Resolved: iMac 27" vs rMBP 15"

[aloshka]

Originally Posted by iAppl3Fan

Apple Thunderbolt Display

GOTCHA!! thanks. I guess since i know acd, could have put 2 and 2 together.

[Black.Infinity]

Originally Posted by tudyniuz

I think that the iMac can hold up for 3-4 years and still be good enough for my use, but laptops usually don't last that long. Performance wise and reliability as well. This is also important for me.

Go with imac for lasting perfomance or buy rMBP plus a beautiful 27 Apple Display. But still depends on you usage, rMBP can last the same as an imac.

[tudyniuz]

rMBP + Thunderbolt display is out of the question. It's not practical for me and too expensive for no reason. I'd rather connect the rMBP to my TV which is bigger, even if it's only 1080p.

[raniel]

Yup, its apple thunderbolt display.

[aloshka]

Originally Posted by tudyniuz

rMBP + Thunderbolt display is out of the question. It's not practical for me and too expensive for no reason. I'd rather connect the rMBP to my TV which is bigger, even if it's only 1080p.

And it's iffy when you plug it in. 90% of the time I plug it in, the aluminum apple wired keyboard doesn't work. Have to keep trying USB ports until one works. Genius had no idea, replaced TB, keyboard and rMBP, still no go. Submitted bug to macbook pro team, but never got a response. Still an issue.

So +1 to iMac

[tudyniuz]

I've just made the order for the iMac

3.4GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.9GHz

8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x4GB

1TB Fusion Drive

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX 2GB GDDR5

Magic Trackpad

[aloshka]

Originally Posted by tudyniuz

I've just made the order for the iMac

3.4GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.9GHz

8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x4GB

1TB Fusion Drive

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680MX 2GB GDDR5

Magic Trackpad

Nice!! Please post your comments after you get it.

[thekev]

Originally Posted by tudyniuz

rMBP + Thunderbolt display is out of the question. It's not practical for me and too expensive for no reason. I'd rather connect the rMBP to my TV which is bigger, even if it's only 1080p.

That is perfectly reasonable. I think a real question would be how often you really move your computer around. I really like large displays. My only hesitation with 27"+ is for me personally. I use a large Wacom tablet, and I can't stand mapping that deviates too far from 1:1, so if I had the largest display, I would end up primarily using a much smaller percentage of it. For others, I think they represent a nice option. I've complained about serviceability before, but that doesn't really differ between the two machines you're comparing here. Some people have mentioned display issues with either. I simply suggest making sure everything is as it should be prior to transporting it overseas. There is also the issue of customs. I'm not sure if that would be an issue shipping the imac outside of its original packaging. With a notebook in your carry-on luggage, no one is likely to question it, as people travel with their notebooks all the time.

[tudyniuz]

Originally Posted by aloshka

Nice!! Please post your comments after you get it.

I will get it only at the beginning of June, but at least I paid 1000 euros less than I would have paid here in Holland.

Originally Posted by thekev

I simply suggest making sure everything is as it should be prior to transporting it overseas. There is also the issue of customs. I'm not sure if that would be an issue shipping the imac outside of its original packaging. With a notebook in your carry-on luggage, no one is likely to question it, as people travel with their notebooks all the time.

Yes, it will be tested before shipping. I will not pay any taxes as it will arrive in it's original package and sent via a container along with other stuff.

[aloshka]

So I got Mac. It is incredibly faster than my rmbp and i have a maxed out rmbp. I love the new iMAC and the screen is worth everything. I'm still comtemplating whether or not to get the MacBook Air 13, keep the rmbp 15 or just get an ipad with a small keyboard.

I tried the MBA 11, didn't like it.

[Sevbh]

Well the maxed out iMac with 32Gb, 3.4 GHz, and GTX680MX 2Gb and 1TB hd, only performs about 5% better than my maxed out rMBP (2012 version) on Geekbench with a score of 13073 on the 32 bit version where my rMBP get 12404 on 32 bit as well.

imac test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZhOx42r4F0

rmbp test: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJroe4JhAWQ

For the SSD speed test, the rMBP is much faster than the iMac's fusion drive with 430 mbps write and 449 mbps I get from my laptop compared to 330 and 410 from the iMac.

