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Mac32

Suspended
Original poster
Nov 20, 2010
1,263
454
Hi,

I visited the local Apple store today, going between the retina MacBook Pros and the new iMac 27'' several times. I have to say as long as you keep your head at a reasonable distance from the iMac 27'', the difference in screen quality is really minimal. Is my eyesight bad or am I missing something? :)
The only thing I notice is maybe that my eyes work a little bit harder to focus when reading text on the iMac 27'' screen, but that could just be the bigger screen with more reflections from the harshly lit store room...or placebo..

I keep seeing all these comments like "I can't look at iMac screens anymore, because I've become used to retina displays." Seems a bit hyperbole to me, or is this something one notice over time?

I did notice however that the new MacBook Airs display looked a bit washed out compared to my 2010 MacBook Air. You would think that there would be an improvement in screen quality??
 
Last edited:

Ambush083

macrumors regular
Jul 29, 2008
238
1
Hawaii
Hi,

I visited the local Apple store today, going between the retina MacBook Pros and the new iMac 27'' several times. I really have to say that as long as you keep your head at a reasonable distance from the iMac 27'', the difference in screen quality is really minimal. Is my eyesight bad or am I missing something?
The only thing I notice is maybe that my eyes work a little bit harder to focus when reading text on the iMac 27'' screen, however that could just be from looking at a bigger screen with more reflections from the harshly lit store room...or just placebo..

I keep seeing all these comments like "I can't look at iMac screens anymore, because I've become used to retina displays." Seems a bit hyperbole to me, or is this something one notice over time?

I did notice however that the new MacBook Airs display looked a bit washed out compared to my 2010 MacBook Air. You would think that there would be an improvement in screen quality??

Your eys need lasik man. Nah, I can tell the difference. It's not all the time. Some of the buttons on the apps are just really sharp looking. I can't explain it, but buttons is what I notice the most. Like the GUI of a program support by retina. Yeah lame I know, but when you get used to it, the buttons remind me. haha.

Because I don't want to open a new thread, can someone please tell me if the GTX680 (i think) 2gb card in the 27 imac performs a little or a lot better than the Retina Macbook Pro's card? I'm going to buy one soon for gaming and I'm having second though.s I own the rMBP already but want more graphics!
 

spinstorm

macrumors 68000
Sep 14, 2007
1,619
146
I have both.

Yes the retina is sharper but your not sitting the same distance from a laptop and a 27" screen.

I prefer the larger screen to the higher pixel density.
 

spinstorm

macrumors 68000
Sep 14, 2007
1,619
146
I'm not a gamer to be honest. My graphics card in the MacBook Pro is better than in the 27" but there are moreixels on the MacBook Pro as well.

I would say that if you want a big screen gaming experience its better for that but if your not bothered then its probably down to portability and where you would use it.

I know my MBPR is the fastest computer I have - faster than the new iMac BUT I don't really use it in all honesty.

For browsing and movies I use the iMac. If I'm out my iPad Mini. If I really need a laptop I have a MacBook Air from 2010 which is 11" and super portable and does everything I want.
 

jetjaguar

macrumors 68040
Apr 6, 2009
3,553
2,319
somewhere
I had a maxed out new 27 iMac but I'm returning it for the rmbp in my sig .. Should be here tomorrow. I don't game anymore and prefer to be able to take my Mac whenever I need to be. I use my iPad mainly to browse the net and watch shows when commuting or laying around
 

macaximx

macrumors 6502
Apr 5, 2009
311
123
Hi,

I visited the local Apple store today, going between the retina MacBook Pros and the new iMac 27'' several times. I have to say as long as you keep your head at a reasonable distance from the iMac 27'', the difference in screen quality is really minimal. Is my eyesight bad or am I missing something? :)
The only thing I notice is maybe that my eyes work a little bit harder to focus when reading text on the iMac 27'' screen, but that could just be the bigger screen with more reflections from the harshly lit store room...or placebo..

I keep seeing all these comments like "I can't look at iMac screens anymore, because I've become used to retina displays." Seems a bit hyperbole to me, or is this something one notice over time?

I did notice however that the new MacBook Airs display looked a bit washed out compared to my 2010 MacBook Air. You would think that there would be an improvement in screen quality??

My wife has a 2011 Air and a 15' rMBP. I have a 27 ' 2012 iMac (maxed). Side by side while sitting at my desk I can say the rMBP is slightly better watching a video. Web pages (Apple) to me, look the similar. The Air is not in the same league.
At an Apple store you are viewing the iMac differently than you would at home. I find my iMac looks much better on my desk than in a store standing closer than I normally would.
I prefer the iMac/iPad route while my wife prefers the rMBP portability. If you plan to use it at a desk, get the iMac and don't think twice about it.
 

