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Anyone gone from MacBook Air to Retina MBP?

entatlrg

entatlrg

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Mar 2, 2009
3,385
6
Waterloo & Georgian Bay, Canada
How are you enjoying it so far, particularly the weight and larger foot print?

Do you use the rMBP most on your lap, desk, for travel or ?

The retina display is so tempting but I use a notebook on my lapt often, it's a tough decision trading added size/weight for the beautiful screen.
 
I understand where your coming from ... I do a lot of traveling throughout my campus as I am a medical student. I chose the retina MBP as it is only an extra pound then the air. I do not foresee an issue with traveling a retina MBP vs. an air. Although the wedge design of an air is quite stylish I must say the retina is a design of its own class.
 
The retina screen is wonderful but the entire package is big.
The base of the 15.4 is massive compared to the 11" Air.

I think Apple would have had wider sales if they used a 16:9 screen with no side bezels, those changes alone would have made for a significantly smaller footprint. The screen size could have been reduced to say 14.5 as well.

I'm leaning towards returning it, but it's not a an easy choice as other than the large footprint its such a great device. I think once the Air and 13.3 lines go Retina these big units will be hard to sell?

The weight and balance with lap use is fine, a bit back heavy.

I purchased it with Final Cut Pro use in mind where the Air's screen is on the other end of the scale.

I'm going to give it a few more days, see if I adjust.
 
OSMac said:
I think Apple would have had wider sales if they used a 16:9 screen with no side bezels, those changes alone would have made for a significantly smaller footprint. The screen size could have been reduced to say 14.5 as well.
Click to expand...

Wow, that would have been horrible. 16:9 is a terrible aspect ratio for a device that you aren't using primarily to watch movies.

It sounds like you simply bought the wrong device for your needs.
 
There is no reasonable comparison between the rMBP and the Macbook Air 11".

I have a Macbook Air 13" and I am moving to the MBP Retina. Why?, the weight difference to the MBA is really small from my perspective and I get a bigger and way better display.

Pay no attention to these descriptions: "Big", "Massive", etc

I suggest you go to a store and handle a rMBP. Once you do, you'll be done with the MBA.
 
entatlrg said:
How are you enjoying it so far, particularly the weight and larger foot print?

Do you use the rMBP most on your lap, desk, for travel or ?

The retina display is so tempting but I use a notebook on my lapt often, it's a tough decision trading added size/weight for the beautiful screen.
Click to expand...

yes i did. the rmbp is the best notebook apple has made. the footprint does not seem too bad when comparing it to the 13 mba. the weight is noticeably more. it works great on the lap. when comparing it to the 11 mba its huge.

how about a combination of rmbp and mba?

also if you are looking for a 13 inch laptop, i wonder how long it will be until we get a 13 rmbp.
 
The RMBP is closer in weight to the 15" previous-gen MBP than it is to the 13" retina. It's thinner but it's not exactly airy and light like the Air-- it still has a bit of heft to it.

I'm one of the ones holding out for the inevitable 13" retina laptop (either Pro or Air).
 
I find that I now use my iPad for most light tasks (web, email) so I use my MBA less. I'm thinking that a MBP might provide a bit more separation from my iPad in terms of power and utility. So I'll probably make the move at some point.

Having said at, I'm not convinced that the current RMBP is the way to go. It's smaller, but a 13 would be even better. And I'm not convinced that the retina display is really that much of an improvement at this point since so few office and pro apps are optimized for it. For every app that looks better, at least one other looks worse. So I'm waiting for now.
 
tim100 said:
yes i did. the rmbp is the best notebook apple has made. the footprint does not seem too bad when comparing it to the 13 mba. the weight is noticeably more. it works great on the lap. when comparing it to the 11 mba its huge.

how about a combination of rmbp and mba?

also if you are looking for a 13 inch laptop, i wonder how long it will be until we get a 13 rmbp.
Click to expand...

A retina macbook air does not seem possible for now unless you are ready to drastically reduce battery life...
 
I went from a 13" Air to a RMBP..... i'm now back to a 13" Air.

The screen was awesome, but going from a 13" to a 15" was too big of a difference for me. Yes the new RMBP is very thin and light for a 15", but it is still much more heavy and overall more bulky than a 13" Air.

For anyone coming from an old MBP 13 or 15, the RMBP is a great upgrade! But if you are used to the size and weight of an Air, it's tough.....
 
I have had the 2010 and 2011 air's and this upgrade cycle I went with the Retina. No way I am going back. I had them side by side when I was transferring systems over and the screen on the air just looks washed out now. I was worried about the weight difference but its not really that much more.

The retina is definitely heavier but it provides so much more computer that it was worth the switch.

For me it was an easy choice as I needed the 256G HD so the price difference was only 400, and for that 400 you get a beautiful display, a quad core processor and i actually think longer battery life versus the air. (hard to say for now as I have only had it for a few days)

Mike
 
I am going from a Macbook Air 13" to a rMBP so will be good to see how I get on as the last time I had a 15" laptop was a good 2 to 3 years ago.
 
