I currently in a dilemma between an air i currently have or a 13" retina I will buy in exchange for the air. Basically the retina is turning me away because of how people are saying the 13 inch barely runs the computer well. After that it all comes down to do I want to spend an extra $500 on a retina? At this point is a $1,100 Retina vs $600 Air. I spend a lot of time on the laptop and do occasional photo editing when I actually have pictures. Most of the time I spend is coding since i'm a Comp Sci major so there will be a lot of times staring at the screen. Any opinions?
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Are the 13" rMBP issues bad?
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Who is saying that?
Anyway, you always have your 14 day return period - if the computer is not fulfilling your expectations.That's a good reason for getting the retina.
Who is saying that?
That's a good reason for getting the retina.
Just hearing it around here and there.. Basically saying there's no dedicated GPU so it's not running the screen as well. I'm going to purchase it refurb since it's a lot cheaper and apple refurbs are great. Their return policy however i'm not sure of since I can't return it in store and i'll have to ship it back. I don't know if they'll pay for the return shipping and not charge restocking but I don't see why they wouldn't since they've been great with everything else. It's just hard finding the reason to spend an extra $500.. It almost is double of what I paid out of pocket for my air, that's why it's so difficult to decide. I just want to have solid reasons before doing this.
Basically it's either retina now or later, I will want one though since that was the laptop I wanted before getting an air. Real estate room will be great to have also since I sometimes feel cramped with my current air when running a few different programs.
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This is strange because my 15" rMBP doesn't have any problem running a much larger screen on the IGP
The opinions on the topic seem to be rather divided. Its best you make your won.I am not sure about USA, but in Europe they will pay the return shipping and ask no questions if you tell them that you wish to send it back. They even send a courier to pick it up. Refurb or not refurb does not matter. I am sure you will find terms and conditions on Apple's website.
This is strange because my 15" rMBP doesn't have any problem running a much larger screen on the IGP
I am not sure about USA, but in Europe they will pay the return shipping and ask no questions if you tell them that you wish to send it back. They even send a courier to pick it up. Refurb or not refurb does not matter. I am sure you will find terms and conditions on Apple's website.
The 15" is running GeForce 650M while the 13" is integrated. So the 15 would run a lot better, how much better not too sure. I'm sure it's the same, I don't expect less from Apple since they're very high ranked in customer service.
Basically the 13" Retina isn't that much better than a i7 13" Air, which is hard to believe since it's running so much more. But i've never used the retina extensively to compare the 2, only looked at it in the Apple Store ones, screen looks amazing but i'm slightly worried about performance.
I had an i7 Air and a 2.5GHz base rMBP. The 13" rMBP is just fine. Sure, the processor speed is comparable, and there are 4 times as many pixels to push, but unless you are doing serious video editing, you likely won't notice a difference. Plus, the screen in the rMBP is significantly better.
if you're just browsing the web on the 15, you're running the HD 4000 IGP and not the 650M, and it's technically still pushing more pixels than on the 13".
Bear in mind that the 13" rMBP has less screen real estate at its default "best for retina" resolution than the 13" MBA. Obviously you can bump up the resolution, but the difference in text sharpness between the default setting and the others is pretty striking to my eyes.
That said, at 1440x900, the 13" rMBP screen clearly looks better than the MBA's side-by-side.
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Does it run much faster, smoother? I won't do serious video editing, just pictures and occasion games here and there. I love the screen, hopefully it's worth the extra $500.
It doesn't always run at it's full resolution? What if I leave it at full resolution, will there be a problem or is the "best for retina" the best way? This is part of the reason I want the retina because the texts will look great since I spend a great amount of time on it and it'll help tremendously take some of the strain from my eyes.
See this for an explanation on how the retina screen resolutions are implemented: http://www.anandtech.com/show/6409/13inch-retina-macbook-pro-review/3.
When I'm reading/writing text and not heavily multitasking, the default 1280x800 resolution works best for me. My eyes definitely feel less strained using the computer for a prolonged period this way.
