Longevity of the rMBP

[superper28]

So here's what im debating on:
Should I get the current rMBP or the recently released MBA? I am leaning towards the rMBP since I love the display.

Here's what doesn't matter to me:
The extra battery life of the new air(since I think the retina display is worthy trade off)
The portability of the new air(since both is just as portable to me)
Price (since I can get them both at about the same price)
Waiting for the new rMBP( cause the price would be too high)

Here's what I do:
A lot of typing(word, mail)
A lot of reading(PDFs, books, comics, pocket)
A lot of web browsing(safari)
iTunes and iPhoto (I like keeping my music and photo organized so I use them quite often)
Watching videos(web, vlc, QuickTime)

Here's what I don't do:
Play graphics intensive games
Video editing
Photo editing

Main concerns/questions:
Will I really feel the better performance of the air in my day to day use?
If I won't feel it's advantages now, will I feel this 2 to 3 years from now?
After 2-3 major software updates(e.g. 10.7 to 10.8), which of the 2 do you think will be slower?
Will the air be a lot more usable laptop a few years from now?
In short: a few years, and a few updates, down the road, will the performance of the air be significantly better than the current retina pro?

My current scenario:
The reason for this being my biggest concern is that I am currently using a 2010 mbp(core2duo) and on its third year, and second software update, it running really really slow. Apps takes forever to load. iPhoto and iMovie is almost unusable due to constant hanging and extreme lagging. And this is really disappointing considering i dont do any heavy(CPU wise) work. I really saw the performance get really worse really fast. I know it is party because the newer software being optimized for newer hardware but the fact that apple made it available for my machine means that it should be capable of handling it. Anyways, this is what I am trying to avoid, I want a laptop that would still be very usable 3 years down the road for my day to day use.

I would love to hear your comments and suggestions regarding my situation

 

[Voodoofreak]

Have you thought about upgrading the RAM and a SSD hard drive on your 2010?

If you really like the retina display, then go for the rMBP. Might want to consider the 13" though because you may not use the 15" to its full potential (since you are not doing any cpu/graphics intensive tasks).

 

[KevinC867]

Have you thought about upgrading the RAM and a SSD hard drive on your 2010?

If you really like the retina display, then go for the rMBP. Might want to consider the 13" though because you may not use the 15" to its full potential (since you are not doing any cpu/graphics intensive tasks).

I agree. It sounds like the OP has a fixable performance problem with their current machine. The combination of more RAM, an SSD and a fresh OS install should make that machine *much* faster.

 

[superper28]

Have you thought about upgrading the RAM and a SSD hard drive on your 2010?

If you really like the retina display, then go for the rMBP. Might want to consider the 13" though because you may not use the 15" to its full potential (since you are not doing any cpu/graphics intensive tasks).

If I were to chose just one upgrade, should I go with more ram or SSD?
Also, is it advisable/possible to upgrade this thru a third party or I should do it thru apple?

 

[Voodoofreak]

For speed - SSD. For increased multi-tasking while retaining original performance of the laptop - RAM.

You can DIY as Apple has made memory and hard-drive upgrades user-replaceable. They even have instructions on how to perform these upgrades on their online manuals (attaching a couple of links). Invest that $$$ instead on getting a better upgrade option.

If it was me, I would upgrade the RAM first as it is very cheap (about $50 to upgrade to at least 8GB). This would allow you to launch more programs at once.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1270?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US#link2

For SSD, I really can't offer much advise. I've only upgraded it once on my windows laptop for work and it was very very easy. However, I'm not sure what brand is the best (possibly Samsung/Kingston?). Any other folks on the forum want to chime in?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jd3RS-GGsCI

http://www.everymac.com/systems/app...7-mid-2009-how-to-upgrade-hard-drive-ssd.html

 

[foxf8]

my honest opinion with todays tech if u bought the 2013 air right now with the hardware specs u could easily and happily go 4-5 years with the specs the air has. mac os is super light os to begin with and easy for a computer to run which is why apple computers last so long. pc hardware last long too but software is heavier and would push harder on old pc specs. if u like the display which i cant blame u if i look at something other than my retina im like ehhhh lol. if you would like to keep your old system upgrade the ram first to at lest 8gb. right now if u are at 2gb thats way low to low. if u at 4gb your almost there but 8gb if u do just do the things u say u do you wont max that out which well not put more work on your cpu. which equals better performance, lower cpu temps, little better battery life. ssd next and well speed up your system 3 fold but again if u do have money and u want something new yea id sell u guilt free macbook pro 13inch its not a rip off for the price there asking. if u want the 15inch i have that one and it well last 5-6 years before i think about upgrading the graphics might go in 3 years but u dont game so dvd blue ray the specs the 15inch has well last 8-10 years it turns on in 11 sec opens everything right away beautiful screen. and apples not going to back track there going to keep making there notebooks with this type of screen.

