13 inch rmbp or 15 inch rmbp ?

[Barna Biro]

Originally Posted by Hitcher44

i will most likely get a 13 inch retina display macbook pro

Welcome to the club

[blaake]

Originally Posted by Hitcher44

i went to the apple store and compared the weights and thickness of the macbook pros and macbook airs from that i will most likely get a 13 inch retina display macbook pro

just double check that you want that for the amount of money you are spending on it compared to a 15" with better processor, more cores, etc.

and check the price from the cMBP to the rMBP.

not trying to talk you out of it but it is a pretty fat check you are about to write.

[unfrostedpoptar]

Originally Posted by snaky69

Two more processor cores and a dedicated graphics card.

That brings up my question. Right now, I'm running a 2011 iMac driving 2 Dell 27" u2711 monitors for a total of 3 27" screens. I also have an 11" MBA which I carry around. I'd like to combine these into one computer since I'm sick of all the syncing and duplicated updates I have to keep doing.

I'd like the 13" rMBP for the size/weight and it does have 2 separate TB/MDP ports and the Apple website says it can drive 2 2560x1440 monitors. However, it just has the integrated graphics while the 15" has a GPU. I'm not a gamer and mostly have test with the occasional movie - which would only be on one screen anyway.

Anyone know if I'd see slow graphics using the 13" rMBP in this triple-screen setup?

Thanks,

David

[unfrostedpoptar]

Originally Posted by unfrostedpoptar

I'd like the 13" rMBP for the size/weight and it does have 2 separate TB/MDP ports and the Apple website says it can drive 2 2560x1440 monitors. However, it just has the integrated graphics while the 15" has a GPU. I'm not a gamer and mostly have test with the occasional movie - which would only be on one screen anyway.

Damn. I stopped at an Apple Store on the way home and looked at the 13" and 15" rMBP. In just about every way, the 15" is so much better. With the same 256GB SSD, the 15" is only $200 more and gets you a quad-core i7, a GPU, and, obviously, a bigger screen. However, it's just too big and heavy to carry around everywhere like I do with my 11" MBA. Even the 13" rMBP is a bit bigger and heavier, but I could see pulling it off.

Oh well. Just have to think about it. And wait for re-furbs to show up in the Apple web store!

[Alag28]

save some money and check out the refurb apple section

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Originally Posted by blaake

just double check that you want that for the amount of money you are spending on it compared to a 15" with better processor, more cores, etc.

and check the price from the cMBP to the rMBP.

not trying to talk you out of it but it is a pretty fat check you are about to write.

i would get the 15inch non ret

[Hitcher44]

Originally Posted by Alag28

save some money and check out the refurb apple section

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i would get the 15inch non ret

Thanks for the tip :thumbsup:

[underblu]

Honestly I'd go for either the rmbp 15" or the 13" MBA.


To me without a dedicated GPU especially with the retina display and the lack of quad core processing the 13" MBA makes a lot more sense than the 13" rMBP

The rMBP 15 is imho the pinnacle of laptop computing powerful sleek great battery life easily a desktop replacement with 4 cores and a dedicated mobile GPU the 15 sets a new standard imho for the best laptop PC available.

With that said I do wish they had release the rMBP with a 17" screen though. So for now my quadcore 17 MBP is going no where.

[unfrostedpoptar]

Originally Posted by underblu

Honestly I'd go for either the rmbp 15" or the 13" MBA.


To me without a dedicated GPU especially with the retina display and the lack of quad core processing the 13" MBA makes a lot more sense than the 13" rMBP

The rMBP 15 is imho the pinnacle of laptop computing powerful sleek great battery life easily a desktop replacement with 4 cores and a dedicated mobile GPU the 15 sets a new standard imho for the best laptop PC available.

With that said I do wish they had release the rMBP with a 17" screen though. So for now my quadcore 17 MBP is going no where.

Just depends on what you need. I've have at least a dozen laptops over the last 16 years with every screen size from 17" down to 11". I even wanted the 20" that Dell had for a couple of years but didn't get it. For me, I realized that no laptop could have a big enough screen to do serious development work. So, I've gone the other extreme and have an 11" MBA but connect to 27" monitors at home. I just want the laptop to be small, light, and fast. That's why I want the 13" rMBA but wish it had the option for the quad-core i7! I tried both a few days ago and had my MBA with me. The 15" just can't be held with one hand to use as a pseudo tablet. Even the 13" is pushing it. I really want me 11" MBA to have the guts of the 15" rMBA and don't even care about the retina part.

