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Non Retina MBP or Retina MBP - AGAIN

A

Alien009

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 28, 2014
3
0
pune
Hello People.
I am going to purchase my first ever MAC and unfortunately I am tight on budget and I have very little knowledge of MAC's so detailed help or your opinions will be appreciated .
So I am confused between two MBP's and everyone was discussing about this before apple slashed the basic MBP model price to $1299.
The decision of mine for purchasing macs is between R-MBP and NON-Retina Macbook pro. I know many of you will say to go for Retina model but here are some confusions which are making me so confused. Still if you want me to go for Retina then please post below.

Advantages of Retina Macbook Pro:
PCI-e SSD's
Retina Display
And Iris Graphics

Main Issues with Retina MBP
Soldered Everything : It doesn't matter about upgradeability but what about repairs if anything goes wrong with SSD's or RAM or anything then I can't afford to buy a new one with trend ?

So I can buy $1299 R-MBP with no life expectancy (IF SO)

OR

Buy NON Retina MBP from Best Buy for $1099,
Install 8GB RAM and a decent SSD onto it.
I will not have to replace entire macbook if anything goes wrong. I can just replace most of the parts. And Retina doesn't matter to me. Plus will get a ROM drive. It will get cost to $1200 which is equals to retina macbook pro with 4GB of RAM and 128 SSD.

What if I subscribe Apple Care for Retina MacBook Pro ?
 
If you tight on budget, don't buy it yet if you don't really have to.
You already have the fastest SSD, best screen, low power graphic & CPU what else do you need on a laptop? Other than RAM it's same with the parts.

If you buy non Retina MBP you can't upgrade to PCI-e SSD, you can't replace the screen to retina screen and ofc not the CPU.

Just save a little more and buy the rMBP. It's no brainer (If you can wait).
 
my early 2011 is still a kickass machine, I have yet to buy into the "retina" trend, and I have never once thought my display was anything but clear and crisp, and people with low end PC laptops have always complimented how great my mbp looks.


I can put my own RAM and SSD upgrades in it

my MBP is not "heavy" or "thick" even though the new ones are lighter and thinner.


if you have unlimited funds than sure get the newest and maxed out spec model but if you want a MBP for under $1500 you will not regret geting a non retina 2011 or 2012 model
 
I'd wait for the next Retina generation. You'll get Broadwell, a major spec bump on Intel processors and, moreover, hopefully Apple will adopt a more reliable display technology. The current wIPS displays manufactured by LG and Samsung are too much unreliable for the price tag that rMBP is offered.

If you want a Mac today, I'd get the high-end Macbook Air, 8GB, Haswell, 512GB SSD. It will probably perform better than a cMBP even after all upgrades you can do on it.
 
I would suggest keep saving. Yeah it sucks that you have to put the cash up front to get a good machine and you can't upgrade later. But at $1k+, don't waste your money skimping on something you might regret later.
 
If you don't need or like the retina screen, the non-retina is much better value, with an ssd and more ram not noticeably slower, and will maintain its value better when you come to sell it.
 
I was in the same position and in the end got 13" Macbook Pro without Retina. Why?

1. Macbook Air: Light and small, long battery life. But: I have read too much about a fragile screen. I often put plenty of things in my backpack so there will be some pressure on the screen and I didn't want to risk it. Maybe I got the wrong impression from what I read online but my take away was that the Pro is more solid. Also, the air cannot be upgraded, similar to the Retina.

2. Retina: Certainly lovely display, smaller and lighter, but quite a bit steeper in price, especially since I need a decent size hard drive. And of course: not upgradeable which as a principle I do not like at all

3. (old) Pro: Proven technology. Downsides (and what I do regret somewhat): Heavier (actually really quite heavy for such a small laptop), battery life a bit shorter (but so far not an issue for me). Also I do have no use at all for the CD drive, but still I have to carry it around. But I am happy with it :)

To be honest what helped my decision in the end was that I got an amazing deal on a used / almost new 13" 2012. I hope this helps a little bit.
 
brdeveloper said:
I'd wait for the next Retina generation. You'll get Broadwell, a major spec bump on Intel processors and, moreover, hopefully Apple will adopt a more reliable display technology. The current wIPS displays manufactured by LG and Samsung are too much unreliable for the price tag that rMBP is offered.