The 1440x900 resolution is more useable if you need to display more than one program on the screen at the same time. However, the screen text has less sharpness (which is what you're paying for). (You can bump up the display resolution even higher, but text looks too small to me at these settings.)
Whether 1280 or 1440, though, my eyes like the rMBP screen a lot more than the MBA screen, and it's not difficult to switch between resolutions with a hot key.
When I'm reading/writing text and not heavily multitasking, the default 1280x800 resolution works best for me. My eyes definitely feel less strained using the computer for a prolonged period this way.
The 1440x900 resolution is more useable if you need to display more than one program on the screen at the same time. However, the screen text has less sharpness (which is what you're paying for). (You can bump up the display resolution even higher, but text looks too small to me at these settings.)
Whether 1280 or 1440, though, my eyes like the rMBP screen a lot more than the MBA screen, and it's not difficult to switch between resolutions with a hot key.
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In terms of processor speed, I'd say it's the same. On benchmarks, I think the 2.0GHz ULV i7 slightly outperforms the 2.5GHz standard voltage i5 because it Turbo Boosts to 3.2GHz vs 3.1GHz, and the GPU tops out at 1200MHz vs. 1100MHz. The new 2.6GHz i5 Turbo Boosts to 3.2GHz though the GPU still tops out at 1100MHz.
That said, I've noticed that the fan is significantly quieter on the 13" rMBP when running the same tasks (e.g. using Parallels Desktop 8 with Windows 7, with Safari and Outlook running on the Mac side).
How do you figure it's an extra $500? With the new pricing, it's effectively $100 more than a MacBook Air with the same RAM and SSD, and the i7 processor.
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processor-comparison/processor-specifications.html?proc=72056
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/processor-comparison/processor-specifications.html?proc=64898
That's been my experience too. When comparing MBA and rMBP performance, I think it's easy to overlook the much-improved thermal engineering of the latter. The fact that it runs cooler has a noticeable effect on comparative real-world performance.
I agree with dehory's assessment of the 13" rMBP between those two resolutions. To my eyes, the differential in text between the two computers at 1440 x 900 is actually immaterial, however, you'll get a more consistent image on the rMBP and the colors don't seem as washed out compared to the Air.
At the default best for retina resolution though, the 13" rMBP is hands down superior for reading text.
There's other marginal differences between the two computers which you may/may not care about, but if you're a comp sci major, you're probably going to do a lot of typing, so it's worth noting that I think the keyboard on the rMBP is marginally better than the Airs (which I think have the worst keyboards out of all macs by far). I don't think they're as good as the cMBP keyboards though, and not as good as external solutions, and if you're going to be typing a lot of code, you might be working with an external monitor that can pivot and with an external keyboard a lot anyway.
At the default best for retina resolution though, the 13" rMBP is hands down superior for reading text.
There's other marginal differences between the two computers which you may/may not care about, but if you're a comp sci major, you're probably going to do a lot of typing, so it's worth noting that I think the keyboard on the rMBP is marginally better than the Airs (which I think have the worst keyboards out of all macs by far). I don't think they're as good as the cMBP keyboards though, and not as good as external solutions, and if you're going to be typing a lot of code, you might be working with an external monitor that can pivot and with an external keyboard a lot anyway.
I had the option of spending slightly more to get the closet equivalent Retina version of my current MBP, and decided not to over too many possible issues. I've been on this forum for a few months now and see non-stop rMBP problems.
Just my two cents.
Just my two cents.
The 13" is running the same internal graphics as the 15", and for normal OSX operation you won't find any issues. The only time my rMBP15 goes to discrete graphics is for games or virtual Windows. You will find that any modern 3D game is probably not up to scratch on the 13", this would be the only reason not to buy one (if you wanted to do a lot of gaming).
Of course, the 13" uses integrated graphics for virtual Windows, so that's the reason it doesn't switch on the fans and thus runs quieter than a 15" (which will always switch to discrete). It'll be fine again if you are not running games.
Of course, the 13" uses integrated graphics for virtual Windows, so that's the reason it doesn't switch on the fans and thus runs quieter than a 15" (which will always switch to discrete). It'll be fine again if you are not running games.