Is the 13" rMBP worth the extra $325 over the same 13" uMBP?

[PatriotInvasion]

The TB display is only a year old. The design is two years old, as it is identical to the design of the 27" non-Thunderbolt LED display. I hear ya though, the improvements made to the 27" iMac solely in terms of the display have to come to the Thunderbolt display at this point. Obviously, MagSafe with a supplied MagSafe 2 adapter will simply be replaced by MagSafe 2 (leaving owners of original MagSafe and Thunderbolt equipped users out in the cold in terms of charging their stuff [oh well, standard Apple for ya]) plug, USB 2.0 ports will be replaced by USB 3.0, and the FireWire port will be dropped in favor of a second Thunderbolt port; the Gigabit Ethernet port will remain. It's inevitable and, at this point, it's almost a no-brainer. My only hope is that they continue to offer the "current" non-Thunderbolt 27" display as there are tons of people stuck with machines without Thunderbolt but still in need of such a display (such as every Mac Pro owner).

Yea, I think they'll have to keep the LED Cinema Display around for awhile given all of the non-TB and non-MagSafe 2 Macs out in the wild. What they really should do is discount the price of that model given that it was released in 2010, has no TB ports, USB 2, VGA web cam, etc. $799 sounds about right, but wouldn't count on it.

I'm really excited to see what they do with the new Thunderbolt Display though. In theory, they should be able to get it as thin as the iMac (if not thinner) without any bulge in the back. Of course, they'll still need enough depth for the ports, but it should still look really nice. I know the thinness doesn't matter much for a display, but it would look really sexy on my desk connected to a 13" rMBP. I could see myself keeping that set up for 4 years or so but who knows. ;-)

 

[Ploki]

Yea, I think they'll have to keep the LED Cinema Display around for awhile given all of the non-TB and non-MagSafe 2 Macs out in the wild. What they really should do is discount the price of that model given that it was released in 2010, has no TB ports, USB 2, VGA web cam, etc. $799 sounds about right, but wouldn't count on it.

I'm really excited to see what they do with the new Thunderbolt Display though. In theory, they should be able to get it as thin as the iMac (if not thinner) without any bulge in the back. Of course, they'll still need enough depth for the ports, but it should still look really nice. I know the thinness doesn't matter much for a display, but it would look really sexy on my desk connected to a 13" rMBP. I could see myself keeping that set up for 4 years or so but who knows. ;-)

They don't need depth for ports if they put them on vertically.

 

[PatriotInvasion]

They don't need depth for ports if they put them on vertically.

You mean along the side? I doubt they'll do that for aesthetic purposes and I'm sure they want to keep it very similar to the iMac design. We'll see...can't wait for it. I love my 13" retina, but it is painful to use at a desk for long periods. Great for the couch though.

 

[Yebubbleman]

Yea, I think they'll have to keep the LED Cinema Display around for awhile given all of the non-TB and non-MagSafe 2 Macs out in the wild. What they really should do is discount the price of that model given that it was released in 2010, has no TB ports, USB 2, VGA web cam, etc. $799 sounds about right, but wouldn't count on it.

I'm really excited to see what they do with the new Thunderbolt Display though. In theory, they should be able to get it as thin as the iMac (if not thinner) without any bulge in the back. Of course, they'll still need enough depth for the ports, but it should still look really nice. I know the thinness doesn't matter much for a display, but it would look really sexy on my desk connected to a 13" rMBP. I could see myself keeping that set up for 4 years or so but who knows. ;-)

Heh...luckily monitors can last EVEN LONGER!!! But yeah, making the Thunderbolt display thinner and lighter, while upgrading the ports and the MagSafe connector would seem to be an obvious move on Apple's part. As for the LED Cinema Display, it'd be cruel for them to just discontinue that thing outright given that the Mac Pro still doesn't have Thunderbolt.

I love my 13" retina, but it is painful to use at a desk for long periods. Great for the couch though.

Yeah, 1280x800, or rather the screen real-estate of a 1280x800 13" display, which is the same amount of room that the 13" retina gives you, is really cramped. That's why I'm a huge fan of the "high-res" displays that they have as a configure-to-order option on the 15" non-retinas; with those, I have the same space offered by the 20" iMacs that existed from 2004-2009.

