Is the 13" MacBook Pro with Retina Display worth the $500 price premium?

[PeopleTheseDays]

I think you have to take into consideration the improved airflow of the design for the premium cost, especially having two fans compared to the 1 in a regular mbp 13 to cool the processor. I don't have any concrete evidence, but that fact alone is a big point for the retina version (display being number 1).

Also, it's not only about being "retina", it's also having more real estate on your screen with the 1440 x 900 and 1680 x 1050 settings. I've been hoping for a higher real estate screen on the Mbp's for so long, but I guess the retina versions will be the only way we get them.

 

[children]

considering a base 13in Retina with a 256gb ssd is $1,999 only $200 less than the base 15in Retina (256gb standard), I really think this thing is insanely overpriced.

That's just me, but if portability is your biggest concern, the 13 retina is the best ultrabook you can buy, yes, to my eyes, the 13 is nothing more than a glorified ultrabook.

 

[BiscottiGelato]

I took a look. The base model 15" cMBP vs the base model 13" cMBP is a $600 difference. Same HDD and same ram for both. Just different CPU and GPU.

The base models 15" rMBP vs the base model 13" rMBP is a $500 difference. 128GB less SSD and the same ram for both. Different CPU and GPU also.

So assuming that the retina display cost between the 15" and 13" isn't that much different. I'd have accepted the 13" rMBP if it's priced at $1699 with 256GB SSD. However, packing it with 128GB just makes it that much more over-priced.

Hopefully when they remove the cMBP line for Haswell, the rMBPs will also lower in price significantly to fill in the void.

 

[auxsend]

The 13" rMBP is a classic Apple screw you, we want money product.

THe specs it has for a 1700 dollar laptop are laughable at best. When I saw you couldn't get out of a dual core i5 on it, I just laughed.

Truthfully, with the specs provided, this is not even a "Pro" laptop.

 

[sweetbrat]

78% of MacRumors users say no.

No...78% of the MacRumors users that participated in the poll say it's not currently worth it to them. That's very different than 78% of MacRumors users. And being that this is MacRumors, the results don't correspond at all to the public at large. I understand that some people find polls like this to be interesting, and that's all well and good. You just need to understand what your poll results mean, which in most cases is very, very little.

And by the way, I'm not on either side. It's worth it to some people, not worth it to others. As I'm happy with my current computer, it wouldn't be worth it to me at the moment, but it's well worth it to others.