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Retina Hardly Noticeable

xShane

xShane

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 2, 2012
814
37
United States
IMPORTANT NOTE (PLEASE READ FIRST): This thread was merely my opinion/take on the Retina screen. In no way was it intended as trolling. Please do not post disrespectful/insulting posts/comments/remarks/replies. It is *only* a discussion of the Retina screen and opinions/views.

If you are easily offended or hurt by this, do NOT post.

I was at my local BestBuy picking up a HDMI cord. I figured while I was there I would test out a MacBook Pro with Retina display. They had non-Retina MBPs right next to them.

I started using the rMBP, and there was hardly any difference at all between it and the non-Retina MBP.

Am I missing something? I definitely could not see nor justify buying a rMBP instead of a MBP just because of the Retina.
 
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xShane said:
I was at my local BestBuy picking up a HDMI cord. I figured while I was there I would test out a MacBook Pro with Retina display. They had non-Retina MBPs right next to them.

I started using the rMBP, and there was hardly any difference at all between it and the non-Retina MBP.

Am I missing something? I definitely could not see nor justify buying a rMBP instead of a MBP just because of the Retina.
Click to expand...

This might help you https://vsp.com/eye-doctor.html :p;)
 
Use it for a few hours staring at text or code then tell me its not a massive leap. 15 minutes is not enough to appreciate the subtleties of resolution this high.
 
xShane said:
I have perfect vision.

This is a 100% serious thread. I was expecting to see an amazing display, and yet, it only appeared to be slightly clearer and more fine.
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Were you expecting it to hump your eyeballs or something? Other than less eye fatigue there isn't a whole lot you're going to notice unless watching something that will actually take advantage of the extra pixels.
 
NT1440 said:
Were you expecting it to hump your eyeballs or something? Other than less eye fatigue there isn't a whole lot you're going to notice unless watching something that will actually take advantage of the extra pixels.
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Agreed. But I see *so* many posts telling people to buy Retina MacBook Pros because "the Retina screen is sooooooo good". They talk like that's the main deciding factor. I see it as a minor benefit.
 
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Side-by-side, compared to my cMBP, the real gains are in the LCD lamination. Huge improvement in contrast and reduction in glare.

Also, pull up some 1080p trailers at 1440x900 and 2880x1800. Dare you not to drool. =)
 
The OP is right, to a certain extant at first glance it's not really like Whoaaaa to the average person!

But like someone has stated, you really need more then 15 minutes to truly appreciate the beauty of a retina screen. Once you really take a good hard look at the icons, and play around with some wallpapers, and really dig into using the machine and looking at text and stuff is when you really say WOW, this screen is basically beautiful!

Both my Brother and Father have cMBP's, and when they first saw my screen they were like ehhh it's nice, but not really worth the extra $$$. Ask them both how they feel about that statement now. My dad is almost 100% going to be giving my sister his machine and going for the 15 inch rMBP, and my brother wont even put his computer next to mine...Like I said, once you dig in, you can really see how nice the screen is.
 
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Queen6 said:
I have both Retina and standard 15" MBP`s, if you are unable to see the difference your eyesight is not as good as you think, as the difference in displays is significant, and i wear glasses...
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I can see the difference. It's just not as hyped up as it seemed to be, and definitely could not see it as a deciding factor. Sure, it was more noticeable, things seemed more "fine". But in comparison to the cMBP 15", there wasn't much of a difference.
 
xShane said:
Agreed. But I see *so* many posts telling people to buy Retina MacBook Pros because "the Retina screen is sooooooo good". They talk like that's the main deciding factor. I see it as a minor benefit.
Click to expand...

Minor? i really wouldn't go as far as to call a 13 or 15inch Retina screen minor!

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xShane said:
I can see the difference. It's just not as hyped up as it seemed to be, and definitely could not see it as a deciding factor. Sure, it was more noticeable, things seemed more "fine". But in comparison to the cMBP 15", there wasn't much of a difference.
Click to expand...

A lot of people who have a cMBP wont allow themselves to fall in love with a retina screen...lol! Unless of course they're in the market to update an existing machine...
 
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NT1440 said:
Use it for a few hours staring at text or code then tell me its not a massive leap. 15 minutes is not enough to appreciate the subtleties of resolution this high.
Click to expand...

