My theory on why Apple released the Macbook

[Queen6]

May i ask what you do on your rMB daily and what you use it for. What are the most performance based tasks and applications you use. I am still upset I exchanged mine because I felt that in a year from now it won't be as snappy as it was then it would defeat the purpose of it in the first place but coming from someone that has had it for a couple of months now I would love to hear what you do with it and how it has performed. Maybe I will go back and grab it again lol (hate to be that guy but hey its a one time purchase for many years to come)

Thank you!!

Funny thing is a year from now the Retina MacBook will probably be running faster thanks to the improvements to the OS 10.11 is bringing. I use mine in an engineering/business role and have no issue with the rMB under 10.10.5, equally I know it`s limits, same as any other portable I own.

Even under 10.10 the OS has improved the responsiveness of all the Retina`s, if you want a rMB you should just buy one, Mac`s in general age well. There are numerous users running Yosemite on older hardware with no complaint, the first generation rMB is highly likely to remain fluid for the next 4 years at a minimum.

Q-6

 

[Queen6]

I can guarantee you that if you wait for the new Retina Macbook it will be a better performer and will last longer. The current one performs along the lines of a 2011 Macbook Air, so its life compared to other Apple Laptops will be shorter, but the new one should probably be much better.

Not really, I have a 2011 Air and the MacBook is definitely a far faster machine over the course of real world use. I do agree the rMBP will always be a stronger performer, should you need the additional resources, some don't...

Q-6

 

[zhenya]

Not really, I have a 2011 Air and the MacBook is definitely a far faster machine over the course of real world use. I do agree the rMBP will always be a stronger performer, should you need the additional resources, some don't...

Q-6

I agree. We have a 2011 Air as well in the house, and while yes, some of the animations are smoother on the Air due to Yosemite being optimized (the extent that it IS optimized) for the kind of hardware that device was built with, overall the new Macbook feels far faster. And with El Capitan now becoming optimized for the hardware the Macbook has, I have no doubt that these devices will live long, useful lives as well.

 

[Newtons Apple]

No doubt we are all allowed to decide what model of notebook we want to own. It's terrific that Apple gives us such choice.

I, however, take exception to Air owners hiding behind this veil of "performance compromises" when the Air was never deigned for performance. It was designed for form factor. And now it's obsolete. If that's a bitter pill to swallow, sorry, but the Air hung its hat on its design and it now is a white elephant. Not as powerful as a Pro and not as stealthy as a Retina. It's the unloved middle child. Instead of spending time putting down the RMB, spend some time on Craigslist and put the Air out to pasture with the iPod Classic's and use that cash towards a Retina. It's inevitable. No need to wait and suffer.

BJ

not going to argue my point amount the faithful here. Can not blame you for protecting your purchase. It seems that is what this forum mostly does. I might even buy the MB one day but will wait till the fanless design is a bit more mature. New processors are on the way soon that could turn fanless laptop into a even greater machine.

 

[Ulenspiegel]

There are millions of people who didn't buy a MacBook because the Air is so old and tired. I'm one of them. I've owned every Apple product since the first iPod, through all the iPhones, multiple Apple TV's, just about everything except their notebooks because their notebooks have been bad where it matters most- the form factor. The RMB finally rights that wrong, brings a new product that compliments the rest of their world-class line.

The MBA needs a lot of defending. It was built in 2008. What was sleek and light back then is positively big and clunky now. I can see why you have to put down the RMB though; it's not easy driving an 8 year old car when there are shiny new ones out there that are better in every way.

BJ

Outdated policy of "the best defence is a good offence". It won't work. Let's get back to the main topic, boltjames. Look again at the title of the thread. If you are done, please proceed with reading. Be surprised by your own words.

...The RMB is made for a wealthy traveling business executive.
I can deal with those who criticize the RMB, but not criticism based on performance since it's clear from the outset that that's the compromise. It's not intended to be anyone's primary notebook. It's a situational player.
It's a pricey relief pitcher for a wealthy businessman...