Gone from 2011 13" MBA (base model) to 15" Retina MBP (base model) and the extra weight is there and I will most likely be using my wife's 13" MBA when we're traveling for pleasure. But for business the 15" is better, the extra resolution is great and it runs a lot cooler
 
Rudy69 said:
Gone from 2011 13" MBA (base model) to 15" Retina MBP (base model) and the extra weight is there and I will most likely be using my wife's 13" MBA when we're traveling for pleasure. But for business the 15" is better, the extra resolution is great and it runs a lot cooler
Click to expand...

Is the difference in weight very noticeable or is the difference size more noticeable if you know what I mean?
 
I use a 13" Air, have a retina mbp on order, and had to chance to see it in person yesterday.

I would have to agree that it will be a transition from Air to Retina. It seemed huge a bulky, which has an effect on portability. Since it is bigger and heavier, if you're used to transporting the Air with one hand, you will find it more burdensome to do so with the Retina.

The screen was nice, but I work off of IPS screens anyways, so I wasn't awed.
 
daleski75 said:
Is the difference in weight very noticeable or is the difference size more noticeable if you know what I mean?
Click to expand...

The weight is fine, its the footprint that may not work for some.

I didn't notice in store as the rMBPs were all on a large table next to each other. I admit I was captured by the screen and font quality.

Once they handed me the box and then opening it at home I noticed just how large in comparison to my other devices this is.
 
I went from a 27" iMac and 11" Air to using the RMBP in place of both. I'm still getting used to it, but it seems like the switch will ultimately be effective. I could never carry my wife's old 15 MBP around but the thinness of this one and the lb they shaved off makes a big difference.
 
offroadr35 said:
I went from a 27" iMac and 11" Air to using the RMBP in place of both. I'm still getting used to it, but it seems like the switch will ultimately be effective. I could never carry my wife's old 15 MBP around but the thinness of this one and the lb they shaved off makes a big difference.
Click to expand...

I did the same. Using a RMBP with a 27" Cinema display. I am really liking everything so far. I found I was using my iPad a great deal for day to day things in lieu of my 11in Air and have dreamed of running one machine for a LONG time. I am hoping this is it.

Weight is fine, the RMPB has been on my desk since I brought it home though. I haven't had a reason to really move it around and I continue to use my iPad in the office for meetings and such and will be doing the same for some business trips I have to take next month.

The PRO screen is just so nice to use and the machine has handled everything I've thrown at it so far (WoW, D3, Multiple VM's, Coding).
 
Macbook Air 11" to RMBP

I moved over to the RMBP and while it is a major adjustment, i'm inclined to keep the RMBP. It is a great machine! My wife is having a hard time understanding why I would want a 15" beast compared to an 11" extremely portable machine. While the Macbook Air is portable it has caused a hassle on researching and writing papers. There isn't enough real-estate for both a word document and a pdf or article that I am researching. This I believe wastes time due to the constant need to switch back and forth between windows.

Overall, if you need portability go with the Macbook Air. If you are looking for power and screen real-estate go with the RMBP. Good luck.
 
I had the 2008 MBA and then when that finally crapped itself one too many times apple gave me the 2010 MBA for free. I just upgraded to the RMBP. I love it. The size is a little hard to get used to but the weight is fine. My friends always used to make fun of me because I would complain about how I didn't like to carry my computer around campus because it was so heavy. I will probably continue to complain and they will continue to make fun of me. The extra 1.5 lbs is noticeable but not so much that it stops me from taking the RMBP anywhere that I would have taken the MBA.
 
I was contemplating the same move, from a 13" MBA to the MBPR. After spending 15 minutes with the MBPR in the store, I had no doubt that that was what I wanted. I went over to look at the new Airs afterwards and thought: I can deal with the extra 1.5 lbs. I compared the weight of the Air in my backpack along with an extra 1.5 lbs--noticeable, for sure, but not a deal breaker. The MBPR is just an amazing computer.

In my ideal world, the MBPR would be a bit smaller in terms of its footprint. I love the size/weight of the 13" Air. I have no use for laptop speakers (always use headphones) so the width of the MBPR just seems like wasted space to me, though I'm sure it's jam-packed and not just for the speakers. The larger screen will be great for work though, and the machine is blistering fast for all sorts of intensive computing tasks (Aperture, large Word/PDF files, etc). There's a noticeable difference in Aperture between the new Airs and the MBPR, though that could be in part because the floor model Airs only have 4 GB RAM.
 
I'm in the process...Disadvantages are of course that it's more bulky and heavy, and that the display is darker, as well as the increase in price. Apart from that, a good step up. I see myself using up all the 8 GB RAM though, so will have to spend an extra $200 on the 16 GB version soon...
 
CausticPuppy said:
The RMBP is closer in weight to the 15" previous-gen MBP than it is to the 13" retina. It's thinner but it's not exactly airy and light like the Air-- it still has a bit of heft to it.

I'm one of the ones holding out for the inevitable 13" retina laptop (either Pro or Air).
Click to expand...

Not true. Was in Apple store lifted them all. rMBP is closer to MBA 13.
 
Going from 13" Air (2011) to a Retina Macbook Pro. After spending a short time with the Retina MBP in store I can honestly say that the weight/size differences are personally no concern to me at all. I take my MacBook to Uni with me 5 days a week, but it is ok because I drive in (so no long walks carrying my bag). However, for those of you who do carry their laptop around a lot, I don't think you will find it an issue. Go check it out!

Anyway, the screen is amazing, I can't wait to get mine delivered.
 
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