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13 rMBP now, wait for v2, or MBA?

L

lorcar

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 2, 2013
86
0
Hi everyone
about to buy the 13rmBP, but the more I read the more I am confused.
In particular, what pulls me off is IR retention, pixelation of images on no-retina-ready websites, sluggishness compared to MBA.
THe last one is particularly important for me, I am leaving PC/WIND (old lenovo x60 bought in 2006) because I cant stand anymore crashes and sluggish behaviour. It's not just because my pc is old, at the office (brand new) is the same.

So, should I simply get the MBA? or wait for Apple to upgrade 13rMBP and enjoy second-mover advantage? or all of the above problems exist only for heavy graphic use and I'd love the rMBP anyway?
thanks
 
Do you need it? If so, get it. You can wait all you want for the next but once the next comes out you'll want the next next one.

I just recently purchased the mid level of the 13" rMBP (2.6GHz model) and I don't feel any sluggish at all compared to the 15" MBP Mid-2010.

Remember, you do have an SSD driving the system in the rMBP vs your old Windows PC which ran a regular hard disk drive. In fact, my work laptop boots up and opens applications just as fast as a slow SSD while running on a 5400RPM drive. It's a bit surprising.
 
my main concern is browsing the internet with 30+ tabs open, listen music, youtube/streaming etc, and maybe browsing your folder
Is MBA good for this? I feel more comfortable with the 4 additional G with the rMBP
 
lorcar said:
Hi everyone
about to buy the 13rmBP, but the more I read the more I am confused.
In particular, what pulls me off is IR retention, pixelation of images on no-retina-ready websites, sluggishness compared to MBA.
THe last one is particularly important for me, I am leaving PC/WIND (old lenovo x60 bought in 2006) because I cant stand anymore crashes and sluggish behaviour. It's not just because my pc is old, at the office (brand new) is the same.

So, should I simply get the MBA? or wait for Apple to upgrade 13rMBP and enjoy second-mover advantage? or all of the above problems exist only for heavy graphic use and I'd love the rMBP anyway?
thanks
Click to expand...

I'm coming from a 2011 13" MacBook Air and my base 13" rMPB is not sluggish at all in comparison. I've had it for several weeks and have only even seen a beach ball once when I had several resource hungry apps running at once. I don't know that I've ever had 30 tabs open but I watch Youtube videos while grading online all the time with no hiccups. Some websites do look bad, but the rich colors and sharp text when I'm writing more than make up for it to me. No IR problems here either.
 
lorcar said:
my main concern is browsing the internet with 30+ tabs open, listen music, youtube/streaming etc, and maybe browsing your folder
Is MBA good for this? I feel more comfortable with the 4 additional G with the rMBP
Click to expand...
The bottleneck for these kinds of things (when they happen) are the apps and OSX. The hardware isn't the issue.
 
lorcar said:
well, it's different, i dont own an Air already
Click to expand...

I had a 2012 MacBook Air that I lost while traveling. I replaced it with a 2.5GHz 13" rMBP. I don't notice sluggishness at all. I usually have about 10 browser tabs open. However I also use it with Parallels Desktop and Windows 7 and it hardly breaks a sweat. By contrast my MacBook Air would usually get noisy because of the fans. The rMBP has better thermals.
 
Another option is to find the best deal you can on a 2011 or 2012 (sandy bridge or ivy bridge) MBP and update the HDD to an SSD and take the ram up to 16 gb yourself relatively cheaply.

You'll have a speedy responsive rig that you can comfortably use for the next few years. By that time, not only will Apple not have worked out any retina screen teething issues, the price will probably come down as well. Similar as to how the macbook air went from the underpowered CEO laptop in 2008 to the entry level portable in 2011.
 
If you want to but a macbook (air or pro, doesn't matter) you should wait for next haswell intel witch brings a little boots in graphics (hD 4600) and will be a notebook for 9h use (7 h nowdays)
 
Serban said:
If you want to but a macbook (air or pro, doesn't matter) you should wait for next haswell intel witch brings a little boots in graphics (hD 4600) and will be a notebook for 9h use (7 h nowdays)
Click to expand...

yeah - i'm thinking thats coming this year for sure. im just curious to see if they'll go for the back-to-school season or wait for the holiday season.
 
I think in august we will have a macbook retina with haswell 15" or 13.3". I hope they will not major the price from the current now
 
Serban said:
I think in august we will have a macbook retina with haswell 15" or 13.3". I hope they will not major the price from the current now
Click to expand...

yeah, but if they do then there'll be plenty of the current ones available on the cheap, you know?
 
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