Is the retina screen really worth the money?

[RianT]

I have both and I enjoy the screen on the rMBP a lot. However, as someone says above, it depends on your budget. If you have the extra cash then go for it. If not just get the MBA. You don't miss what you don't have. The screen on the MBA is still very good.

 

[Hieveryone]

Retina is great. I love it. I do use an external monitor which is not retina obviously. Get 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD.

4GB of RAM will pass though.

 

[mafaky]

wait for the 12" Retina MBA that will replace the 11" and 13" current MBAs. I imagine we will see that come October.

I'm afraid that will be purely wishful thinking (October availability to the end buyer...), assuming that alleged 12" model is rumoured to come with Broadewell processors and not with the present Haswells.

 

[RianT]

Let me put it like this. You are considering a Porsche Macan anf Cayenne. Do they both take you from point A to point B? Yes. Can they both do 50mph? Yes.
Are you buying the Cayenne cuz you think you are going to have kids 5 years later? Is the extra space worth it to you right now?
Some people say it's worth the money. Some don't.

 

[cebseb]

Let me put it like this. You are considering a Porsche Macan anf Cayenne. Do they both take you from point A to point B? Yes. Can they both do 50mph? Yes.
Are you buying the Cayenne cuz you think you are going to have kids 5 years later? Is the extra space worth it to you right now?
Some people say it's worth the money. Some don't.

Yep. Definitely need to make sure you find out what you're going to use it for before making the purchase.

Here is one thing though, try to live without retina as long as you can because once you go retina, you won't want to go without it ever again.

 

[wineandcarbs]

I just bought an rMBP tonight. I'm sitting here with my cMBP and rMBP side by side (moving files + doing stuff on the cMBP while I set things up on the rMBP). Having never used a computer with a retina screen before I felt the screen on the cMBP was fine. My phone had a high res screen but I didn't feel my computer screen was lacking. Using the two computers side by side for a long period of time, though, there is a clear difference in the two. When I move from the rMBP back to the cMBP I almost feel like there is even more eye strain.

I think if you have never used an rMBP you won't miss what you haven't used. But once you get used to the retina screen it is hard to go back. I don't think I'd have upgraded solely for the screen (again, because I wouldn't have missed what I didn't have), but it really does make a difference.

 

[nightlong]

Only you can decide OP by comparing the screens whether retina matters.

I love it, I hate using most non-retina screens now. But my short range vision is perfect. I've noticed that people who need glasses for reading tend not to see much difference.

I can still use my iMac because i sit further away than with a laptop and it is a good screen. But I couldn't do long sessions of writing on the Mackbook Air I had before the MBPr.

 

[capathy21]

Get the retina. It is more than worth it.

 

[techead76]

MacBook Pro with Retina

Hey there,
I'm about to buy a new macbook for college this month and I'm still thinking what to choose.

I have normal uses (school, movies, internet, photos etc)

My question is if The retina is really worth the money or MacBook Air would be fine for me? Cuz as i see it, MacBook Air is enough for my uses.

Thanks

Hey mate,
I just had my 15.4/2.5/i7/512 with Retina delivered.
It is awesome.

I didn't buy it for the Retina, I bought because I needed a new computer.
You do notice a significant difference in the screen details. Some apps not as much but definitely quite an improvement. I wonder if I took a photo of the screens with and without if that would come through for you???
It is super quick too.
There are two downsides I feel though and that is it is, it gets very hot while playing computer games - SimCity 2013, and that it is not upgradable so I went as high specced out of the box as I could afford because I will have it a long time.

I do have and was using MacBook Air before this.
I needed something with a bigger screen and storage.
You can see a significant difference in the Retina and non-Retina screens but I wouldn't buy for that purpose alone.

Cheers

 

[Voch]

I bounce between my work 15" rMBP and my personal SSD-equipped RAM-maxed-out early 2011 15" cMBP. The rMBP is wonderful to work on all day...I don't even use an external monitor like my colleagues.

I've been very tempted to grab a refurb late 2013 rMBP for myself just for the screen, but I consider all the other benefits (lighter weight, USB 3.0, faster SSD, better battery life, small CPU bump) only incremental or unimportant to my use compared to what I have on my cMBP (it's generally a desktop machine that I can fold closed). Maybe succumbing to Radeongate will push me, but (fingers crossed) I've been lucky for 3.5 years (Applecare expired) so far with that.

 

[Basilfawltyone]

Yes

Yes.