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Very impressed with 2012 MBP - non-retina

M

MacBookProzak

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 16, 2011
131
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It was very cool to be able to update my signature line!!!

Last night I walked into the Apple store and asked to see a business specialist and then told them what I wanted. he said that they had a few of the various new MBP, but no retina ones. I was very interested in the new Ivy Bridge to get the performance boost that Apple said I would get for video editing since this is all I do primarily with my previous 2011 MBP.

My experience is this and I preface it by saying it is my experience on how this is performing. This morning was my first run on this new 2012. I had a video project that I was working on last night and was gonna output on my previous 2011 MPB 2.3ghz that had 16GB of ram in it and it was gonna take 2 1/2 hours to output and so I decided that I did not want to hang out at work for that long so I split. So this morning after spending last night getting all of my applications transferred over I fired up the new 2012 MBP and proceeded to output the video from last night. Well the exact same video with this new machine output this video in 1 hour and 45 minutes. The other thing I am noticing on the new machine (using FCPX) is that I can more smoothly scrubb through the footage in my time time and just bounce with not event the slightest hesitation that I got prior with my previous 2011 MBP.

Today I plan to update the ram to a full 16GB and put the newest Seagate Momentus XT Hybrid hard drive in. From there it will be interesting to see what this machine will do then.

There you go, that is my early report on the new 2012 MBP.

*** As an add in, with this new MBP I still keep the ethernet port, the FW, the Thunderbolt and the upgraded USB ports that will accommodate USB 3.0. For my use, this is a grand machine with all the glory and no hand wringing about loosing the ethernet port.
 
I'd say that the 15" non-retina MacBook Pro is a good compromise between high-resolution display and user upgradeability. For those who prefer a 15" model and don't need "thin and light" it's a viable alternative.
 
what i'm dying to find about the non-retina:

how how do they run compared to the old models?
how loud/silent are the fans compared to the old models?
do you know if they run those new asymetric fans?

thanks!!!
 
I would say that my experience is that by itself it is a hair bit quieter that my 2011 MBP. However I am typically running the MBP on a Targas cooling pad that has the powered USB's on the back, so the true noise factor in my day to day has not really changed.

As for if this has the asymetric fans???... This I don't know off hand, perhaps one of the more nuts and bolts tech members of the forum can advise us on that aspect.

Gonna run a mostly green screen project this afternoon through the new machine that has multiples edits, so we will see how that one does as well vs my 2011 MBP
 
I'm definitely getting the retina model but I am curious if Apple put the new fan design in the traditional MBP.
 
I'm more interested to see benchmarks (cpu and graphics) of the regular 2012 MBP compared to the Retina model.

I am curious to know if Apple had to downclock the GPU any to keep the thermals in check due to the new thin body.

Also, there's the possibility the Retina model CPU downclocks due to heat faster than the regular 2012s.

Only time will tell I suppose.. but i'm waiting for evidence and more comparisons before deciding which model is right.
 
Apple... said:
You'll give us an update then? :cool:
Click to expand...


Yes, for sure I will give you an update. At the moment with just the stock 8GB of ram and the stock 5400 1tb hard drive it is doing fine for the work I have processed so far today, yet I would like to kick it up a bunch of notches with the upgrades.
 
MacBookProzak said:
Yes, for sure I will give you an update. At the moment with just the stock 8GB of ram , yet I would like to kick it up a bunch of notches with the upgrades.
Click to expand...

Can it do 16GB RAM? I was under the impression that 8GB was tops in the non-retina. Look forward to update as I bought this as well.
 
tirzah said:
Can it do 16GB RAM? I was under the impression that 8GB was tops in the non-retina. Look forward to update as I bought this as well.
Click to expand...

It should be able to. I think the Sandy Bridge Macs could unofficially run 16GB with no problems.
 
MacBookProzak said:
I had a video project that I was working on last night and was gonna output on my previous 2011 MPB 2.3ghz that had 16GB of ram in it and it was gonna take 2 1/2 hours to output and so I decided that I did not want to hang out at work for that long so I split. So this morning after spending last night getting all of my applications transferred over I fired up the new 2012 MBP and proceeded to output the video from last night. Well the exact same video with this new machine output this video in 1 hour and 45 minutes.
Click to expand...

How long is this video, what are you editing with and what are your settings? That still seems like an insanely long time unless its a 4 hour video at full 1080p
 
salmoally said:
I'm definitely getting the retina model but I am curious if Apple put the new fan design in the traditional MBP.
Click to expand...

Interestingly enough, they put it in the new macbook airs according to ifixit. Nothing on apples site mentions it for the airs
 
mbell1975 said:
How long is this video, what are you editing with and what are your settings? That still seems like an insanely long time unless its a 4 hour video at full 1080p
Click to expand...

The video in the example cited was 6 1/2 hours in length. A client wanted a collection of various half hour seminars edited together with new lead ins and stuff put in.

