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Anyone having to fight off Retina MBP mojo?

clyde2801

clyde2801

macrumors 601
Original poster
Mar 6, 2008
4,365
54
In the land of no hills and red dirt.
Have a 2011 13" ultimate MBA. Stupidly, I walked into the apple store and played around with one of the new 2012 rMBP's after reading all of the glowing reviews on it. Gorgeous screen, (though my 13" ain't too shabby), lightning quick (ditto for my existing one), etc., etc.

I'm trying to listen to my mature 'shredded wheat' side of my personality, and hold fast with my current setup. But the 'frosting' side isn't giving up the fight easily: "Look at that gorgeous screen! You can work on documents all day on that without eyestrain! It's so fast....!"

Honestly, am I the only one pondering putting my almost new Air up on Craiglist and trying to defray the cost of the rMBP? If not, how are yall getting your inner child to shut the hell up?

Thanks!
 
If you simplify it down, it's just a much crisper 1440x900 panel. It's also pretty much a glowing sheet of paper, that's how good it is. Sure, you can probably blow it up to a real 2880x1800 resolution, but then the words are so small, you can't read them.

It comes down to how much you want to spend for a slightly larger and crisper screen.
 
If that was a 13" nMBP, I would jump. The 15" screen just ends up with something I dont want to bother carrying around.
 
Thanks for the responses. I'm catching myself almost use my air as a desktop replacement around the house, and hauling my ipad with logitech keyboard around for day to day out of the house computing.

I'm trying to tell myself that if I keep using my 2011, by the time it dies or has to be replaced, they'll have 13" airs with retina displays and i29 processors with intel 15000 graphics for the same price.

That seems to be helping for now!
 
Have there been any reports of less eye strain? If anything I've read more accounts of the retina screen actually causing more headaches.
 
clyde2801 said:
Thanks for the responses. I'm catching myself almost use my air as a desktop replacement around the house, and hauling my ipad with logitech keyboard around for day to day out of the house computing.

I'm trying to tell myself that if I keep using my 2011, by the time it dies or has to be replaced, they'll have 13" airs with retina displays and i29 processors with intel 15000 graphics for the same price.

That seems to be helping for now!
Click to expand...

the rmbp is a great move from a 2011 13 mba. you don't loose much portability and the retina display is amazing. look at side by side pics of rmbp and 13 mba. 11 inch owners will see a big difference with rmbp vs 11 inch mba.
 
I was drooling about it online, but then I went to see it...

I came out of the Apple store feeling happy with what I have (2011 13" mba). No denying, the rmbp is a great computer. Screen is beautiful, and the thing is powerful. But for me, it is too big. As a lot of pro reviews have said, it is more related to the MBP line then to the MBA line.
 
It doesn't sound like the OP has a real need for the rMBP. I think I would hold out 1 more year, sell the MBA and get a Haswell rMBP, which should be quite awesome.

I'm currently fighting the urge to get a rMBP myself. In anticipation of the announcement, I sold my '07 MBP, and thought I was being so smart until the sticker shock hit me! Now I'm looking at a MBA, because honestly, it will still be twice the machine and then some.

Other things I'm telling myself are:

  1. there will be a 13" rMBP announcement in Oct
  2. Any money I save can go towards software, accessories & peripherals
  3. future rMBPs will be more refined, supported and competitively priced
  4. At the end of they day it's just a computer, and perhaps I should go for a walk
 
TL;DR: Retina MacBooks are featureless pieces of crap.

Having the opportunity to purchase a rMBP when they first released (I had just purchased a 17" MBP 2 weeks before rMBP debuted), I stopped by my store to look at them.

Not too impressed.

Upon further review, the RAM and HD are soldered. That was the deal breaker.

Also, as a designer, most of the applications I use (Adobe Master Collection) aren't suited for the retina displays (yet).

Enjoy a 17" for another 5 years, or switch to a rMBP and lose mobile functionality for 5 years? The decision was a no-brainer.
 
LYFK said:
It doesn't sound like the OP has a real need for the rMBP. I think I would hold out 1 more year, sell the MBA and get a Haswell rMBP, which should be quite awesome.

