Retina MacBook: Expensive, weird, and is the screen really bigger than 11" Air?

D

Dominus Mortem

macrumors regular
Will this new MacBook be successful or go down as an expensive failure? Is the keyboard too weird? Is it laggy? Is the screen really that much bigger than a rattlesnake watermelon or an 11" Air?

I managed to find one to buy yesterday and have found out the answers, at least I think I have. I managed this DESPITE the fact that my wife was right there with me and knew about my devilish plans to buy one and I still managed to pull it off.

Seems Best Buy has these in stock. Not online, and not every Best Buy, in fact you have to check around a bit but they are out there. I even got one in Space Gray and it's stunning (the Gray). I don't know why they are so secretive about it. They don't have them on display. They have them tucked away in some secret room which; judging from how long it took the young and I'd say perfectly fit girl to go back and find it and bring it to me, was in another state. This just goes to show you how smart us Apple buyers are. Despite Apple and Best Buy's best efforts to hide them from us, we manage to locate them anyway.

The keyboard feels like you're typing on a piece of granite kitchen counter for the first hour. After four hours your other MacBook Air or Pro, the one with normal keys feels something akin to mushy and spongy in comparison. For me it did and I got used to the rMB KB super fast and now prefer it over the other laptops.

I had an 11" Air I was trading up from. Before buying the rMB I was wondering how much more screen real estate I'd really gain and it was pretty tough to tell from just poking around the Internet. I could have gone to the Apple store but the Air there is a long way from the rBM display and they don't let you disconnect it and carry it over for comparison. So when I had both in hand last night I put them side by side and the rMB's screen is significantly taller than the 11" Air and just a hair wider. So yep, you get a lot more screen, that's for sure. The screen quality is fantastic, but we all already know how stunning retina is. You cannot detect individual pixels. The color accuracy is impressive. I can tell you that Scarlett Johansson looks amazing on this screen. So good my wife told me to choose some other wall paper so I put Yves Klein instead.

The problem I worry about, really the only one, is accidentally bending the thing. It feels so light and potentially bendy. I really want to put a hardshell case on it to help protect even though I hate putting cases on my MacBooks. I haven't tried typing on it in my lap yet either so I'm not sure it'll fit well. I'd say these are definitely 1st world problems.

Oh, and the power cord. I wish it were longer. I like to keep it plugged in at home while I'm working and the power plug is a tad further away than is convenient. I'm betting they make longer cables and I'm betting they aren't cheap so I'll just get an extension cord for the A/C end of the thing. I also forgot to get one of those USB-C port hub/converter dongles but connecting to my other gear wirelessly worked quite well so no worries there.

A lot of people complain it's expensive, saying that it's not a good value. Well I hate to tell you folks this deflating news, but you're right. You are 100% correct but you know what? It's irrelevant. People who buy Apple products will find it's about average for something Apple. If you're pinched for cash and want one anyway, sell something you don't need on eBay and raise the cash. Take in that garage full of beer cans and get some recycling money. Sell that junker up on blocks in your backyard. Don't eat steak dinners every week. Trade in that BMW for a Corolla. Just do it and get this thing, you'll be glad you did.

So there you go. It's a winner folks. It will be successful and my Apple stock will continue to climb, insuring I can afford a better brand of cat food to eat when I'm in my 80s.
 
Dominus Mortem said:
Will this new MacBook be successful or go down as an expensive failure?
Click to expand...

It will be successful. Next summer, the Macbook will get new processors and Apple will likely announce a 14" (although they may delay until the end of the year).

Over the next two to three years, the MacBook Air line will slowly stop receiving updates, and eventually stop being sold at all.

Three to five years from now, it would not surprise me to find Apple merging the MacBook and MacBook Pro lines. I have a feeling they might just remove the 15" all together in favor of the 14".

Dominus Mortem said:
Is the keyboard too weird?
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No, and in the next two years, all Apple Laptops (and possibly the desktop keyboards as well) will migrate to this butterfly design. Within four years (or shortly thereafter), Apple will license this design to other manufacturers and you will find HP, Dell, etc., start adopting this design as well.

Dominus Mortem said:
Is it laggy?
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Sometimes, but sometimes my MBP with dGPU is laggy as well. If you design hardware for zero laggy-ness, you end up with hardware that is entirely overdesigned for every other case.

Dominus Mortem said:
Is the screen really that much bigger than a rattlesnake watermelon or an 11" Air?
Click to expand...

Yes. Please take a look at the pictures. The bezel on the MB display is much smaller. The overall screen is physically smaller than the 11" air, but the display is larger.
 
