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Retina Macbook Pro - What are your opinions?

A

alyshehata

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 13, 2012
63
0
Retina macbook pro - Apple and it's constant dilemma.

The retina display is incredible. I think we all agree on that. I personally cant wait to get one in a month when i come back to USA. BUT. As usual, i find it really hard to choose. Should i go with the baseline model and risk slow gameplay on modern games and slow performance a few months after buying it. Or should i spend almost $3k on a laptop that doesn't even have upgradeable RAM. heck you can't even service your own battery. I really dont know, so i'm asking you guys for advice

Heres my situation:
- I'm going to college this year (computer engineering) so a laptop will be my permanent companion.
- i do some mild gaming but i prefer my xbox so gaming to me is only a matter of satisfaction that my laptop is powerful enough.
- the most important thing to me is OS speed and smoothness. It kills me when my PC freezes or slows down. That's why i'm going for a mac. They are supposedly well built.
- i dont really care about storage capacity or optical drives. A 32 gigs USB is for like 25$ and a 1 TB usb 3.0 is for less than 150$. I dont see where the storage problem will arise.

So yeah, tell me what you guys think and:
Do u really think the .3 ghz difference will really make a difference in speed? Say you have Xcode and a few other apps open, will the difference really make a difference?

I'm probably buying a retina display mac because i loved the iPhone and iPad retina upgrade. Do u think otherwise?
 
L

leenak

macrumors 68020
Mar 10, 2011
2,416
52
My theory is always to buy a processor down or 2 from the top processor. The video card will be your most limiting factor here for games, not the processor. If you are a student, I'd say go with the base model.
 
A7ibaba

A7ibaba

macrumors 6502
Apr 19, 2012
274
283
Sweden
You are going to computer engineering college and still asking stupid questions.MBP Retina isn't meant for gaming.It's specifically built for photographers and people who working in the field with video editing like final cut and similar. That way they have much bigger perception on the screen and desktop space for program and preview tabs.
 
Benny-

Benny-

macrumors regular
Jul 17, 2009
132
1
Berlin
I was really interested to see what Apple would release as my 2010 iMac hard drive failed on Sunday.
I'm certainly impressed by the retina MBP but personally I can't justify outlaying £1800 on another laptop. I'll wait until the 13" and 15" MBPs are completely refreshed in the future.
The Solihull store didn't have the retina MacBooks on display this morning when I took my iMac in for repairs.
 
A

alyshehata

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 13, 2012
63
0
A7ibaba said:
You are going to computer engineering college and still asking stupid questions.MBP Retina isn't meant for gaming.It's specifically built for photographers and people who working in the field with video editing like final cut and similar. That way they have much bigger perception on the screen and desktop space for program and preview tabs.
Click to expand...

Actually i disagree. The only reason I never bought a mac earlier was because I hated how you could see the pixels sometimes on the apple logo (upper left corner) or on text. it was the same on the iPhone 3GS and the iPad (although iPad was way worse). I think retina has an overall effect on the user experience. You don't have to be a photographer or video editor to enjoy the retina display. you could be a gamer, programmer, or even an average web browser. the text will look sharper, and more pleasing to the eyes :)
 
theSeb

theSeb

macrumors 604
Aug 10, 2010
7,466
1,893
none
One shouldn't be gaming at college. There is only so little time for lectures in between meeting people and drinking. I would suggest that you get a laptop that can't play games. :p
 
C

CapnJackGig

macrumors 6502a
Jul 17, 2011
572
0
Saw and used one in store today. People complaining about laggy performance in Safari are right. That needs to be addressed. But the reason I left without getting one is an issue Engadget touched on - when you hold one you don't think "This is lighter than a MBP!." You think, "Damn this is much heavier than an Air." The reason I switched to the Air two years ago was the weight since I'm constantly traveling with one in my backpack. The old MBPs were a pain in the ass to travel with and this doesnt feel much different. I'm going to just upgrade my Air instead.
 
X

xalexx

macrumors member
Jun 11, 2012
48
0
Chicago
I say go for the base RMBP. It actually is a really good deal. I don't see it running slow or being crap in a few months, in fact, I plan to use mine for years as I'm sure many others plan to do as well. A lot of critics are freaking out about the lack of upgradability, but personally, I feel that the specs will be more than sufficient (even for gaming) for the life of the computer.
 