As for graphics performance, the iMac is a obviously going to perform better with the superior card and memory, however not by much! This is because Apple has overclocked the crap out of the GT650M on the rMBP. On Cinebench I get 41 fps, and the iMac got 44.8 fps in the test.
CPU wise, there is obviously a difference with the iMac scoring 7.45 vs 6.59 I got from my test. however based on the SSD performance, I'm sure the rMBP could keep up with the iMac.

Proof that SSD has a significant say in speed of the machine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3svad_IoCM

All in all, in my opinion, for the SSD, portability, gorgeous design (iMac is insanely beautiful as well mind you), very good battery life, and the coup de grace; THE RETINA DISPLAY! for only 5% less performance, I would def go with the rMBP, without looking back. From my experience, it is the best laptop I have ever used, absolute joy to have, and a pure powerhouse that can put to shame any other computer in its category.

My vote is go for the rMBP! you wont regret it.

[aloshka]

Originally Posted by Sevbh

Well the maxed out iMac with 32Gb, 3.4 GHz, and GTX680MX 2Gb and 1TB hd, only performs about 5% better than my maxed out rMBP (2012 version) on Geekbench with a score of 13073 on the 32 bit version where my rMBP get 12404 on 32 bit as well.

imac test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZhOx42r4F0

rmbp test: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJroe4JhAWQ

For the SSD speed test, the rMBP is much faster than the iMac's fusion drive with 430 mbps write and 449 mbps I get from my laptop compared to 330 and 410 from the iMac.

As for graphics performance, the iMac is a obviously going to perform better with the superior card and memory, however not by much! This is because Apple has overclocked the crap out of the GT650M on the rMBP. On Cinebench I get 41 fps, and the iMac got 44.8 fps in the test.
CPU wise, there is obviously a difference with the iMac scoring 7.45 vs 6.59 I got from my test. however based on the SSD performance, I'm sure the rMBP could keep up with the iMac.

Proof that SSD has a significant say in speed of the machine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3svad_IoCM

All in all, in my opinion, for the SSD, portability, gorgeous design (iMac is insanely beautiful as well mind you), very good battery life, and the coup de grace; THE RETINA DISPLAY! for only 5% less performance, I would def go with the rMBP, without looking back. From my experience, it is the best laptop I have ever used, absolute joy to have, and a pure powerhouse that can put to shame any other computer in its category.

My vote is go for the rMBP! you wont regret it.

I REALLY don't think benchmarks do the iMac justice. So I decided to keep the RMBP + iMAC.. and honestly, the iMac blows away the rMBP in every aspect from smoother interface, faster video, faster processor, more memory, VM's run smoothly, graphics is on average +20 FPS in every game I tried. Uber quiet. I don't regret it one bit. To be fair, I did get the 768gb SSD version of the iMac and not the fusion drive. But no, it's not 5% faster. I ran a bunch of benchmarks, and it's more like 20% faster. Don't just focus on processor or disk speed. Test memory, graphics, etc as well.

[Sevbh]

good man, if i could i would buy both as well.

however im not too sure about there being such a difference. the only area i can see here being a significant difference is the graphics department in gaming because after the game as been loaded on in the ram, the SSD advantage kinda disappears. What exactly is the difference in game play you are seeing?

What im positive about is that due to the high res of the rMBP screen, depending on the scaling you've chosen, there will be signs of UI lag, specially if the intel HD4000 is being used unfortunately. however this does not affect the speed of the laptop itself.
Based on the benchmark scores, if u take into account only graphics performance the iMac seems to be around 11% faster. It would be great if you could make a video, if you have the time, comparing the two computers as there aren't any as of yet.

May I ask what the specs of your computers are? and which benchmarks you tested the computers on? cause cinebench is a good graphics test, and geekbench all the rest pretty much.

[Sevbh]

also i do realise you are still in the 14 days return policy thing, so im gonna say it just in case.