What it doesn't do fine and where you may need to compromise I find is in the area of connectivity. The tradeoff for the earth-shattering slim/light design is the need for dongles...

When I'm in a meeting and need to connect to a projector and ethernet and a power source I've got Apple's big dongle and a bunch of sub-dongles to make that happen. As elegant and simplistic as the MacBook is on my lap it's inelegant and complicated when connected to a bunch of stuff on a desk.

...The MacBook isn't a computer; it's a travel accessory.

Your "shiny new car" is not better "in any way" per your own posts. See above.
Last but not least:

I am incredibly wealthy and want everyone to know that through luck and marrying a high-earner they too can have the most expensive version of every Apple product made.
BJ
Posted from my McMansion

You are not the only one, even here, in MR.
"True merit, like a river, the deeper it is, the less noise it makes." (Edward Frederick Halifax).

 

[Queen6]

I agree. We have a 2011 Air as well in the house, and while yes, some of the animations are smoother on the Air due to Yosemite being optimized (the extent that it IS optimized) for the kind of hardware that device was built with, overall the new Macbook feels far faster. And with El Capitan now becoming optimized for the hardware the Macbook has, I have no doubt that these devices will live long, useful lives as well.

I see the comparison with the 2011 Air thrown about a lot, equally from my own observations, this is not the case. The Retina MacBook is demonstrably faster than our 2011 Air, I would place the performance if compared an Air as 2013/2014. As my Retina MacBook is one of my primary computers I have not yet installed 10.11, equally once the OS is released and I am confident that I will not incur issue I will move all my work related Mac`s to 10.11 as the benefits are obvious.

Q-6

 

[Elise]

Even if one is incredibly wealthy it's not terribly classy to announce it from the rooftops. People with true wealth (and class) don't need to do that.

 

[oldmacs]

Not really, I have a 2011 Air and the MacBook is definitely a far faster machine over the course of real world use. I do agree the rMBP will always be a stronger performer, should you need the additional resources, some don't...

Q-6

In terms of disk speed the 2011 Air is probably a bit slower, but for processing and everything else, the 2011 Macbook Air will benchmark higher.

 

[Queen6]

In terms of disk speed the 2011 Air is probably a bit slower, but for processing and everything else, the 2011 Macbook Air will benchmark higher.

Agreed, however this is not always how things play out in real life usage. The new 12" Retina MacBook is significantly faster, I own both and can see directly. Personally I can only go against what I observe, I learnt a long time back that purely computational benchmarks are an indicator at best not a definitive marker of a systems performance, nor will they ever be.

Frankly for basic use scenarios you will see little real world difference between the 12" Retina MacBook and a high end 15" MacBook Pro. The far more powerful systems can and obviously do perform tasks far faster. The bigger question; "is the average Retina MacBook user attempting to do such "heavy lifting" tasks" and if they do on a frequent basis, they would clearly be far better served by a rMBP.

Liking or disliking the Retina MacBook is a personal decision it will either fit your needs, or it won't, equally those that do own the rMB are not all necessarily myopic Apple follower, for some as they say "it just works"

Q-6

 

[boltjames]

"The current one performs along the lines of a 2011 Macbook Air...."

Stop with the misleading horsepower nonsense already.

I have 3 2014/2015 MacBook Air's in the house and 1 2015 MacBook Retina in the house. All plugged into the wall, all on the same wi-fi network. When I launch Powerpoint, the Retina opens a touch faster than the Air's. When I launch Outlook for email, they all load the messages at the same time. When I click on YouTube and launch a video they all stream it at the same time. Skype, Slingbox, Excel, same, same, same.

This stuff about specs has simply got to stop, it has no relevance in the real world. No one buys an ultra-portable to stress it to its limits, no different than BMW vs. Mercedes 0-60 times, a) as if anyone can go from a dead stop to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds on residential roads and b) as if anyone could feel the difference between 4.3 seconds and 4.2 seconds anyway. A lot of talk, a lot of chest-pumping about nothing.