I'm currently fighting the urge to get a rMBP myself. In anticipation of the announcement, I sold my '07 MBP, and thought I was being so smart until the sticker shock hit me! Now I'm looking at a MBA, because honestly, it will still be twice the machine and then some.

Other things I'm telling myself are:

  1. there will be a 13" rMBP announcement in Oct
  2. Any money I save can go towards software, accessories & peripherals
  3. future rMBPs will be more refined, supported and competitively priced
  4. At the end of they day it's just a computer, and perhaps I should go for a walk
Click to expand...
There won't be any 13" rMBP in October. There is no way right now to put this kind of display in so small machine in terms of battery, air flow, and heat.
 
The rMBP is on a different level to the Air, more aimed at professional use.....and it is huggggggge compared to the air which does everyday tasks just as well.

Stick with the Air, it's beaut.
 
Frosting side says your eyes already know

Frosting side says young human's love then truly lies not in their hearts but in their eyes. You know you want to work on the Retina display and you know you can sell the Air for bank. If you were serious about maximum portability you'd have gotten the 11". You know the Retina is .71" thin and the air is .68". You know the Retina is massively more powerful and the GPU in it will last you years longer.

I too have an Ultimate Air 11" with a 550mb/s 480GB SSD upgrade and I too steeled myself with reasons I wouldn't want a Retina. I went into the Apple store and realized after a few minutes that Frosting was right: I can get a lot more work done on a screen that is many times bigger in work area (you can run it as a crisper 1920x1080). I have a 30" Ultrasharp on my desk but the two combined is even better and I'm not always at my desk. The ultimate reason is the GPU. I'm a game developer and the integrated graphics on the MBA have finally failed to keep up with Code Hero in its in-dev state. (we'll definitely optimize it for MBAs by release).
 
I was originally going to go with the rMBP but the lag is something that I just can't deal with. I know some will be fixed in Mountain Lion but not all; the fact of the matter is that the Intel 4000 chip simply isn't powerful enough to drive that display 100% smoothly (and forcing the 650m kills battery, defeating the purpose of a portable machine). I'll take my zippy 13" MBA any day of the week!

That said, I bought this MBA fully intending to sell it next year and buy the second-gen rMBP. With Haswell chips the second-gens should be ripe.
 
Tech refreshes nowadays aren't that significant. If you need it now, buy it; if not, wait. Haswell vs Ivy Bridge will most likely be the same situation as Ivy Bridge vs Sandy Bridge. Marginal spec bumps, but still better tech. The decision's yours, though.
 
stevelam said:
Have there been any reports of less eye strain? If anything I've read more accounts of the retina screen actually causing more headaches.
Click to expand...

Retina screen causing more headaches? I goggled and can't find any account of that. I found some theoretical discussions but no actual user accounts. And I think on the iPad and iPhone those debates are long over. Retina screen=less eyestrain.

What actual user accounts have you read? I am sincerely curious.
 
Atemporal said:
Tech refreshes nowadays aren't that significant. If you need it now, buy it; if not, wait. Haswell vs Ivy Bridge will most likely be the same situation as Ivy Bridge vs Sandy Bridge. Marginal spec bumps, but still better tech. The decision's yours, though.
Click to expand...

I think the primary difference between Sandy and Ivy was better processing speed (depends on what you call marginal), lower power consumption and (arguably most importantly for owners of portables without a discrete GPU) the better intel integrated graphics. Although, other than booting up, you may have to be Mr. Data to discern a performance difference between the 2011 and 2012 MBAs.

Is there anything besides "processor is x% faster" on Haswell vs. Ivy?

And the whole wheat side is patiently tapping his foot, reminding me that I don't 'need' a rMBP when I already have a 2011 i7 13" MBA.



Stupid, lousy whole wheat :censored:!
 
Partially surrendered to the mojo

Did some calling around while driving and it turns out the BB closest to my office had one of the base rMBP's at their discounted $110 off price. Turns out they screwed up logging it into their system and had it down as an opened box when it wasn't. Thought I was going to get the 10% opened box discount on top of the July discount.

