Pleasantly Surprised ....

[christophermdia]

Finally got my 1.3 Macbook ... Came from ... 11" Macbook Air ... then a 13 rMBP ... I absolutely love this thing ... The screen beats the Pro on so many levels ... is there lag? Yes ... but nothing intolerable ... the keyboard is awesome ... i keep wanting to watch videos on it just to see what I've been missing ... will put this thing to test over the coming week ... installed photoshop and Microsoft Suite ... everything works amazing ... it really is a have to try system!!

 

[placidity44]

I posted this in another thread but I was actually considering selling my 15" rMBP with the quad core i7, etc. I saw the gold variant in bestbuy and was just memorized. Spent a good 45 minutes with it. Would've done it in a heartbeat if I had another machine.

 

[2015]

... is there lag? Yes

I haven't seen any lag at all; yet,...what applications are you seeing lag?

 

[Mattymoocow]

I posted this in another thread but I was actually considering selling my 15" rMBP with the quad core i7

I went from a 15" rMBP with the quad core i7 to the 1.2/512 rMB and am extremely happy with the move. The little rMB is just an awesome machine. it's handled everything I've thrown at it.

 

[christophermdia]

I haven't seen any lag at all; yet,...what applications are you seeing lag?

very slight lag when app switching and slightly in scrolling in web pages .... like i said, very tolerable lag, that sometimes is even exhibited on my rMBP at times ...

 

[iSheep5S]

I don't have one... yet but i spend enough time here to say,

Give it settling in time then check lag. Also the app switching could be Yosemite. I don't see it on my rMBP but its very clean. Little installed etc.

 

[BoneHead001]

I haven't seen any lag at all; yet,...what applications are you seeing lag?

I have had my new MacBook for just over one week and have seen no "lag" whatsoever. I am a heavy Photoshop user as well. This laptop is awesome!

 

[KNPaige]

I have had my new MacBook for just over one week and have seen no "lag" whatsoever. I am a heavy Photoshop user as well. This laptop is awesome!

Geekbench reports that the processor is roughly on par with that in the 2014 Macbook Air, so this isn't too bad for a first-gen product. I think that as Intel transitions to Skylake with the lessons learned from Broadwell, this is going to become the next Macbook Air success story.

 

[AppleInLVX]

I saw the gold variant in bestbuy and was just memorized.

I know this is a typo that's probably caused by autocorrect, but I'm quite amused sitting here wondering at how this is possible and the ramifications of it.

I just wish mine would ship, already. The earliest date is this week, but I'm not holding my breath. The waiting is the hardest part.

 

[placidity44]

I know this is a typo that's probably caused by autocorrect, but I'm quite amused sitting here wondering at how this is possible and the ramifications of it.

I just wish mine would ship, already. The earliest date is this week, but I'm not holding my breath. The waiting is the hardest part.

If you haven't seen one in person you will be amazed. I just find it incredible how they made the logic board 67 percent smaller than the 11 inch air, having a retina screen, redesigned keyboard, trackpad, all in that super super thin enclosure while being fanless and maintaining 9 hours of battery life. I was mesmerized because of the engineering and design of the machine. Sorry for the typo. Obviously it's not going to be as powerful as a rMBP but it is more than enough for a lot of users and will do the job great. I love the ambition with the usb-c port. I'm just so excited for the possibilities of future MacBook's with this iteration. I'd love to see the rMBP's thinner and in gold!

 

[Hankster]

I've been using the rMB since five days after launch and it's a great machine. Previously, I had three MBAs as my main computer. I also used an iMac for my office. This rMB does everything I need with a HD screen and portability. I've been performing Photoshop and iMovie on this machine for weeks and it's 100% fine.

And, I can't say enough about the battery life. On normal use this machine goes about 7-8 hours for me. On light use I get 9-10 hours easy.

 

[NT1440]

very slight lag when app switching and slightly in scrolling in web pages .... like i said, very tolerable lag, that sometimes is even exhibited on my rMBP at times ...

Which points to Yosemite optimization issues rather than the "weak processor" mantra that floats around these forums...

 

[tbirdparis]

I've been using the rMB since five days after launch and it's a great machine. Previously, I had three MBAs as my main computer. I also used an iMac for my office. This rMB does everything I need with a HD screen and portability. I've been performing Photoshop and iMovie on this machine for weeks and it's 100% fine.

And, I can't say enough about the battery life. On normal use this machine goes about 7-8 hours for me. On light use I get 9-10 hours easy.

Interesting info re your battery life impressions... Which model do you have? Also take a look at the thread I started about battery life testing, would be cool to see if we can get some standardised results from users out there with different models, to see if there's a trend that one model tends to last longer or not...

 

[Hankster]

Interesting info re your battery life impressions... Which model do you have? Also take a look at the thread I started about battery life testing, would be cool to see if we can get some standardised results from users out there with different models, to see if there's a trend that one model tends to last longer or not...

There are no such thing as "standardized results" because there are too many variables. The only way to get pure results is to own several models and use them in specific methods to test battery life. Just one difference such as the brightness of the screen can drastically change results from one user to another.

