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I bought a baseline 13" MBA but thinking I should get rMBP instead...

A

AdonisSMU

macrumors 604
Original poster
Oct 23, 2010
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I literally just bought it today after a mishap in the web version of the in-store pick up. it is a baseline 13" MBA but I'm thinking I will return it for a baseline 13" rMBP tomorrow or monday. Am I being silly....I was just fine on my 2010 11" MBA with 2G ram and 1.4GHz processor before today but I like the all black screen with the black bezel and the minimalist look without the bright silver bezel around the screen of the MBA... What do you guys think? Am I being silly? They said I have until 3-16 to return it or exchange it for something else. I have always wanted a retina screen but I really don't need retina or double the ram or more processing power... but it would be nice to have...

I write code all day and I do some photoshop as in cutting images from for websites I am building but I don't need intensive processing power to do this.... what are your thoughts?
 
i feel more comfortable with an HD 4000 integrated gpu running at native resolution on a MBA then on a retina for obvious reasons. the 13 air is awesome but you wont be disappointed no matter what. follow your gut on the decision.
 
I have the 13 inch Air, and its great. As said above, I feel more comfortable with Intel 4000 on a 1440x900 screen versus a 2560x1600...both are great computers though. The active resolution on the Air is 1440x900 while the active res on the rMBP is 1280x900. Also, the Air runs UI animations, scrolling, and games just fine. These things on a 2560x1600 screen is more difficult.

Remember, the Air is alot thinner and lighter too. (maybe about 20% lighter)

Overall, its your choice. You likely won't see a big difference in performance, unless you are planning on doing some intensive stuff. If the extra $300 doesn't bother you, and the possible shortcomings of intel 4000, then you should get the rMBP. However for these reasons, I personally would choose the Air.
 
I don't do heavy gaming or anything. I just have a ton of browser windows open from chrome FF and safari when doing development besides cutting up photoshop files...

Also, I do like the 1600 x 1000 scaling option. I LOVE that option...but like you said it feels like the 13" rMBP is limited by the intel 4K chip etc...
 
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AdonisSMU said:
I don't do heavy gaming or anything. I just have a ton of browser windows open from chrome FF and safari when doing development besides cutting up photoshop files...

Also, I do like the 1600 x 1000 scaling option. I LOVE that option...but like you said it feels like the 13" rMBP is limited by the intel chip etc...
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The Intel 4000 runs the MBA and cMBP resolutions better.
 
If you're looking for an opinion from someone who actually owns one, the 13" rMBP handles productivity and web browsing beautifully in my experience. The limitations of the HD 4000 to handle this display are overblown from what I've seen. Granted, I don't play demanding games, but for the quality of the screen alone I would choose this over the air. I'm coming from a 2011 13" air and would never want to go back.
 
The rMBP is fine,but it does stutter a bit when scrolling through heavy sites like TheVerge or facebook-not as smooth as an MBA when going through heavy websites.
 
AnorexicPig said:
The rMBP is fine,but it does stutter a bit when scrolling through heavy sites like TheVerge or facebook-not as smooth as an MBA when going through heavy websites.
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I do believe that is fixed in the latest webkit builds and isn't an issue tied to the graphics card. I don't see why everyone gripes about the HD4000 on a Retina. I have a 15 inch retina and to see what all the fuss was about, I set my gfxCardSatus to integrated only. Everything was still silky-smooth.
 
If the price difference isn't too much of a factor, I would do the rmbp 13 just for the ability to scale the resolution higher than what the MBA can do. If you don't need that then stick with the MBA.
 
I just upgraded to the rMBP and I am loving it. No turning back now. :D:D:D
 
AdonisSMU said:
I just upgraded to the rMBP and I am loving it. No turning back now. :D:D:D
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Smart move. I have both, I shake my head at the rMBP comments coming from some MBA owners. I guess some like to trash what they don't own or wish they owned.

Side by side if people were honest I'd bet 8 out of 10 would choose the rMBP. People spend hours and hours staring at computer screens, for that reason screen quality should be a high priority.

rMBP is an excellent laptop, capable of MUCH more that people give it credit for. Mine gets a work out, CAD drawings, Illustrator etc.
 
I'm about to do the exact opposite.

