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Cancelled my rMBP order

Seamaster

Seamaster

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 24, 2003
1,212
433
Fed up with waiting for a new iMac, I hastily ordered one of the the retina MacBook Pros last week. I've since cancelled it, mainly on the basis that I can't stomach paying twice as much for a 15" laptop as I would expect to pay for a >20" desktop with more local storage.

I have also considered a fully-spec-ed MacBook Air, but — much as I was impressed when I fooled around with one — can't see one as a long-term desktop replacement. I don't need portability. My iPad serves me fine when I'm on the road. I need a desktop or a desktop replacement.

I've been an iMac guy since the original Bondi blue model in '98, and have owned one of each generation. Going back to a laptop now (my last was a PowerBook 1400C in '97) would seem a downgrade, although I accept Jobs' and Apple's position that the desktop is on borrowed time.

So my 2006 original Intel iMac lives to die another day. Apart from a kaput optical drive, it continues to meet all my needs. If I could go out and buy a new iMac today I probably would. As it stands, I'm back to waiting...
 
I am like you

I am like you ... and have a 24" white 2006 iMac. Its also got a screwed DVD drive ... according to Apple. But it does read things, so ... I know its faulty according to Apple, because they put a new power supply in it, which cost $133. Not bad really ...

But the hard drive is screwed, and that is causing trouble. If I spend money, is it good after bad?

I need more speed for Aperture, and also want to digitise many movies.

But ... a Powerbook retina is tempting. Because I have a USB-3 2GB drive, which will plug in nicely. Yep -external drives are cheap. And the Retina is very good quality. Plus I could buy a third party monitor for word processing, that owuld do the job. Or spend more and get an IPS monitor. If I did that, I'd have spent more than for a 27" iMac... but I would have a notebook thrown in ...
 
Melbourne Park said:
I am like you ... and have a 24" white 2006 iMac. Its also got a screwed DVD drive ... according to Apple. But it does read things, so ... I know its faulty according to Apple, because they put a new power supply in it, which cost $133. Not bad really ...

But the hard drive is screwed, and that is causing trouble. If I spend money, is it good after bad?

I need more speed for Aperture, and also want to digitise many movies.

But ... a Powerbook retina is tempting. Because I have a USB-3 2GB drive, which will plug in nicely. Yep -external drives are cheap. And the Retina is very good quality. Plus I could buy a third party monitor for word processing, that owuld do the job. Or spend more and get an IPS monitor. If I did that, I'd have spent more than for a 27" iMac... but I would have a notebook thrown in ...
Click to expand...

so confused
 
Seamaster said:
Fed up with waiting for a new iMac, I hastily ordered one of the the retina MacBook Pros last week. I've since cancelled it, mainly on the basis that I can't stomach paying twice as much for a 15" laptop as I would expect to pay for a >20" desktop with more local storage.

I have also considered a fully-spec-ed MacBook Air, but — much as I was impressed when I fooled around with one — can't see one as a long-term desktop replacement. I don't need portability. My iPad serves me fine when I'm on the road. I need a desktop or a desktop replacement.

I've been an iMac guy since the original Bondi blue model in '98, and have owned one of each generation. Going back to a laptop now (my last was a PowerBook 1400C in '97) would seem a downgrade, although I accept Jobs' and Apple's position that the desktop is on borrowed time.

So my 2006 original Intel iMac lives to die another day. Apart from a kaput optical drive, it continues to meet all my needs. If I could go out and buy a new iMac today I probably would. As it stands, I'm back to waiting...
Click to expand...

Thanks for letting us know man! AAA+++ would read again.
 
Melbourne Park said:
I am like you ... and have a 24" white 2006 iMac. Its also got a screwed DVD drive ... according to Apple. But it does read things, so ... I know its faulty according to Apple, because they put a new power supply in it, which cost $133. Not bad really ... But the hard drive is screwed, and that is causing trouble. If I spend money, is it good after bad? I need more speed for Aperture, and also want to digitise many movies. But ... a Powerbook retina is tempting. Because I have a USB-3 2GB drive, which will plug in nicely. Yep -external drives are cheap. And the Retina is very good quality. Plus I could buy a third party monitor for word processing, that owuld do the job. Or spend more and get an IPS monitor. If I did that, I'd have spent more than for a 27" iMac... but I would have a notebook thrown in ...
Click to expand...

The retina display of the MBP is tempting — I'm used to it on my iPhone 4S and new iPad — but it was the only thing swinging me toward an rMBP, which is total overkill for me, being nothing like a "Pro" user.

Having said that, my 20" iMac runs at 1680 x 1050, so even the 13" MacBook Air running 1440 x 900 seems like a huge step up in display quality to me. It also didn't feel "small" in-store. Whether or not I could live with a physically smaller screen long-term is another matter.

Perhaps I should bite the bullet if new iMacs are not forthcoming. Apple's heart is clearly not in desktops any more. Maybe it's time to get used to it.

(PS: I wanted to have this discussion in the iMac forum, but mods moved it here.)
 
It goes back and forth in cycles, IMO ....

Right now, yes. Apple is all about the i-Devices and portable things. The desktop machine is clearly not priority #1 for them. (If it was, we'd have seen new iMacs and a completely revised Mac Pro at WWDC.)

But looking at the "long view"? Apple is *always* this way; focusing on only one or two things at a time. I think it's part of how they manage to make great, innovative products that actually get people excited to buy. They don't try to upgrade everything at once.

If you're in the market for a Mac desktop/tower system right now? The truth is, you need to shop for a good deal on a used or refurbished system or hold off until 2013. Apple revealed that a new Mac Pro comes in 2013, and very likely we'll get a revised iMac by the holidays this year.

I can't blame Apple for putting the majority of their effort on the things that sell the most. Right now, they've sold more iPads in a couple years than the company sold Macs in their ENTIRE history! That's pretty amazing - and kind of puts everything into perspective. But the Mac desktop isn't ready to go away yet. Apple may see that as the future ... but right now, the tech. isn't available to do it. You need a desktop system to dissipate all the heat generated by the top performing processors, and to house multiple large capacity drives, and to power the most advanced video cards capable of running multiple 30" displays.

I'm still using a 2006 and 2008 Mac Pro and honestly, I can hang on another year for an update. The '06 model is getting pretty dated, but it holds its own since I added an SSD boot drive, more RAM and put the fastest available video card in it. I think Apple realizes MANY Mac Pro users can do the same. They were so expandable, they had especially long useful lifespans.
 
user418 said:
Did you mean I wanted to have this discussion in the MBP forum?
Click to expand...

I put it into the iMac forum, where I wanted it. It's a discussion of iMac alternatives. A mod moved it to the MBP forum where it made no sense (see comments above). It's since been moved back.
 
I'm in the same boat as you. Im going to wait until end of July and then again way up my options.
 
Yes, the rmbp is very tempting. I considered one as well but I will hold to see what the new iMac is like. Like you, I like the iMac and iPad combo. Tried the MBA but ........
 
I had half an hour with a rMBP yesterday and am coming back round to the idea. The retina display (in apps optimised for it) really does make all other displays look like throwbacks to a bygone era.

It's clear from the MBP forum they're not without their problems right now, so I'm probably going to wait on ML and see what quality and supply are like then.
 
Seamaster said:
I had half an hour with a rMBP yesterday and am coming back round to the idea. The retina display (in apps optimised for it) really does make all other displays look like throwbacks to a bygone era.

It's clear from the MBP forum they're not without their problems right now, so I'm probably going to wait on ML and see what quality and supply are like then.
Click to expand...

I want to see it but don't want to see it. I'll end up wanting something I can't afford :(
 
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