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Since when does everyone keep their Macs for 5 years?
I have a feeling that happyslayer, who you quoted, doesn't care if it will be usable in 5 years considering his last Mac was a 2014 model.

5 years is standard. Whether or not you keep it for 5 years doesn't matter. Your laptop should be relevant for 5 years.

The new MB 5 years from now? Not a chance lol
 
Do you feel like it can be used 5 years down the road?

I'm not saying it can't. But given its capabilities I feel it won't be sufficient.

My crystal ball isn't working, but given the number of five year old Macs (and Windows machines, too) still being used, I think the answer is very likely yes.

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5 years is standard. Whether or not you keep it for 5 years doesn't matter. Your laptop should be relevant for 5 years.

The new MB 5 years from now? Not a chance lol

I very much doubt that you're right. I'm still happily using a 2007 Dell XPS M1330. The rMB will be fine.
 
My crystal ball isn't working, but given the number of five year old Macs (and Windows machines, too) still being used, I think the answer is very likely yes.

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I very much doubt that you're right. I'm still happily using a 2007 Dell XPS M1330. The rMB will be fine.

I doubt the battery will be any good after 5 years of sitting next to that hot broadwell Core-M package... and I think power consumption improvements on this class of device in the next few years will give upwards of 12 hours runtime...
 
I doubt the battery will be any good after 5 years of sitting next to that hot broadwell Core-M package... and I think power consumption improvements on this class of device in the next few years will give upwards of 12 hours runtime...

Until someone takes one of these things apart and does some temperature monitoring - which may not be possible given the nature of the cooling, since disassembly would completely change the effectiveness of the case as a heat sink - I don't think we can say whether you're right or not. My guess, based on taking skin readings after 35 minutes of thermal max operation, is that you're wrong. The temps over the entire case were very moderate and relatively even (mid-80s to mid-90s F), with the highest temps at the speaker grill, which is furthest from the battery. That's after half an hour at 92-94*C. Normal use will be much, much lower.
 
i dont understand why more of you don't apply to apples engineering department.

so many of you know so much.

Because we all know apple must have failed to litter this thing with thermocouples/conduct extensive thermodynamic testing.....
 
Until someone takes one of these things apart and does some temperature monitoring - which may not be possible given the nature of the cooling, since disassembly would completely change the effectiveness of the case as a heat sink - I don't think we can say whether you're right or not. My guess, based on taking skin readings after 35 minutes of thermal max operation, is that you're wrong. The temps over the entire case were very moderate and relatively even (mid-80s to mid-90s F), with the highest temps at the speaker grill, which is furthest from the battery. That's after half an hour at 92-94*C. Normal use will be much, much lower.

Thats really interesting, did you just use an IR monitor to determine temp? what are the skin readings when idle or just web browsing? That would be my likely usage scenario...

I am thinking I should just buy a laptop and find out for myself to be honest lol I'm on the fence, I'm half wondering if I can persevere with my 11 inch air until gen 2 of the rMB. The screen of the airs is getting harder to bear considering every other device I use is retina. It really puts the airs screen to shame and does work the eyes harder over prolonged periods...
 
My crystal ball isn't working, but given the number of five year old Macs (and Windows machines, too) still being used, I think the answer is very likely yes.

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I very much doubt that you're right. I'm still happily using a 2007 Dell XPS M1330. The rMB will be fine.

I love so much about the new MB but there just some basic things that are stopping me from buying it.

It should be very fast, snappy you could say. To a point where I don't wait for apps to launch. It should be like I think it, and bam it's there on my screen the nanosecond I click. Which is basically the MBPr.

I should be able to connect an external monitor, my thumb drive, my hard drive, an SD card, etc.

It's really a shame actually. If the new MB had an i5 in it, I'd grab it in a snap even without ports.

Kind of reminds of the E-class. Lovely car, more features than I could ever use, but the darn seats were hard! It's like, seat comfort is a basic necessity. If the seats are hard, I can't buy it.
 
i dont understand why more of you don't apply to apples engineering department.

so many of you know so much.

We all know that Apple computers are a balance between engineering and industrial design... Just look at the cable cords, they don't have strain relievers which means they fray much more easily. Ive seen so many people get replacement power cords for apple products. I charge my MBA and rMB at home so the charger doesn't move about, get wrapped up etc so much....

Don't get me wrong I love apple products and their design, but often the industrial design comes at the cost of function (magic mouse, I actually returned one of those) and reliability. Not an issue if you update often... but for those that want to keep a product 5 years or so, it really is.
 
