This was my reaction when I got mine as well, glad to hear that you like it! I carry mine around every day for school (Computer Science degree) and I don't mind one bit. Having that much portable power is just too nice, and the screen real estate is a must for me.
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15'' rMBP Owners - wish you had the 13?
- Thread starter joejoejoe
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This was my reaction when I got mine as well, glad to hear that you like it! I carry mine around every day for school (Computer Science degree) and I don't mind one bit. Having that much portable power is just too nice, and the screen real estate is a must for me.
Really? I'm sure you could find some use for a 13" free rMBP.
I barely use the MacBook Air I paid for, so I pretty sure it will end up in a drawer somewhere collecting dust.
Really? I'm sure you could find some use for a 13" free rMBP.
Good humour here
A free mac can never be a bad thing.
I have owned the 13 and the 15. First I owned the 15 and I loved it! I did return it because it was creaking, had an uneven screen, and gmail wouldn't send emails, and also because they are no games I like for Mac.
Advantages of the 15: The big screen is simply amazing. You can put it on a Twelve South HiRise stand it can feel like a desk top. I loved the desk top feel and screen size AND the fact you could still put it away in a back pack and go to the library or wherever.
Disadvantage of the 15: None really. I suppose the only minor complaint is at night I lie down and keep the MBPr on my chest. It's definitely feels heavy and can get hard to breath sometimes. But that's hardly a problem at all.
Advantage of the 13: So portable! It's almost like carrying around an iPad. I can take it upstairs, downstairs, to the car, library, school, without thought because it's so light. It feels like I'm carrying a text book. Now, the 15 can also be taken to all the above places of course, and it's not that hard or anything, but the 13 is definitely more portable.
Disadvantage of the 13: You guessed it, I really miss the beautiful 15" Retina display. The 13" is not like a desktop. You will need an external monitor which I do have. Then it's more usable as a desktop.
Overall, I'd say the 15 is better, even though I own the 13, but I do believe it will become out dated quicker than the 13. I don't have proof but I believe Apple will find a way to make it more portable, lighter, and just handier overall.
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How did you get it for free??
Advantages of the 15: The big screen is simply amazing. You can put it on a Twelve South HiRise stand it can feel like a desk top. I loved the desk top feel and screen size AND the fact you could still put it away in a back pack and go to the library or wherever.
Disadvantage of the 15: None really. I suppose the only minor complaint is at night I lie down and keep the MBPr on my chest. It's definitely feels heavy and can get hard to breath sometimes. But that's hardly a problem at all.
Advantage of the 13: So portable! It's almost like carrying around an iPad. I can take it upstairs, downstairs, to the car, library, school, without thought because it's so light. It feels like I'm carrying a text book. Now, the 15 can also be taken to all the above places of course, and it's not that hard or anything, but the 13 is definitely more portable.
Disadvantage of the 13: You guessed it, I really miss the beautiful 15" Retina display. The 13" is not like a desktop. You will need an external monitor which I do have. Then it's more usable as a desktop.
Overall, I'd say the 15 is better, even though I own the 13, but I do believe it will become out dated quicker than the 13. I don't have proof but I believe Apple will find a way to make it more portable, lighter, and just handier overall.
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Good humour here
A free mac can never be a bad thing.
How did you get it for free??
If your open rational is that you need it for editting in Aperture then I've been doing it wrong. I use the 13" rMBP for heavy editting and HDR images in aperture, Lightroom and photoshop often all at once and I've never had an issue. I've even dabbled in premier pro video editting and it runs perfectly, the renders to 1080 can take a little while depending on file size, but for what it is, it's excellent.
I've had two each of 15" MBP (one rMBP and one cMBP) and 13" MBA (1st gen and 2011) and one 13" MBP (the late 2008 model officially called unibody MacBook). While I do wish I could buy a lighter 15" model (because of aircraft carry-on weight limits), I would not go back to the 13" screen.
I've gone from the 13" to the 15". The biggest issue is portability, but now that Office for iPad is out, if I'm traveling, I take my iPad along with a bluetooth keyboard, and that takes care of that. Allows me to use my 15" as my main machine, and the iPad as the traveling machine.
