In the market for a new laptop

[EnVyCaLiBeR]

Want some questions answered.

I have a Mid 2012 MacBook Pro that I purchased when it first released. It's been a good laptop and the best computer I've had. However, I also have a Windows computer that is on its last leg (battery no longer holds a charge, cuts off randomly even when on the charger, creaks in the hinge, etc). Since I'm one of those people that has to have a laptop and a backup, I'm looking for a new laptop.

Originally I was going to replace my Windows computer with another Windows computer (was looking at the SP3) but my experience with my MacBook has made me want to stick with Apple. So I'm looking at the the MacBook Pro Retina with the i5 processor, 256 GBs, and 8GBs of RAM.

I've never seen a MacBook Pro with a Retina Display but I do own an iPad Air and an iPad 2. Should I expect a difference similar to those two or will it be even more significant between the MBPr and the my 2012 MBP? Also, how much of a performance difference will I find in the two laptops as well? I'm happy with my current MacBook Pro but will my mind be blown coming from that model when I haven't even upgraded it?

 

[Samuelsan2001]

It's pretty damn good.

I went from a 2010 Macbook pro 13 with an SSD and 8gb of ram to the new 13 MBPr and I was surprised how much better the new one is. If you haven't had an SSD before it will be night and day difference in responsiveness, also I find it to be quieter by far, much cooler and works with external monitors spectacularly well. Most importantly that screen is awesome everything looks just fantastic and scaling can give you more real estate to work with. All in all a damn fine little laptop.

 

[kathryn41]

Just choose the MacBook Pro with a Retina Display, you won't regret to get it

 

[Weaselboy]

I've never seen a MacBook Pro with a Retina Display but I do own an iPad Air and an iPad 2. Should I expect a difference similar to those two or will it be even more significant between the MBPr and the my 2012 MBP? Also, how much of a performance difference will I find in the two laptops as well? I'm happy with my current MacBook Pro but will my mind be blown coming from that model when I haven't even upgraded it?

Yes... your analogy between the two iPads is a good one and an accurate measure of the perceived sharpness improvements you will see.

There won't be a huge difference in CPU bound activities, but anything that involves disk access like launching apps and copying files will be far far faster on the new machine due to the flash storage system the Retina uses.

 

[capathy21]

I've never seen a MacBook Pro with a Retina Display but I do own an iPad Air and an iPad 2. Should I expect a difference similar to those two or will it be even more significant between the MBPr and the my 2012 MBP?

You will see a similar difference in sharpness between your cMBP and the rMBP. To me the difference between the iPad 2 and the iPad Air, or the iphone 3gs and iPhone 4/5 is a little more drastic than the mac to mac comparison probably due to a higher ppi on the iPhone and iPad retina vs the rMBP. That being said, the rMBP is still much sharper than your current MBP and you will definitely see a difference. In watching videos, the Air/cMBP and rMBP appear almost the same to me. Reading black text on a white background is really where the retina display comes in handy.

 

[EnVyCaLiBeR]

I went from a 2010 Macbook pro 13 with an SSD and 8gb of ram to the new 13 MBPr and I was surprised how much better the new one is. If you haven't had an SSD before it will be night and day difference in responsiveness, also I find it to be quieter by far, much cooler and works with external monitors spectacularly well. Most importantly that screen is awesome everything looks just fantastic and scaling can give you more real estate to work with. All in all a damn fine little laptop.

You will see a similar difference in sharpness between your cMBP and the rMBP. To me the difference between the iPad 2 and the iPad Air, or the iphone 3gs and iPhone 4/5 is a little more drastic than the mac to mac comparison probably due to a higher ppi on the iPhone and iPad retina vs the rMBP. That being said, the rMBP is still much sharper than your current MBP and you will definitely see a difference. In watching videos, the Air/cMBP and rMBP appear almost the same to me. Reading black text on a white background is really where the retina display comes in handy.

Thanks guys. I've never had an SSD in a computer either so it'll be cool to experience that finally.

Also, how's the battery life in comparison? To give you an idea of my usage, I do Web Design for school so Adobe Suite is used daily. I use MS Office daily and I do all of the other typical tasks such as browsing, checking emails, and Skype. Should I be able to get through a day of usage mainly by browsing?

 

[Weaselboy]

Thanks guys. I've never had an SSD in a computer either so it'll be cool to experience that finally.

Also, how's the battery life in comparison? To give you an idea of my usage, I do Web Design for school so Adobe Suite is used daily. I use MS Office daily and I do all of the other typical tasks such as browsing, checking emails, and Skype. Should I be able to get through a day of usage mainly by browsing?

Yes... Apple advertises 9 hours of wifi web browsing and that is a good number. I believe it was Anandtech that reviewed these when they came out and they did some battery testing and the results were right in line with what Apple claims.

 

[TechGod]

Thanks guys. I've never had an SSD in a computer either so it'll be cool to experience that finally.

Also, how's the battery life in comparison? To give you an idea of my usage, I do Web Design for school so Adobe Suite is used daily. I use MS Office daily and I do all of the other typical tasks such as browsing, checking emails, and Skype. Should I be able to get through a day of usage mainly by browsing?

I get around 10-10 and a half with just browsing and bits of iTunes here and there.

 

[EnVyCaLiBeR]

Alright I'm over here going back and forth trying to pull the trigger on something. lol

I've narrowed my choices down to the Yoga Pro 2, the rMBP, the iMac, and to a lesser extent, the SP3. The only reason I'm going back and forth is because the rMBP is the most expensive option out of those four. Does anyone have experience with the other options?