Slim chance this will happen, at least for now. The MBPro needs fans, needs to dissipate much more heat. Among other constraints.

Yeah I agree. Do you know the aspect ratio of the 12" screen vs the 13.3"?

I actually don't mind the 12". When I used, I didn't miss the extra inch.
 
how about a laptop with tiny veins of water throughout the boards that gets pushed up to the hinge where the fan is and is blown out.

would be much more efficient as water is the quickest way to transfer heat, versus the fan trying to pull all the heat out itself.

i bet the temps would be crazy low.

I mean with technology theres no reason why they couldn't make this with a virtually silent water pump...or use negative pressure to pull a constant prime.

you can't destroy heat, can only transfer it.....having a fanless laptop just seems illogical....constrained, chained back.
 
how about a laptop with tiny veins of water throughout the boards that gets pushed up to the hinge where the fan is and is blown out.

would be much more efficient as water is the quickest way to transfer heat, versus the fan trying to pull all the heat out itself.

i bet the temps would be crazy low.

I mean with technology theres no reason why they couldn't make this with a virtually silent water pump...or use negative pressure to pull a constant prime.

you can't destroy heat, can only transfer it.....having a fanless laptop just seems illogical....constrained, chained back.

Intel are really focusing on pushing down heat production by the Core-M and Atom processors, in future revisions the heat produced will be smaller and smaller, while offering better performance.

No need to have a complicated heat transfer system. A heat spreader like thise in the current rMB and iPads are all thats required. My Baytrail atom windows 8 tablet has a TDP of 2W and during normal usage doesn't produce any noticeable warmth.
 
Intel are really focusing on pushing down heat production by the Core-M and Atom processors, in future revisions the heat produced will be smaller and smaller, while offering better performance.

No need to have a complicated heat transfer system. A heat spreader like thise in the current rMB and iPads are all thats required. My Baytrail atom windows 8 tablet has a TDP of 2W and during normal usage doesn't produce any noticeable warmth.

so you think their going to be able to eventually grab the power of a quad core i7 and make it into an efficient rMB?
 
so you think their going to be able to eventually grab the power of a quad core i7 and make it into an efficient rMB?

Already the current Core-M has the power of the MBP and Airs of ~5 years back, so eventually.

Not many people would have thought you would have a tablet smaller than a regular keyboard capable of running a full windows OS desktop ~10 years ago, and it doesn't even get warm on its outside case. Technology is moving faster and faster and even in the past few years battery runtimes have really improved massively.
 
Already the current Core-M has the power of the MBP and Airs of ~5 years back, so eventually.

Not many people would have thought you would have a tablet smaller than a regular keyboard capable of running a full windows OS desktop ~10 years ago, and it doesn't even get warm on its outside case. Technology is moving faster and faster and even in the past few years battery runtimes have really improved massively.

Thats the thing, the heat has to transfer and since theirs no fan pushing it out then it has to transfer out from the heat block, into the case, and transfer out...

this means a hotter to the touch laptop.

this is what happens when someone who works with HVAC tries to figure out computer technology LOL
 
Kind of reminds of the E-class. Lovely car, more features than I could ever use, but the darn seats were hard! It's like, seat comfort is a basic necessity. If the seats are hard, I can't buy it.

I'd like to add, WAY too expensive for what you get. Grab a 5 series with comfort seats instead ;)

I was considering a retina macbook but I don't see the value proposition for my lifestyle. I don't roam that much, and my 13" rMBP is practically new and pretty portable (not to mention very snappy). Gets the job done.
 
Thats really interesting, did you just use an IR monitor to determine temp? what are the skin readings when idle or just web browsing? That would be my likely usage scenario...

I am thinking I should just buy a laptop and find out for myself to be honest lol I'm on the fence, I'm half wondering if I can persevere with my 11 inch air until gen 2 of the rMB. The screen of the airs is getting harder to bear considering every other device I use is retina. It really puts the airs screen to shame and does work the eyes harder over prolonged periods...

I used an IR thermometer and measured both palm rests, all over the bottom cover and along the speaker grill after 35 minutes of file ops that had the CPU between 91-94*F, so very hot for a very long time. The F temps were barely above body temp and then only on the speaker grill, which I *guess* is an area where the battery is least likely to be affected.

I haven't measured it during normal word processing or spreadsheet use or web browsing, but my CPU temps are 35-37*C doing those, so in "normal" use I really can't imagine a problem.

