Is Retina Screen Really Better? HELL YES

[nostresshere]

Wow. I moved from 2009 13" to 2013 15" MBP a week ago. Liked the new machine and did not think much about the screen at all.

Today I needed to do something on my wife's older (2011?) MBP.

Holy crap...that old screen really is different. I was just not aware of it, even when I had my two machines side by side during the transistion.


Okay... just had to share that for anyone thinking about it.

 

[capathy21]

Wow. I moved from 2009 13" to 2013 15" MBP a week ago. Liked the new machine and did not think much about the screen at all.

Today I needed to do something on my wife's older (2011?) MBP.

Holy crap...that old screen really is different. I was just not aware of it, even when I had my two machines side by side during the transistion.


Okay... just had to share that for anyone thinking about it.

Yea there is a huge difference. The difference isn't as obvious when glancing at display models, but once you really use a retina, you can't go back.

 

[ixxx69]

This is so true!

We got a 15" rMBP for an office manager at work. She previously had two 19" LCDs attached to a desktop PC. We ditched one of the LCDs, and set it up with the remaining 19" as the main display, and the rMBP off to the side as a secondary display.

After a week, she moved the rMBP front and center because even though the 15" is a smaller screen, she found it so much more readable. Now she doesn't even like to look at the 19" display.

People who don't get the point of a retina screen either haven't spent significant time with one or must be oblivious or something.

 

[KimHansenDK]

Yeah! I just went from a 13-inch MacBook Air to a 13-inch MacBook Pro with retina display, and the difference it huge. I design websites and apps for a living (mostly hooked up to a Thunderbolt Display) and it is great to be able to see an app in 1:1 and test websites at different resolutions. Didn't think the difference would be this big but man I was wrong!

 

[heehee]

I have a 2010 MBP at home and use a 2014 rMBP at work, I can't use the 2010 without saying it's crap.

 

[capathy21]

This is so true!

We got a 15" rMBP for an office manager at work. She previously had two 19" LCDs attached to a desktop PC. We ditched one of the LCDs, and set it up with the remaining 19" as the main display, and the rMBP off to the side as a secondary display.

After a week, she moved the rMBP front and center because even though the 15" is a smaller screen, she found it so much more readable. Now she doesn't even like to look at the 19" display.

People who don't get the point of a retina screen either haven't spent significant time with one or must be oblivious or something.

Hey we may not agree on RAM but we sure do agree on retina being AMAZING

 

[azure247]

I had a 15 inch MBP retina and I didn't like it. First off, everything was tinier and secondly, there was lag when scrolling websites. Overall, I don't think retina is worth the extra cost. If more screen estate is needed, I plug into a monitor. Otherwise, the screen on my now, 11 MBA is just dandy.

 

[Meister]

I had a 15 inch MBP retina and I didn't like it. First off, everything was tinier and secondly, there was lag when scrolling websites. Overall, I don't think retina is worth the extra cost. If more screen estate is needed, I plug into a monitor. Otherwise, the screen on my now, 11 MBA is just dandy.

The website scroll lag annoys me, too.
I went to the store a year ago and confronted them. I was able to reproduce it on all rmbps there. The "genius" admitted it was there and said I should talk to the technicians at .

But: For photo editing I could never go back to a mba. The retina is unbeatable for that

 

[ixxx69]

I had a 15 inch MBP retina and I didn't like it. First off, everything was tinier...

I don't understand that complaint.

If you were using it as intended (best scale for screen), everything would have been the exact same size as the non-Retina 15" screen, only the Retina screen is twice as sharp.

 

[Dahkot]

In regards to the website scrolling lag at times , I just got the new 2014 MB pro with the 750m and after I changed it to not do graphics switching and use only the 750m I can scroll through on safari significantly better.

Not sure what difference it makes on sites not using flash etc, but every single site I've tested it on is night/day difference as far as faster scrolling goes.

 

[Freyqq]

I don't understand that complaint.

If you were using it as intended (best scale for screen), everything would have been the exact same size as the non-Retina 15" screen, only the Retina screen is twice as sharp.

and..you can change the resolution while keeping the HiDPI retina sharpness...so it can be as tiny or as large as you want

 

[yjchua95]

In regards to the website scrolling lag at times , I just got the new 2014 MB pro with the 750m and after I changed it to not do graphics switching and use only the 750m I can scroll through on safari significantly better.