BJ

 

[boltjames]

Even if one is incredibly wealthy it's not terribly classy to announce it from the rooftops. People with true wealth (and class) don't need to do that.

Just the shy ones.

BJ

 

[boltjames]

Agreed, however this is not always how things play out in real life usage. The new 12" Retina MacBook is significantly faster, I own both and can see directly. Personally I can only go against what I observe, I learnt a long time back that purely computational benchmarks are an indicator at best not a definitive marker of a systems performance, nor will they ever be.

Frankly for basic use scenarios you will see little real world difference between the 12" Retina MacBook and a high end 15" MacBook Pro. The far more powerful systems can and obviously do perform tasks far faster. The bigger question; "is the average Retina MacBook user attempting to do such "heavy lifting" tasks" and if they do on a frequent basis, they would clearly be far better served by a rMBP.

Liking or disliking the Retina MacBook is a personal decision it will either fit your needs, or it won't, equally those that do own the rMB are not all necessarily myopic Apple follower, for some as they say "it just works"

Q-6

+1

No one buys an Air or a Retina to push to the limits or run the types of tasks that a 'heavy lifting' notebook needs to be capable of. That's Question #1 in the buying process, "do I need something that can process huge amounts of data or do I need something lighter and more portable?" That's the moment that the conversation of the Air vs. Retina is rendered moot. People bought their Air's to prioritize portability, not processing speed.

From there, Question #2 is "what's the best ultra-light notebook Apple offers with the portability and real-world usage features that matter most?" And that's where weight and height and depth and screen clarity and keyboard design and quietness and fanlessness and superior battery life all come into play. And that's where the Macbook puts the Air out to pasture.

BJ

 

[thadoggfather]

My theory is they released it to make money.

And set the stage for future features potentially in other products, like trimmed bezels, changed keyboard mechanism with more precise backlighting (even if the pro's have more key travel, it'll still be butterfly instead of scissor mechanism), Force Touch which has finally made its way into the 15" rMBP recently after rMB and 13" rMBP.

Also, amazing speakers and screen quality. I think screen sticklers rated it a notch above rMBP quality.

 

[wchigo]

Agreed, however this is not always how things play out in real life usage. The new 12" Retina MacBook is significantly faster, I own both and can see directly. Personally I can only go against what I observe, I learnt a long time back that purely computational benchmarks are an indicator at best not a definitive marker of a systems performance, nor will they ever be.

Frankly for basic use scenarios you will see little real world difference between the 12" Retina MacBook and a high end 15" MacBook Pro. The far more powerful systems can and obviously do perform tasks far faster. The bigger question; "is the average Retina MacBook user attempting to do such "heavy lifting" tasks" and if they do on a frequent basis, they would clearly be far better served by a rMBP.

Liking or disliking the Retina MacBook is a personal decision it will either fit your needs, or it won't, equally those that do own the rMB are not all necessarily myopic Apple follower, for some as they say "it just works"

Q-6

Agreed. Honestly, the only difference in speed I notice from my late 2013 13" rMBP and my base rMB is upon first booting up the computer. The rMBP basically boots up to the enter password screen immediately, whereas there is a loading bar and about a 5 second or so wait? (I never timed it so can't say for sure, feels like it could be less.) Otherwise, for my day to day usage, it feels just as snappy, but then again I really only used it for the most basic of tasks and never really stressed it to its limits.

 

[oldmacs]

Stop with the misleading horsepower nonsense already.

I have 3 2014/2015 MacBook Air's in the house and 1 2015 MacBook Retina in the house. All plugged into the wall, all on the same wi-fi network. When I launch Powerpoint, the Retina opens a touch faster than the Air's. When I launch Outlook for email, they all load the messages at the same time. When I click on YouTube and launch a video they all stream it at the same time. Skype, Slingbox, Excel, same, same, same.

