In the market for a new rMBP. Should I buy now?

[printz]

I have a rMBP. It works fine, no noticeable image retention, despite using LG. However, its frame rate sucks on OSX when scrolling PDFs, Google Chrome and so on. It is abysmal when zooming in and out through image apps like Pixelmator (scrolling is fine, thankfully).

Windows 8 is smoother, but Windows has other problems with regards to HiPPI displays. You can scale the display just like in Retina OSX, but fewer desktop applications are designed for scaling (so they'll just look blurred), others look cut-off (large buttons in small containers), and it's incompatible with multi-monitor setup (text scaled 150% on the laptop will be scaled 150% on secondary normal monitors, making them useless, and it's probably a lost cause because of design).

On the other hand, the mediocre 1440x900 resolution of cMBP is not attractive either. I already have 1280x800 (the same of 13" cMBP) on my entry-level MacBook; a Pro is supposed to have more.

 

[576316]

Before the vultures swoop in and say Wahhh Wahhh Wahhh, no don't buy a rMBP because it's not a good machine, or the screens not worth it, or something better is coming soon...I 'll put my 2 cents in, I have a 13in rMBP and love it!

I had the 13in MBA previously and can attest to my rMBP just feeling like a much better machine IMO. I just enjoy using it more, and don't miss that annoying silver (scratch magnet) bezel at all.

To answer the 3 examples I posted above...

1-It's a great machine IMO, hands down the best I've ever owned

2- The screen is deff worth it! I love it...

3- Yes something better is always around the corner, in the case of the rMBP your looking at a new processor (Haswell)
Only issues I see with waiting for the next rMBP is that it will not be out until the fall of 2013, who knows what the pricing will be, and who knows if these new processors will have issues or not.

I'm a firm believer in doing some research, playing with one on your own, considering your finances, and most importantly figuring out if the current machine available will work in your favor and do the job you need it to do. If yes and it will get the job done I'd recommend picking one up and enjoying it...Great Machine!

Our of interest, what do you mainly use your MacBook for? I mostly use my desktop to browse the net more comfortably but I'm also a photo enthusiastic working casually inside of Lightroom. I really want to get my hands on a Retina MacBook Pro but the 15" is just so expensive. However I recently found one place selling the base model 13" one for a massive discount from retail price (all legit) and I was thinking of going for that. My only concern is that a dual core i5 and 8GB of RAM won't be enough for comfortable photo editing.

 

[thekev]

3- Yes something better is always around the corner, in the case of the rMBP your looking at a new processor (Haswell)
Only issues I see with waiting for the next rMBP is that it will not be out until the fall of 2013, who knows what the pricing will be, and who knows if these new processors will have issues or not.

I suspect pricing will be about what it is now. I don't expect it to rise. The base model starts at $1500 at this point or $1269 when they are available refurbished. I suspect those sell ridiculously when they come up as refurbished units. Haswell will likely be an okay boost. There's a lot of focus on IGPs, which tends to benefit the 13" much more than the 15". Apple dropped in a few cpu updates on the rMBPs that came out last fall. They didn't touch the cMBP, but I don't think they would have made any updates if Haswell wasn't far off.