If you already had the rMBP, why not wait until october for the new iMac which will without a doubt have a retina display as well! imagine how amazing that would be. Also will come with the new Haswell processors and most probably better nvidia cards...

[AppleDeviceUser]

It's as simple as this, do you want to bring it places ever if so buy the MacBook Pro, if not buy the iMac.

[aloshka]

Originally Posted by Sevbh

good man, if i could i would buy both as well.

however im not too sure about there being such a difference. the only area i can see here being a significant difference is the graphics department in gaming because after the game as been loaded on in the ram, the SSD advantage kinda disappears. What exactly is the difference in game play you are seeing?

What im positive about is that due to the high res of the rMBP screen, depending on the scaling you've chosen, there will be signs of UI lag, specially if the intel HD4000 is being used unfortunately. however this does not affect the speed of the laptop itself.
Based on the benchmark scores, if u take into account only graphics performance the iMac seems to be around 11% faster. It would be great if you could make a video, if you have the time, comparing the two computers as there aren't any as of yet.

May I ask what the specs of your computers are? and which benchmarks you tested the computers on? cause cinebench is a good graphics test, and geekbench all the rest pretty much.

It's very hard to explain, but just feels faster. As far as FPS goes, just pick any game. I tested BF and Wow in MOP and same settings yielded a huge difference. Also, fans didn't blow up like an rMBP.

I don't think Retina will affect me too much since I had the retina plugged into dual TB displays, so nVidia was used at all times. I have the same thing with iMac. I have the iMac + TB display so still duals.

----------

Originally Posted by Sevbh

also i do realise you are still in the 14 days return policy thing, so im gonna say it just in case.

If you already had the rMBP, why not wait until october for the new iMac which will without a doubt have a retina display as well! imagine how amazing that would be. Also will come with the new Haswell processors and most probably better nvidia cards...

Haswell won't be as huge of an increase as people think. It's focused more on heat, and power. The mobile chips will be better, but the desktop chips really will just be faster. Ideally if they can do iMac w/6 cores, but haswell doesn't offer that.

As for retina, it would be worthless to make the 27" retina. Retina is defined as pixels being small enough that you cannot distinguish them from a normal viewing distance. The 27 is about 90% there. Having it be even sharper won't make a difference. And I'm 100% sure it won't happen this year since nothing, and I mean nothing could drive a 27" retina display, especially since the iMac uses mobile graphics chips. Rumors are cool, but no way apple will change the entire design of the iMac once more, especially since they JUST got the fused glass thing figured out.

[Sevbh]

Originally Posted by aloshka

As for retina, it would be worthless to make the 27" retina. Retina is defined as pixels being small enough that you cannot distinguish them from a normal viewing distance. The 27 is about 90% there. Having it be even sharper won't make a difference. And I'm 100% sure it won't happen this year since nothing, and I mean nothing could drive a 27" retina display, especially since the iMac uses mobile graphics chips. Rumors are cool, but no way apple will change the entire design of the iMac once more, especially since they JUST got the fused glass thing figured out.

Idk, if the rmbp can drive 3 external displays plus its own retina display, i pretty sure the gtx680mx (or the newer card when retina imac comes out) wouldnt have a problem with the extra pixels, even on a 27". but i guess we will see around october. From many rumours, it is widely expected that apple will offer a retina option in every one of there products by 2014. and the last ones to be updated will prob be the thunderbolt displays.
And when they do its gonna be significantly different looking screen. for comparison, the rMBP drives 5.1 million pixels (which is why apple overclocked the gt650m), compared to the 27" iMacs 3.7 million (note the ipad 3 has 3.1 million pixels) so imo its a bit unfair to call the current imac 90% retina even thought the viewing distance is a bit greater than on an laptop. A riMac will destroy any other display to date, by miles, and it would also be a great way of finally enjoying 4k video without having to spend crazy cash on a 4k tv.

For me anyways, its def something to wait for. However if you dont mind this, then i completely agree, the current iMac is a gorgeous computer around and one proper and elegant powerhouse.