My in person impressions, from someone who was on the "fence"

[vanimal]

My friend who works there texted me they had some in display. I headed over to check them out.

Firstly nobody was even remotely paying attention to them. I was literally the only one looking at them at the table lol. They had every color I believe 6 models I seen. Gold looked "ok" now that SG#. That's how I wish the iPhone 6 plus was. Black on black it was beautiful.

As for size it's small, REALLY small, but I'm coming from a MBPR 13" & MBA 13". The keyboard to me felt VERY shallow and different, obviously. Not sure if I like it yet. I'm 6'1 and the tables are very low. But you don't get anywhere near the space for wrist resting like you would get in the 13" MBA. You get about the space you would get on the 11" version. I also have big hands I can almost pick up the machine laying flat with one hand. Well almost But keep in mind I played with it for 10 mins. I'm sure I could adapt to the keyboard eventually.

Trackpad was the coolest part! It literally feels like you are clicking down, but..... You aren't. If you shut it down and try and press on it it doesn't click. Pretty neat.

Performance was seemed about on par with my Pro and Air browsing "websites". I did notice it "choke" here and there if I zipped up and down on the ESPN webpage. But nobody really scrolling like that I assume. Like you could see it stutter if I swipped up and down fast. Like you would see it render images etc is what I mean& text.

The screen obviously very beautiful like the PRO. But keep in mind if you are coming from a 13.3" it's a nice chunk of screen you will be missing. It's retina if you see or own one you already know what that's about

Beautiful machine insanely light, almost too light if you are a big guy lol. Honestly I'll be waiting for gen 2. It was impressive but at the same time with the keyboard and how shallow it was. I just walked out saying meh....... And I'm being honest. Now keep it mind I'm not a road warrior and don't sit at coffee shops. My computer goes from the kitchen to the bed to my desk. So a beautiful machine isn't nesesarrily needed for me. My MBA is nice enough, well for at least another year. I planned on getting the MBR but now I think I'm going to sit out for V2. Just my opinion. I'm sure others will be PLENTY happy with it especially people who travel or students. But for me strictly at home, I can easily squeeze another year until v2 comes out from my current machines.

Vincent

 

[Theophil1971]

Thanks for the impressions! Fun to hear from people who are checking them out. The professional reviews are always good, but I find it very helpful to hear from the actual users like me.

 

[vanimal]

I tried to be honest I didn't want anyone flaming me. Especially not from a Apple fanatic or buys anything Apple releases. Even though I do have a 6 plus, MBA, and a ipad lol.

I wrote that on my phone right after I left so excuse any spelling or grammar errors. Even though my grammar always sucks, I'm from NJ #.

 

[EnderTW]

My friend who works there texted me they had some in display. I headed over to check them out.

Firstly nobody was even remotely paying attention to them. I was literally the only one looking at them at the table lol. They had every color I believe 6 models I seen. Gold looked "ok" now that SG#. That's how I wish the iPhone 6 plus was. Black on black it was beautiful.

As for size it's small, REALLY small, but I'm coming from a MBPR 13" & MBA 13". The keyboard to me felt VERY shallow and different, obviously. Not sure if I like it yet. I'm 6'1 and the tables are very low. But you don't get anywhere near the space for wrist resting like you would get in the 13" MBA. You get about the space you would get on the 11" version. I also have big hands I can almost pick up the machine laying flat with one hand. Well almost But keep in mind I played with it for 10 mins. I'm sure I could adapt to the keyboard eventually.

Trackpad was the coolest part! It literally feels like you are clicking down, but..... You aren't. If you shut it down and try and press on it it doesn't click. Pretty neat.

Performance was seemed about on par with my Pro and Air browsing "websites". I did notice it "choke" here and there if I zipped up and down on the ESPN webpage. But nobody really scrolling like that I assume. Like you could see it stutter if I swipped up and down fast. Like you would see it render images etc is what I mean& text.

The screen obviously very beautiful like the PRO. But keep in mind if you are coming from a 13.3" it's a nice chunk of screen you will be missing. It's retina if you see or own one you already know what that's about

Beautiful machine insanely light, almost too light if you are a big guy lol. Honestly I'll be waiting for gen 2. It was impressive but at the same time with the keyboard and how shallow it was. I just walked out saying meh....... And I'm being honest. Now keep it mind I'm not a road warrior and don't sit at coffee shops. My computer goes from the kitchen to the bed to my desk. So a beautiful machine isn't nesesarrily needed for me. My MBA is nice enough, well for at least another year. I planned on getting the MBR but now I think I'm going to sit out for V2. Just my opinion. I'm sure others will be PLENTY happy with it especially people who travel or students. But for me strictly at home, I can easily squeeze another year until v2 comes out from my current machines.

