as it is, why upgrade?' That's why I appreciate what you wrote b/c although my Air is on eBay and the high bidder has met the reserve, no one has actually paid via 'Buy It Now,' so I can always End the Auction and keep the Air. What would you advise?

[gregpod9]

Originally Posted by buckwheat987

I tend to agree.....maybe its the dirty screens at Best Buy but I was not that impressed with the retina when placed against the screen on the 13 air.

I'm going to check the retina out at an apple store this week.

The Best Buy by home does not clean any laptop screen on a daily basis. I went there yesterday to look at the rMBPs. The rMBPs had dirty screens and I had drive 25 minutes to the nearest Apple store.

Even Fry's Electronics by my home is even worse. That store displays broken laptops with keys missing from the keyboard, dirty laptop screens, broken laptop hinges, and cracked screens.

[Young Turk]

Originally Posted by Young Turk

I was absolutely blown away by the Retina screen on the new 13" MB Pro I stumbled onto the other day at Best Buy, so much so that my less than 4 month old, beloved, all-Samsung 13" Air (4/256) is on eBay right now and is sure to sell as my reserve has been met.

Am I crazy to do this? Anyone else do the same? Any regrets?

This would be my main computer, and at my office I do have the Apple Thunderbolt Display with the Apple BT mouse and keyboard for when I run the Air in clamshell mode.

Thanks in advance,

YoungTurk

update to my original post: after reading maxosx's reply, I decided to keep my mid-2012 (All-Samsung) 13" Air for the foreseeable future. I may decide to upgrade later but for now, I'm staying put. Thanks again for the feedback.

BTW, the Refurb section of the online Apple Store has several configurations of the 13" Retina Pro listed now at a pretty good savings over new.

[bill-p]

Originally Posted by maxosx

If one has just one computer & it's retina, you've got no basis of comparison. Those who say once you go retina you can't go back, come across more as someone justifying the high price & seeking validation of their purchase.

I disagree with this.

Once someone works with images on a retina display, they really can't go back. The loss in clarity and resolution is very noticeable even compared to a 27" iMac.

I have my rMBP 15" connected to a Cinema Display from time to time to get more screen real estate, but I still can't get over the loss of clarity on the Cinema Display... or on any other display. It's distracting, and very obvious.

This may change when my eyes get bad enough that I need glasses again (I had Lasik surgery), but for now, I can see clear as day the difference between my rMBP's screen and any other computer's screen plain as day.

[Grmnracing]

Originally Posted by Young Turk

I was absolutely blown away by the Retina screen on the new 13" MB Pro I stumbled onto the other day at Best Buy, so much so that my less than 4 month old, beloved, all-Samsung 13" Air (4/256) is on eBay right now and is sure to sell as my reserve has been met.

Am I crazy to do this? Anyone else do the same? Any regrets?

This would be my main computer, and at my office I do have the Apple Thunderbolt Display with the Apple BT mouse and keyboard for when I run the Air in clamshell mode.

Thanks in advance,

YoungTurk

I was set on buying the 13 inch AIr. But I just saw the MacBook Pro retina and WOW. The screen looks much better to my eyes. I was going to upgrade the Air to 8GB, but for $200 more I can go Retina.

I'm almost positive I want the Pro. Any suggestions or anything that may change my mind?

[Young Turk]

Originally Posted by Grmnracing

I was set on buying the 13 inch AIr. But I just saw the MacBook Pro retina and WOW. The screen looks much better to my eyes. I was going to upgrade the Air to 8GB, but for $200 more I can go Retina.

I'm almost positive I want the Pro. Any suggestions or anything that may change my mind?

If money is no object, go for it, absolutely.

I did read somewhere however, one expert's opinion that dollar-for-dollar, the 13" Air delivers the most bang for the buck.

I kinda wished I stayed home the day my son suggested we 'look around,' and I took him and we wandered to the 'store within a store' and I saw the 13" rPro.

[robvas]

I love my 13" rMBP but I'm not really sure it was worth the $600 I spent after I sold my 13" 2011 Air....

[Mercmanman]

Originally Posted by Young Turk

I was absolutely blown away by the Retina screen on the new 13" MB Pro I stumbled onto the other day at Best Buy, so much so that my less than 4 month old, beloved, all-Samsung 13" Air (4/256) is on eBay right now and is sure to sell as my reserve has been met.

