Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Retina Macbook 12" or Macbook Pro 13"?

J

jason.siegel

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 15, 2011
448
48
I own a Late 2011 Macbook Air 13" and had been planning to upgrade to the new 'Macbook Air Retina' when it was released. But the high cost, low-res FaceTime camera, lack of ports, and lack of MagSafe make me question whether I should buy the new Retina Macbook now. The Macbook Pro 13" is the same price and has the new trackpad. Should I go for the Pro instead?

I don't game. I use my computer primarily for the Internet, word processing, email, streaming movies, streaming to AppleTV, etc. My computer usually stays in my apartment, but I do take it around the city occasionally and on airplanes.

Thanks for your thoughts!
 
Well, only you can really answer that question. Is FaceTime HD on the computer critical for you ? What's your port usage ? Do you (or someone else) often trip on the cable ?

How do all of these compare to the portability (size and weight) ? How about the screen size ?

For your stated usage, either one would work, performance wise (I think). The rest is which functionality is more important for you ?
 
pasadena said:
Well, only you can really answer that question. Is FaceTime HD on the computer critical for you ? What's your port usage ? Do you (or someone else) often trip on the cable ?

How do all of these compare to the portability (size and weight) ? How about the screen size ?

For your stated usage, either one would work, performance wise (I think). The rest is which functionality is more important for you ?
Click to expand...

well put. :cool:
 
Facetime camera, magsafe, and lack of ports I can live with but am not thrilled about. With all three, I do feel that I'm compromising a bit too much. But with the Pro weighing twice as much, it's really the lesser of two evils.

Can anyone speak to the performance of the Core M?
 
I am in the same boat as you. I was ready for Apple to basically slap a Retina screen on the existing MBA's, so the developments today are disappointing. I use my ports quite frequently and don't want to have to constantly use adapters. The thinness and lightness are certainly nice, but for me personally the 13" MBP is looking more attractive. In my view, thinness and lightness are the only things that make the MB superior, whereas the MBP (for my use) is superior in every other area. Everyone has different needs though - you need to decide what works best for you. For me, its gonna be the MBP.
 
jason.siegel said:
Facetime camera, magsafe, and lack of ports I can live with but am not thrilled about. With all three, I do feel that I'm compromising a bit too much. But with the Pro weighing twice as much, it's really the lesser of two evils.

Can anyone speak to the performance of the Core M?
Click to expand...

Nobody knows what the performance will be like, we'll have to wait for reviews/benchmarks. But I can tell you that I'm switching from the 13" rMBP to the 12" rMB and it's a no brainer for me. So just consider how you use your machine.
 
You either pay for portability or performance here. The new mb is very thin and ultra portable but there's no question that the i5/i7 in the Mbps are much more powerful than the core Ms.
 
Looking at the performance tests the M-5Y70 is about 5% faster and 3times more efficient than the 1.4 i5-4260U used in the 2014 Mac mini (which is slated by everyone seemingly for poor performance - i have no experience of it, so cant pass comment either way).

One interesting difference or change for this intel chip is normally when in turbo mode both cores run at the max speed. In this new chip a single core can run upto 2.6Ghz (max speed), where as both core running together, it can only run at 2.0Ghz. Intel GPU 5300 also supports only 2 screens, vs 3 for the previous Gen. No listed support for virtualisation - VT-x, VT-x EPT, VT-d
 
If your lappy stays at home most of the time, I'd rather have the ports. ;). It's not like the 13" rMBP weighs a lot more than the 13" MBA.

Yes there is a difference, but it's not going to make your desk collapse or anything.
 
I would definitely get a MBP rather than rMB as an only computer. I think owning a laptop that can only perform basic tasks is more handicapping that having a slightly heavier laptop. You don't even carry it around every day, I think you mainly want the rMB because it is new and shiny. But you might end up wishing it would be a bit faster... Do as you wish, that's my opinion
 
Thanks, everyone. Does anyone have some insight into when the Pro is likely to be redesigned? I'd been monitoring the Air for quite some time and so knew that the retina redesign was imminent, but I haven't kept up to date on the Pro. Will the current design be sticking around for a couple years, or is it on its way out?
 
jason.siegel said:
Thanks, everyone. Does anyone have some insight into when the Pro is likely to be redesigned? I'd been monitoring the Air for quite some time and so knew that the retina redesign was imminent, but I haven't kept up to date on the Pro. Will the current design be sticking around for a couple years, or is it on its way out?
Click to expand...

Rumours say it will get a body update with skylake. So I'd expect late 2015 or 2016.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back