Vincent

Ugh, the only thing I'm worried about is that scrolling issue. I would definitely notice that.

 

[bjet767]

I too went to the Apple store (Park Meadows Mall, near Denver, CO) and the tables around the watches were packed, but not the rMB examples. There were six rMB, two in each color, they were 1.1 processors and loaded with programs, including MS Office.

I tried the keyboard with various programs and really liked it and in fact it made my 2014 11" MBA seem a bit clunky. The keys were big and easy to depress with a fair tactile feel. Even though they did not move the same distance as the MBA there was no problem touch typing at all.

The form of the device makes it seem smaller than the 11" I think mainly because the screen is taller.

As the previous poster wrote about the touch pad is a huge improvement over the old touch pad and it is so much better than any Windows version I have used. What that says is this touch pad will be the standard for Apple well into the future.

The retina screen was brilliant, easy to read and the colors were vibrant. BTW No "jumpy" feeling when moving views around.

Speed issues? There was no noticeable speed issues with more than one program (Word, Safari, Mail, Pages all were open) running.

Yes there was only one port and when one looks at both sides Apple did not leave any room for another, but yes they could have and chose not to.

When I walked up there was a man trying to buy one and was not happy with ordering one on line. The Store people were nice, but really had no clue about why the ordering process went as it did. They also said if one wasn't in a hurry they could wait and see when the store got one instead of ordering.

My impressions?

It made my 11" 2014 seem out of date.

I ordered one when I got home; the 1.2 512 SSD, Space Grey.

 

[Theophil1971]

Ugh, the only thing I'm worried about is that scrolling issue. I would definitely notice that.

It didn't seem to be an issue for the pro reviewers, even on the base 1.1GHz models they had. Probably, like OP said, not something to worry about in real world use, and how we all tend to view and scroll webpages.

 

[vanimal]

It didn't seem to be an issue for the pro reviewers, even on the base 1.1GHz models they had. Probably, like OP said, not something to worry about in real world use, and how we all tend to view and scroll webpages.

Yup, keep in mind I'm on their Wifi and what 50 other people are too? So keep that in mind as far as the pages rendering. It was the base model I believe too.

----------

I too went to the Apple store (Park Meadows Mall, near Denver, CO) and the tables around the watches were packed, but not the rMB examples. There were six rMB, two in each color, they were 1.1 processors and loaded with programs, including MS Office.

I tried the keyboard with various programs and really liked it and in fact it made my 2014 11" MBA seem a bit clunky. The keys were big and easy to depress with a fair tactile feel. Even though they did not move the same distance as the MBA there was no problem touch typing at all.

The form of the device makes it seem smaller than the 11" I think mainly because the screen is taller.

As the previous poster wrote about the touch pad is a huge improvement over the old touch pad and it is so much better than any Windows version I have used. What that says is this touch pad will be the standard for Apple well into the future.

The retina screen was brilliant, easy to read and the colors were vibrant. BTW No "jumpy" feeling when moving views around.

Speed issues? There was no noticeable speed issues with more than one program (Word, Safari, Mail, Pages all were open) running.

Yes there was only one port and when one looks at both sides Apple did not leave any room for another, but yes they could have and chose not to.

When I walked up there was a man trying to buy one and was not happy with ordering one on line. The Store people were nice, but really had no clue about why the ordering process went as it did. They also said if one wasn't in a hurry they could wait and see when the store got one instead of ordering.

My impressions?

It made my 11" 2014 seem out of date.

I ordered one when I got home; the 1.2 512 SSD, Space Grey.

Ill agree with making my MBA feel out of date. However i just felt for "me" who uses mine just to browse the web etc at "home" i didn't 100% need one now. Now if i got it for free

 

[mikeydooodie]

My friend who works there texted me they had some in display. I headed over to check them out.

Firstly nobody was even remotely paying attention to them. I was literally the only one looking at them at the table lol. They had every color I believe 6 models I seen. Gold looked "ok" now that SG#. That's how I wish the iPhone 6 plus was. Black on black it was beautiful.

As for size it's small, REALLY small, but I'm coming from a MBPR 13" & MBA 13". The keyboard to me felt VERY shallow and different, obviously. Not sure if I like it yet. I'm 6'1 and the tables are very low. But you don't get anywhere near the space for wrist resting like you would get in the 13" MBA. You get about the space you would get on the 11" version. I also have big hands I can almost pick up the machine laying flat with one hand. Well almost But keep in mind I played with it for 10 mins. I'm sure I could adapt to the keyboard eventually.