Am I crazy to do this? Anyone else do the same? Any regrets?

This would be my main computer, and at my office I do have the Apple Thunderbolt Display with the Apple BT mouse and keyboard for when I run the Air in clamshell mode.

Thanks in advance,

YoungTurk

I just made the switch from 2012 13" i7 MBA to i7 13" rMBP.

MBP turns on the fans far less and processes video and photos faster. I think the MBA powers down under heavy or hot loads, and the MBP does not.

The screen is of course no contest. The IPS MBA screen is washed out by comparison, and I run 1680x1050 almost all the time in the rMBP. I use TB display at the office and just the rMBP at home.

The rMBP is also smaller in footprint, and I find it more convenient for travel like on a plane.

I couldn't be happier.

[KPOM]

Originally Posted by Young Turk

I was absolutely blown away by the Retina screen on the new 13" MB Pro I stumbled onto the other day at Best Buy, so much so that my less than 4 month old, beloved, all-Samsung 13" Air (4/256) is on eBay right now and is sure to sell as my reserve has been met.

Am I crazy to do this? Anyone else do the same? Any regrets?

Close. I went from the 2012 11.6" MBA to the 13" rMBP. It was by accident. I lost my 2012 Core i7 8GB/256GB MacBook Air a week before Christmas while I was traveling. Find My Mac "found" it and erased it for me, but no one every turned it in. Fortunately for me it was insured. After a lot of thought, I decided to give myself a Christmas present and spend the extra money on the 13" rMBP. While I was a little hesitant because the rMBP weighs 50% more than the 11.6" MBA, I'm glad I did, because the screen is gorgeous. While the native resolution of 2560x1600 is the equivalent of 1280x800 (only sharper), you can emulate the 1440x900 resolution of the 13" Air and it is still pretty sharp. The performance of the base 2.5GHz i5 is roughly on par with the ULV 2.0GHz i7 of the upgraded Air. I have no regrets whatsoever. I'm a "charter owner" of the MacBook Air (I have owned Airs since February 2008), I'm going to stick with the 13" rMBP for now, unless Apple brings a Retina display to the 11.6" Air (or produces an 11.6" rMBP).

----------

Originally Posted by maxosx

Those who say once you go retina you can't go back, come across more as someone justifying the high price & seeking validation of their purchase.

Don't get me wrong, retina is nice, but with the number of hours I spend working in front of my macs, I think they're a bit overrated.

That's just my take on it.

I agree to some extent, but think that "Retina" displays will be the norm across the notebook world within 2 years, nonetheless. It isn't quite the same "wow" factor as with the iPhone 4 or 3rd-generation iPad, but the rMBP still has a nice display. You don't notice it quite so much when looking at it as you do when returning to a non-Retina Mac or Windows PC afterward. ASUS is already experimenting with 2880 x 1620 (16:9) displays, so I wouldn't be surprised to see them release a notebook with such a display sometime in 2013.

That said, even without Retina the MBP has better color gamut than the MBA screens.

[maxosx]

Originally Posted by Young Turk

Really, really appreciate the perspective. Ironic b/c I'm typing this on the mid-2012 MB Air I'm replacing, and as I'm reading your post, I'm thinking to myself, 'hey, this (Samsung) screen is pretty darn nice as it is, why upgrade?' That's why I appreciate what you wrote b/c although my Air is on eBay and the high bidder has met the reserve, no one has actually paid via 'Buy It Now,' so I can always End the Auction and keep the Air. What would you advise?

My MBA is also a mid 2012. It's one of my absolute favorites.

There's no way I'd sell this terrific laptop.

I'd highly suggest you keep yours. There's nothing quite as nice as a well sorted reliable laptop. Remember the retina is a first year model and not as refined the Air's we have.

[That70sGAdawg]

I bought a 13" Air back in June 2012 (When they last came out), because the 15"rMBP was just too big for all my traveling.
When the 13"rMBP came out- I sold the Air and have not regretted switching. This Screen is just too sharp!!!! The size is actually smaller (except slightly thicker)and the keyboard is better than the air also.