 

[el-John-o]

Heh...luckily monitors can last EVEN LONGER!!! But yeah, making the Thunderbolt display thinner and lighter, while upgrading the ports and the MagSafe connector would seem to be an obvious move on Apple's part. As for the LED Cinema Display, it'd be cruel for them to just discontinue that thing outright given that the Mac Pro still doesn't have Thunderbolt.

Even more than just the Mac Pro.. what about Windows PC's? Apple includes Airport Utility for Windows so you can use Apple Airport routers in a home without a Mac, they include drivers for the cinema display, etc. The Apple Cinema display is popular in a lot of pro design markets where Windows PC's are also used, I think Apple will maintain the display for a while longer due to the current lack of Thunderbolt ports on PC's! (I could be wrong though). It all comes down to the sales numbers, in the end. But I know at least for me, I bought an Apple Cinema Display, INSTEAD of a thunderbolt display even though my Mac has thunderbolt. I bought it because I have a Windows PC I want to use it with as well. It sits on my desk and I have a miniDP extension cable so I can easily switch between the desktop and the laptop! Easy Peasy! In my situation, I'd gladly give up GbE and FireWire (And even USB 3.0 if it had it!) AND take an extra cable, to gain compatibility with ALL of my machines, not just my TB equipped macs.

Alternatively, Apple could enable some sort of miniDP passthrough to the thunderbolt display. You'd lose the 'dock' ports when attached to mini Displayport (and there's every adapter under the sun to adapt a miniDP monitor to DVI-D, HDMI, DisplayPort, etc.), but that would probably be okay for most users. For example, I use my Cinema Display with a desktop as well as my TB enabled laptop. The desktop doesn't need the ports on the back of the Thunderbolt Display.

 

[PatriotInvasion]

Heh...luckily monitors can last EVEN LONGER!!! But yeah, making the Thunderbolt display thinner and lighter, while upgrading the ports and the MagSafe connector would seem to be an obvious move on Apple's part. As for the LED Cinema Display, it'd be cruel for them to just discontinue that thing outright given that the Mac Pro still doesn't have Thunderbolt.

The display will last long, which is why it will hold resale value for awhile. The only thing that would cause me to sell is if a 4K/retina version came out in the next 4 years (likely).

Yeah, 1280x800, or rather the screen real-estate of a 1280x800 13" display, which is the same amount of room that the 13" retina gives you, is really cramped. That's why I'm a huge fan of the "high-res" displays that they have as a configure-to-order option on the 15" non-retinas; with those, I have the same space offered by the 20" iMacs that existed from 2004-2009.

Well, with the retina I can set it to a scaled res of 1680x1050 HiDPI for more space which looks great. With the QuickRes app, I can also do 1920x1200 or 2560x1600 although those make everything too tiny to actually use.

 

[dmk1974]

I'm currently using a 13" MBA that I got as a Best Buy open box, but I see that my local store has an open 256 GB 13" rMBP for $1411 after the 10% coupon. Seems like a good deal, but I just really don't need 256 at this point. With they had a 128.

 

[christof]

I'm currently using a 13" MBA that I got as a Best Buy open box, but I see that my local store has an open 256 GB 13" rMBP for $1411 after the 10% coupon. Seems like a good deal, but I just really don't need 256 at this point. With they had a 128.

I got a 128GB 13-inch rMBP for $1250 from $1388 (open box price). Best Buy open box plus 10% was a great deal. I love it!

 

[Yebubbleman]

In light of today's news, I'm going to say that the cost difference is now close enough that it might be worth considering whereas previously, I don't think it was.

 

[dmk1974]

In light of today's news, I'm going to say that the cost difference is now close enough that it might be worth considering whereas previously, I don't think it was.

Yeah, the price differences are now dated since I started this poll. For me, if it weren't for the lagon the retina machines, I'd be upgrading to a rMBP from my MBA, but when I had a rMBP briefly and compared it side-by-side, the MBA seemed faster because it was more smooth and didn't have any lag.

 

[DaveOP]

Yeah, the price differences are now dated since I started this poll. For me, if it weren't for the lagon the retina machines, I'd be upgrading to a rMBP from my MBA, but when I had a rMBP briefly and compared it side-by-side, the MBA seemed faster because it was more smooth and didn't have any lag.

Try it with Webkit, you'll see the lag disappear.