Yet the Retina model has faster Flash than if you put 2xTB SSDs in RAID on the cMBP. 2-3 hours more battery life. Thinner. Lighter. Much better display. Better GPU. Better CPU. Quicker RAM. 2x Thunderbolt 2 and HDMI. Keep your upgradability, but people buying a new Mac directly from Apple should avoid the cMBP like the plague. Just far too expensive for what it is.
Still a great deal if you buy it second-hand for 50% off RRP, of course. But new? You get a lot more for your money with the rMBP.
And no, you can't get 32GB of RAM in that model. Yes, Crucial make 16GB 1600MHz DDR3 DIMMs and the CPU can support up to 32GB RAM. However that CPU will only support a maximum of 8GB DIMM per slot, so the only way to get 32GB RAM would be to have four RAM slots.
The same applies for the 15" 2012 cMBP (regrettable, as I'd love to have 32GB RAM in mine).
I've never seen anything to suggest an 8gb limit per slot.
In fact, at one point, a 3rd party company was offering 32gb upgrades for the first gen rMBP which has two virtual "slots".
Apple has a long history of claiming maximum RAM values lower than are possible. There are Mac Pro 1,1s out there running on 64gb of RAM, and I'd venture to guess that 4gb DIMMs hadn't even been thought of when the computer came out.
If I had $600 to blow, I'd toss some 16gb modules in my 2012 just to see. As it is now, I don't really have the need for my current 16gb.
Because some of us prefer to join modern times and not rely on a mouse and or trackpad.
Much like I don't have smudges on my iPhone, my surface isn't prone to smudges either. Perhaps on cheap computers yes but apple isn't a cheap computer. Might want to try a better argument.
My surface book and surface pro are amazing with touch screens and I can't imagine going to an OS that doesn't
Just speaking for myself, I like my computer to sit on a desk and have a more-or-less vertical screen. I've used Surfaces, and I find them quite tiring to try and use in this mode...and less face it when I want to actually get real work done(i.e. writing, number crunching, etc) I want the computer on my lap at a minimum and preferably on a desk or table and not hunched over it. Even though the Surface has a keyboard, I find it tiresome to use because there's too much weight at the top.
About the only touchscreen laptops that I've sort-of been able to get on board with are the Thinkpads and equivalent which are a true laptop that just happen to have a digitizer behind the screen and the ability to fold up into a(heavy) tablet-like configuration. I have a colleague who's had a couple and she swears by them, but at the same time uses them as a laptop(or really a desktop replacement) 90% of the time. The 10% of the time she uses it as a tablet, it really shines, but the nice thing is it really doesn't compromise its functionality as a laptop to use it in that mode.
I've had an iPad for a while but it just doesn't really "fit" in my world most of the time. I do find it a nice device for reading and light web browsing, but at the same time I often end up wishing that I was on my computer instead. On the other hand, my dad bought his "dream" laptop a few years ago(in his case it was a high end HP), and ended up selling it after about 6 months because when he realized that how little use it got vs. his iPad. He now has a desktop(incidentally a touchscreen HP all-in-one) that he uses maybe once a week.