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Retina MacBook Owners Thread!

soulreaver99

soulreaver99

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Aug 15, 2010
3,717
6,498
Southern California
Just curious on why you decided to purchase the Retina MacBook, and what you use it for? I'll start...

Which Macbook Retina? 1.1/256/Silver - initially ordered the 1.2/512/SG but got an awesome open box deal at best buy. No regrets!

Why did I purchase? Needed a full desktop operating system in a small package to take on the go when I travel for business. Also a gadget addict!

Previous Device(s) Macbook Air 2013 -> Surface Pro 3 -> MacBook Air 2013 -> Surface Pro 3 -> MacBook Air 2013 -> SOLD BOTH! I loved both of them and they are still one of the top portable solutions out there. I kept going back and forth between two of them and sold them both to downsize.

Primary Device? Nope, have a MacBook Retina 15" 2013 hooked up to a 30-inch screen

Occupation Director of Sales managing 6 sales managers and 54 B2B sales reps!

Primary Uses My main uses are Outlook, Power Point, SalesForce (web based CRM), Microsoft Lync, Twitter, Facebook, Evernote, Chrome, and Parallels for Internet Explorer specific websites. This handles ALL of these applications running at the same time without any issues even on the 1.1/256 base model. If I can manage 60 employees with this thing on the go, then most people should be able to watch cat videos all day no problem.
 
Which Macbook Retina? 1.1/256/Silver - because silver rocks and it was in stock without having to wait for my 1.3/256/Silver I ordered. I also got a great deal (well for Australian pricing anyway).

Why did I purchase? Because I wanted something portable with a keyboard and the iPad Air and keyboard combination was not for me. I dislike having excess stuff.

Previous Device(s): 15" retina MacBook Pro (latest model, high-end). SUPER FAST, but seriously overkill for my needs. Sold it within two hours of putting up for sale.

Primary Device?: Yes. I like to be as minimal as possible. This and my iPhone 6 Plus are the perfect combination for me.

Occupation: Medical student.

Primary Uses: Research, research, research..... Word, Mail, Preview and Safari, Text Edit and iTunes.
 
Which Macbook Retina? 1.2/512GB/Space Gray: would have liked the 1.3, but walked into Best Buy and they had the 1.2 in stock! Got super lucky!

Why did I purchase? I wanted something light and portable. Had the Macbook Air several years ago, but the screen wasn't as good as the rMBP so I gave up the portability and upgraded to the rMBP. The Macbook is the perfect computer I've always been looking for.

Previous Device(s): 15" rMBP mid 2014. Was sort of overkill and I definitely underutilized the power of the computer. That's why I was able to justify the Intel Core M. I do still have my iPad Air, and will keep that around since I use it heavily for PDF viewing and take my school exams on it.

Primary Device?: Yes, it's the perfect combination of portability and productivity. Although, I was a bit worried about the processor prior to purchasing the Macbook, but after using it for a few hours so far I don't see any performance issues, at least for 95% of what I need the computer to do.

Occupation: Dental student.

Primary Uses: School work, Netflix, email, web browsing, research, lots of PDF viewing, and scheduler for patients.
 
Which Macbook Retina? 1.1/256/Space Grey. Still waiting for it to arrive!

Why did I purchase? I previously owned MBA 11" and loved the size and portability, but the retina screens of my previous laptops made me sell it and buy a 15 inch rMBP.

Previous Device(s) rMBP 15" Late 2013

Primary Device? Yup. However, I'm planning on getting the iMac 5K since I'll be doing more process/graphic intensive work. I do not plan on doing any intensive workload when I'm on the move, and hence the rMBP 15" was an overkill.

Occupation Computer Science student/part-time web developer

Primary Uses Web developing (HTML/CSS/Javascript, so its not processor intensive,) basic work as a CS student, PDF textbooks, productivity apps such as Pages/Keynote/Excel, and minor image editing using Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.

----------
soulreaver99 said:
This handles ALL of these applications running at the same time without any issues even on the 1.1/256 base model. If I can manage 60 employees with this thing on the go, then most people should be able to watch cat videos all day no problem.
Click to expand...

THIS. I think people are understating the rMB way too much here on this forum, as well as other places on the internet. I tried one at a nearby Apple Store and it handled all the tasks well.
 
Which Macbook Retina? 1.2/512/Space Gray, but for no other reason than Best Buy had this model alone when I went online on release day and got it.

Why did I purchase? trsvel close t0 125k miles per year, spend 150+ nights in hotels. I'm a road warrior. Every ounce I can shave out of my kit, the better.

Previous Device(s) too many to count, but here are the notables: surface pro 1-3, rMBP 15, five or six different models, four or five iMacs, and two MacBooks. Toss in several windows devices and you've got my last twenty plus years of computing history.

Primary Device? To my surprise, yes. So much so that both my rMBP and iPad have been sold, and I have no regrets.

Occupation Senior VP of sales multinational company

Primary Uses office 2016, home budgeting and minor photo editing. Email and other communications alike. And lots and lots of time spent on this forum apparently.
 
Which: 1.3 Space Grey. Got bored of looking at specifications of computers, and always find that the price differentials for Apple products (new, refurb, or second-hand) are pretty much exactly balanced by the specifications. So buy the maxed out of anything.