As it turns out, the screw up is why they still had it...it wasn't in the opened box cage, it was sitting there by itself with its normal display cousins but none of the blue shirted folks knew it was there.

Put my 13" 2011 ultimate on CL for 70% of the MSRP, and throwing in extended applecare, a book book case, ghost armor black carbon fiber and a keyboard protector, and only one half interested response with no follow up; you'd think I was advertising a gold plated turd. No wonder, though...there's currently 24 MBA listings in my area, going all the way down to $575 for a 2010 11" base model!

No luck with resellers...best offer is $875 from gazelle, 1/2 of original price. $600 from local computer reseller, and up to $300 from Best Buy! So much for the days of Apple having a premium resale value...part of the downside to Apple signing onto Intel's tick-tock upgrade cycle.

I'm keeping the rMBP in it's original box unopened for a week along with the receipt. If I can't get $1k for my air, I'll return the rMBP to Best Buy and love the one I'm with...at least until the haswell version-or better yet-a 13" rMBP or rMBA comes out. I'm also wondering if Apple or M$ is going to give either of their office programs a retina worthy update in the meanwhile. Besides the discount, I'll have up to a whole month to decide on a return at BB.

Hey, at least the upgrade mojo is somewhat under control for now. Think I'll also try recalibrating my LG display to see if that'll help.
 
Last edited:
I was EXACTLY in your position...until yesterday night.

My sister and I walked into BestBuy to find her a replacement machine for her 5yr old dying Dell. I spotted an open box Retina for $2129, but since I'm a student I was able to knock it down to $1899 (+15% tax). Sold my 2011 Ultimate Air for $1,200 about an hour later (as well as a few other goodies laying around to make up the difference.)

She left BestBuy empty handed.

Edit: Until then I had decided to stick to the Air, but I found the deal too tempting. If I change my mind I can still probably net what I paid for the Retina through Kijiji and get back to the Air.
 
amoda said:
I was EXACTLY in your position...until yesterday night.

My sister and I walked into BestBuy to find her a replacement machine for her 5yr old dying Dell. I spotted an open box Retina for $2129, but since I'm a student I was able to knock it down to $1899 (+15% tax). Sold my 2011 Ultimate Air for $1,200 about an hour later (as well as a few other goodies laying around to make up the difference.)

She left BestBuy empty handed.

Edit: Until then I had decided to stick to the Air, but I found the deal too tempting. If I change my mind I can still probably net what I paid for the Retina through Kijiji and get back to the Air.
Click to expand...

Okay, how did you sell your 2011 Air? What is this Kijiji?
 
For me it came down to storage size. I have a 4 year old macbook with a 250GB hard drive. To get the macbook rpro up to 512GB makes it an almost $3000 computer. Bump it up to 16GB of ram at order, since you can't upgrade it later it is a $3000 computer. Too much for me, so I ordered the 13" air with the 512GB of SSD. The difference allows me to get a 27" external display.
 
a great thread

I almost walked out of an Apple store 2 weeks ago with the 15" base rMBP.

Glad I didn't: while the screen was excellent and the machine was snappy as hell, I still like the form factor/weight of the 13" MBA.

if the MBAs get the retina screen and more ram/battery life next year, I may consider it then or just go with a Haswell rMBP.
 
figured out what Kijiji was...huh, never heard of it before. Posted an ad there, thanks for the tip.

I figure as long as I don't open the box, I can walk into a BB with my head held high and return the rMBP if I can't sell my 2011.

The screen recalibration went well, the 'old' LG display looks a little better. As long as I don't open the rMBP and stare at that display, it should be fine.

Honestly, I'm a little peeved that no one's even remotely interested in my 2011. Maybe the market's already saturated with Airs.
 
Not really tempted. The price (although justified) is a turn-off. Size too, though I realize it's an awesome size for that horsepower.

But I have a main desktop machine for CPU intensive work and gaming. Don't need or want a desktop replacement. It sure would be among the best of its class if I needed that much power on the go. But I don't. Besides, my desktop would still trump the rMBP in power ;)

I just want something really portable, with just a little oomph for starting up a project (video editing/vfx) that can later be finished at home or at a stationary mac pro at work. MBA fits perfectly :D
 
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