C

CausticPuppy

macrumors 68000
May 1, 2012
1,536
68
CapnJackGig said:
Saw and used one in store today. People complaining about laggy performance in Safari are right. That needs to be addressed.
Click to expand...

I think there's already been a patch to address the Safari lag.

However, my observations (after playing with a display model today) were that the HD4000 has trouble keeping up with general UI stuff like screen transitions, Expose, etc. You could use the nVidia GPU full-time but that's not a great option for somebody who is on battery a lot.

See my other thread with video here:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1386070/
 
S

stevelam

macrumors 65816
Nov 4, 2010
1,215
3
alyshehata said:
Actually i disagree. The only reason I never bought a mac earlier was because I hated how you could see the pixels sometimes on the apple logo (upper left corner) or on text. it was the same on the iPhone 3GS and the iPad (although iPad was way worse). I think retina has an overall effect on the user experience. You don't have to be a photographer or video editor to enjoy the retina display. you could be a gamer, programmer, or even an average web browser. the text will look sharper, and more pleasing to the eyes :)
Click to expand...

the text will be sharper (once other browsers update) but images will all generally be fuzzier.
 
U

undies1993

macrumors 6502a
Mar 10, 2011
842
6
Ann Arbor, Michigan
alyshehata said:
actually i disagree. The only reason i never bought a mac earlier was because i hated how you could see the pixels sometimes on the apple logo (upper left corner) or on text. It was the same on the iphone 3gs and the ipad (although ipad was way worse). I think retina has an overall effect on the user experience. You don't have to be a photographer or video editor to enjoy the retina display. You could be a gamer, programmer, or even an average web browser. The text will look sharper, and more pleasing to the eyes :)
Click to expand...

+1
 
MH01

MH01

Suspended
Feb 11, 2008
12,107
9,297
1. Looks like students are rich these days
2. As a computing engineering student, it's best you do the analysis yourself then ask on a rumors forum. Research, analytical decision making will be part of your degree. Why don't you start with what software you will be using during your degree and work out if 8gb ram covers that. Though basically base model is an overkill for university. Though as a computing student I would recommend building your own desktop from scratch, you learn a lot more about the hardware, unless you only care about the software.

----------
alyshehata said:
Actually i disagree. The only reason I never bought a mac earlier was because I hated how you could see the pixels sometimes on the apple logo (upper left corner) or on text. it was the same on the iPhone 3GS and the iPad (although iPad was way worse). I think retina has an overall effect on the user experience. You don't have to be a photographer or video editor to enjoy the retina display. you could be a gamer, programmer, or even an average web browser. the text will look sharper, and more pleasing to the eyes :)
Click to expand...

Ummmm the same applies to windows machines , and every phone prior to the iphone4.....

P.s retina as a gamer is not such a good idea, cause at the retina resolutions where everything looks so sexy, you need a damn fast top of the end graphic card. At the max resolution of the mbp retina, you need something like a gtx 680 + to be smooth, you get a midrange gtx650m, its not a gaming notebook, unless you happy to knock the resolution way down to that of the current mbp without retina
 
Apple...

Apple...

macrumors 68020
May 6, 2010
2,148
0
The United States
A friend of mine is also considering getting a Retina MBP...I told him to go with the base model, which I think you should too. You're going to college: there's a greater likelihood of it getting stolen (even though it shouldn't be hard to track down), and you should try to save as much money as possible for school expenses/etc.

Also keep in mind (according to iFixit) that the new Retina MBP has a low repairability rating, and if you want more than 8GB RAM, BTO it when you order because it will be near impossible to upgrade in the future.
 
W

Wrathwitch

macrumors 65816
Dec 4, 2009
1,303
55
I think the screen is going to be beautiful, HOWEVER, for myself, Apple no longer meets my desires in a laptop. I detest dongles, even hate the word now. I am usually one to buy the top end laptops/desktops etc and for the high end new gen MBP to pay over 3k for a laptop which (for my needs) is overkill, it just isn't worth it for me. I don't make my living off of it.

As for gaming, I am sure that for Diablo III etc the laptop will tow the line quite readily. I wouldn't recommend it for fast moving FPS games imo. It does have new cooling technology but I highly doubt that it is designed for hours of gaming intensive graphics etc. Either that or invest in a good cooling pad.

Yes as one poster mentioned, at 2k + before taxes, students ARE rich now a days!!
 
