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13" rMBP scaled resolutions

J

JustinBW

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 5, 2009
93
42
I'm on a mid 2010 mbp, so I am looking for an upgrade. I am having trouble deciding between the MBA and the 13 rMBP.

Something that is making me consider the rMBP over the air is the fact that I can have a higher resolution, but I am curious if using scaled resolution actually impacts performance to a noticeable degree.

I run some decently power thirsty apps, so if I can have 1680x1050 while doing this, then the main benefit of rMBP becomes moot.

I am curious what people's experiences have been. Is there a noticeable performance drop whilst in a scaled resolution mode?
 
I can't see the new 13" struggle as long as you don't go over the 1680*1050. I still have to wait two more weeks to receive my new rMBP 13" to be able to tell for sure though. Of course in games that's something else, but in desktop apps it should be fine.

i'm planning to run mine at 1680*1050 at least
 
I have the 2015 rMBP. The new intel 6100 graphics are awesome. I have the computer set to 1050p and there is no noticeable lag, even when running many apps. I'm sure if you push it hard enough you'll see it...but coming from a 2010, you can't lose. Scaling is not the resource hog that some claim it to be.
 
I mostly run 1680*1050 on my 2012 15" retina machine, sometimes 1920x1200. I haven't noticed any performance or quality degradation when doing that. Given that the 6100 in the new 13" is miles beyond the HD 4000 on my rMBP, I don't really see how there can be any issues with running scaled resolutions at the new 13" rMBP.
 
danistyping said:
I have the 2015 rMBP. The new intel 6100 graphics are awesome. I have the computer set to 1050p and there is no noticeable lag, even when running many apps. I'm sure if you push it hard enough you'll see it...but coming from a 2010, you can't lose. Scaling is not the resource hog that some claim it to be.
Click to expand...

I also have the new MBPR and I'm also running it at 1050p, however, mine runs like !@$%. It gets super hot just by running a youtube video. And whether I'm writing code in eclipse or browsing content on a website, there is massive screen tearing/image latency. I'm probably going return this and go back to my '13 Air.
 
bbobs said:
I also have the new MBPR and I'm also running it at 1050p, however, mine runs like !@$%. It gets super hot just by running a youtube video. And whether I'm writing code in eclipse or browsing content on a website, there is massive screen tearing/image latency. I'm probably going return this and go back to my '13 Air.
Click to expand...

Something is wrong then. Did you restore from the time machine backup or transfer your files using migration assistant? I'm willing to bet you brought some bad drivers or something else to the new comp.
 
danistyping said:
I have the 2015 rMBP. The new intel 6100 graphics are awesome. I have the computer set to 1050p and there is no noticeable lag, even when running many apps. I'm sure if you push it hard enough you'll see it...but coming from a 2010, you can't lose. Scaling is not the resource hog that some claim it to be.
Click to expand...

Oh so you got the new one? I went to the Apple store tonight to test out the new touchpad, not sure either way yet, but how are you liking it?

Also any thought on 8gb/16gb? I code of my laptop and do light audio editing, so sometimes I can have several apps open at once (I think I'm answering my own question)...
 
I have a rMBP from mid-2014 (Iris 5100) and I run at 1680x1050. Performance is fine. Mission Control animations are occasionally choppy, but it's nothing too bad. I've tried running at 1900x1200 but mission control animations become REALLY choppy at that point (plus, it's a little small for my taste on the 13" screen).
 
Late-2013 rMBP 13" I run it at 1440 x 900 mostly. For those running at 1068x1050, how do you even see it? LOL. That is very not good for your eyes. I see no lag at either resolution though.

I occasionally run it attached to a 1920 x 1200 display also. Sometimes clamshell sometimes in dual display. The only time I've seen just a slight stuttering of animations is while running the internal display at 1440 x 900 and the external at 1920 x 1200, but it was hardly noticeable unless you were looking for it.
 
You are

JustinBW said:
Oh so you got the new one? I went to the Apple store tonight to test out the new touchpad, not sure either way yet, but how are you liking it?

Also any thought on 8gb/16gb? I code of my laptop and do light audio editing, so sometimes I can have several apps open at once (I think I'm answering my own question)...
Click to expand...

8gb is more than enough for that workload.
 
JustinBW said:
Oh so you got the new one? I went to the Apple store tonight to test out the new touchpad, not sure either way yet, but how are you liking it?

Also any thought on 8gb/16gb? I code of my laptop and do light audio editing, so sometimes I can have several apps open at once (I think I'm answering my own question)...
Click to expand...

I do heavy, professional level audio recording, editing and mastering. I have 8gb ram and the thing hasn't even hiccuped. You don't need the ram upgrade, you don't need the processor upgrade. The ram will prove useful IF you are going to have the computer for like 5 years...

Touchpad is great...not too noticeable. Apple did a great job. Overall, the biggest thing I notice over my 2012 MBA and the 2013 rMBP I was using is the new graphics card. Very impressed with the iris 6100.
 
I run mine at 2560x1600. Text is a little small but it works fine for me, and I can see a lot more of a document or web page. BTW, mine runs great at that resolution, but I don't run games on it. The frame rate would lag at that resolution, I can guarantee you...
 
I've been running my 13" rMBP at 1050 for a long time but ceased doing so because it was getting choppy all the time.

Now I'm back to the standard hiDPI resolution it comes with.
Thing is, I was really happy to know I could still retain the functionality of the 17" MBP I came from and some of the lost screen real estate but I was wrong.
Even though I had 4 GB of RAM and mainly used the integrated GPU I never came across the problems with fluidity I have with the rMBP. Mind you, I only have 4 gigs of RAM now and it feels grossly underpowered for use with the higher resolution.
 
