How are these things compared to MBA 11?

noobinator said:

My base model space gray rMB will be delivered today but I have some questions comparing it to a mba 11.

How is watching video on Netflix or the like, does the screen make a huge difference watching video?

How is the trackpad and keyboard? I think they may take some getting used to.

How is the higher resolution and but extra screen real estate? I felt slightly cramped at time on my air but not too bad.

These are questions to get me by as I await the UPS man!

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Do what I did, watch youtube reviews of macbook.

Simple one word answer: BETTER.

Even if something is slower it is better because the interaction is on a retina screen. From the couple weeks I was using the air 11.6 i can not see many performance differences between this and the air. I am able to get some great battery life on the 12, my brightness is always down can't stand bright screens.

One thing I will say is that the keyboard is different. It will take some getting used to not speed wise but feel wise. The trackpad is great and spacious it seems to be a bit more picky on which part of the finger i use, if I use the tip the pointer moves great, if i use more of the pad the pointer moves much slower for some reason, this could be my fingers I have fat fingers.

noobinator said:

Especially interested in the direct comparisons to the 11" MBA.

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Which year 11" MBA?

I'm in the exact same predicament. I'm going to wait for Gen 2, as at the moment, it's pretty much on par with my MBA 11" in terms of performance (other than that great screen)

I just can't justify spending so much. Hopefully with sky lake we'll see even better improvements, especially with performance and GPU etc, maybe even another port!

noobinator said:

My base model space gray rMB will be delivered today but I have some questions comparing it to a mba 11.

How is watching video on Netflix or the like, does the screen make a huge difference watching video?

How is the trackpad and keyboard? I think they may take some getting used to.

How is the higher resolution and but extra screen real estate? I felt slightly cramped at time on my air but not too bad.

These are questions to get me by as I await the UPS man!

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IMO...when you could get a clearance MBA 11inch for $699 OR even less, it's not worth double the price.

I've owned a couple 11inch MBA over the years and most recently got a rMB. Sure the build quality is great and the screen is awesome, but i don't think it's worth double the price. I personally did not like the keyboard as it felt like i was typing on a flat surface if that makes sense. I like to feel the keys. Everything felt flat and the same and i couldn't feel which keys were which.

it all depends on personal preference of course. I also thought that the new rMB felt too fragile as it is so thin. One thing I did notice is typing fast the screen kinda bounces around...bc there is not much beef to the machine. The 11mba feels more solid to me. but again, just my opinion

I have owned three 11" MBAs in the last five years. It has been my main computer.

Personally, the rMB is a major upgrade from the 11" MBA for two reasons:

1. The screen resolution is better so you can see more on the screen. The biggest issue I had with the 11" MBA was the amount of screen space I had. There is a photo on this board where a user showed a side by side comparison of the screen space between the rMB and a MBP. It was identical.

2. The HD screen is amazing and something I've wanted for a while. I use it for photography and graphics. The 11" MBA screen displayed colors terribly.

The battery life is the same. The keyboard is different but after a day it's the same as usual. The one port is sort of annoying but it doesn't matter to me because I use USB ports barely once a year. I rarely have to use a USB port and charge the laptop at the same time. I never use external monitors/televisions. Overall, this was the laptop I've been waiting for since last spring. It can run Photoshop, Bridge and Office without issues. So, this laptop suits me well. I don't like the size of the 13" MBA and I don't care for the weight of the MBP models (plus I don't need that much processing power).

I've owned two 11" MBAs and don't own any now, which tells you how I felt about the display. The principal tension is cost versus display. If you can live with the display and can buy a 2013 refurb, I'd still go with the 11" MBA based on pure price. If you're comparing 2015 to 2015, it's a no-brainer in favor of the rMB in my opinion.

newellj said:

I've owned two 11" MBAs and don't own any now, which tells you how I felt about the display. The principal tension is cost versus display. If you can live with the display and can buy a 2013 refurb, I'd still go with the 11" MBA based on pure price. If you're comparing 2015 to 2015, it's a no-brainer in favor of the rMB in my opinion.

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I wanted to do this to save money. I got an 11.6 for 667 open box. I hated the screen though. Only thing I could think about was why is this not retina. So it is going back tomorrow. Some people can probably live with the difference. I gladly paid the extra 200 over what I got for my 15.4 for the pleasure of retina.

Yup -- I also gave up on my 11" MBA because of that screen. Loved the form factor, but I was spoiled by retina. The rMB was what I had been waiting for, frankly. My BTO arrives early next week!

You'd have to be insane to spend a whopping $1300 for the mbr when you can get a new mba 11 (in my case a new 2014 base mba for $720 from Best Buy) It's such a great little machine that I rarely use my Samsung tablets anymore, except for apps that are only available on them. For heavy lifting I use my 2010 mbp 15, or my desktop mac mini. While I had retina on my iPad (sold) and on my Samsung tablets (not called retina but better than iPad) I don't miss it and I have tired eyes. I'll snap up a MBr when I can get one under $1000, and I don't mean $999, I mean like $800. Everyone to his own. Oh, I did play with one at the apple store and its fkg lovely, and I really liked the keyboard. But too expensive for what it is compared to the mba 11.