J

jterp7

macrumors 65816
Oct 26, 2011
1,256
137
theSeb said:
One shouldn't be gaming at college. There is only so little time for lectures in between meeting people and drinking. I would suggest that you get a laptop that can't play games. :p
Click to expand...

is that what they're calling it now? "Meeting" people:p
 
therealseebs

therealseebs

macrumors 65816
Apr 14, 2010
1,057
312
Honestly, I would not factor gaming in when buying a Mac. I've tried, and it's just plain not worked out. Apple's focus is on "thin", not on "performance". Retina's nice, but honestly I would be about as happy with a 1920x1200 or so display, maybe happier -- that would work in more software with less effort, and I'd have more effective real estate, because I wouldn't be getting everything pixel-doubled leaving me an effective 1440x900.

Repair and upgrade options are poor, and the machine lacks some of the features that people are used to expecting in high-end macs. If you don't need the display, look closely at the high-res (but not Retina) version of the 15" MBP.
 
theSeb

theSeb

macrumors 604
Aug 10, 2010
7,466
1,893
none
jterp7 said:
is that what they're calling it now? "Meeting" people:p
Click to expand...

I was trying to keep it kid-friendly for the sake of our younger readers . :) I am not sure what the trendy terms are these days; I finished University 12 years ago.
 
A

alyshehata

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 13, 2012
63
0
MH01 said:
1. Looks like students are rich these days
2. As a computing engineering student, it's best you do the analysis yourself then ask on a rumors forum. Research, analytical decision making will be part of your degree. Why don't you start with what software you will be using during your degree and work out if 8gb ram covers that. Though basically base model is an overkill for university. Though as a computing student I would recommend building your own desktop from scratch, you learn a lot more about the hardware, unless you only care about the software.

----------



Ummmm the same applies to windows machines , and every phone prior to the iphone4.....

P.s retina as a gamer is not such a good idea, cause at the retina resolutions where everything looks so sexy, you need a damn fast top of the end graphic card. At the max resolution of the mbp retina, you need something like a gtx 680 + to be smooth, you get a midrange gtx650m, its not a gaming notebook, unless you happy to knock the resolution way down to that of the current mbp without retina
Click to expand...

That is true. Which is why I said I wont be gaming primarily on a mac. I prefer xbox's anyways but is the 650m really that far behind?

Apple... said:
A friend of mine is also considering getting a Retina MBP...I told him to go with the base model, which I think you should too. You're going to college: there's a greater likelihood of it getting stolen (even though it shouldn't be hard to track down), and you should try to save as much money as possible for school expenses/etc.

Also keep in mind (according to iFixit) that the new Retina MBP has a low repairability rating, and if you want more than 8GB RAM, BTO it when you order because it will be near impossible to upgrade in the future.
Click to expand...

great opinion. and I agree with you. I'm probably going for the baseline model :)

Wrathwitch said:
I think the screen is going to be beautiful, HOWEVER, for myself, Apple no longer meets my desires in a laptop. I detest dongles, even hate the word now. I am usually one to buy the top end laptops/desktops etc and for the high end new gen MBP to pay over 3k for a laptop which (for my needs) is overkill, it just isn't worth it for me. I don't make my living off of it.

As for gaming, I am sure that for Diablo III etc the laptop will tow the line quite readily. I wouldn't recommend it for fast moving FPS games imo. It does have new cooling technology but I highly doubt that it is designed for hours of gaming intensive graphics etc. Either that or invest in a good cooling pad.

Yes as one poster mentioned, at 2k + before taxes, students ARE rich now a days!!
Click to expand...


and no, we're not rich, I've been saving money for the past year for this ^^ first year of college and I need to have a presentable laptop lol.

theSeb said:
I was trying to keep it kid-friendly for the sake of our younger readers . :) I am not sure what the trendy terms are these days; I finished University 12 years ago.
Click to expand...


You sure got me excited to go to college ;)
 
oLNutjob

oLNutjob

macrumors member
Mar 30, 2011
59
0
I won't argue at all about the capabilities of a retina display for togs and video guys. A standard IPS would also be a nice option, however viewing angle is fine with my 2011/15" slug parked on my knees. For serious stuff, I use a large external IPS, anyway.

What strikes me most is the simplification and less total installed components. From the tear down article, this looks to be an "exchange entire machine" in the event of hardware problems.

(It's also probably less expensive to manufacture and a larger net profit.)

Edit:

Won't the high-res display make Pshop & other graphic app's pallets & edit panels quite small?
 
Last edited:
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