Just FYI I always use my screen at 50% brightness and have all applications I don't use turned off. I have the base model and it has surpassed my expectations. It does everything my iMac and MBA does just fine. Plus, the speakers are very loud. A few days ago I was cleaning my house and played music from my rMB. It rang through the entire house (5000sqft). While the speakers on the MBP are better in quality, the loudness of the MB speakers is impressive.

 

[tbirdparis]

There are no such thing as "standardized results" because there are too many variables. The only way to get pure results is to own several models and use them in specific methods to test battery life. Just one difference such as the brightness of the screen can drastically change results from one user to another.

Just FYI I always use my screen at 50% brightness and have all applications I don't use turned off. I have the base model and it has surpassed my expectations. It does everything my iMac and MBA does just fine. Plus, the speakers are very loud. A few days ago I was cleaning my house and played music from my rMB. It rang through the entire house (5000sqft). While the speakers on the MBP are better in quality, the loudness of the MB speakers is impressive.

Yep, obviously I know there's no way of getting an absolutely rigorous standardised result, short of setting up different machines with identically cloned installs and running precisely the same set of tasks under as close to identical conditions as possible..

However, if a simple set of parameters were agreed upon (for example: an agreed display brightness setting, wifi on, Safari open with a bunch of tabs for sites pre-agreed upon, mail app running and just being used whenever emails come and go as the user sees fit)... then despite variations and deviations, a trend might emerge. For example, maybe the base model owners will always consistently post somewhat longer times than others, with the occasional aberration. It's like in any statistical testing... The more data you get, the results that really deviate off-trend become more rare, leaving you with a more clear picture of the overall average.

Anyway it was just an idea, could be interesting info to some people if enough users joined in...

And yes, totally agree re the speakers. They were the last thing I expected to be good on a machine of this size, and they perform way way out of their league.

 

[christophermdia]

Other thing to think about with Battery testing is how long you have had your device for, number of cycles, Battery Health ... etc ... these variables contribute significantly to the final result. I have yet to have a device that didn't get better battery life with age (Initially). over the weekend I was seeing consistently 3-4 hours to 50% ish with 40-50% brightness and constant use. I did spend a good bit installing stuff though (I did clean install vs. time machine backup ... didn't want to bog it down with a backup)

I am typically tethered at my desk while at work, but I am on it all day, very few breaks ... I could try out some battery only scenarios. I also run a fair bit of Parallels with Windows 8.1 so I could use macros with Excel not possible in the mac version. Unbelievably, Windows 8.1 runs smoother on the rMB than it did on my rMBP. Cant explain it at all, especially since all I did was take the virtual file and transfer it over via flash drive. Very smooth and even some of the small games like Microsoft Jackpot runs without a hitch where on the rMBP it was not even playable

 

[AppleInLVX]

If you haven't seen one in person you will be amazed. I just find it incredible how they made the logic board 67 percent smaller than the 11 inch air, having a retina screen, redesigned keyboard, trackpad, all in that super super thin enclosure while being fanless and maintaining 9 hours of battery life. I was mesmerized because of the engineering and design of the machine. Sorry for the typo. Obviously it's not going to be as powerful as a rMBP but it is more than enough for a lot of users and will do the job great. I love the ambition with the usb-c port. I'm just so excited for the possibilities of future MacBook's with this iteration. I'd love to see the rMBP's thinner and in gold!

Don't apologize for the typo, I know it wasn't you, rather the software trying to be helpful. I'm just easily amused... thank you for not taking it personally.

I have seen them. I go to visit the Apple store in my city every week, and I look at them and wonder when I will be able to get my own software on one of these things and truly take it for a spin. Alas, my order still sits at "processing". I want to use it primarily as a mobile writing solution, and I know it'll be terrific for that. Can't wait!

 

[placidity44]

Don't apologize for the typo, I know it wasn't you, rather the software trying to be helpful. I'm just easily amused... thank you for not taking it personally.

I have seen them. I go to visit the Apple store in my city every week, and I look at them and wonder when I will be able to get my own software on one of these things and truly take it for a spin. Alas, my order still sits at "processing". I want to use it primarily as a mobile writing solution, and I know it'll be terrific for that. Can't wait!

I see you have a 2014 iMac. If I had an iMac i'd sell my rMBP for a rMB in a heartbeat! I'm wondering how it would do as my only computer.

 

[AppleInLVX]

I see you have a 2014 iMac. If I had an iMac i'd sell my rMBP for a rMB in a heartbeat! I'm wondering how it would do as my only computer.

I have to admit, the fact that I intend to use the new rMB as my 'second' or 'satellite' computer made it a lot easier to choose to get one. The way I see it, if there's ever anything the rMB can't do to my satisfaction, it's not an issue because the iMac will. I intend to use it mainly to write while I'm away from my iMac, or keep up with mail, to-dos, etc. It isn't intended to be my main driver.

I would probably have thought more than twice about the rMB if it was going to be my only computer, although it seems like a lot of people are quite content using it that way. I might have waited to see what the next iteration was, but because I've got the iMac, I can't see where I'd regret the purchase.