Trackpad was the coolest part! It literally feels like you are clicking down, but..... You aren't. If you shut it down and try and press on it it doesn't click. Pretty neat.

Performance was seemed about on par with my Pro and Air browsing "websites". I did notice it "choke" here and there if I zipped up and down on the ESPN webpage. But nobody really scrolling like that I assume. Like you could see it stutter if I swipped up and down fast. Like you would see it render images etc is what I mean& text.

The screen obviously very beautiful like the PRO. But keep in mind if you are coming from a 13.3" it's a nice chunk of screen you will be missing. It's retina if you see or own one you already know what that's about

Beautiful machine insanely light, almost too light if you are a big guy lol. Honestly I'll be waiting for gen 2. It was impressive but at the same time with the keyboard and how shallow it was. I just walked out saying meh....... And I'm being honest. Now keep it mind I'm not a road warrior and don't sit at coffee shops. My computer goes from the kitchen to the bed to my desk. So a beautiful machine isn't nesesarrily needed for me. My MBA is nice enough, well for at least another year. I planned on getting the MBR but now I think I'm going to sit out for V2. Just my opinion. I'm sure others will be PLENTY happy with it especially people who travel or students. But for me strictly at home, I can easily squeeze another year until v2 comes out from my current machines.

Vincent

i have a non retina 13 inch MBP mid 2010 i use now as a daily driver loaded with tons of pictures and music and what not and i don't plan on leaving it, mostly my wife will probably use it. so my question is should i go for the MBr or should i just get a 13.3 MBa? I eventually want to get a 15 inch MBr for the house but right now the 13.3 is fine and i need something lighter and smaller for portability

 

[vanimal]

Ugh, the only thing I'm worried about is that scrolling issue. I would definitely notice that.

I wouldn't be too worried. I was on there wifi along with about 40 other people in the store on display models. So not sure what their speed provides. I was REALLY zipping it to the bottom too. Say like if you wanted to just go RIGHT to the comment section on a webpage. And then zipping back up, basically just stress testing it. I wouldn't be worried. It will prob browse just as good as my Air 2011 i7 1.8ghz and just as good as my 2014 MBPR

----------

i have a non retina 13 inch MBP mid 2010 i use now as a daily driver loaded with tons of pictures and music and what not and i don't plan on leaving it, mostly my wife will probably use it. so my question is should i go for the MBr or should i just get a 13.3 MBa? I eventually want to get a 15 inch MBr for the house but right now the 13.3 is fine and i need something lighter and smaller for portability

Tough to say, are you a picture or display junkie? Like you want the HIGHEST quality screen? I still like the MBA just for the fact you can get it in 13.3"s and the it fits my big paws on the keyboard and wrist rest better than what the 12" MBR can do. I would have to really curl up my fingers to type. I am more of a "fast" flat hand typer.

Also once calibrated the MBA screen at least too me isn't as bad as people make it out to be. Its just people get spoiled with the Retina. But if you haven't used one yet.....

BH Video has the late 2014 MBA right now for $799. Best buy will also price match that. Thats $500 cheaper than the MBR. Not as good as screen, but better performance. Also better battery.

Do you plug into a 1080p monitor time to time? It would turn the MBA into a 1080p via the eternal monitor. Thats what i do when i sit at my desk and play Xbox One. Works beautifully.

 

[pasadena]

Really interesting. Although I ordered one and can't wait for it, I totally get how you got to the conclusion you did. It clearly is a proof of concept more than anything else (and as such, it's totally amazing) and probably not the smartest financial move one can make. Especially when you already own a MBA and don't need the smaller everything of the MB.

But that screen, though

 

[vanimal]

Really interesting. Although I ordered one and can't wait for it, I totally get how you got to the conclusion you did. It clearly is a proof of concept more than anything else (and as such, it's totally amazing) and probably not the smartest financial move one can make. Especially when you already own a MBA and don't need the smaller everything of the MB.

But that screen, though

EXACTLY, hit the nail on the head! That is how i felt. I could sell my MBA for $550 easily but i would need about another $800 cash to get the MBR. I could easily squeeze another year until V2 out of my MBA. And than give it to my 11-12 year old for school work. Im really hoping V2 comes with possibly a 13" option. Im really used to the 13.3" display and often plug it into a 23" external. That extra 1.3" adds up more than you think.

But yes the display is beautiful

For a road warrior or student you could say its a no brainer. But if you putz around the house with your MBA, how much do you value that Retina at IN a sort of crazy thin MBA aspect.

