Choosing one shouldn't be this hard.

[skysailing]

I posted before how I can't decide whether to purchase a 13" spec'd out MBA or a spec'd out RMBP. Starting next year, I will be traveling A LOT. I need a machine that I can carry with me everywhere. Something that is tough and will not be slow. Vigorous climbing, biking, and just intense sport.
-Photography is a must. I'm not some guru photo-editor but I have a pro camera and will load them onto my computer's storage.
-I'm a casual gamer. The Sims franchise, BioShock: Infinite, and the new SimCity are what I plan on playing on my down time.
-I have at least 5 programs open at once. Usually Safari, iTunes, Microsoft Word, Pages, and Mail are open at one time. I don't want a machine that would lag. (By the way, all my documents are over 80MB)
-iTunes is my obsession. I have over 30GB of music, 50GB of movies, and over 60GB of TV shows. I am continuously adding music to my library, and I DO NOT want my music to lag while i'm uploading many photos to my site. I hate external drives (had one before, hated that thing), so I will just have it stored on the computer. + iCloud is amazing for keeping track of everything you purchased, so i'm not worried about it being gone forever.
-I just want something lightweight. It is crucial that I am able to carry this device in my hand all day, and document everything I encounter instantly without lag.

Spec'd out MBA or spec'd out RMBP? this computer must last for more than 4 years.

Thanks.

 

[b.tuszkiewicz]

Have you seen the 15" retina MacBook Pro's give them another look. For the amount of power that laptop harnesses I'd say its weight and thickness are pretty impressive. Definitely not that bad.


You can always play the waiting game and see if a 13" Retina MacBook Pro surfaces, but if you really need a laptop I'd get the 15" Retina MacBook Pro it'll definitely last you many years to come

 

[skysailing]

Have you seen the 15" retina MacBook Pro's give them another look. For the amount of power that laptop harnesses I'd say its weight and thickness are pretty impressive. Definitely not that bad.


You can always play the waiting game and see if a 13" Retina MacBook Pro surfaces, but if you really need a laptop I'd get the 15" Retina MacBook Pro it'll definitely last you many years to come

I am in no rush. I just need one by February 2nd.

 

[mzjin]

For your purposes, the power of the Air and Pro are roughly equal, aside from gaming speeds, you won't notice much performance difference.

The screen quality on the Pro is far better, but you're more likely to get a defective screen with terrible uniformity (one side being darker or yellower than the other).

The Air is going to be vastly better in terms of portability.

What you should wait for is the 13" Macbook Pro Retina.

 

[b.tuszkiewicz]

What you should wait for is the 13" Macbook Pro Retina.

Agreed

 

[stevelam]

is there even a mac version of bioshock:infinite? you'll probably need to bootcamp then.

mba is obviously much lighter than the rmbp.

neither the mba or rmbp has large storage unless you pay a ton more cash (768 gb storage costs you an extra $1000 which is ridiculous).

i have no idea what machine you're thinking of that would lag playing music when uploading photos. not even my computer from the 90's would do that.

 

[skysailing]

For your purposes, the power of the Air and Pro are roughly equal, aside from gaming speeds, you won't notice much performance difference.

The screen quality on the Pro is far better, but you're more likely to get a defective screen with terrible uniformity (one side being darker or yellower than the other).

The Air is going to be vastly better in terms of portability.

What you should wait for is the 13" Macbook Pro Retina.

I think that's what i'm going to do. I just desperately desire portability.

----------

is there even a mac version of bioshock:infinite? you'll probably need to bootcamp then.

mba is obviously much lighter than the rmbp.

neither the mba or rmbp has large storage unless you pay a ton more cash (768 gb storage costs you an extra $1000 which is ridiculous).

i have no idea what machine you're thinking of that would lag playing music when uploading photos. not even my computer from the 90's would do that.

My Mac lags when I have those 5 programs open and iTunes Match starts doing its thing. Music just pauses and I can't stand it. I have no problem with paying $1000 since I will be using it for years to come. + BioShock: Infinite is destined to appear on the MAS.

 

[mzjin]

I think that's what i'm going to do. I just desperately desire portability.

----------



My Mac lags when I have those 5 programs open and iTunes Match starts doing its thing. Music just pauses and I can't stand it. I have no problem with paying $1000 since I will be using it for years to come. + BioShock: Infinite is destined to appear on the MAS.

If the 13" Retina Pro doesn't come soon enough, you should just get the 13" regular Pro instead.

It has a better quality display than the air (despite lower resolution) and none of the quality issues of the Retina 15" Pro. It's portable like the Air, just thicker and weighs the same as the Retina 15" Pro. Powerwise, it slots between both the Air the Retina 15" Pro. It's capable of a 512gb SSD + 1TB HD in the same body, so you won't need an external drive, while the Air tops at 512gb SSD and the Retina Pro tops at 768 gb SSD. It can also go up to 32gb RAM (theoretical), 16gb RAM (realistic) for very cheap.