 

[christophermdia]

I have a 2012 27" iMac, a 2014 13" rMBP, and now the rMB. Granted I have only had this thing just shy of a week, however, installed just about everything I had in the rMBP and am using it as a daily driver as I had with the rMBP. I need more time, however, it has not hiccuped yet. Just this morning even, have 2 Powerpoint presentations open, Outlook, Parallels/Windows 8.1 to work on some Excel Files with VB/Macros, Safari looking up misc stuff, Feedly, Messages, Streaming Satellite radio connected via bluetooth headphones, bluetooth mouse and keyboard connected as well, background apps running : Dropbox, Creative Cloud, Google Drive, One Drive, Wunderlist, and WebEx ... a normal day Lag is there but like I stated before, only in app switching and scrolling which my i7 rMBP exhibits as well.

I could see this as a main machine easily. Giving it another week or so and if all is still good will likely put the rMBP up for sale.

By the way ... unplugged the machine to see with all I have open what estimated battery life is and its showing 4:26.

 

[placidity44]

I have a 2012 27" iMac, a 2014 13" rMBP, and now the rMB. Granted I have only had this thing just shy of a week, however, installed just about everything I had in the rMBP and am using it as a daily driver as I had with the rMBP. I need more time, however, it has not hiccuped yet. Just this morning even, have 2 Powerpoint presentations open, Outlook, Parallels/Windows 8.1 to work on some Excel Files with VB/Macros, Safari looking up misc stuff, Feedly, Messages, Streaming Satellite radio connected via bluetooth headphones, bluetooth mouse and keyboard connected as well, background apps running : Dropbox, Creative Cloud, Google Drive, One Drive, Wunderlist, and WebEx ... a normal day Lag is there but like I stated before, only in app switching and scrolling which my i7 rMBP exhibits as well.

I could see this as a main machine easily. Giving it another week or so and if all is still good will likely put the rMBP up for sale.

By the way ... unplugged the machine to see with all I have open what estimated battery life is and its showing 4:26.

I'm very curious about how it would run one virtual machine such as windows 8 on parallels or bootcamp. I service windows machines remotely things like bloatware removal, data backup, diagnostics, spyware removal and defragmentation, setup peripherals, etc. Otherwise for personal use I browse the web, Spotify, VPN, Alfred, Bartender, and built in mac apps and that's about it so my personal usage isn't demanding at all. I don't do any video editing and i've never liked to take photos.

 

[AppleInLVX]

Just this morning even, have 2 Powerpoint presentations open, Outlook, Parallels/Windows 8.1 to work on some Excel Files with VB/Macros, Safari looking up misc stuff, Feedly, Messages, Streaming Satellite radio connected via bluetooth headphones, bluetooth mouse and keyboard connected as well, background apps running : Dropbox, Creative Cloud, Google Drive, One Drive, Wunderlist, and WebEx ... a normal day
By the way ... unplugged the machine to see with all I have open what estimated battery life is and its showing 4:26.

Impressive. I can't wait to get my paws on one, if only Apple would ship it. This is the first time I've waited longer than it took for the next Apple event to happen to get hardware announced at the previous one. This was a total botch on Apple's part, which is sort of disappointing. But, with luck, another week will see it here.

I assume for the most part, you use the computer plugged in at all times? Honestly, after all these years laptops have been out there, I *still* don't get the best way to use them so that the battery lasts longest. I've gotten to the point where I'm thinking I'll just use it how I use it and hopefully it'll be okay.

 

[christophermdia]

Impressive. I can't wait to get my paws on one, if only Apple would ship it. This is the first time I've waited longer than it took for the next Apple event to happen to get hardware announced at the previous one. This was a total botch on Apple's part, which is sort of disappointing. But, with luck, another week will see it here.

I assume for the most part, you use the computer plugged in at all times? Honestly, after all these years laptops have been out there, I *still* don't get the best way to use them so that the battery lasts longest. I've gotten to the point where I'm thinking I'll just use it how I use it and hopefully it'll be okay.

I do keep it docked/tethered all the time, of course except when I'm in meetings. There is a nice advantage of this particular computer though being that you could attach it to an external battery pack. I haven't done this really as of yet, but I have a 10000mah pack made by Zero Lemon that I have attached to it to see if it actually charges and it did albeit slowly. I did buy into the Voltus pack in kickstarter for when I would need it. Next week I have a few meetings in chicago, some in restaurants and some in meeting rooms in a hotel. I will surely put it to a test then so I could get a good feel for how real world battery life with note taking and presenting work.

 

[AppleInLVX]

Next week I have a few meetings in chicago, some in restaurants and some in meeting rooms in a hotel. I will surely put it to a test then so I could get a good feel for how real world battery life with note taking and presenting work.

Well, if you want to give the lot of us some first impressions of your real-world battery life, I'll be happy to read them.

 

[Pandarama]

Well, if you want to give the lot of us some first impressions of your real-world battery life, I'll be happy to read them.

Same for me, I would know - with how brighness is configurated - how battery life is with note taking/presenting but without real web use.