This stuff about specs has simply got to stop, it has no relevance in the real world. No one buys an ultra-portable to stress it to its limits, no different than BMW vs. Mercedes 0-60 times, a) as if anyone can go from a dead stop to 60 mph in 4.3 seconds on residential roads and b) as if anyone could feel the difference between 4.3 seconds and 4.2 seconds anyway. A lot of talk, a lot of chest-pumping about nothing.

BJ

The results of everything if it were running clean installs would probably be different. Not to mention the difference will become clearer and clearer as the years tick past.

Specs do have relevance in the real world. Look at the difference between iOS devices built with just enough power for the time they were released, and iOS devices released with far more power than they needed. For example, the iPad 1 which was fine for its time, Vs the iPad 2 which was over specced for its time. The result? the iPad 1 got OS support for 2 years. The iPad 2? Tech support for 5.5 years and possibly more.

The Airs will render movies faster, and they will do photo editing better, both things that many intermediate or basic users will do.

I also know plenty of people who buy and air and play the occasional game on them, and the Air will do that better.

Specs don't directly relate to the real world, but they do influence performance, and it is as simple as that.

But that comes back to the point I make. The Air's primary market is general use computing (which will often include a couple of games, some home movie editing, photo editing etc), so in that sense performance does matter. That is why the Retina Macbook is for a different market, more the market the 2008 Macbook Air was for - the ultra ultra portable market.

The performance benefit does then of course matter, as we're talking different target demographics. One where portability regimes supreme, one were things like battery life, longevity, ports etc are more important.

 

[tbirdparis]

The results of everything if it were running clean installs would probably be different. Not to mention the difference will become clearer and clearer as the years tick past.

Specs do have relevance in the real world. Look at the difference between iOS devices built with just enough power for the time they were released, and iOS devices released with far more power than they needed. For example, the iPad 1 which was fine for its time, Vs the iPad 2 which was over specced for its time. The result? the iPad 1 got OS support for 2 years. The iPad 2? Tech support for 5.5 years and possibly more.

The Airs will render movies faster, and they will do photo editing better, both things that many intermediate or basic users will do.

I also know plenty of people who buy and air and play the occasional game on them, and the Air will do that better.

Specs don't directly relate to the real world, but they do influence performance, and it is as simple as that.

But that comes back to the point I make. The Air's primary market is general use computing (which will often include a couple of games, some home movie editing, photo editing etc), so in that sense performance does matter. That is why the Retina Macbook is for a different market, more the market the 2008 Macbook Air was for - the ultra ultra portable market.

The performance benefit does then of course matter, as we're talking different target demographics. One where portability regimes supreme, one were things like battery life, longevity, ports etc are more important.

Sure, I think this is all a strong argument as to why they didn't disappear the Air right away. There's a sweet spot a little beyond what core M is capable (at the moment), which is for now covered for people who got used to the Air. I'm sure Apple are banking on the fanless CPU choices to get up into that sweet spot fairly soon, at which point the Air won't really have a raison d'être anymore. Pretty sure they've learned from previous mistakes that outright cancelling product lines prematurely has always been a bad idea, whereas transitioning to a new lineup with gradual phasing out during which some product lines overlap is a far smarter way to go.

 

[boltjames]

The Airs will render movies faster, and they will do photo editing better, both things that many intermediate or basic users will do.

Great video shot in the real world.

For certain things like Movies and Photos the Air is "faster". By about a second. What will you do with all that time? Take half an exhale? Snap two-thirds of your finger? It's not like you can tell a bedtime story to your daughter in the amount of "time" the Air saves you. Better to not drag around the extra weight, better to not squint at the blurry screen, better to treat your fingers to a more responsive keyboard, better for your ears to not hear the noisy fan. And don't get me started on that bezel eyesore.

Again, this is just like car enthusiasts arguing over 0-60 times of tenths of a second when they never drag race their $60,000 German luxury cars. It means nothing. Exporting a video file takes a whole second longer on a Retina than an Air? Wow. Tragedy. We're wasting more time in this discussion than my Retina could waste in its lifetime managing the same video files as yours.