TouchMint.com

macrumors 68000
May 25, 2012
1,625
318
Phoenix
I'm not a gamer to be honest. My graphics card in the MacBook Pro is better than in the 27" but there are moreixels on the MacBook Pro as well.

I would say that if you want a big screen gaming experience its better for that but if your not bothered then its probably down to portability and where you would use it.

I know my MBPR is the fastest computer I have - faster than the new iMac BUT I don't really use it in all honesty.

For browsing and movies I use the iMac. If I'm out my iPad Mini. If I really need a laptop I have a MacBook Air from 2010 which is 11" and super portable and does everything I want.


The video card in the iMac 27" the 680mx is way better than anything in the macbook pro or even retina by a very long shot.
 

parrafin

macrumors member
Aug 23, 2012
37
0
Because I don't want to open a new thread, can someone please tell me if the GTX680 (i think) 2gb card in the 27 imac performs a little or a lot better than the Retina Macbook Pro's card? I'm going to buy one soon for gaming and I'm having second though.s I own the rMBP already but want more graphics!

The 680MX 2GB performs more than a 'lot' better than the 1GB 650M. Barefeats' benchmarks show the 680MX outperforming the desktop 680 in 3/5 tests which is amazing, especially for a mobile GPU.

The card will be able to play BF3 at Ultra settings, whereas the 650M would struggle to run the game at high, with most settings needing to be on medium to get a playable framerate.

The problem will lie in Apples driver support. With half decent OS X driver support this machine could be a really good gaming computer.
 

Ambush083

macrumors regular
Jul 29, 2008
238
1
Hawaii
The 680MX 2GB performs more than a 'lot' better than the 1GB 650M. Barefeats' benchmarks show the 680MX outperforming the desktop 680 in 3/5 tests which is amazing, especially for a mobile GPU.

The card will be able to play BF3 at Ultra settings, whereas the 650M would struggle to run the game at high, with most settings needing to be on medium to get a playable framerate.

The problem will lie in Apples driver support. With half decent OS X driver support this machine could be a really good gaming computer.

Hey thanks for the info I really appreciate it. It's encouraging to hear that it is performing really well. I'm excited. Not sure about the 3TB drive since I plan on running BootCamp on it. They say if it's like....3TB BootCamp won't work. No on ever says why though. Yeah alll my games will be on Windows, not OSX. I used OSX for everything else though.

I found this thread helpful.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1506807/
 

parrafin

macrumors member
Aug 23, 2012
37
0
Hey thanks for the info I really appreciate it. It's encouraging to hear that it is performing really well. I'm excited. Not sure about the 3TB drive since I plan on running BootCamp on it. They say if it's like....3TB BootCamp won't work. No on ever says why though. Yeah alll my games will be on Windows, not OSX. I used OSX for everything else though.

I found this thread helpful.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1506807/

I haven't heard of any issues with the 3TB drive and boot camp, are you talking about the 3TB Fusion drive or just the standard one?
 

theSeb

macrumors 604
Aug 10, 2010
7,466
1,893
none
I haven't heard of any issues with the 3TB drive and boot camp, are you talking about the 3TB Fusion drive or just the standard one?

Both. This has been discussed here and it is mentioned in apple's support pages too
 

theSeb

macrumors 604
Aug 10, 2010
7,466
1,893
none
Oh right, news to me.. if Apple know, I'm sure a patch will be released soon enough.

It's not a simple matter of a patch. The problem is that Bootcamp uses master boot record partitioning scheme instead of GUID Partition Table (which OS X uses). Windows cannot be installed on drives 2.2 TB that have MBR partitioning.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2581408

This won't be fixed by a simple patch. It would require a large amount of rework in Bootcamp, which I don't believe is something Apple would do.


Your best bet is to use the workaround posted above.
 

iSayuSay

macrumors 68040
Feb 6, 2011
3,789
906
....

I know my MBPR is the fastest computer I have - faster than the new iMac ....

How so?

Yeah .. the base 21.5" iMac might be a little bit slower than rMBP, but it costs what? $1200 compared to $2200 at least for a rMBP.

Compete it against a new maxxed out 27" iMac with 3.4GHz i7 and 680MX, all of a sudden the rMBP feels like a toy. Yet it costs the same to get a faster and more powerful iMac instead.
 
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