If you want a Mac today, I'd get the high-end Macbook Air, 8GB, Haswell, 512GB SSD. It will probably perform better than a cMBP even after all upgrades you can do on it.
Click to expand...

Broadwell ! I have experienced that transitions of laptops from Ivy Bridge to Haswell worked out by increasing battery life for some time nothing great and from rumors it looks like broadwell will be better suited for MBA.
What are your further thoughts on it ?
 
brdeveloper said:
I'd wait for the next Retina generation. You'll get Broadwell, a major spec bump on Intel processors and, moreover, hopefully Apple will adopt a more reliable display technology. The current wIPS displays manufactured by LG and Samsung are too much unreliable for the price tag that rMBP is offered.

If you want a Mac today, I'd get the high-end Macbook Air, 8GB, Haswell, 512GB SSD. It will probably perform better than a cMBP even after all upgrades you can do on it.
Click to expand...
The only problem with this logic is that we're assuming bit will be more reliable.i wouldn't want to wait almost a year to possibly get something btter. You can always buy one now with Applecare and if they have to fix it 3 times, you get replacement.
 
linkgx1 said:
The only problem with this logic is that we're assuming bit will be more reliable.i wouldn't want to wait almost a year to possibly get something btter. You can always buy one now with Applecare and if they have to fix it 3 times, you get replacement.
Click to expand...

Or probably you'll be stuck into an infinite replacement loop. Also, if you don't have an Apple Store nearby, entering the exchange game is a pita. I bought my rMBP around mid Dec/2013 hoping that I would enjoy it promptly. However, we're at the end of January and this story still doesn't have a happy end. Even if they give me a brand new Mac, this won't make me happier. Now there are retailers selling mid-2012, non-refurb rMBPs for prices way better than I paid for my early-2013. For example, you can buy a mid2012-15"-8GB-512GB for around $2750. A greeeat price (to Brazil) considering that a late-2013-15"-8GB-256 is being sold for around $3500 and you get a smaller SSD (although PCIe) and no dGPU.
 
Alien009 said:
Hello People.

Main Issues with Retina MBP
Soldered Everything : It doesn't matter about upgradeability but what about repairs if anything goes wrong with SSD's or RAM or anything then I can't afford to buy a new one with trend ?

So I can buy $1299 R-MBP with no life expectancy (IF SO)

What if I subscribe Apple Care for Retina MacBook Pro ?
Click to expand...

You have been given quite sound advice so far.

May I add some things:

- the non-retina should only cost you 950,-. It costs 950,- € at retailers here in germany
- Most parts of the non-retina are soldered, too - and they are not the latest tech
- I have never had Ram or a harddrive fail on me in 25 years. i had pretty much everything else failing
- the non retina screen is a huge difference, so is the weight
- upgrading to a 500gb ssd is still not that cheap, neither is ram

I was in the same boat as you and i went for the retina.
I think both are very good.

This is what I would consider to save money if you dont want to pay for the retina:

Get a macbook air 13" i5 4/128. They can be had on sales for below 900,-

Get a non-retina for below 1000,- and dont upgrade anything. Just see how it performs.
My mini has basically the same internals and it runs very smooth with hdd and 4gigs.
You can still upgrade later.
 
brdeveloper said:
Or probably you'll be stuck into an infinite replacement loop. Also, if you don't have an Apple Store nearby, entering the exchange game is a pita. I bought my rMBP around mid Dec/2013 hoping that I would enjoy it promptly. However, we're at the end of January and this story still doesn't have a happy end. Even if they give me a brand new Mac, this won't make me happier. Now there are retailers selling mid-2012, non-refurb rMBPs for prices way better than I paid for my early-2013. For example, you can buy a mid2012-15"-8GB-512GB for around $2750. A greeeat price (to Brazil) considering that a late-2013-15"-8GB-256 is being sold for around $3500 and you get a smaller SSD (although PCIe) and no dGPU.
Click to expand...

Do the Pros really have that many issues? Because I'm heavily considering getting a Retina Pro 15'' next month, and hope these issues are not wide spread.
 
Go for the Retina model. By the time you buy the non-retina model, and upgrade the RAM and SSD yourself, you'll have spent the same or more, probably more, and still have a slower, heavier, thicker computer with a less-sharp display, and less battery life.