BJ

 

[Dennison]

May i ask what you do on your rMB daily and what you use it for. What are the most performance based tasks and applications you use. I am still upset I exchanged mine because I felt that in a year from now it won't be as snappy as it was then it would defeat the purpose of it in the first place but coming from someone that has had it for a couple of months now I would love to hear what you do with it and how it has performed. Maybe I will go back and grab it again lol (hate to be that guy but hey its a one time purchase for many years to come)

Thank you!!

Haha, not to worry at all. I'm happy to help too. When I purchased one, I did consider that 15 day return or exchange period just in case. Apple wants to make sure that you're absolutely satisfied with their products. If you're not, there's no reason you should keep it, and you should get your money back.

I actually wrote a long and comprehensive post about the new MacBook just last night. I was answering a fellow college student's question, "Which should I choose, MacBook Air or Pro?" I talked about why I considered both at some point in time, talked about my story with the new MacBook, how I stress tested several models before purchase, and finally why it's the greatest computer I've ever used. Here's the link for you to read:

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-college-student.1909730/page-2#post-21759845

Posted from my new MacBook



Edit: In fact, everyone discussing the new MacBook in here should go give my post a read.

 

[jmikhail490]

Haha, not to worry at all. I'm happy to help too. When I purchased one, I did consider that 15 day return or exchange period just in case. Apple wants to make sure that you're absolutely satisfied with their products. If you're not, there's no reason you should keep it, and you should get your money back.

I actually wrote a long and comprehensive post about the new MacBook just last night. I was answering a fellow college student's question, "Which should I choose, MacBook Air or Pro?" I talked about why I considered both at some point in time, talked about my story with the new MacBook, how I stress tested several models before purchase, and finally why it's the greatest computer I've ever used. Here's the link for you to read:

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-college-student.1909730/page-2#post-21759845

Posted from my new MacBook



Edit: In fact, everyone discussing the new MacBook in here should go give my post a read.

Reading now....Thank you very much!

too much commotion and emotion spilling out in this thread now. I just want to know which computer is best for my needs. lol

thanks again!

 

[Dennison]

Reading now....Thank you very much!

too much commotion and emotion spilling out in this thread now. I just want to know which computer is best for my needs. lol

thanks again!

It's too bad, I've just been skimming over it. Figured I'd drop in my two cents and see if anyone had questions. If you have any more for me, even specifics, don't hesitate to ask.

I'd go far enough to say that the new MacBook is one of Apple's most compelling products of the year, if not the most compelling.

Give my post a glance: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads...-college-student.1909730/page-2#post-21759845

 

[tbirdparis]

It's too bad, I've just been skimming over it. Figured I'd drop in my two cents and see if anyone had questions. If you have any more for me, even specifics, don't hesitate to ask.

I'd go far enough to say that the new MacBook is one of Apple's most compelling products of the year, if not the most compelling.

Give my post a glance: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads...-college-student.1909730/page-2#post-21759845

Certainly more compelling to me than their other "big" launch of the year that goes around your wrist...
Definitely the rMB is the first computer in quite a few years that got me excited about owning one. Also probably worth mentioning is that literally everyone who gets their hands on mine, you see them get this "want' look on their face as they start holding it up and doing that thing people do when they decide if they're going to buy something or not. For anyone who has a use for a regular day-to-day personal life computer, it's a pretty tempting device.

 

[jmikhail490]

It's too bad, I've just been skimming over it. Figured I'd drop in my two cents and see if anyone had questions. If you have any more for me, even specifics, don't hesitate to ask.

I'd go far enough to say that the new MacBook is one of Apple's most compelling products of the year, if not the most compelling.

Give my post a glance: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads...-college-student.1909730/page-2#post-21759845

Just read the review and it seems very compelling I just don't know if I can really believe that this core m processor will last me a couple of years at best with my use case.

This is going to be my only machine and I own a retail business that sells vape supplies and electronic cigarettes and I use my laptop at my other business in a cosmetic lab for excel and formulas and research on formulations.

