If youre a photographer you should not get a Retina MacBook Pro

[Cypther]

After a few weeks deciding that I should sell my late 2011 Macbook pro and get a Retina Macbook pro I have decided not to. Here are my reasons on why I will not be getting one from a photographer’s point of view.

1. Adobe Photoshop CS6 + OpenCL GPU acceleration is only on AMD graphic card at this time. Nvidia gimped GPGPU in the 600 series so probably will not be supported in CS6. There's a possibility Adobe will only support openCL and plan to drop CUDA, because they don’t want to develop something that only half the world can use.

There might be support in the future with Nvidia cards but I like to buy computers to use for today not the future. This is a huge deal for photographers.

source

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPDGIcNi4gI

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2251507

2. Most professional Photographers I know use an external monitor that's colour calibrated when editing photos. There's not many "Professional" that would edit all their photos only on a laptop screen specially when it's glossy. I know I wouldn't and I'm pretty picky with my photos.

To be honest I can't tell the different from a non Retina (late 2011 MBP with HR-AG)vs a Retina screen from normal viewing distance unless I'm looking at the screen around 8" inch away. And who the hell sits that close to a screen at all time and edit their photographs professionally? I think it's just more of a gimmick/luxury for photography right now than any real practical use.


3. Bootcamp looks blurry/fuzzy at 1440x900, 1650x1050 or 1920x1200, native resolution at 2800 x 1800 everything looks to small to be usable. And the other resolution looks like ass. The gpu can’t handle games at 2800 x 1800 and 1gb is not enough for that resolution.

4. No Matte options – having the laptop in the field (outside bright sunlight) sometimes it’s hard to control the light so glossy is no good. I’m fine with glossy in door when I can control the light such as at home or at a studio. But the point of having a laptop is to be portable.

5. No upgrade options – I would like to grow with my computer, don’t want to buy a whole new computer to upgrade the memory or disk space. The trade off to be thinner by losing the upgradeability is not worth it because it’s still a 15” laptop. It’s not like the old model was thick.

Those are the final nails in the coffin that I will not be getting one. This is clearly a first gen product that still needs some of the bugs to be worked out. Some people have reported UI lag and Some Retina MacBook Pro Users Experiencing Display 'Ghosting'.

I am very disappointed that some of the photographers gave the thing a great review(Now I know they are biased fanboy); I’m not going to mentions any names. There might be other industries that would benefit greatly from this computer but as a photographer I don’t think it’s something a professional photographer would need.

 

[Slivortal]

Wait a minute. So you're giving advice out to photographers when you haven't even picked up the machine? While I'm fine with you citing sources to try and openly justify a decision that you've made, I can't believe that you would go as far to berate your peers who have actually used the thing and condone them as liars based of purely anecdotal evidence. It's absolutely ludicrous.

While my profession is that of a computer scientist, I know I wouldn't berate my fellow computer scientists' decisions as to their choices of say browser, or IDE unless I used them, and found them to not fulfill certain standards. And even then I would not go so far as to call it a detriment to their careers.

People these days...

 

[b0blndsy]

This is clearly a first gen product that still needs some of the bugs to be worked out.

Yeah, that's why I've been holding out to wait for further improvements. It's always like that.

There might be other industries that would benefit greatly from this computer but as a photographer I don’t think it’s something a professional photographer would need.

Just curious, if the Retina is customizable how would you prefer to have it set up to meet your requirements?

 

[Edriggers]

I feel like If you were truly sure that you didn't want it, you wouldn't create a post desperately seeking validation.

 

[brokeneck]

if you have to get to 8" to see the difference between a retina and a non-retina then you clearly have made the right choice. I think this experience is, ummm, rare, at least based on the other 99.99% of posts in this forum and apple sales...

 

[Cypther]

I feel like If you were truly sure that you didn't want it, you wouldn't create a post desperately seeking validation.

More like a public service announcement. I will probably get one in the future, when there's a matter screen option, better software/hardware support for the retina screen and all the bugs have been iron out.

 

[Cypther]

Wait a minute. So you're giving advice out to photographers when you haven't even picked up the machine? While I'm fine with you citing sources to try and openly justify a decision that you've made, I can't believe that you would go as far to berate your peers who have actually used the thing and condone them as liars based of purely anecdotal evidence. It's absolutely ludicrous.

While my profession is that of a computer scientist, I know I wouldn't berate my fellow computer scientists' decisions as to their choices of say browser, or IDE unless I used them, and found them to not fulfill certain standards. And even then I would not go so far as to call it a detriment to their careers.

People these days...

You should read some of the reviews that recommended the computer for photographers as a much have tool, the only review I like was anandtech which was unbiased.