 

[iRun26.2]

Yup, keep in mind I'm on their Wifi and what 50 other people are too? So keep that in mind as far as the pages rendering. It was the base model I believe too.

----------



Ill agree with making my MBA feel out of date. However i just felt for "me" who uses mine just to browse the web etc at "home" i didn't 100% need one now. Now if i got it for free

You have good will power. I definitely see a lot of people buying one just because they fall in love with it in the store.

 

[scottomfg]

I just reached the point where I couldn't not do retina anymore, so I had to get rid of my Air a year ago. I'll be glad to get rid of this rMBP and get the 12" retina and have all be good in the world again. (NOTE: I am a designer and might have more acute discomfort from non-retina displays than the average bear).

 

[mikeydooodie]

I wouldn't be too worried. I was on there wifi along with about 40 other people in the store on display models. So not sure what their speed provides. I was REALLY zipping it to the bottom too. Say like if you wanted to just go RIGHT to the comment section on a webpage. And then zipping back up, basically just stress testing it. I wouldn't be worried. It will prob browse just as good as my Air 2011 i7 1.8ghz and just as good as my 2014 MBPR

----------



Tough to say, are you a picture or display junkie? Like you want the HIGHEST quality screen? I still like the MBA just for the fact you can get it in 13.3"s and the it fits my big paws on the keyboard and wrist rest better than what the 12" MBR can do. I would have to really curl up my fingers to type. I am more of a "fast" flat hand typer.

Also once calibrated the MBA screen at least too me isn't as bad as people make it out to be. Its just people get spoiled with the Retina. But if you haven't used one yet.....

BH Video has the late 2014 MBA right now for $799. Best buy will also price match that. Thats $500 cheaper than the MBR. Not as good as screen, but better performance. Also better battery.

Do you plug into a 1080p monitor time to time? It would turn the MBA into a 1080p via the eternal monitor. Thats what i do when i sit at my desk and play Xbox One. Works beautifully.

i found a 13.3 2.2 ghz 8gb ram 128gb MBA from BH for 1240. is the 2.2 ghz needed???

 

[vanimal]

You have good will power. I definitely see a lot of people buying one just because they fall in love with it in the store.

Hahaha I'm getting better. I used to be the one who would just buy off impulse. I have to report to a higher authority in the house hold as well

Its beautiful don't get me wrong. Maybe if they had a 13.3" model that might have pushed me to the edge . Using the 12" screen "sort of" felt like going from a iPad Air to a iPad Mini sort of. You could deff notice the screen was smaller. And the edge to edge glass makes it "seem even smaller" without the bezel found on the MBA.

----------

I just reached the point where I couldn't not do retina anymore, so I had to get rid of my Air a year ago. I'll be glad to get rid of this rMBP and get the 12" retina and have all be good in the world again. (NOTE: I am a designer and might have more acute discomfort from non-retina displays than the average bear).

Just out of curiosity what are you selling your MBPR for? If its the base model. I have my 2011 maxed out MBA i was originally thinking of selling. Its the i7 1.8ghz with 4GB RAM and 256 SSD with only 110 battery cycles. Not sure what kind of price i would even ask. I know Apple products hold their value well.

----------

Its funny the two Apple employees i spoke with really didn't seem to care for the MBR. My friend was actually busy. The one guy said, "I really still love my 2010 MBP". Other guy just sort of shrugged his shoulders like he wasn't sure what to say lol. I found that interesting.

 

[iRun26.2]

Hahaha I'm getting better. I used to be the one who would just buy off impulse. I have to report to a higher authority in the house hold as well

Its beautiful don't get me wrong. Maybe if they had a 13.3" model that might have pushed me to the edge . Using the 12" screen "sort of" felt like going from a iPad Air to a iPad Mini sort of. You could deff notice the screen was smaller. And the edge to edge glass makes it "seem even smaller" without the bezel found on the MBA.

----------



Just out of curiosity what are you selling your MBPR for? If its the base model. I have my 2011 maxed out MBA i was originally thinking of selling. Its the i7 1.8ghz with 4GB RAM and 256 SSD with only 110 battery cycles. Not sure what kind of price i would even ask. I know Apple products hold their value well.

I'm coming from an 11" MBA so the screen can't help but look bigger to me.

 

[vanimal]

I'm coming from an 11" MBA so the screen can't help but look bigger to me.