Not sure what difference it makes on sites not using flash etc, but every single site I've tested it on is night/day difference as far as faster scrolling goes.

Let's just face it, the Iris/Iris Pro sometimes just isn't enough to drive all those pixels

 

[ABC5S]

I don't understand that complaint.

If you were using it as intended (best scale for screen), everything would have been the exact same size as the non-Retina 15" screen, only the Retina screen is twice as sharp.

and..you can change the resolution while keeping the HiDPI retina sharpness...so it can be as tiny or as large as you want

Agree. That poster just didn't read up on this in the online manual. All one has to do is change it. I'm 70 years old and can figure that one out

 

[racer1441]

Yea there is a huge difference. The difference isn't as obvious when glancing at display models, but once you really use a retina, you can't go back.

This is the truest thing ever said. Use a retina screen for two week and go back to the macbook air, your eyes will bleed.

 

[Spink10]

So I was a long time cMBP user - been using my fully loaded High-Res Anti Glare 15" 2012 cMBP. Well decided to try out a 15" rMBP since I got a steal of a deal on one.

Screen - I can only echo the same words as the OP - WOW - AMAZING

 

[FuNGi]

I had a 15 inch MBP retina and I didn't like it. First off, everything was tinier and secondly, there was lag when scrolling websites. Overall, I don't think retina is worth the extra cost. If more screen estate is needed, I plug into a monitor. Otherwise, the screen on my now, 11 MBA is just dandy.

As mentioned nothing is smaller when on default settings. What is this lag when scrolling? Safari? Chrome? My late 2013 15" doesn't lag at all using Iris Pro. Ever. Are you referring to the 13" 2012 by chance?

The screen IS amazing and using my MBA or other peoples PC's literally makes me wince. I have a 24" Apple display that I use for photo editing and other things and I literally have to put it 12" further away from me than the laptop so I don't notice the blurriness.

 

[christarp]

As mentioned nothing is smaller when on default settings. What is this lag when scrolling? Safari? Chrome? My late 2013 15" doesn't lag at all using Iris Pro. Ever. Are you referring to the 13" 2012 by chance?

The screen IS amazing and using my MBA or other peoples PC's literally makes me wince. I have a 24" Apple display that I use for photo editing and other things and I literally have to put it 12" further away from me than the laptop so I don't notice the blurriness.

To be fair, on my 13" the iris can definitely feel jittery on chrome when you have the display set to "most workspace" (3360x2100), safari is better but still. That's a ton of pixels for an integrated GPU to push. Setting it down one setting makes it much more responsive.

 

[MacInTO]

So I was a long time cMBP user - been using my fully loaded High-Res Anti Glare 15" 2012 cMBP. Well decided to try out a 15" rMBP since I got a steal of a deal on one.

Screen - I can only echo the same words as the OP - WOW - AMAZING

I did the same thing, except mine was a 2011.

The only thing that I did not like about the retina screen was the reflection. However, I applied an anti glare film and that problem was solved!

An amazing screen to look at!

 

[1madman1]

I've a pair of BTO 2012 15" MBP systems, a hi-res antiglare and a retina. They have identical specs. I personally much prefer the anti-glare in every way except weight. At the default scaling options the rMBP sizes everything too large, there is so much wasted potential screen real-estate. The rMBP also feels slower in everything, doubly so with the resolution scaling turned up. On top of that, it has poorer battery life, runs louder and hotter. I've also not been able to get used to it's shallower keyboard depth. I regret not returning it for a second anti glare unit.

 

[Spink10]

I've a pair of BTO 2012 15" MBP systems, a hi-res antiglare and a retina. They have identical specs. I personally much prefer the anti-glare in every way except weight. At the default scaling options the rMBP sizes everything too large, there is so much wasted potential screen real-estate. The rMBP also feels slower in everything, doubly so with the resolution scaling turned up. On top of that, it has poorer battery life, runs louder and hotter. I've also not been able to get used to it's shallower keyboard depth. I regret not returning it for a second anti glare unit.

I have found the opposite results - however. I think I may have a problem with the cMBP. It has had the logic board replaced once already. Probably need them to check it out again.