I thought about the cMBP 13" with an SSD, but it's almost as much as the rMBP and weight a pound more and still doesn't have the quad-core option or 2 TB/MDP ports to drive my 2 27" monitors

[adjeff8]

I am also in the market for a new MacBook Pro. I actually bought the 15" non retina then returned it because the screen was inferior to my 4 yr old MacBook Pro. Not as sharp. I've been going back and forth, retina/Non retina. I DO NOT want to get a 1st generation retina. Then the other day a apple floor person showed me a test. We had both laptops side by side. He clicked on a huge photoshop type of program on both. It took the retina 10 seconds to open it. It took the non retina 50 seconds. This is due to the Internal flash hard drive as opposed to the traditional spinning hard drive on the non retina. For me that's the selling point. Therefore, I will hold out for the 2nd generation retina 15". I hear it may come out in March

[Naimfan]

Originally Posted by cang87

You can have these lost parts back on rMBP with extra 150$ budget if you need them. (Red coloured) But for display and reduced size and weight is not something you can purchase later on. If you have the budget, I would deffinitely suggest you to go for Retina. I have it and I'm sure you won't regret it. Things you will gain in Retina, are definitely much more!

Cheers!

Buying and carrying around an external optical drive, external hard drive, and adapters rather defeats the point of having an all in one laptop, especially since the weight difference is minimal - you have bigger problems than a computer if the 1 lb weight difference is significant.

I can see the point of the 15" rMBP but the 13" rMBP is simply absurdly overpriced for what it offers - while the screen is nice, that's the only advantage it has.

[judethat]

i got the 13" rMBP 256 and loving it. Completely suits my purpose and battery life is so much better than the Air.

[ZhenyaF]

I've been waiting for the 13" rMBP since the 15" rMBP was announced, to me 13" is the best size. But once they actually announced it and the specs that it came with, I decided to get a 15" rMBP due to the value for my $$. The weight of the 15" rMBP is the same as my '09 13" cMBP and I couldn't be happier with the 15" rMBP

[Sahee]

Originally Posted by judethat

i got the 13" rMBP 256 and loving it. Completely suits my purpose and battery life is so much better than the Air.

You are comparing the battery life of a 13inch to a 11inch machine... the 13inch macbook air has better battery life than the retina 13 inch, the retina mb drains very fast when it has a high brightness level, much faster than the air.

[Barna Biro]

Originally Posted by Sahee

the retina mb drains very fast when it has a high brightness level, much faster than the air.

... it needs to light up many more pixels you know.
Also, who's forcing you to use a high brightness level?

To my experience at least, it doesn't drain fast... Sure, you won't get 10 hours of battery life out of it, but since I'm not 8-10 hours on the road daily, it's more than enough to last me from one power source to the other. If you do stay more outdoors than indoors ( or close to a power supply ), then it might make sense looking for something else... or you can always learn not to use "a high brightness level". It's all about balance...

[jjhoekstra]

Originally Posted by Hitcher44

Hi im new to the forum and im considering buying a macbook pro for college as i am doing a level 2 interactive media course would anyone be able to tell me the pros and cons for getting a mac and if getting a retina display will make much of a difference towards my experience ?

many thanks in advance

Hitcher44

rMBP 15": discrete grafics-unit which is very usefull when rendering video (the rendering is partly done using the GPU); no or limited down-trottling when running heavy tasks for a long time; quad processors so 30-50% faster; large battery which runs for up to 10 hours if you disable the discrete GPU; but at the cost of size, weight and looks.

rMBP 13": very portable package, slightly cheaper, powerfull enough for everything you throw at it, it will run all and any software smoothly, but the 15" is faster which can be important if you life from your MBP.

[judethat]

Originally Posted by Sahee

You are comparing the battery life of a 13inch to a 11inch machine... the 13inch macbook air has better battery life than the retina 13 inch, the retina mb drains very fast when it has a high brightness level, much faster than the air.

Actually the battery life is double what I got with the air. That is simply a fact. I never have either machine on full brightness level, and as I said it suits my needs.

[FACTON95]

Originally Posted by judethat

i got the 13" rMBP 256 and loving it. Completely suits my purpose and battery life is so much better than the Air.

Same here!

[hawon]

my suggestion is either go with 15" rMBP or 13" MBA.
As someone said earlier, wait for refurbed 15" rMBP.

[Haifisch]

In case you qualify for the educational discount, the 15retina is only $100 more than the 13"retina with 256SSD.

I went with the 15" because it is much better value. I can live with the size and weight.