You are good to go! You will enjoy it. Its sort of... different so to speak being used to the 13.3". The screen quality is better, but noticeable smaller. I like to rest my wrists on my current 13" MBA, if you have the 11" you will be used to the layout of the 2015 MBR. There is a lot of extra surface space around the trackpad on the 13"
MBPR and the MBA's

But if you are coming from the 11" MBA your muscle memory in your hands and wrists will be at home.

All i want is..... A retina in the current shell of the MBA, but that looks like it will never happen.

 

[SusanK]

You have good will power. I definitely see a lot of people buying one just because they fall in love with it in the store.

Macs are like puppies. You go in and the one that walks up to you and licks your face comes home. You just can't help it.

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All i want is..... A retina in the current shell of the MBA, but that looks like it will never happen.

Sounds good!

 

[vanimal]

Macs are like puppies. You go in and the one that walks up to you and licks your face comes home. You just can't help it.

----------




Sounds good!

Yes that is true, good thing they weren't selling any today to the public. Or else that would have possibly thrown a hammer into the mix. I think i gave the meh.... knowing they weren't selling any today

 

[Mcdevidr]

I really want one. But i only paid 743 for a broadwell mac air 11.6 and I'm messing around with a 2014 i picked up for 667 at micro center. I actually have a makeshift macAIR retina right now. Im using the iPad air infront of the macbook screen with duet. I think ill either wait for a Refurb or buy version 2 when I have paid credit debt down more and just wait for and use my broadwell macbook air.

 

[Cvx5832]

I too went to the Apple store (Park Meadows Mall, near Denver, CO) and the tables around the watches were packed, but not the rMB examples. There were six rMB, two in each color, they were 1.1 processors and loaded with programs, including MS Office.

I tried the keyboard with various programs and really liked it and in fact it made my 2014 11" MBA seem a bit clunky. The keys were big and easy to depress with a fair tactile feel. Even though they did not move the same distance as the MBA there was no problem touch typing at all.

The form of the device makes it seem smaller than the 11" I think mainly because the screen is taller.

As the previous poster wrote about the touch pad is a huge improvement over the old touch pad and it is so much better than any Windows version I have used. What that says is this touch pad will be the standard for Apple well into the future.

The retina screen was brilliant, easy to read and the colors were vibrant. BTW No "jumpy" feeling when moving views around.

Speed issues? There was no noticeable speed issues with more than one program (Word, Safari, Mail, Pages all were open) running.

Yes there was only one port and when one looks at both sides Apple did not leave any room for another, but yes they could have and chose not to.

When I walked up there was a man trying to buy one and was not happy with ordering one on line. The Store people were nice, but really had no clue about why the ordering process went as it did. They also said if one wasn't in a hurry they could wait and see when the store got one instead of ordering.

My impressions?

It made my 11" 2014 seem out of date.

I ordered one when I got home; the 1.2 512 SSD, Space Grey.

Thanks for that review. I learn more from impressions like this vs a review from the big websites that sound like ads to be honest.

Anyhow, what was your impression of the Space Gray? I know it's subjective and I know it's what you preferred, but how more beautiful was it to you? My impression is that it's a toss-up. You'll end up with a nice one regardless.

 

[vanimal]

The Space Gray to me was HANDS DOWN the best color, to me at least. Its a far darker gray compared to my iPhone 6 plus. Its almost like a gun metal. And at least to me looked the "most premium". The gold was nice but i thought the Space Gray had much better flow with the black on black look. Very, very nice.

I would say...

1.Space Gray
2. Gold
3. Silver "Just because its the same old same old

Im Italian so i like Gold lol, but still the Space Gray was on the money!

 

[Mrbobb]

Well at least there are saner folks on this thread than the one that goes, Who's buying one without seeing it?

 

[vanimal]

Well at least there are saner folks on this thread than the one that goes, Who's buying one without seeing it?

That was my concern, seems like they will have them to get in store come the 22nd my friend who works there said. I am in the USA for reference. There was literally nobody except me over at the 2015 Macbook table, and thats the entire time i was there. Hell there was more people looking at the iPads lol.

Perhaps a niche product to some, perhaps not. Depends on your needs and desires. Like i mentioned the current MBA 13.3" shell, even specs with a Retina would be exactly what i want. With the thunderbolt, USB adapters etc. But than again that would possibly drive the price up?

If you are a student and looking for a portable Macbook for school. You can get the late 2014 MBA for $799 via Micro center. That $500 plus the $79 adapter can stretch a LONG way for a college student.

 

[mi7chy]

I did notice it "choke" here and there if I zipped up and down on the ESPN webpage.

Apple went overboard with the resolution and made it too taxing on Core M. Should've kept it at 1920x1200 which is the same aspect ratio and better fit for 12" and offered it for $999.