For the retail shop I use Quickbooks, Shopify, Pages, Word, Excel, 20-25 tabs on safari, mail, reminders, notes, iTunes, Calendar, Sometime iPhoto..... And I use these pretty much all at the same time. So since Ive purchased this 15' 2015 rMBP it has been an amazing computer and has been LIGHTENING FAST and I can not get over how productive and amazing this computer is for what Im doing. Although I know I definitely do not need all of the raw power this 15' rMBP offers because I don't do anything like editing huge files or movies or whatever, but I love the screen real estate and how much I can do on it and I know with el Capitan and being able to use split screen the 15' will be amazing for that. Since I have had it I have absolutely been more productive and I also picked up using xCode and Im doing the Udemy developing course and I love it and I can maybe see that Xcode will slow down with the rMB with how it performs on this rMBP. I can't say that ill use Xcode all the time or even once a week but its becoming a little hobby and I'm doing just light small things and learning for now but I do not know what the future holds.

With all of those things I just listed and with the fact that I use this machine for my 2 businesses and I NEED it to be reliable what would you recommend.

The only problem I am having now, and hence the reason I am asking about the rMB is because the 15" is a littleeeeeeeeeeeeee too heavy although I have not been bothered or annoyed with it at all taking it to both places of business almost every day I can see that a lighter smaller more portable machine would definitely help but I would not sacrifice reliability and speed for that. So if you can say that it would perform the same and be RELIABLE enough for a couple of years to be my main business machine then maybe ill consider it but as for now I don't know if I can justify that and tell myself that it will do all of those thing reliably and hold all of my business data reliably and still be snappy in even a year from now.

(Sorry I may be hijacking a little or asking things of topic but if you don't mind I would greatly appreciate the help, I am such a dilemma with this decisions its ridiculous lol, I love the 15" but I want more portable, But not at the risk of reliability with my use case)

THANKS!!!

 

[tbirdparis]

Just read the review and it seems very compelling I just don't know if I can really believe that this core m processor will last me a couple of years at best with my use case.

This is going to be my only machine and I own a retail business that sells vape supplies and electronic cigarettes and I use my laptop at my other business in a cosmetic lab for excel and formulas and research on formulations.

For the retail shop I use Quickbooks, Shopify, Pages, Word, Excel, 20-25 tabs on safari, mail, reminders, notes, iTunes, Calendar, Sometime iPhoto..... And I use these pretty much all at the same time. So since Ive purchased this 15' 2015 rMBP it has been an amazing computer and has been LIGHTENING FAST and I can not get over how productive and amazing this computer is for what Im doing. Although I know I definitely do not need all of the raw power this 15' rMBP offers because I don't do anything like editing huge files or movies or whatever, but I love the screen real estate and how much I can do on it and I know with el Capitan and being able to use split screen the 15' will be amazing for that. Since I have had it I have absolutely been more productive and I also picked up using xCode and Im doing the Udemy developing course and I love it and I can maybe see that Xcode will slow down with the rMB with how it performs on this rMBP. I can't say that ill use Xcode all the time or even once a week but its becoming a little hobby and I'm doing just light small things and learning for now but I do not know what the future holds.

With all of those things I just listed and with the fact that I use this machine for my 2 businesses and I NEED it to be reliable what would you recommend.

The only problem I am having now, and hence the reason I am asking about the rMB is because the 15" is a littleeeeeeeeeeeeee too heavy although I have not been bothered or annoyed with it at all taking it to both places of business almost every day I can see that a lighter smaller more portable machine would definitely help but I would not sacrifice reliability and speed for that. So if you can say that it would perform the same and be RELIABLE enough for a couple of years to be my main business machine then maybe ill consider it but as for now I don't know if I can justify that and tell myself that it will do all of those thing reliably and hold all of my business data reliably and still be snappy in even a year from now.

(Sorry I may be hijacking a little or asking things of topic but if you don't mind I would greatly appreciate the help, I am such a dilemma with this decisions its ridiculous lol, I love the 15" but I want more portable, But not at the risk of reliability with my use case)

THANKS!!!