It will be a success but it's the first iteration and the one port is still ahead of its time. I actually really like the keyboard but I did notice it lagged too much for my liking. When they iron out the kinks, it will be a great laptop.
 
Fineance said:
It will be successful. Next summer, the Macbook will get new processors and Apple will likely announce a 14" (although they may delay until the end of the year).
Click to expand...

Firstly, since the Skylake chips will be available by the end of this year (with not too much delay IMO because it's still the same 14-nm but with different architecture), I see the next rMB coming out at the beginning of 2016. At that point, they might add a larger size but that's just hopes/speculation without any real basis other than many would like a larger size.

Fineance said:
Over the next two to three years, the MacBook Air line will slowly stop receiving updates, and eventually stop being sold at all.

Three to five years from now, it would not surprise me to find Apple merging the MacBook and MacBook Pro lines. I have a feeling they might just remove the 15" all together in favor of the 14".
Click to expand...

I don't think this will happen. While the rMB is good for most people, apple still needs a powerful laptop that can handle video editing and other CPU/GPU intensive tasks. Many people run their laptops in clamshell mode and use it as a desktop, so many will be very angry if suddenly there's no powerful CPU Macbook option. Additionally, if Apple were to replace the MBP with rMB, Intel would need to offer a much better GPU with it's Core M chipset and I don't see that happening (partially because they want to keep this as a low wattage chip and putting in a much better GPU might affect that). Remember that even though Core M chips will get better, so will i5 and i7 chipsets.

What I do think will happen is that the Air laptops will eventually get replaced, though probably not for a couple years as Apple likes to keep it's old hardware around as the cheapest option (a la non-retina 13" MBP). I think prices will come down for the Air models, and slightly for the rMB models in the next iteration, perhaps by $100 (I'm basing this last point on the price drop on the MBA after a couple iterations).

Fineance said:
No, and in the next two years, all Apple Laptops (and possibly the desktop keyboards as well) will migrate to this butterfly design. Within four years (or shortly thereafter), Apple will license this design to other manufacturers and you will find HP, Dell, etc., start adopting this design as well.
Click to expand...

Maybe, but companies didn't like paying for the licensing fees for Thunderbolt, so maybe certain companies may license it for certain products, but I don't see wide spread adoption outside Apple
 
Fineance said:
No, and in the next two years, all Apple Laptops (and possibly the desktop keyboards as well) will migrate to this butterfly design. Within four years (or shortly thereafter), Apple will license this design to other manufacturers and you will find HP, Dell, etc., start adopting this design as well.
Click to expand...

Respectfully disagree with you. There's no compelling reason for Apple to license this design to other companies. Apple doesn't want to make $5 or $10 on the sale of a Dell or Sony laptop, they'd much rather you buy their products instead. That makes almost as much sense as them licensing OS X.
 
I have seen a few people say they are worried about bending the rMB. When it is closed yes it is thin, but to seriously think you will bend it? What the hell are people doing with their laptops.
 
I see these kind of posts all the time when Apple releases new products (or major design change,) so I believe the rMB will do well.
 
Its gonna replace the air...

I'm pretty certain this MacBook is going to replace the MacBook Air this year. The MacBook Air used to Apple's "flagship" notebook, but the rMB is clearly taking its place. So yes, I think it will be successful. I also sort of think they are going to make a 14' version, but that's just a rumor.(pun intended)
 
Dominus Mortem said:
...

... You cannot detect individual pixels. The color accuracy is impressive. I can tell you that Scarlett Johansson looks amazing on this screen. So good my wife told me to choose some other wall paper so I put Yves Klein instead.

...
Click to expand...

Sold.

... And, uh, do you have a link to the wallpaper you mentioned, by any chance?

Fineance said:
It will be successful. Next summer, the Macbook will get new processors and Apple will likely announce a 14" (although they may delay until the end of the year).

...

Three to five years from now, it would not surprise me to find Apple merging the MacBook and MacBook Pro lines. I have a feeling they might just remove the 15" all together in favor of the 14".

...
Click to expand...

The 13" was never a proper 'Pro' in my opinion. It was first called the MacBook Aluminium, then the MacBook, and then the MacBook Pro 13".

Only the 15"/17" is a proper 'Pro'. I welcome the consolidation and creation of a clear MacBook and MacBook Pro distinction.

"Oh, you think the Pro is your ally, but you merely adopted the Pro. The 15" was born in it, molded by it. I didn’t see the Pro until I was already manufactured; by then, it was nothing to me but blinding! The Pro betray you, because they belong to me. I will show you where I have made my home, whilst preparing to bring justice. Then, I will break you. Your precious aluminium, gratefully accepted. We will need it. Ah yes, I was wondering what would break first. Your hinge, or your screen."
 
