13 & 15inch rMBP: $437 Price Difference

[Mac-Tech]

Go with 15" RMBP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[HappyDude20]

Ah! So I'm heading to the Apple Store in a few hours. For the past six months I've solely been using my new ipad and iPhone 4. I've not had any sort of laptop for the past six months. When I purchase my rMBP ill be giving my ipad to my mom, and my rMBP will be my main device to tackle school work and everything else.

Now I can't help but ponder about owning at 13inch rMBP and an iPad mini, to compensate my current new ipad... Or I could go the route of just a 15inch rMBP.

freaking decisions.

 

[fskywalker]

I have not seen in person the 13 inch rMBP but think it is a little thicker, which is kind of weird, than the 15 inch rMBP version. I would recommend the 15 inch size over the 13 inch size, those 2 extra inches of screen makes an incredible difference to me. I had 2 MBP 13 inch machines (last 2 generations) and the fact the new 15 inch rMBP weighted less than my 13 inch 2.7 Ghz MBP made the deal for me. On the SDD drive, 128GB is really small.... I had the 256GB drive on my machine and upon transferring all my stuff from the old machine (had 500GB HD) almost got it full. I ended up buying an OEM 512GB SDD on Ebay and now have the 256GB on an external enclosure (backup and just in case need warranty on the unit, have the 3 year Apple Care). If you cannot afford a bigger hard drive don't worry as you may buy a bigger drive later. The memory is another story: based on tha fact memory is soldered and cannot be addeed at a later time, would recommend you to opt for the highest memery you can afford. (even over a bigger SDD drive)

Hope this helps!

 

[Rizzm]

Simply put if you care about the value of where your dollars are going, there is just so little (value) in the 13" rMBP. I would never consider it.

If money isn't an issue, and the specs are fine for you, then more power to you; buy it.

 

[dragonev]

I've tried this 13" rMBP and no guys, thanks. Currently in the process of returning this crap. Went to the apple store and actually compared devices. 15" is not as much bigger as I thought and MBA is obviously far worse in terms of performance. So yeah, I am going for base rMBP 15" after getting a refund.

P.s. 128Gb SSD is too small. I had for 1.5 years in my custom MBP 13" and all the time you need to carry along external, because it fills up in no time. So I won't recommend to go anywhere lower than 256

 

[chris2k5]

This question is asked repeatedly, but then I wonder how they could price it at (say) $249 when the iPod Touch is $299? Shouldn't the iPad Mini carry a premium over the iPod Touch.

IMHO, the iPod Touch should have come out at the $199 price, then there would have been room for the Mini at $249.

Exactly. Apple really needs to restructure their pricing. I consider myself a hardcore fanboy but their pricing structure is so 2009. They need to realize they don't have the best value for innovation anymore.

 

[zosobao5150]

This will be my 3rd MacBook product and the previous two have each lasted me a full 3 years. I expect nothing less from the new rMBP i'll end up purchasing, I just don't know which one i'll settle on. I've always had a 13inch MacBook, but lack of certain features and space is devastating. The 15inch offers better options and i'll feel more content in the longrun, but price is of some concern. Iono, freaking Apple.

3 macbooks in 3 years? Wow. I normally try to keep each laptop 3-5 years, and am typing on an old ba$tard that wont die.

 

[mac jones]

I'm going to jump in here (at my own peril)

I have both retinas presently. The 15 inch is a much better laptop, but it weighs more (but not by much).

So i'm probably going to dump the 13" inch even though I want it. I just can't do it it the other way around.

I mainly just surf and watch movies. But the thing is, movies are a bit better on the 15, and the sound is much better also. It sucks I really can't own both, but that would be excessive.

I bought the 13" knowing i'd most likely dump it as I had a pretty good idea what to expect (but I wanted to find out). There aren't any issues i've noticed, and if I had to airport travel with it often, or was in college, i'd probably keep it. One thing's for sure: it's not easy deciding between two excellent products.

But i'll give it a week at least, so who knows.

 

[Melons]

God i hate this thread, was 100% sure of going with the 13", but now im leaning towards the 15" again. Too bad i waited this long for the 13" to come out to see the price/performance being as low as it is.

Im pretty sure the next 13" will make the current one look ALOT worse then the new 15" compared to the existing one aswell. There wont be any 7000 line from nvidia out by then, and the small cpu increase from haswell is not going to help much in the 15 that already has a quad.

I would feel so sad if i bought a 13" and the next one actually gets quad, 16gb upgrade 256gb ssd and hd5000 being 20-25% faster then hd4000. That is what the current 13" deserved, except the hd5000.

 

[Boe11]

I'm a very portable person and always have my MacBook with me. Always, on a date...anything, lol.

I'm sure those dates go well.

It's of course, your call and only you can decide what's best for you. Having said that, it's hard (at least for me) to justify the price of the 13" when you consider the performance difference.

When these refurbished 15" rMBPs come back in stock, it'll be even more difficult to justify.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/FC975LL/A
^store is down at the time of this post, but they're $1869

Even with the -$100 student discount on the base 13", you're talking double the CPU cores, double the storage, and a vastly more powerful GPU, for <$300 more.

It all comes down to personal preference, and if you really want exactly what the 13" rMBP provides than the price/performance comparison to the 15" may be irrelevant.