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13" Retina Pro...Buy now or wait?

J

Jamie0003

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Apr 17, 2009
1,448
1,402
Norfolk, UK
I have been waiting for this machine to come out for a while, and I don't like the steep price of the 15 inch and want more portability. I use my Mac for a few pro level stuff such as movie editing and Image editing.

The specs of the 2011 13" cMBP I have are fine for my needs, but I want something more portable, with the same / better specs than the one I have.

So after looking at the price etc of the retina 13 inch, I am quite happy with the base model. However, the only thing I am worried about is the processor not being Quad Core.

I noticed that this year, Apple has updated all macs (apart from the Air) to a Quad core Ivy bridge, which is very similar to what they did with the 2010 refresh (13 inch pro was left out of the sandy bridge processors until 2011 refresh.

I am quite happy with the speed of dual core, it gets the job done. However, the fact that Apple could add a quad core when Haswell comes out is making me reconsider, because it feels like the Mac may be outdated very quickly (Possibly future OS's will only support quad core, etc.) like Mountain Lion has recently dropped support for some Core 2 Duo Macs. It's also a lot of money to spend on a machine that has the possibility of having an outdated processor type. I plan for this Mac to last me at least 3 or 4 years, so want the specs to be decent.

I know that obviously the longer you wait, the better the machine gets but I would like to know whether it will be worth waiting for this (Possible?) upgrade to quad core. Or do Apple have no desire to put a quad core in the 13"? Don't quite understand why they didn't this generation especially for the price of the Mac. as said before, every other Mac line has it now.

So, buy now or wait?
 
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Rather "if"

Version A of the 13" rMBP will probably be barking some when Version B arrives in about a year with Haswell.

But to what degree Haswell will prove a godsend remains in question. The CPU itself should offer a significant performance upgrade, but most so in the GT2 and GT3 flavors designed for quad-core applications. There is a good chance Apple will continue to slight lovers of the 13" size by retaining its dual-core architecture; that would mean the Haswell GT1 CPU, being the least powerful of the three iterations. Intel says the GT3 should offer "up to 2x" the graphic performance of the HD 4000; one can theorize where the GT1 will fall below on the spectrum.

IF quad-core arrived with Version B, then patience would be amply rewarded. That is a debatable "if."
 
Heres what I think about this question in general...the 2nd gen will be better than the 1st gen. And you know what? The 3rd will be better than the 2nd...and after that, the 4th will be even better! Do you like it, does it fit your needs? Buy it this current gen, so you won't get stuck in the never-ending waiting cycle....
 
yanksrock100 said:
Heres what I think about this question in general...the 2nd gen will be better than the 1st gen. And you know what? The 3rd will be better than the 2nd...and after that, the 4th will be even better! Do you like it, does it fit your needs? Buy it this current gen, so you won't get stuck in the never-ending waiting cycle....
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more.. I'm guilty of this myself.. already waited 1 year+ for the retina 13 inch to be released.. if I wait any longer, my 2007 macbook will finally die a very slow and imminent death.. (while whispering WTF were you thinking?!) lol..
 
Haswell will be out in about 8 months.

If you need it now, but it now. If you can afford to wait, then wait.

The Haswell chips are rumoured to have more appropriate performing onboard graphics. Anandtech have stated that the onboard graphics in ivy bridge is being tested by retina, and that Haswell and then Broadwell should deal with it completely.

Basically, when the haswell chips come out those first gen retina users will get penis envy. Right now there is some display lag that many are noticing.
 
iFanboy said:
Haswell will be out in about 8 months.
Click to expand...

Yes, and how long after that until Apple has it their macbook line?

What's that.. your crystal ball is having some issues?

iFanboy said:
Basically, when the haswell chips come out those first gen retina users will get penis envy. Right now there is some display lag that many are noticing.
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lol.. have fun thinking of more excuses on your low-res screen for another year...
 
In terms of cpu performance if we stay on the dual core side of things we can face 10-15% improvements. Regarding the gpu, only the gt3 is going to be available on the mobile side of things. So the performance should be great.

There is a rumor that intel is going to add dedicated ram for the gpu on haswell, Im not sure if this is going to happen, if it is, its going to provide a good boost in bandwidth.

So yeah if you dont need the pc right now, wait, its not going to hurt.

There is also one intriguing change that they can do on th rmbp 13, there is a space in there for a 2.5'' drive, so if apple doesnt release a lower cost version of it with a 2.5'' drive instead of that caddy, maybe someone would have tested a cable that works in there, maybe the ones from the cmbp should work or maybe we need a new one
 
iFanboy said:
Basically, when the haswell chips come out those first gen retina users will get penis envy. Right now there is some display lag that many are noticing.
Click to expand...

Thats why a mbp with hd3000 can drive the ACD without any problems? Its a software problem, not hardware. Its time to let go of that myth that a hd4000 isnt enough for the retina screen.

Ont: If you need it now, buy it, thats what i will do atleast. Sold my entry Mbp 13 from mid 2009, and i will go with the rMbp 13". When broadwell comes with even more extra GPU power, i will switch to that.
 
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i'd wait until haswell. The integrated graphics just aren't good enough yet for that many pixels in my opinion.
 
If you can wait, do so. Your 2011 is still a quick machine, in general use you'll barely notice any speed improvement. Yes, the GPU is faster but if you don't game you won't really notice.

Haswell will be the "big" step in performance from sandy bridge, rather than ivy bridge.