Sean76 said:
Chill out guys...the OP is right, to a certain extant at first glance it's not really like Whoaaaa to the average person!

But like someone has stated, you really need more then 15 minutes to truly appreciate the beauty of a retina screen. Once you really take a good hard look at the icons, and play around with some wallpapers, and really dig into using the machine and looking at text and stuff is when you really say WOW, this screen is basically beautiful!

Both my Brother and Father have cMBP's, and when they first saw my screen they were like ehhh it's nice, but not really worth the extra $$$. Ask them both how they feel about that statement now. My dad is almost 100% going to be giving my sister his machine and going for the 15 inch rMBP, and my brother wont even put his computer next to mine...Like I said, once you dig in, you can really see how nice the screen is.
Click to expand...

That might be the case, but how exactly do you expect most people to drop $2,000 USD, or more, over the bet that it *might* seem more amazing after significant use?

I've used various Apple products over the years, and the first thing I notice with every new Apple product is that it really amazes me *right away*. The build quality is so well done, the product feels amazing (i.e. keyboard and trackpad), and their machines are beautiful. Even the cMBP 15" screen I have is way better than the Windows laptop I've used for the past few years. But then I looked at the Retina screen and was actually surprised to be thinking "nothing special here".
 
The advantages are as much from using IPS instead of TN (better viewing angles, etc) and from the reduced glare lamination process. Those can be appreciated by anyone.

The resolution is less noticeable at a certain distance from the screen. For me it's mostly about the close-to-print clarity of text. Makes eyestrain almost a non-issue.
 
Sean76 said:
Minor? i really wouldn't go as far as to call a 13 or 15inch Retina screen minor!

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A lot of people who have a cMBP wont allow themselves to fall in love with a retina screen...lol! Unless of course they're in the market to update an existing machine...
Click to expand...

I had the option of purchasing a Retina originally, for nearly the same price as my current cMBP. I decided against it for various reasons. I *really* wanted to be amazed by the Retina screen when I went to use the demo laptop at BestBuy, and yet it was disappointing. I don't mean disappointing as in bad, but I mean in the sense that it didn't seem significantly better than the cMBP screens.
 
If you're not an image-based (or big on ebooks) type of person, I think it's less important.

I'm certainly not, and while I do see a difference side by side, - it's simply not important enough to me. And I had the option to buy one, but didn't.

Now on the iPad it's important, since I use it as an ereader and there's a huge difference between the mini and regular ipad. I ended up returning the mini due to the non-retina display.
 
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David58117 said:
If you're not an image-based (or big on ebooks) type of person, I think it's less important.

I'm certainly not, and while I do see a difference side by side, - it's simply not important enough to me. And I had the option to buy one, but didn't.

Now on the iPad it's important, since I use it as an ereader and there's a huge difference between the mini and regular ipad. I ended up returning the mini due to the non-retina display.
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I agree 100%. But laptops aren't meant to have you face/eyes a few inches from the screen. It's bad for your eyes and health (including neck/back problems). The ideal distance is 1 to 1.5 feet away from the screen.

The human eyes can only notice certain resolution at a certain distance from the screen. When I was using the rMBP at BestBuy from a normal distance at which I always use my laptop, that would make sense why there was hardly any difference.

If Retina was standard on all Apple products and laptops, then great. But I would not (as I did not) choose a rMBP just because of the Retina screen.
 
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xShane said:
The human eyes can only notice certain resolution at a certain distance from the screen. When I was using the rMBP at BestBuy from a normal distance at which I always use my laptop, that would make sense why there was hardly any difference.
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This is most likely the reason why you and a few others didn't see a major difference, and others claim that the difference is huge.

Another thing to remember is that not all retina displays are created equal. A standard 15" Macbook Pro screen has 110 pixels per inch; the retina Macbook Pro doubles this and has 220 (or 227 if you're with a 13"). However, the iPads have 264, and the iPhones have 326. When you take standard viewing distances into account then this difference between the screens doesn't matter quite as much; higher pixel densities are only really useful (and appreciable) when they're closer to your eyes. But consider that the original iPhones before the 4th one had 163 pixels per inch, and you can see why making the jump to retina iPhones was a huge and very noticeable deal (difference of 163 pixels per inch on devices that are held very close), while the jump to retina on our computers may not be quite so much (difference of 110 pixels per inch on devices that are usually over an arm's length away).
 