The software engineering/computer scientist is a little different. You can use any computer to write code, but if a computer scientist highly recommended the retina Macbook pro because they can code/think better is a little hard to believe and recommended as "a must have tool" for computer scientist. I went to school for software engineering and I prefer to write code only on a mechanical keyboard but I wouldn't recommend every programmer to use it. I like to code in C/C++ but is it the best language to code in? No, different languages for different task. What I'm getting at is some of these photographers are clueless with tech and recommend something without giving much thought.

 

[AlvinNguyen]

You are obviously not a traveling photographer - this is the best notebook for someone who needs their computer on location / in the studio / across the country and the world. If you're traveling 2 weeks every 2 months you'll change your mind real quick.

I've tried everything and I can guarantee you this is the best machine for retouching on the go - ever. And I've tried every mac possible.

Want credentials? www.alvinnguyen.com

 

[Slivortal]

You should read some of the reviews that recommended the computer for photographers as a much have tool, the only review I like was anandtech which was unbiased.

The software engineering/computer scientist is a little different. You can use any computer to write code, but if a computer scientist highly recommended the retina Macbook pro because they can code/think better is a little hard to believe and recommended as "a must have tool" for computer scientist. I went to school for software engineering and I prefer to write code only on a mechanical keyboard but I wouldn't recommend every programmer to use it. I like to code in C/C++ but is it the best language to code in? No, different languages for different task. What I'm getting at is some of these photographers are clueless with tech and recommend something without getting much thought.

If someone said that the MBPR was a necessity to program, I'd probably think they were over exaggerating, but I wouldn't be able to say for sure whether it was better or worse until I actually tried programming on it. My point was merely that you were taking some reviews and pitting them as far better than other reviews, simply because they fell more in line with your predisposed reactions than with any experience that you actually had with the hardware. I certainly wouldn't come to any definitive conclusions without having first tried it for myself.

 

[Cypther]

If someone said that the MBPR was a necessity to program, I'd probably think they were over exaggerating, but I wouldn't be able to say for sure whether it was better or worse until I actually tried programming on it. My point was merely that you were taking some reviews and pitting them as far better than other reviews, simply because they fell more in line with your predisposed reactions than with any experience that you actually had with the hardware. I certainly wouldn't come to any definitive conclusions without having first tried it for myself.

I went to the Apple store twice and sat there playing with the machine and looked at my photos on it. Both time I spent 30 minutes on it. I really wanted to buy it but the more and more I thought about it, I just couldn't. It's not like a can't afford the machine, I can easily sell my late 2011 MBP for around $1800 and come up with the rest no problem.

 

[greytmom]

Wrong Title

Should be:

Why I Have Decided Not To Buy A RMBP.

 

[spdntrxi]

I'm do freelance sports... I look forward to taking delivery.. I don't do major retouching anyways..no time. Photomechanic / Lightroom and go.

 

[AlvinNguyen]

I went to the Apple store twice and sat there playing with the machine and looked at my photos on it. Both time I spent 30 minutes on it. I really wanted to buy it but the more and more I thought about it, I just couldn't. It's not like a can't afford the machine, I can easily sell my late 2011 MBP for around $1800 and come up with the rest no problem.

Just a note - you're not going to get more than $1600 for your machine. I sold my 2011 17" - exact same spec as you for $1850 - prices are dropping left and right. And yes, that's thanks to the retina MBP. It's THAT good! You can deny yourself all you want - in the end, I guarantee you every professional high end photographer who can will upgrade their machine immediately. But then again I guess that depends on how one interpret what defines as a "professional".

 

[blueroom]

Cypther, are you a professional photographer? What do you use now for photo editing?

 

[Cypther]

You are obviously not a traveling photographer - this is the best notebook for someone who needs their computer on location / in the studio / across the country and the world. If you're traveling 2 weeks every 2 months you'll change your mind real quick.

I've tried everything and I can guarantee you this is the best machine for retouching on the go - ever. And I've tried every mac possible.

Want credentials? www.alvinnguyen.com

I do travel to photograph weddings, I don't think I'll be worrying about that 1 pound different from a non Retina Macbook pro vs the Retina. I don't think I'll be retouching 800 plus wedding photos on the go either. Every paid photography job I had that require to travel, is not exactly light to travel. I still have to bring two camera bodies/ five lenese/ two flashes...etc.

----------

Cypther, are you a professional photographer? What do you use now for photo editing?

Lightroom 4, Photoshop CS6 and sometimes to aperture.