I would have been the first guy in line to buy a 1080p IPS 11" MBA, I know what you are saying...

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Already the current Core-M has the power of the MBP and Airs of ~5 years back, so eventually.

Not many people would have thought you would have a tablet smaller than a regular keyboard capable of running a full windows OS desktop ~10 years ago, and it doesn't even get warm on its outside case. Technology is moving faster and faster and even in the past few years battery runtimes have really improved massively.

Not really replying to this, but the mention of the tablet reminds me that I have had my iPad Air get warmer to the touch than this rMB.

I really don't think Apple is getting enough credit for the complete re-think that they put into this product, but that's an opinion and you know what they're worth... ;)

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I love so much about the new MB but there just some basic things that are stopping me from buying it.

It should be very fast, snappy you could say. To a point where I don't wait for apps to launch. It should be like I think it, and bam it's there on my screen the nanosecond I click. Which is basically the MBPr.

I should be able to connect an external monitor, my thumb drive, my hard drive, an SD card, etc.

It's really a shame actually. If the new MB had an i5 in it, I'd grab it in a snap even without ports.

Kind of reminds of the E-class. Lovely car, more features than I could ever use, but the darn seats were hard! It's like, seat comfort is a basic necessity. If the seats are hard, I can't buy it.

Well, I have bad news for you. Not only have you misjudged the rMB, you're misjudging MBs. Real MBs always had hard seats. The latter-day pretenders got a DNA swap and aren't in the blood line. :(
 
5 years is standard. Whether or not you keep it for 5 years doesn't matter. Your laptop should be relevant for 5 years.

The new MB 5 years from now? Not a chance lol

I've kept my current MacBook for longer than 5 years. In fact it's been nearly 7 years now. I wasn't defending my own replacement schedule, I was pointing out that the person you quoted obviously doesn't care what his Mac will be like in 5 years based on his/her previous buying habits.

I'm guessing you are trying to say the rMB will be unusable with a Core-M CPU in 5 years. Please explain how you've come to that conclusion given that I'm typing this post on a MacBook running a 2.0GHz Core2Duo from 2008?
 
I used an IR thermometer and measured both palm rests, all over the bottom cover and along the speaker grill after 35 minutes of file ops that had the CPU between 91-94*F, so very hot for a very long time. The F temps were barely above body temp and then only on the speaker grill, which I *guess* is an area where the battery is least likely to be affected.

I haven't measured it during normal word processing or spreadsheet use or web browsing, but my CPU temps are 35-37*C doing those, so in "normal" use I really can't imagine a problem.

I would have been the first guy in line to buy a 1080p IPS 11" MBA, I know what you are saying...

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Not really replying to this, but the mention of the tablet reminds me that I have had my iPad Air get warmer to the touch than this rMB.

I really don't think Apple is getting enough credit for the complete re-think that they put into this product, but that's an opinion and you know what they're worth... ;)

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Well, I have bad news for you. Not only have you misjudged the rMB, you're misjudging MBs. Real MBs always had hard seats. The latter-day pretenders got a DNA swap and aren't in the blood line. :(

Ah, so the highest CPU temp you give is in F or oC? sorry to ask more info, but thank you so much for your detailed reply. I admit too, the iPad Air 2 that I have can get warm (exactly where the mainboard is located) , but only briefly (like during updates and heavy processing, games etc), its mostly always at room temp or a tiny bit higher in general light, to medium use (Web surfing, Netflix etc), nothing you'd notice at all.
 
I used an IR thermometer and measured both palm rests, all over the bottom cover and along the speaker grill after 35 minutes of file ops that had the CPU between 91-94*F, so very hot for a very long time. The F temps were barely above body temp and then only on the speaker grill, which I *guess* is an area where the battery is least likely to be affected.

I haven't measured it during normal word processing or spreadsheet use or web browsing, but my CPU temps are 35-37*C doing those, so in "normal" use I really can't imagine a problem.

I would have been the first guy in line to buy a 1080p IPS 11" MBA, I know what you are saying...

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Not really replying to this, but the mention of the tablet reminds me that I have had my iPad Air get warmer to the touch than this rMB.

I really don't think Apple is getting enough credit for the complete re-think that they put into this product, but that's an opinion and you know what they're worth... ;)

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Well, I have bad news for you. Not only have you misjudged the rMB, you're misjudging MBs. Real MBs always had hard seats. The latter-day pretenders got a DNA swap and aren't in the blood line. :(

No I completely agree with you. Traditionally the seats are "firm"
 
Do you feel like it can be used 5 years down the road?