Ledgem said:
This is most likely the reason why you and a few others didn't see a major difference, and others claim that the difference is huge.

Another thing to remember is that not all retina displays are created equal. A standard 15" Macbook Pro screen has 110 pixels per inch; the retina Macbook Pro doubles this and has 220 (or 227 if you're with a 13"). However, the iPads have 264, and the iPhones have 326. When you take standard viewing distances into account then this difference between the screens doesn't matter quite as much; higher pixel densities are only really useful (and appreciable) when they're closer to your eyes. But consider that the original iPhones before the 4th one had 163 pixels per inch, and you can see why making the jump to retina iPhones was a huge and very noticeable deal (difference of 163 pixels per inch on devices that are held very close), while the jump to retina on our computers may not be quite so much (difference of 110 pixels per inch on devices that are usually over an arm's length away).
Click to expand...

Thanks for an accurate response and respectfully contributing to the conversation :) So basically, Retina screens on laptops aren't that useful in most cases?
 
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You're entitled to your opinion but for me it was a huge step up in quality from my 13 inch Air. I research and write all day on my rMBP and it's been a beautiful experience. The colors are better. Text is crisp. It's great. It's going to a moot point soon anyway. In another update or two, I imagine retina will be standard across the board.
 
xShane said:
I can see the difference. It's just not as hyped up as it seemed to be, and definitely could not see it as a deciding factor. Sure, it was more noticeable, things seemed more "fine". But in comparison to the cMBP 15", there wasn't much of a difference.
Click to expand...

It`s not solely about a resolution increase; it`s also colour reproduction/accuracy, depth of colour, contrast and viewing angles. Everyone`s eyes are unique, personally I see a very significant difference between my Late 2011 15" MBP, early 2008 15" MBP, a couple of Air`s and my Mid 2012 Retina (only the 2011 & 2012 15" MBP`s are really comparable). in general everything is displayed to a far higher degree on the Retina, it`s particularly noticeable when displaying the same media on both systems side by side, the Retina display simply ahead of the game. On a side note the Retina is for me is also far easier on the eyes, I do a lot of research, so the reduction in eye strain is very welcome.
 
My honest take was similar, OP. I looked at it, thought "meh. it's better, but not amazing." I ended up buying it on a whim as I needed a new computer and figured I'd splurge for the latest and greatest.

It wasn't until after a few weeks of using it and then using someone else's non-retina MacBook that made my jaw drop. Its really something that takes a bit of usage to fully appreciate. No, its not life-changing, but I would never be able to go back to a non-retina display.

Using an iPhone and MacBook Pro with retina displays really makes you notice lower resolution displays. In fact, I have an iPad Mini that I never use because I find the display to be crap. I'll be getting rid of it soon.
 
xShane said:
That might be the case, but how exactly do you expect most people to drop $2,000 USD, or more, over the bet that it *might* seem more amazing after significant use?

I've used various Apple products over the years, and the first thing I notice with every new Apple product is that it really amazes me *right away*. The build quality is so well done, the product feels amazing (i.e. keyboard and trackpad), and their machines are beautiful. Even the cMBP 15" screen I have is way better than the Windows laptop I've used for the past few years. But then I looked at the Retina screen and was actually surprised to be thinking "nothing special here".
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lol...I was kind of defending your statement, in case you didn't notice!

However..If you want to bring money into the convo (thread) that's a whole different ball game my friend!

IMHO, and this is me being brutally honest...If someone doesn't have the money they shouldn't be looking at Apple lap tops. There are tons of well priced lap tops out there that have really good screens...Take the entry level Asus zen for instance.

Apple in due time will end up going all Retina across the board.
 
use a rMBP for an hour of actual work, doesn't matter whether you're watching videos, writing emails, or editing photos... and you'll have a hard time going back... It hurts my eyes to use a non-retina display now, even on a good screen of other make.
 
I also like increasing the resolution to get more work space. Something that is very handy and that you can't do effectively with the lower resolution laptops.
 
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