 

[rabidz7]

The rMBP will destroy a sucky air in every performance test. The rMBP is faster in every way.

 

[leman]

The rMBP will destroy a sucky air in every performance test. The rMBP is faster in every way.

This is BS. I assume that OP is talking about 13" models. The Air has: faster GPU, MUST faster SSD and the CPU is pretty much comparable for non-demanding applications like those OP is talking about. In day-to-day tasks, the Air might feel faster because of its storage.

Back to the original question: it does not really matter. Both are great machines and will easily last you for the tasks you specify. It might make sense to wait for the Haswell rMBP though for the GPU and battery boost.

 

[Apple Mac Daz]

This is BS. I assume that OP is talking about 13" models. The Air has: faster GPU, MUST faster SSD and the CPU is pretty much comparable for non-demanding applications like those OP is talking about. In day-to-day tasks, the Air might feel faster because of its storage.

Back to the original question: it does not really matter. Both are great machines and will easily last you for the tasks you specify. It might make sense to wait for the Haswell rMBP though for the GPU and battery boost.

but you are comparing two complete different gens there tho.

soon as a Haswell rMBP is out it will destroy a air no question on any task

 

[leman]

but you are comparing two complete different gens there tho.

soon as a Haswell rMBP is out it will destroy a air no question on any task

It surely won't 'destroy' it, unless by 'destroy' you mean 'be 10% faster in benchmarks'. And peak performance does not really matter for the tasks OP intends to use it for

 

[superper28]

my honest opinion with todays tech if u bought the 2013 air right now with the hardware specs u could easily and happily go 4-5 years with the specs the air has. mac os is super light os to begin with and easy for a computer to run which is why apple computers last so long. pc hardware last long too but software is heavier and would push harder on old pc specs. if u like the display which i cant blame u if i look at something other than my retina im like ehhhh lol. if you would like to keep your old system upgrade the ram first to at lest 8gb. right now if u are at 2gb thats way low to low. if u at 4gb your almost there but 8gb if u do just do the things u say u do you wont max that out which well not put more work on your cpu. which equals better performance, lower cpu temps, little better battery life. ssd next and well speed up your system 3 fold but again if u do have money and u want something new yea id sell u guilt free macbook pro 13inch its not a rip off for the price there asking. if u want the 15inch i have that one and it well last 5-6 years before i think about upgrading the graphics might go in 3 years but u dont game so dvd blue ray the specs the 15inch has well last 8-10 years it turns on in 11 sec opens everything right away beautiful screen. and apples not going to back track there going to keep making there notebooks with this type of screen.

You said that with the specs of the air I could easily go 4-5 years, would you say the same for the current rMBP specs?

 

[newdeal]

...

Put an ssd in your pro and it will fly again. I have in the last month owned the following three computers
2011 13" pro with 2.4ghz dual core i5 10gb ram and intel 80gb sata 2 ssd
2013 13" air base model
2013 15" rmbp with 16gb ram and 2.7ghz quad i7


For your uses performance is identical. The ssd in the air is super fast, the retina is moderate, and my old intel ssd is slow but it doesnt matter except in benchmarks. No noticable differance in speed between the machines day to day. In the end with what you do performance isnt a consideration, battery life vs screen is the consideration. Pick which is more important. The other advantage of the retina is expandability, it has two thunderbolts and hdmi. If you need wired ethernet or want to run multiple external displays this matters and is why i ended up with the retina.

 

[foxf8]

You said that with the specs of the air I could easily go 4-5 years, would you say the same for the current rMBP specs?

the current rMBP specs are higher than the air. but the air has made huge leaps and bounds its more than useable and not some show peace anymore. the air is a duo core and well suit your list of things just fine with out worries i promise. i would say upgrade the ram to 8gb and yeah it should last your list of things easy 5+ years. the rMBP u dont need to spend money where u dont need it but shoot who wants a corrolla when u can have a bmw with heated seats and auto dimming mirror/garage link and head lights that move to the angle of steering wheel and such lol with your list of things u do, it would last 8-10+ years easy. plus if u do watch alot of movies or stream video like netflix and such the retina display is very nice. and if your a person who likes HDTV's and such u well love the retina display and surly buy it for that reason alone.