I'm not saying it can't. But given its capabilities I feel it won't be sufficient.

As much as I'm enjoying my Space Grey 1.2, I certainly don't think it is a 5 year machine. I've breathed new life into my late 2008 MBP with an SSD. Current MBP's probably could marginally be a 5 year machine if you load them with a higher end CPU and RAM.

I'm thinking my Space Grey, for me, is a two year machine. Same for my iPad Air 2 unless the 3 is also a hover board ;)
 
As much as I'm enjoying my Space Grey 1.2, I certainly don't think it is a 5 year machine. I've breathed new life into my late 2008 MBP with an SSD. Current MBP's probably could marginally be a 5 year machine if you load them with a higher end CPU and RAM.

I'm thinking my Space Grey, for me, is a two year machine. Same for my iPad Air 2 unless the 3 is also a hover board ;)

Fair enough. You could probably stretch it to 3 years maybe but 2 sounds pretty fair.

And yeah the MBPr can be stretched 5 years if it's got at least 8GB RAM and a 256GB SSD.

The 4GB and 128GB SSD model kind of surprised me that they even offered it. I felt like it was outdated upon release unless you just don't need any space and don't do much at all. In that case you're better off with an iPad.
 
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Ah, so the highest CPU temp you give is in F or oC? sorry to ask more info, but thank you so much for your detailed reply. I admit too, the iPad Air 2 that I have can get warm (exactly where the mainboard is located) , but only briefly (like during updates and heavy processing, games etc), its mostly always at room temp or a tiny bit higher in general light, to medium use (Web surfing, Netflix etc), nothing you'd notice at all.

It is a little confusing - the IR temps for the external temps are F and the CPU temps are C (since that's what I've got iStat menus set for).

I have had a few times when the iPad (and also my old 5S) got too hot to hold comfortably. I didn't measure the temps, but the 5S in particular was literally too hot to hold onto. The app I remember being responsible for the 5S was a scanner app.

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No I completely agree with you. Traditionally the seats are "firm"

And what good is a car like an MB if it's not traditional. Bring back the old 240D, the 280SL and 450SL, and the 450SEL please!

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As much as I'm enjoying my Space Grey 1.2, I certainly don't think it is a 5 year machine. I've breathed new life into my late 2008 MBP with an SSD. Current MBP's probably could marginally be a 5 year machine if you load them with a higher end CPU and RAM.

I'm thinking my Space Grey, for me, is a two year machine. Same for my iPad Air 2 unless the 3 is also a hover board ;)

Time will tell, of course. I'm still getting great life out of a 2007 XPS M1330. It has actually become a better performer running 8.2 than 7 or its original OS, Vista. I know this is counter-cultural, but I would hope that future versions of OS X will be more efficient and therefore allow real world use of machines like the rMB for five years.

I could be completely mistaken, I understand that...

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Fair enough. You could probably stretch it to 3 years maybe but 2 sounds pretty fair.

And yeah the MBPr can be stretched 5 years if it's got at least 8GB RAM and a 256GB SSD.

The 4GB and 128GB SSD model kind of surprised me that they even offered it. I felt like it was outdated upon release unless you just don't need any space and don't do much at all. In that case you're better off with an iPad.

The real atrocity is the 16gb iOS devices. That's borderline unconscionable, in my opinion. ;)
 
Its your internet speed or its all in your mind. For fun I set my MacBook up on my desk and opened tons of things at the same time as my Late 2013 3.4GHz iMac. Web pages loaded the same time on both as did most apps. PS CS6 opened way faster (about 5 seconds faster) on the MacBook which is odd. Anyhow, with web browsing, opening apps and streaming video, its just as fast as my iMac.

Don't confuse the prejudice with facts.

Why is it so difficult for so many to accept the rMB for the niche it's meant to be in? Right now I'm sitting in Germany, at a coffee shop, after a 12 hour airplane ride, a nap and now typing on my 12" rMB. Really light and comfortable!

Enjoy your MBPr, I enjoy my 12" rMB!
 
I think it's hilarious how so many people defend the rMB performance by saying it's not going to compare to an MBPro. Fine, yes, totally right. But when I point out that I returned my rMB for feeling slower than my 2012 13" 1.8GHz MBA, nobody comments. 2012!!!! Do we really need to go back in time by 3+ years in CPU performance to get this kind of portability?

Sorry, but for $1700, I'm waiting for Skylake at least.
 
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