 

[OatmealRocks]

BLAH BLAH BLAH

Dude.. you are a freelance photographer, which means you are barely a "professional" photographer (if you want to even state that)... Which also means you don't generate enough revenue consistently to make photography a career. Also your whining post and the fact your profile links to your "professional" page tells everyone here you are an amateur.

I'm not worried what you have to say because well.. you are inexperience and your words don't carry much weight. There are plenty of articles from REAL professional photographers that praise the rMBP. The color gamut accuracy makes this a winner for portability especially for a photographer that works outside of a studio and need tethering or quick edit options. Yes I understand the limitation but you are going to get that regardless of rMBP or some other laptop.

I would counter your points but it is not worth it. I think people here have said enough.

 

[Bluehinder]

That's just stupid, and I don't even like Macs.

 

[AlvinNguyen]

Couldn't agree more - you nailed it. People can judge who is a pro based on their work. Judging by the OP's work I'm sure we all know if that qualifies.

 

[darwinian]

I'm not an expert in your field at all and haven't used Photoshop since version 4 (haha). But Barefeats had some CS6 benchmarks and specifically mention GPU support on the rMBP.

http://www.barefeats.com/mbp12cp.html

I did not see their justification for the Liquify results, but I think more remains to be understood about why those results were particularly slow on the rMBP. Otherwise, people are reporting GPU support on the rMBP in Photoshop, which did affect the results of their 'Iris blur' test.

 

[AlvinNguyen]

I do travel to photograph weddings, I don't think I'll be worrying about that 1 pound different from a non Retina Macbook pro vs the Retina. I don't think I'll be retouching 800 plus wedding photos on the go either. Every paid photography job I had that require to travel, is not exactly light to travel. I still have to bring two camera bodies/ five lenese/ two flashes...etc.

You lost me - every pound counts and you do realize you have to compare the 17" mbp which is 2.2 lbs heavier in order to get a similar resolution (1900x1200 - as close as you can get basically to rMBP but even that is not close).

You're justifying your own decision to not get it and trying to make it seem like it's a bad machine for professional use - because you're not really a professional I suggest you just keep your machine, be happy, and not continue to justify your decision.

Other people have their reasons (gaming, etc) but for photographers this is a no brainer!

 

[Fortimir]

Other people have their reasons (gaming, etc) but for photographers this is a no brainer!

Agreed 100%. The fact that I get 17" of beautiful resolution in a 15" near-Air-profile body with more power than anything that came before it as well... I'm having a good time to say the least.

 

[jcpb]

1. Cool story bro.
2. So much ado about nothing.

 

[spdntrxi]

Dude.. you are a freelance photographer, which means you are barely a "professional" photographer (if you want to even state that)... Which also means you don't generate enough revenue consistently to make photography a career. Also your whining post and the fact your profile links to your "professional" page tells everyone here you are an amateur.

I'm not worried what you have to say because well.. you are inexperience and your words don't carry much weight. There are plenty of articles from REAL professional photographers that praise the rMBP. The color gamut accuracy makes this a winner for portability especially for a photographer that works outside of a studio and need tethering or quick edit options. Yes I understand the limitation but you are going to get that regardless of rMBP or some other laptop.

I would counter your points but it is not worth it. I think people here have said enough.

... Hey man not all of us freelancers are bad... I choose to freelance, not because I didn't or can't generate $$$
... Your paintbrush is a little wide.

 

[Cypther]

You lost me - every pound counts and you do realize you have to compare the 17" mbp which is 2.2 lbs heavier in order to get a similar resolution (1900x1200 - as close as you can get basically to rMBP but even that is not close).

You're justifying your own decision to not get it and trying to make it seem like it's a bad machine for professional use - because you're not really a professional I suggest you just keep your machine, be happy, and not continue to justify your decision.

Other people have their reasons (gaming, etc) but for photographers this is a no brainer!

So you edit all your photos on the laptop? No external monitor? Clearly my work flow is much different from yours.

 

[softwareguy256]

Ouch Alvin you owned him. Here's my 2 cents: any professional that spends this much time pondering about these basic tools is not a professional. Its only a 4k laptop not a 200k server rack.

Apple has a liberal return policy, just buy it and just be willing to give the benefit of the doubt that the most valuable company in america kind of knows what it is doing. If it still "sucks" then return it for a full refund.

You lost me - every pound counts and you do realize you have to compare the 17" mbp which is 2.2 lbs heavier in order to get a similar resolution (1900x1200 - as close as you can get basically to rMBP but even that is not close).

You're justifying your own decision to not get it and trying to make it seem like it's a bad machine for professional use - because you're not really a professional I suggest you just keep your machine, be happy, and not continue to justify your decision.

Other people have their reasons (gaming, etc) but for photographers this is a no brainer!