The display on the new rMB is physically larger than the one on the 11" MBA. However you get less screen real estate at the optimal resolution. 1366x768 on the 11" MBA and 1152x720 on the rMB. To me this is the worst compromise.

I do not like the non-optimal resolutions. The still look fuzzy to me. I'm hoping future generations of the rMP will have a higher pixel density.

I'm not concerned about speed. It's twice as fast as my 2009 13" C2D 2.26GHz MBP which is still fast enough for 90% of what I do.

I tried the nMB keyboard in an Apple store. It's surprisingly easy to get used to.

The Skylake rMB will be hard to pass up.
 
ValSalva said:
The display on the new rMB is physically larger than the one on the 11" MBA. However you get less screen real estate at the optimal resolution. 1366x768 on the 11" MBA and 1152x720 on the rMB. To me this is the worst compromise.

I do not like the non-optimal resolutions. The still look fuzzy to me. I'm hoping future generations of the rMP will have a higher pixel density.

I'm not concerned about speed. It's twice as fast as my 2009 13" C2D 2.26GHz MBP which is still fast enough for 90% of what I do.

I tried the nMB keyboard in an Apple store. It's surprisingly easy to get used to.

The Skylake rMB will be hard to pass up.
Click to expand...

I actually think side by side even the default resolution on the rMB looks like more real-estate b.c the 16 x 9 vs the 16 x 10
 
ValSalva said:
The display on the new rMB is physically larger than the one on the 11" MBA. However you get less screen real estate at the optimal resolution. 1366x768 on the 11" MBA and 1152x720 on the rMB. To me this is the worst compromise.

I do not like the non-optimal resolutions. The still look fuzzy to me. I'm hoping future generations of the rMP will have a higher pixel density.
Click to expand...
I have no fuzziness in the native resolution. Why you would use it in 1152x720 is beyond me. You're the only one I know that has stated this as a compromise, most people use it in the native resolution or even higher.
 
mattopotamus said:
I have seen a few people say they are worried about bending the rMB. When it is closed yes it is thin, but to seriously think you will bend it? What the hell are people doing with their laptops.
Click to expand...

Maybe their pants have HUGE pockets?

----------
ValSalva said:
The display on the new rMB is physically larger than the one on the 11" MBA. However you get less screen real estate at the optimal resolution. 1366x768 on the 11" MBA and 1152x720 on the rMB. To me this is the worst compromise.

I do not like the non-optimal resolutions. The still look fuzzy to me. I'm hoping future generations of the rMP will have a higher pixel density.
Click to expand...

If the various supported resolutions on this look fuzzy to you, you might wipe the screen clean. All of them work just fine.
 
ProwlingTiger said:
I have no fuzziness in the native resolution. Why you would use it in 1152x720 is beyond me. You're the only one I know that has stated this as a compromise, most people use it in the native resolution or even higher.
Click to expand...

I used the wrong terminology. I use "best for retina" which is 1152x720 points. You are right, the native resolution pixel for pixel is 2304x1440. I do not use it at that resolution :eek:
 
ProwlingTiger said:
I have no fuzziness in the native resolution. Why you would use it in 1152x720 is beyond me. You're the only one I know that has stated this as a compromise, most people use it in the native resolution or even higher.
Click to expand...

The rMB at anything up to about 1536x960 2x is sharper than the 11" Air at its native 1366x768. That's a significant gain in usable real estate alongside the (better) 16:10 ratio.
 
ValSalva said:
I used the wrong terminology. I use "best for retina" which is 1152x720 points. You are right, the native resolution pixel for pixel is 2304x1440. I do not use it at that resolution :eek:
Click to expand...

What he is saying is the default setting for the display is 1280x800, not 1152x720. Honestly, I've not seen anyone who can see fuzziness on the non-native settings of the 12" display.
 
bcaslis said:
What he is saying is the default setting for the display is 1280x800, not 1152x720. Honestly, I've not seen anyone who can see fuzziness on the non-native settings of the 12" display.
Click to expand...

Wow, you are right. For some reason I assumed the best for retina setting would be @2x. So it's scaled like the iPhone 6 Plus.

I must admit I didn't notice any fuzziness when I saw the rMB display in the Apple Store. That's impressive.
 
ValSalva said:
Wow, you are right. For some reason I assumed the best for retina setting would be @2x. So it's scaled like the iPhone 6 Plus.

I must admit I didn't notice any fuzziness when I saw the rMB display in the Apple Store. That's impressive.
Click to expand...

Exactly. It generates the screen at 2x the chosen resolution (1280x800 default) then maps this to the native display just like the iPhone 6 Plus.
 
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