----------
tirzah said:
Can it do 16GB RAM? I was under the impression that 8GB was tops in the non-retina. Look forward to update as I bought this as well.
Click to expand...

Yes you can do 16GB on this MBP and if they ever come out with single 16GB chips, it will let you go to 32GB of RAM and perhaps further from what i was told.
 
i am also interested in this non retina version as well. there is so much talk about the 15in retina that everyone forgot about the non retina version.

i just torn between the 2 and i am not sure if i do need a retina screen as most of the time its going to be sitting on my desk and maybe attached to an external monitor. this will be my first mac so i want to make the right decision as i hope this machine will last me at least 3 yrs.

i am willing to spend the $2k price for a mbp but the user non expandable RAM on the rmbp is kinda forcing me to go up to almost $3k (taxes and apple care) was not in my plan.
 
If these '11/'12 non unibodys can go to 32gb I will be so stoked, though i can see apple limiting them through firmware just to give benefit to the retina models :(
 
Just wanna remind you guys

you can always upgrade the display of the non-retina:

Display
The 15-inch MacBook Pro comes with a 1,440-by-900-pixel LED-backlit, glossy display. You can also choose a high-resolution, 1,680-by-1,050 glossy or anti-glare display that gives you 36 per cent more pixels.


it doesn't have to be retina....
I'm still torn between deciding between Retina vs Non-retina
 
I've no doubt the non retina will be upgradable to at least 16gb but are there any third party ram modules available yet? The 11 version used slower RAM didn't it?
 
Diversion said:
The early AND late 2011 models could accept 1600mhz but would downclock the ram to 1333mhz.
Click to expand...

That's not true, I have an early 2011 MBP and it came with 1333MHz RAM; I replaced it with 8GBs of 1600MHz RAM and it reported it as being 1600MHz. Furthermore my Geekbench scores were commensurately better too, by ~100 or so, showing that it was indeed using the faster speed. I also ran the Windows Experience test, my previous score went from 6.9 to 7.4 or so, I can't remember.
 
Last edited:
theBostonian said:
That's not true, I have an early 2011 MBP and it came with 1333MHz RAM; I replaced it with 8GBs of 1600MHz RAM and it reported it as being 1600MHz. Furthermore my Geekbench scores were commensurately better too, by ~100 or so, showing that it was indeed using the faster speed. I also ran the Windows Experience test, my previous score went from 6.9 to 7.4 or so, I can't remember.
Click to expand...

Oh yeah you're right, i'm thinking of another notebook.. maybe it was another mac.. sorry about that!
 
MacBookProzak said:
Yes you can do 16GB on this MBP and if they ever come out with single 16GB chips, it will let you go to 32GB of RAM and perhaps further from what i was told.
Click to expand...

So does non retina 15" MBP come in a different body than retina 15" MBP? Cause if if it's the new slim body then I'd doubt the memory was upgrade-able.
 
vladster said:
So does non retina 15" MBP come in a different body than retina 15" MBP? Cause if if it's the new slim body then I'd doubt the memory was upgrade-able.
Click to expand...

The body of the non-retina 2012 MBP is the same as the 2011 MBP body, except the 2012 has all upgraded guts to it.

Also, I may not have mentioned this, the model I got was the high-resolution, 1,680-by-1,050 anti-glare display. I connect to an external monitor and so a retina display was not appealing to me. What was appealing was the ability to continue to upgrade the hard drive and the RAM.

*** Progress note: I did swap out the original hard drive and I put in the 750GB Momentus XT Hybrid hard drive that has 8GB of SSD on it. I can say that today the overall machine is alot zippy'er working today vs yesterday when I was working off the stock hard drive that came in it. The new hard drive has made the machine even more responsive. Hopefully in the next day or so I will get over to Fry's to get the 16GB of RAM and then I will update everyone there.
 
MacBookProzak said:
The body of the non-retina 2012 MBP is the same as the 2011 MBP body, except the 2012 has all upgraded guts to it.

Also, I may not have mentioned this, the model I got was the high-resolution, 1,680-by-1,050 anti-glare display. I connect to an external monitor and so a retina display was not appealing to me. What was appealing was the ability to continue to upgrade the hard drive and the RAM.

*** Progress note: I did swap out the original hard drive and I put in the 750GB Momentus XT Hybrid hard drive that has 8GB of SSD on it. I can say that today the overall machine is alot zippy'er working today vs yesterday when I was working off the stock hard drive that came in it. The new hard drive has made the machine even more responsive. Hopefully in the next day or so I will get over to Fry's to get the 16GB of RAM and then I will update everyone there.
Click to expand...
So in theory someone with a non-retina 2012 model could put two 512GB SSds in their MBP (replacing the optical drive)... and upgrade to 32GB RAM when 16GB sticks are available? Thus to a degree having a higher spec than the retina MBPs. But 32GB RAM is gonna be expensive when 16GB sticks are available.
 
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