Need your opinion Air vs future 13"/15" rMBP

[jjahshik32]

Hey guys, I haven't been on these forums for years but have been a casual observer. Anyway, I have a early 2011 15" macbook pro that I use quite often with my 27" Thunderbolt Cinema Display.

Recently, I have been wanting to use my laptop as a laptop and go mobile but I only get a couple to few hours of battery life (since the GPU always stays on dedicated GPU instead of the Intel HD 3000). Not to mention how heavy the 15" is to carry.

The macbook air has caught my eye especially with the 12+ hour battery life. Now I'm thinking of just picking up the lowest end air and just keep my 15" docked onto the Cinema Display. I went to go look at the air in person but the Retina display caught my eye from the 13" and the 15" and I was amazed.

Are there any rumors of the 13" and 15" macbook pro retina getting upgrades to Haswell any time soon? Also, to the people who own the current retina display macbook pro, is it that much lighter than the previous generation? Anyone here jumped on the new air and love it? I didn't know where to post this in the air forum or macbook pro but since I am interested in the retina I am posting here. Any feedback would be much appreciated and thanks!

 

[Stetrain]

Hey guys, I haven't been on these forums for years but have been a casual observer. Anyway, I have a early 2011 15" macbook pro that I use quite often with my 27" Thunderbolt Cinema Display.

Recently, I have been wanting to use my laptop as a laptop and go mobile but I only get a couple to few hours of battery life (since the GPU always stays on dedicated GPU instead of the Intel HD 3000). Not to mention how heavy the 15" is to carry.

Can't you use an app like gfxcardstatus to force it to use the integrated graphics?

Are there any rumors of the 13" and 15" macbook pro retina getting upgrades to Haswell any time soon? Also, to the people who own the current retina display macbook pro, is it that much lighter than the previous generation? Anyone here jumped on the new air and love it? I didn't know where to post this in the air forum or macbook pro but since I am interested in the retina I am posting here. Any feedback would be much appreciated and thanks!

A Haswell update to the retina MBPs is expected, but nobody knows exactly when it will happen. A few weeks ago a benchmark showed up online from a supposed updated 13" rMBP. The update could happen next week or it could be a few months, we don't know.

The update would probably have the biggest effect on the 13" retina, as it will most likely use the new 28W Intel CPUs (instead of the current 35W) which also have the Intel Iris HD5100 graphics. That should result in a bit better battery life as well as the increased GPU power.

As far as weight, the retina models are definitely quite a bit lighter. If you look at Apple's tech specs pages, the 15" retina is lighter than the 13" non-retina.

If you want to buy one before the update, keep an eye on Apple's refurbished site and on resellers like MacMall, you can sometimes get a great deal there on a 2012 model. Right now you can get a refurbished 15" retina base model for $1599:

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/macbook_pro

http://www.macmall.com/n/Macbook-Pro-Retina-Display/macNavLinks-753

 

[thundersteele]

Since you have a rather new machine currently, I would just wait to see what the upgraded retina MBPs bring to the table. We don't know yet when a refresh will happen (otherwise it would be allover this website), but it is almost certain that it will happen in 2013. October/November seems to be the latest reasonable date, of course earlier would be better.

Btw, my wife moved from a white 13'' MB to a 13'' Air, and loves the increased portability. I'm carrying around my 15'' 2011 MBP every day, but I also wouldn't mind a lighter machine. Battery is fine. Use gfxcardstatus, it is really helpful when you want to safe power. Also reduces heat btw.

 

[jjahshik32]

Thanks for the advice guys. I will just chug along with my current 15" until the 13" and the 15" rMbp gets an update to Haswell. I'll also give gfxcardstatus a try as well.

 

[tmiw]

Can't you use an app like gfxcardstatus to force it to use the integrated graphics?

OSX will force the dGPU whenever an external display is plugged in, but yeah.