What always happens is...you get the computer, it works fine on all settings. After a year or two of OS upgrades, you slowly lose that performance. Seems to be a trend across all apple devices.
 
I run my late 2013 model at the 900 scaled resolution. Everything is glass smooth, although Safari is definitely better than Chrome or Firefox on retina machines.
Office 2011 lags, as does any app that's not retina-optimized.

I can bump it up to 1050 if needed but I rarely do so, that's when things get kind of too small to read. But now if I go back to the "best for retina" setting it feels cramped.
 
danistyping said:
I do heavy, professional level audio recording, editing and mastering. I have 8gb ram and the thing hasn't even hiccuped. You don't need the ram upgrade, you don't need the processor upgrade. The ram will prove useful IF you are going to have the computer for like 5 years...

Touchpad is great...not too noticeable. Apple did a great job. Overall, the biggest thing I notice over my 2012 MBA and the 2013 rMBP I was using is the new graphics card. Very impressed with the iris 6100.
Click to expand...

Well, if I keep this laptop as long as my current; that's about the life span.:D

But yeah, it's mostly a coding computer; which ends up having multiple browsers open, MEAN stack, coding ide/app, iTunes, Skype, Slack and occasionally another app or two.

But all the info everyone has provided and is super helpful, at this point I just need to pull the trigger on 8 or 16.

Thanks again.
 
I guess I should ask this before finalizing my decision.

If am I bottlenecking at 8gb of ram on my current laptop, is it safe to assume I will on my new one or does having a SSD someone how change that?

I took a quick screenshot of my activity monitor while doing some light work before, that represents what I typically deal with on a daily basis; sometimes more apps are open, sometimes less.

My memory used is quite high, but that does that meaningful? My file cache is 2gb and isn't that free memory for apps to use?

Just trying to figure out if more memory is really needed and if memory used is a figure I should be looking at.
 

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JustinBW said:
I guess I should ask this before finalizing my decision.

If am I bottlenecking at 8gb of ram on my current laptop, is it safe to assume I will on my new one or does having a SSD someone how change that?

I took a quick screenshot of my activity monitor while doing some light work before, that represents what I typically deal with on a daily basis; sometimes more apps are open, sometimes less.

My memory used is quite high, but that does that meaningful? My file cache is 2gb and isn't that free memory for apps to use?

Just trying to figure out if more memory is really needed and if memory used is a figure I should be looking at.
Click to expand...

Your RAM is almost unused, because the pressure graph is green.

Free RAM values have been made irrelevant since Mavericks, because of compression and caching of RAM.
 
If you have some power thrirsty apps, I'd take a pass on the Air. My wife has a 1.7 i7, 8 gb ram Air. I used it last year for photography while on a 3 month holiday. I found it slow for Aperture and unacceptable for Lightroom. That's me and I'm sure there are others who accept less than fluid scrolling, beachballs and preview lags. I don't. I now use a "13 rMBP, 3.0 i7, 16 gb. With Aperture, my default editor, it flies. With Lightroom, my want to love it but don't editor, its acceptable.
 
You aren't even using 1gb of RAM

JustinBW said:
I guess I should ask this before finalizing my decision.

If am I bottlenecking at 8gb of ram on my current laptop, is it safe to assume I will on my new one or does having a SSD someone how change that?

I took a quick screenshot of my activity monitor while doing some light work before, that represents what I typically deal with on a daily basis; sometimes more apps are open, sometimes less.

My memory used is quite high, but that does that meaningful? My file cache is 2gb and isn't that free memory for apps to use?

Just trying to figure out if more memory is really needed and if memory used is a figure I should be looking at.
Click to expand...

Sorry that should be 5gb not one Most of your RAM is just being used to cache stuff and keep the machine fluid and fast and using RAM for that is faster than reading from the hard drive. You still have about 3gb available for app use if needed and that doesn't even include virtual RAM if compression is possible.

Since Mavericks osx allocates all the ram it can to use by the system in many ways but this is not needed and the RAM is switched to App use when needed.

Look here for details

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1756865/

http://www.switchingtomac.com/tutorials/osx/understanding-memory-pressure-in-os-x-mavericks/
 
Samuelsan2001 said:
Sorry that should be 5gb not one Most of your RAM is just being used to cache stuff and keep the machine fluid and fast and using RAM for that is faster than reading from the hard drive. You still have about 3gb available for app use if needed and that doesn't even include virtual RAM if compression is possible.

Since Mavericks osx allocates all the ram it can to use by the system in many ways but this is not needed and the RAM is switched to App use when needed.

Look here for details

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1756865/

http://www.switchingtomac.com/tutorials/osx/understanding-memory-pressure-in-os-x-mavericks/
Click to expand...

Exceptionally helpful, thanks!
 
snowman1 said:
I have a rMBP from mid-2014 (Iris 5100) and I run at 1680x1050. Performance is fine. Mission Control animations are occasionally choppy, but it's nothing too bad. I've tried running at 1900x1200 but mission control animations become REALLY choppy at that point (plus, it's a little small for my taste on the 13" screen).
Click to expand...

How do you run 1900x1200 on a 13''? I have the 2015 rMBP and under display, I only have the 1680x1050 option.
 
Since I have been reading on MacRumors about the retina display and some lag, I guess I have noticed lag when swiping between different desktops. My resolution is maxed out in Display settings. I love the extra real estate. Are people still having this problem with the 2015 rMBP as well? I have read it's a software issue. Any notes in beta releases that will address this problem? Is this why people run Mavericks?
 
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