Obviously there's the retina display, but if you were that set on retina you wouldn't be asking this question...
 
You already have a good, relatively new laptop. Use it for two or three more years and then buy a Retina, which will be several hundred dollars cheaper and substantially more powerful.
 
theuserjohnny said:
This is very true but in the case of the Retina 13 I would advise waiting out if you can. If you were thinking of the Retina 15 I'd say go ahead.
Click to expand...

Then I'll sell it and trade up. The cost difference will be worth it to have that nice retina display for a full year before Haswell comes out!
 
Jamie0003 said:
I have been waiting for this machine to come out for a while, and I don't like the steep price of the 15 inch and want more portability. I use my Mac for a few pro level stuff such as movie editing and Image editing.

The specs of the 2011 13" cMBP I have are fine for my needs, but I want something more portable, with the same / better specs than the one I have.

So after looking at the price etc of the retina 13 inch, I am quite happy with the base model. However, the only thing I am worried about is the processor not being Quad Core.

I noticed that this year, Apple has updated all macs (apart from the Air) to a Quad core Ivy bridge, which is very similar to what they did with the 2010 refresh (13 inch pro was left out of the sandy bridge processors until 2011 refresh.

I am quite happy with the speed of dual core, it gets the job done. However, the fact that Apple could add a quad core when Haswell comes out is making me reconsider, because it feels like the Mac may be outdated very quickly (Possibly future OS's will only support quad core, etc.) like Mountain Lion has recently dropped support for some Core 2 Duo Macs. It's also a lot of money to spend on a machine that has the possibility of having an outdated processor type. I plan for this Mac to last me at least 3 or 4 years, so want the specs to be decent.

I know that obviously the longer you wait, the better the machine gets but I would like to know whether it will be worth waiting for this (Possible?) upgrade to quad core. Or do Apple have no desire to put a quad core in the 13"? Don't quite understand why they didn't this generation especially for the price of the Mac. as said before, every other Mac line has it now.

So, buy now or wait?
Click to expand...

I'll wait for Haswell before buying any laptop. According to what has been reported so far, Haswell will have a much improved power management system (Intel is promising 12-hour battery life), and a much faster integrated video card (this could be important for running a 2560x1600 resolution). In addition, it will be a new architecture, and there will be performance gains regardless of Apple putting a dual or quad-core processor on it.
 
If it will suit your needs now, buy it.

I bought mine even with all the issues people complain about. It's a great machine. If you keep waiting for the "next big thing", then you'll never end up being satisfied. Right now, the Retina display is where its at.:cool:
 
Buy!!

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A lot of people say 'wait for Haswell' but I think when Haswell does come out next year there will be talks of a better processor that will make Haswell seem old school. It's an ongoing cycle: Sandy Bridge to Ivy Bridge to Haswell to Broadwell to ___? I say enjoy the current specs now while you can, and anticipate for the next NEXT processor when they come.
 
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More than Haswell, I'm also hoping they'll bump up the default storage size next year too. That drives me nuts that it's $1700 but starts at 128 GBs.
 
jas2quick said:
A lot of people say 'wait for Haswell' but I think when Haswell does come out next year there will be talks of a better processor that will make Haswell seem old school. It's an ongoing cycle: Sandy Bridge to Ivy Bridge to Haswell to Broadwell to ___? I say enjoy the current specs now while you can, and anticipate for the next NEXT processor when they come.
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Not like that.

Haswell is a new architecture (the "tock" in Intel's "tick-tock"). Ivy Bridge is the die shrink ("tick") of Sandy Bridge. Haswell represents a much bigger improvement over Ivy Bridge than Ivy Bridge represented over Sandy Bridge. Broadwell, to be released in 2014, will be the die shrink of Haswell: more energy-efficient and slightly better performance, but not worth waiting for. The next architecture, Skylane, will come only in 2015.

So, yes, it may be worth waiting for Haswell.
 
skaertus said:
Not like that.

Haswell is a new architecture (the "tock" in Intel's "tick-tock"). Ivy Bridge is the die shrink ("tick") of Sandy Bridge. Haswell represents a much bigger improvement over Ivy Bridge than Ivy Bridge represented over Sandy Bridge. Broadwell, to be released in 2014, will be the die shrink of Haswell: more energy-efficient and slightly better performance, but not worth waiting for. The next architecture, Skylane, will come only in 2015.

So, yes, it may be worth waiting for Haswell.
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Wrong, Broadwell will have the new GPU architecture which is exactly what we want. Haswell is just a bumped up Ivy bridge with more shaders and built in memory when it comes to the GPU part.
 
iFanboy said:
Haswell will be out in about 8 months.

If you need it now, but it now. If you can afford to wait, then wait.

The Haswell chips are rumoured to have more appropriate performing onboard graphics. Anandtech have stated that the onboard graphics in ivy bridge is being tested by retina, and that Haswell and then Broadwell should deal with it completely.

Basically, when the haswell chips come out those first gen retina users will get penis envy. Right now there is some display lag that many are noticing.
Click to expand...

Sure Haswell will be out in 8 months, but how long did it take apple to release Ivy Bridge macs after intel released it?
 
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CausticPuppy said:
Sure Haswell will be out in 8 months, but how long did it apple to release Ivy Bridge macs after intel released it?
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Good point. If you need a new computer, buy now and enjoy. As others have said, don't get stuck in the never-ending "waiting for a refresh" cycle.
 
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