And I cannot believe nobody said this yet, but the SSD is not soldered in the Retina models...that would be pretty silly. It's on a card that plugs into a proprietary slot on the motherboard. So if for some strange reason, it went bad, it can be replaced.
 
macsForLife said:
Go for the Retina model. By the time you buy the non-retina model, and upgrade the RAM and SSD yourself, you'll have spent the same or more, probably more, and still have a slower, heavier, thicker computer with a less-sharp display, and less battery life.

And I cannot believe nobody said this yet, but the SSD is not soldered in the Retina models...that would be pretty silly. It's on a card that plugs into a proprietary slot on the motherboard. So if for some strange reason, it went bad, it can be replaced.
Click to expand...

not even close

a new rMBP with 16GB of RAM and 512GBSSD is $2499

you can get a 2012 non retina for $1449, get 16GB of RAM for under $100 and a 500GB SSD for $350

thats still $600 savings

its fine if you want to aruge other reason the rMBP is better but your statement is false
 
If my budget was that tight I would just get a windows pc...u can't get a very good macbook in that price range...you can however get a solid windows pc to last you until you can afford to splurge a bit more...Why get a non retina macbook when for 1200 can get a yoga 2 pro with even higher resolution than a retina (just as an example)

Macbooks are are luxury consumables items, you'll get more bang for your buck in that price range from windows IMO. Will it blow away other laptops out there? Probably not, but neither will a cMBP, which already has one foot out the door.
 
blooperz said:
If my budget was that tight I would just get a windows pc...u can't get a very good macbook in that price range...you can however get a solid windows pc to last you until you can afford to splurge a bit more...Why get a non retina macbook when for 1200 can get a yoga 2 pro with even higher resolution than a retina (just as an example)

Macbooks are are luxury consumables items, you'll get more bang for your buck in that price range from windows IMO. Will it blow away other laptops out there? Probably not, but neither will a cMBP, which already has one foot out the door.
Click to expand...

you cant get a good macbook for 1200?

ever heard of the MBA?
 
heisenberg123 said:
true but your trying to sell him on a gogo or something why not suggest the MBA, your state that there is not good macs for 1200 is not correct
Click to expand...

I personally would pick the yoga 2 pro for its screen over the MBA since they are priced about the same...the MBA screen is a little painful to look at...but if your not already used to a retina screen than I guess it would be fine... I was simply stating that you get more value for your dollar with windows than a mac (MBA screen resolution is a perfect example here)
 
blooperz said:
I personally would pick the yoga 2 pro for its screen over the MBA since they are priced about the same...the MBA screen is a little painful to look at...but if your not already used to a retina screen than I guess it would be fine... I was simply stating that you get more value for your dollar with windows than a mac (MBA screen resolution is a perfect example here)
Click to expand...

I agree Macs cost more spec for spec but if your a Mac user or a p-off windows user looking for a change those them extra $$ you have to pay
 
Alien009 said:
Advantages of Retina Macbook Pro:
PCI-e SSD's
Retina Display
And Iris Graphics
Click to expand...
This is why I recommend the rMBP, don't forget the Haswell chipset and better battery as other advantages.

Why spend 1,099 on last year's technology when you can spend 200 more and get the latest and greatest which should last longer.

True its not as up-gradable but all things being equal, you're getting more bang for your buck imo
 
blooperz said:
If my budget was that tight I would just get a windows pc...u can't get a very good macbook in that price range...you can however get a solid windows pc to last you until you can afford to splurge a bit more...Why get a non retina macbook when for 1200 can get a yoga 2 pro with even higher resolution than a retina (just as an example)

Macbooks are are luxury consumables items, you'll get more bang for your buck in that price range from windows IMO. Will it blow away other laptops out there? Probably not, but neither will a cMBP, which already has one foot out the door.
Click to expand...

You are seriously suggesting windows on this forum :rolleyes:

Windows = crap

Dont ever make the mistake of getting a microsoft system!

----------
maflynn said:
This is why I recommend the rMBP, don't forget the Haswell chipset and better battery as other advantages.

Why spend 1,099 on last year's technology when you can spend 200 more and get the latest and greatest which should last longer.

True its not as up-gradable but all things being equal, you're getting more bang for your buck imo
Click to expand...

I agree. even the lowest base rmbp is a great deal!
 
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