RUGGLES99 said:

You'd have to be insane to spend a whopping $1300 for the mbr when you can get a new mba 11 (in my case a new 2014 base mba for $720 from Best Buy) It's such a great little machine that I rarely use my Samsung tablets anymore, except for apps that are only available on them. For heavy lifting I use my 2010 mbp 15, or my desktop mac mini. While I had retina on my iPad (sold) and on my Samsung tablets (not called retina but better than iPad) I don't miss it and I have tired eyes. I'll snap up a MBr when I can get one under $1000, and I don't mean $999, I mean like $800. Everyone to his own. Oh, I did play with one at the apple store and its fkg lovely, and I really liked the keyboard. But too expensive for what it is compared to the mba 11.

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You did bring up a good point, but a complete redesign, keyboard, and retina display are worth a premium price in the the early stages. If you want to be on the bleeding edge of technology $1300 is not that bad. I paid $1800 for an Air that was half as good a few years ago.

RUGGLES99 said:

You'd have to be insane to spend a whopping $1300 for the mbr when you can get a new mba 11 (in my case a new 2014 base mba for $720 from Best Buy) It's such a great little machine that I rarely use my Samsung tablets anymore, except for apps that are only available on them. For heavy lifting I use my 2010 mbp 15, or my desktop mac mini. While I had retina on my iPad (sold) and on my Samsung tablets (not called retina but better than iPad) I don't miss it and I have tired eyes. I'll snap up a MBr when I can get one under $1000, and I don't mean $999, I mean like $800. Everyone to his own. Oh, I did play with one at the apple store and its fkg lovely, and I really liked the keyboard. But too expensive for what it is compared to the mba 11.

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There's a lot of people who think you'd have to be insane AND blind, or willing to become blind, to use a machine with those piss-poor TN panels that Apple has been foisting on its (metaphorically) blind followers for the last eight years. It's an atrocity and a scandal. People should be embarrassed to admit that they're willing to let Apple take advantage of them so badly.

newellj said:

There's a lot of people who think you'd have to be insane AND blind, or willing to become blind, to use a machine with those piss-poor TN panels that Apple has been foisting on its (metaphorically) blind followers for the last eight years. It's an atrocity and a scandal. People should be embarrassed to admit that they're willing to let Apple take advantage of them so badly.

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Well for gaming and all "Gaming monitors" that have low 1ms and input lag times are TN panels. So TN panels do have a spot. Some people use TN panels on their $2k plus gaming PCs because you simply can't get a IPS panel with a low MS or low input lag really at the moment. IPS panels will have far better contrast for photo editing etc, which doesn't require a low MS

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Also not everyone who buys MacBook is loaded. For a college student who takes notes on it $799 and $1299 is a big freaking difference if you are tight on money. That extra $500 is food money lol.

So at least they are offering low cost variants. If they didn't everyone would be complaining that they don't lol.

vanimal said:

Well for gaming and all "Gaming monitors" that have low 1ms and input lag times are TN panels. So TN panels do have a spot. Some people use TN panels on their $2k plus gaming PCs because you simply can't get a IPS panel with a low MS or low input lag really at the moment. IPS panels will have far better contrast for photo editing etc, which doesn't require a low MS

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Also not everyone who buys MacBook is loaded. For a college student who takes notes on it $799 and $1299 is a big freaking difference if you are tight on money. That extra $500 is food money lol.

So at least they are offering low cost variants. If they didn't everyone would be complaining that they don't lol.

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Good point on gaming - point taken.

newellj said:

Good point on gaming - point taken.

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I know what you mean though. When I got a "MLG BenQ" monitor or whatever it was for my gaming rig the colors looked like **** coming from a IPS. I got used to it. But after a while I switched back to a 27" Asus IPS with a 5ms response time which is fine for me. I can't see any lag or ghosting. Some people aren't bother by the TN I dunno I guess it's subjective.

vanimal said:

I know what you mean though. When I got a "MLG BenQ" monitor or whatever it was for my gaming rig the colors looked like **** coming from a IPS. I got used to it. But after a while I switched back to a 27" Asus IPS with a 5ms response time which is fine for me. I can't see any lag or ghosting. Some people aren't bother by the TN I dunno I guess it's subjective.

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TBH, the rant was really directed at the post I quoted, which was nothing more than raving. But there is a point there - that display is a cheap embarrassment. Apple should do better. I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir.

RUGGLES99 said:

You'd have to be insane to spend a whopping $1300 for the mbr when you can get a new mba 11 (in my case a new 2014 base mba for $720 from Best Buy) It's such a great little machine that I rarely use my Samsung tablets anymore, except for apps that are only available on them. For heavy lifting I use my 2010 mbp 15, or my desktop mac mini. While I had retina on my iPad (sold) and on my Samsung tablets (not called retina but better than iPad) I don't miss it and I have tired eyes. I'll snap up a MBr when I can get one under $1000, and I don't mean $999, I mean like $800. Everyone to his own. Oh, I did play with one at the apple store and its fkg lovely, and I really liked the keyboard. But too expensive for what it is compared to the mba 11.

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Yeah but the 11" MBA for that price it only has 4GB RAM and a 128GB SSD. Your 11" MBA with 8G RAM and a 256GB SSD would only have been $100 cheaper. Your wife's 13" MBA would be the exact same price as the MB.