The i5 is essentially a glorified Core 2 Duo. There is not much difference.
The i7 has more backside cache than the i5, and higher turboboost.
I know the older iterations of the i7 v. i5 gave the advantage to the i7 with little things like QPI (Quick Path Interconnect), whereby the CPU could address the RAM directly instead of having to go through a more conventional memory controller like the i5...not sure if that is still a technological advantage of the i7...
That will never happen. Discrete GPUs are going the way of discrete FPUs -- for all the same reasons.
My first MBP was the 2006 15". I had iBooks before that and thought the extra screen would be awesome. I used that thing on a daily basis for about 5 years and got a work-issued 13" early 2011 MBP. The size was perfect to me. My only issue was resolution when I was away from a desktop and full size monitor. The MBPr 13 has completely solved that problem for me by being able to jack the resolution up if necessary. 13" is the perfect size for me.
That was true of discrete FPUs when computer makers stopped using them. What you seem to be ignoring is that the computer makers get the integrated GPU for free and that, from their perspective, it is good enough. History is playing out the same way it has in the past. I remember all the arguments from the discrete FPU advocates. There are no new arguments now from the discrete GPU advocates.
Wish I had a 13" instead of my 15" ... Not a Chance!
My 15" is an exemplary example of Apples expertise.
Besides anyone who's put off by its size and weight has a serious fitness problem. I don't care how much or how far you carry it. Mines not planted on a desk, it goes anywhere and everywhere I do daily. That's what a laptop is for.
Yes I have both a smartphone and tablet, yet neither is capable of the resource intense work only my retina equipped MBP can do. Its the most important tool I use to create a very robust income stream.
My 15" is an exemplary example of Apples expertise.
Besides anyone who's put off by its size and weight has a serious fitness problem. I don't care how much or how far you carry it. Mines not planted on a desk, it goes anywhere and everywhere I do daily. That's what a laptop is for.
Yes I have both a smartphone and tablet, yet neither is capable of the resource intense work only my retina equipped MBP can do. Its the most important tool I use to create a very robust income stream.
I would never drop to 13" I love my 15". It travels with me everywhere. If you want 13" might as well drop to macbook air.
How did you get it for free??
That is quite a mystery in itself... It is difficult to define what is free (or, perhaps, what is obtained without a return of economic benefit from the recipient of the item back to the provider).
But yeah, no payment on my side, nor that of anyone with close relations.
Back to the topic: I've desired a 15" MBP/PB for the past 9 years... (actually if you consider lusting after the titanium powerbook, then its much longer), but i've always fell short of my expectations due to budgetary constraints and a weak will, eg. the 13" MBA maxed out and 15" MBP in 2011 were roughly the same price - was easily bought over by the light weight.
I have purchased many 13" macs (4 in total) over that duration and have only found satisfaction in using the 15" rMBP - and I don't think I'd ever trade that for a cramped 13" screen again!
It truly depends.
A friend of mine basically travels the world half of every year and blogs a lot of video and photography. In her case a rmbp 13 makes loads more sense than anything else.
Mba has poorer screen and processing power, both of which she needs.
15 is not portable enough for her.
This is an informative thread for me as well... torn between 13" with i7/512/16 vs the 15" i7/15/16 + NVidia graphics card. I don't really need the graphics power, but I do need this laptop to last me 4-5 years. A few hundred dollars for a quad core, a larger form factor and a dedicated graphics card seems worth it.
I really wish there was a quad core 13" option. I agree that the dual core processors are pretty underpowered for a 1400-2200$ 13" laptop so I'm leaning towards the 15".
I really wish there was a quad core 13" option. I agree that the dual core processors are pretty underpowered for a 1400-2200$ 13" laptop so I'm leaning towards the 15".
I started with the base model 15 (and don't get me wrong the iris pro is super impressive all things considered), but ended up swapping for the one with the Nvidia card for the same reason, I wanted a little more longevity