It is a bit of a thread jack.. but just to quickly give you my 5 cents worth: if you are using a 15" 2015 Pro for your work critical apps and you love the speed of it _and_ the display real estate.. well there's really not much of a reason for you to look elsewhere. Nothing else will give you that whole package. If it's really just that it's a bit too heavy and big, you could think about switching to a 13" Pro, but they aren't quad cores so you might notice it not being as fast. And then you'll also lose the screen real estate that you said you liked too. In any case, you have a machine that does what you need it to and you seem to love it, so why mess with that?

 

[jmikhail490]

It is a bit of a thread jack.. but just to quickly give you my 5 cents worth: if you are using a 15" 2015 Pro for your work critical apps and you love the speed of it _and_ the display real estate.. well there's really not much of a reason for you to look elsewhere. Nothing else will give you that whole package. If it's really just that it's a bit too heavy and big, you could think about switching to a 13" Pro, but they aren't quad cores so you might notice it not being as fast. And then you'll also lose the screen real estate that you said you liked to. In any case, you have a machine that does what you need it to and you seem to love it, so why mess with that?

Thanks, I appreciate the response. Ill leave it at that and get back to the thread. I appreciate the help though!

 

[ixxx69]

Just read the review and it seems very compelling I just don't know if I can really believe that this core m processor will last me a couple of years at best with my use case.

This is going to be my only machine and I own a retail business that sells vape supplies and electronic cigarettes and I use my laptop at my other business in a cosmetic lab for excel and formulas and research on formulations.

For the retail shop I use Quickbooks, Shopify, Pages, Word, Excel, 20-25 tabs on safari, mail, reminders, notes, iTunes, Calendar, Sometime iPhoto..... And I use these pretty much all at the same time. So since Ive purchased this 15' 2015 rMBP it has been an amazing computer and has been LIGHTENING FAST and I can not get over how productive and amazing this computer is for what Im doing. Although I know I definitely do not need all of the raw power this 15' rMBP offers because I don't do anything like editing huge files or movies or whatever, but I love the screen real estate and how much I can do on it and I know with el Capitan and being able to use split screen the 15' will be amazing for that. Since I have had it I have absolutely been more productive and I also picked up using xCode and Im doing the Udemy developing course and I love it and I can maybe see that Xcode will slow down with the rMB with how it performs on this rMBP. I can't say that ill use Xcode all the time or even once a week but its becoming a little hobby and I'm doing just light small things and learning for now but I do not know what the future holds.

With all of those things I just listed and with the fact that I use this machine for my 2 businesses and I NEED it to be reliable what would you recommend.

The only problem I am having now, and hence the reason I am asking about the rMB is because the 15" is a littleeeeeeeeeeeeee too heavy although I have not been bothered or annoyed with it at all taking it to both places of business almost every day I can see that a lighter smaller more portable machine would definitely help but I would not sacrifice reliability and speed for that. So if you can say that it would perform the same and be RELIABLE enough for a couple of years to be my main business machine then maybe ill consider it but as for now I don't know if I can justify that and tell myself that it will do all of those thing reliably and hold all of my business data reliably and still be snappy in even a year from now.

(Sorry I may be hijacking a little or asking things of topic but if you don't mind I would greatly appreciate the help, I am such a dilemma with this decisions its ridiculous lol, I love the 15" but I want more portable, But not at the risk of reliability with my use case)

THANKS!!!

You've kind of posted your questions in two separate threads now, which isn't considered great forum etiquette - maybe you should have started your own thread, as both of these threads are more about debating the merits of the new MB than addressing individual needs.

Anyway, I wouldn't recommend the MB for you at this point, mostly since you seem to really be getting into Xcode, and you've expressed concern about performance a few years from now. While it would be capable, I think you might notice it's not quite as robust as what you have now. However, if you would appreciate a little less size than the 15" MBP and a little more performance than the 12" MB, have you considered the 13" MBP? Or, just wait until the next MB revision.