I just bought a rMBP to replace my 2012 MBA (i7/8GB) and now I really miss my MBA. It is just smaller, lighter and easier to carry around. But that is not the deal breaker. For web design and Photoshop in general it is so annoying working on the rMBP because of the retina display. Don't get me wrong, it is beautiful to look at when things are optimized for it. But designing at 72 dpi is really a pain. Basically you need to view things at 200% percent, and that makes it look too fuzzy for my taste. I know you can just use the scaled resolutions but it still look fuzzy and 1920x1200 makes the things just a tad too small for my liking.

So I seriously consider selling it for a maxed MBA 2012 that handled everything fine when I first had it. I also experienced the 'famous' lag when browsing and switching spaces/windows etc. That is mainly using the integrated graphic card. So I have used both machines and the lag is not a non-issue - it's there. But hopefully a coming update will sort out the last things. Both graphic cards should be able to handle the resolution - else it does not make any sense using the integrated in the rMBP.

Just my 2 cents.
 
KimHansenDK said:
I'm about to do the exact opposite.

I just bought a rMBP to replace my 2012 MBA (i7/8GB) and now I really miss my MBA. It is just smaller, lighter and easier to carry around. But that is not the deal breaker. For web design and Photoshop in general it is so annoying working on the rMBP because of the retina display. Don't get me wrong, it is beautiful to look at when things are optimized for it. But designing at 72 dpi is really a pain. Basically you need to view things at 200% percent, and that makes it look too fuzzy for my taste. I know you can just use the scaled resolutions but it still look fuzzy and 1920x1200 makes the things just a tad too small for my liking.

So I seriously consider selling it for a maxed MBA 2012 that handled everything fine when I first had it. I also experienced the 'famous' lag when browsing and switching spaces/windows etc. That is mainly using the integrated graphic card. So I have used both machines and the lag is not a non-issue - it's there. But hopefully a coming update will sort out the last things. Both graphic cards should be able to handle the resolution - else it does not make any sense using the integrated in the rMBP.

Just my 2 cents.
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well
I am glad I read this before pulling the trigger on a 1200 euro rMBP.
That sounds terrible. The only reason I am leaving PC is because I am sick of °lag° in browsing, crashes, poor performance. I dont want to get a retina the world is raving about and then discover I have image retention and lag switching windows
 
For coding, I'd think the screen real estate of a 11" MBA would be too restrictive, BUT if you are happy, hey, is just money.
 
lorcar said:
well
I am glad I read this before pulling the trigger on a 1200 euro rMBP.
That sounds terrible. The only reason I am leaving PC is because I am sick of °lag° in browsing, crashes, poor performance. I dont want to get a retina the world is raving about and then discover I have image retention and lag switching windows
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The lag really isn't that 'bad' anymore (If you read my prior posts I complained bitterly about my >$3000 rMBP 15's lag in Lion). The rMBP 13's iGPU is 'ok' for the majority of web sites. Yes, the cMBP 13 and MBA 13 is 'smoother' as the iGPU has much less pixels to push. Go to a local Apple store and put the 2 side-by-side and scroll around the windows. I'm going to wait for Haswell on the rMBP 13 as my 15 has the Nvidia GPU to fall back on.
I used to be a dell/HP cheerleader in the past and have easily spent >$20,000 on their laptops, but even today, win 8 laptops still have crappy touchpads compared to the MacBooks today.
 
i posted this in another thread on this same topic, but for me i think the 13"MBA is a better choice than the 13" RMBP because while the RMBP is a "better" machine, i think the MBA is a better deal for what you're paying.

For me the bigger choice would be between the 13" MBA and the 15" RMBP. ultra portable vs a more powerful computer with a dedicated graphics card etc.

That being said i'm sure most people who get the 13" RMBP never regret it!
 
DisplacedMic said:
i posted this in another thread on this same topic, but for me i think the 13"MBA is a better choice than the 13" RMBP because while the RMBP is a "better" machine, i think the MBA is a better deal for what you're paying.

For me the bigger choice would be between the 13" MBA and the 15" RMBP. ultra portable vs a more powerful computer with a dedicated graphics card etc.

That being said i'm sure most people who get the 13" RMBP never regret it!
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This.
I owned and sold a 15" rMBP and now looking to pick up another MacBook. I'm currently looking to pick up a 13" model and seriously considering the 13" Air Ultimate.
The 2.0 i7 runs considerably faster than the base retina 2.5 or 2.6 i5 and is lighter and less expensive.
 
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