 

[skysailing]

If the 13" Retina Pro doesn't come soon enough, you should just get the 13" regular Pro instead.

It has a better quality display than the air (despite lower resolution) and none of the quality issues of the Retina 15" Pro. It's portable like the Air, just thicker and weighs the same as the Retina 15" Pro. Powerwise, it slots between both the Air the Retina 15" Pro. It's capable of a 512gb SSD + 1TB HD in the same body, so you won't need an external drive, while the Air tops at 512gb SSD and the Retina Pro tops at 768 gb SSD. It can also go up to 32gb RAM (theoretical), 16gb RAM (realistic) for very cheap.

Whoa. I didn't know both those drives could be in that
I'm thinking that I better wait before spending thousands over a machine. It should be the one I really want and feel 100% confident about.
The RMBP scares me with all the problems i'm seeing posted on here.

----------

And another thing. The sleep indicator and battery life features on the unibody is something I really love. I can't freaking believe they got rid of them.

 

[skaertus]

I posted before how I can't decide whether to purchase a 13" spec'd out MBA or a spec'd out RMBP. Starting next year, I will be traveling A LOT. I need a machine that I can carry with me everywhere. Something that is tough and will not be slow. Vigorous climbing, biking, and just intense sport.
-Photography is a must. I'm not some guru photo-editor but I have a pro camera and will load them onto my computer's storage.
-I'm a casual gamer. The Sims franchise, BioShock: Infinite, and the new SimCity are what I plan on playing on my down time.
-I have at least 5 programs open at once. Usually Safari, iTunes, Microsoft Word, Pages, and Mail are open at one time. I don't want a machine that would lag. (By the way, all my documents are over 80MB)
-iTunes is my obsession. I have over 30GB of music, 50GB of movies, and over 60GB of TV shows. I am continuously adding music to my library, and I DO NOT want my music to lag while i'm uploading many photos to my site. I hate external drives (had one before, hated that thing), so I will just have it stored on the computer. + iCloud is amazing for keeping track of everything you purchased, so i'm not worried about it being gone forever.
-I just want something lightweight. It is crucial that I am able to carry this device in my hand all day, and document everything I encounter instantly without lag.

Spec'd out MBA or spec'd out RMBP? this computer must last for more than 4 years.

Thanks.

I would buy the retina MacBook Pro. My only concern is that you said you'll carry the laptop around when you do climbing, biking and intense sport. You should take a lot of care with such an expensive machine doing all this stuff...

 

[MCAsan]

I posted before how I can't decide whether to purchase a 13" spec'd out MBA or a spec'd out RMBP. Starting next year, I will be traveling A LOT. I need a machine that I can carry with me everywhere. Something that is tough and will not be slow. Vigorous climbing, biking, and just intense sport.
-Photography is a must. I'm not some guru photo-editor but I have a pro camera and will load them onto my computer's storage.

The very last thing I want in the field is a spinning disk to crash. That was one of the motivations for my wife and I go go rMBP. The only moving parts are buttons and hinges. A disk will always crash if you run it long enough...especially after you have bounced it around in a Land Rover as you drive down what was supposed to be a road.. And you can't beat the thin shape and weight. The large size SSD gives us space for 2+ week photography trips.

 

[skysailing]

I would buy the retina MacBook Pro. My only concern is that you said you'll carry the laptop around when you do climbing, biking and intense sport. You should take a lot of care with such an expensive machine doing all this stuff...

I understand, but this is why i'm in the market. I NEED to do all this stuff.

----------

The very last thing I want in the field is a spinning disk to crash. That was one of the motivations for my wife and I go go rMBP. The only moving parts are buttons and hinges. A disk will always crash if you run it long enough...especially after you have bounced it around in a Land Rover as you drive down what was supposed to be a road.. And you can't beat the thin shape and weight. The large size SSD gives us space for 2+ week photography trips.

YOU ARE PREACHING TO ME MAN. I'm on a spinning disk Mac right now and have yet to experience anything different. I had no idea it would hurt in the long run...

 

[stevelam]

My Mac lags when I have those 5 programs open and iTunes Match starts doing its thing. Music just pauses and I can't stand it. I have no problem with paying $1000 since I will be using it for years to come. + BioShock: Infinite is destined to appear on the MAS.

Well then something is just wrong with your computer if your music "pauses" with just a few programs open cause that clearly is not the norm for any semi modern computer.

And it took several years for bio shock 2 to end up on the Mac. Have fun waiting.

 

[skysailing]

And it took several years for bio shock 2 to end up on the Mac. Have fun waiting.

I will.

 

[clyde2801]

Who knows? Even if the 13" rMBP doesn't come out by the end of next month, there's always the possibility that the 15"s will appear on the refurbished store by then.