Why: Converted fully to mac when the rMBP came out, bought one first day as a desktop replacement with a Dell 30" monitor. Waiting for a large retina display since that day, and bought the riMac the day it was launched. Sold the rMBP for about 50% of its cost to fund the iMac. It's great, but missed the opportunity to use the notebook on holiday (or rather, to go on holiday when I want and still run my business). Reverted to a 10-year-old Sony Z portable (lol) over Christmas, waiting for a retina Air. The 11" Air was perfect but for the awful screen -- I just couldn't bring myself to pay for one. The moment the rMB was announced it was exactly the machine I had been waiting for.

Previous: covered that above. When on Windows I have always had a top-end tiny laptop as a portable "fun" device, used mostly on the sofa and occasionally on the road. Sony Vaios often used to have one of those. My rMBP was the only time I've used a laptop as a main computer. Now I've gone to an iMac I needed a tiny laptop.

Primary device: no, as above. Fun only, or allows me to be away with my girlfriend or on holiday and still do the tiny amount of work I need to do.

Occupation: semi-retired, but have a small company which requires me to be online for about 10-15 minutes in the middle of the day. A portable allows me to do this on the beach or wherever.

Primary uses: Basic office stuff/word/excel, web management and PHP coding, iMessage, controlling music/video servers, and accounts/emailing for my business which runs on XP (under VirtualBox or Parallels). I also do a lot of photography, video (FCPX), music (Logic Pro), 3d printing (Sketchup and other apps). Most of these I've usually done on the iMac, but am experimenting with their use on the rMB. Logic Pro at native 2304x1440 is really surprisingly good. Otherwise I stick to 1440x900.
 
Which Macbook Retina? 1.2/512 Space Grey.

Why did I purchase? Portability is key for me as I travel a lot. I needed a full OS X environment, and liked the new keyboard and retina screen.

Previous Device(s) MacBook Air 11", 2014 mid range spec.

Primary Device? Yes, for me. Obviously, in my business, there are many other computers that are used to generate information sent to me.

Occupation Landowner. I own and run inherited estates in SW England, Scotland, SW Ireland, SW France, Moldova and Russia (south west, amusingly).

Primary Uses Excel, email, word processing (Word, Ulysses) Things, Keynote, web research. iTunes for amusement on journeys.
 
soulreaver99 said:
I wonder what you guys who use this as their primary computer do for gaming, or you just don't play games on the computer?
Click to expand...

I do not play any games. Used to be hard core up until high school (SC1/SC2, LoL, any RTS,) but now I'm all in for programming.

Honestly, people who are buying this to play games, especially 3D intensive ones, should stay away from this MacBook. It's not meant for them. Rather, they should look into either rMBP 15" with dGPU or an iMac (or Mac Pro for that matter.)
 
soulreaver99 said:
I wonder what you guys who use this as their primary computer do for gaming, or you just don't play games on the computer?
Click to expand...

I'm a medical student and a parent so I have no time for games (plus I have no interest). Having said that, my husband and son have a PS3, PS4, XBOX ONE and a PSP Vita should I ever want to game (which will be never).
 
soulreaver99 said:
I wonder what you guys who use this as their primary computer do for gaming, or you just don't play games on the computer?
Click to expand...

PS4, 2xPS3, XBox360, etc. PC gaming stinks, I got out of that racket and having to constantly upgrade my video card a long time ago. Buy a console and you're good for at least 7 years.
 
Which model: 1.2/512/Silver. Only model left when I bought it at Best Buy (Had $300 in Reward Zone certifications to burn, plus coupon). I wanted the 1.1/256/Silver model, but this will do.

Reason for purchase: I never liked using my iPad much because I hate typing on the onscreen keyboard and using an keyboard case or something defeats the point. The MacBook is perfect since it runs all my normal applications. I don't have to deal with syncing my iTunes media or any media. I charges my other devices (though with an adapter). It's just great.

Previous Device(s): Well what does this replace? I still have an iPad Air, but I don't use it much at all (due to the lack of keyboard). I had an 11" MacBook Air, but I gave it to my cousin. The screen is just too small. I have the MacBook set at 1440x900 and it's great. I actually bought a Dell XPS 13 before this MacBook and I seriously love the Dell, but it had a buzzing fan and this Mac has no fan, so returned the former.

Primary Device: I have two Mac Pros, an iMac, a 15" MacBook Pro, four Mac minis... Also have two gaming laptops and two Thinkpads (X200 Tablet and a X1 Carbon) so yeah far from primary. But it's so portable, I can take it everywhere. It's definitely my favorite Mac!

Occupation: Officially, finance research. Unofficially, pro bono computer do everything guy.

Primary Uses: MacRumors… Yeah that's it. Can you imagine having to type this out on the iPad onscreen keyboard?! (Also good for porn, I mean I did end up with the 512GB model, that's a good amount of material)
 
Which Macbook retina?
Space Grey 1.3GHz 512GB SSD (arriving next week).

Why did I purchase?
Form factor, retina screen, portability/performance balance perfectly suited to my use case. Natural successor to my current work machine which it will directly replace. Travel around the world to various clients, also have a fascination/appreciation/respect for big capabilities in small packages.

Previous Device?
2011 11" MBA maxed BTO model which is just starting to show its age slightly now.

Primary Device?
In terms of professional work, yes. In the bigger picture? Nope. It will slot into the same place in my Apple device ecosystem as my MBA does now. iPad's as my, my wife's, and kids' primary personal devices, MB as my primary work device, with iPhone the device that serves both professional and personal roles. Mac mini as the family's media server/hub, Apple TV's at each of the big screens in the house, all connected via Airport Extremes.

Occupation
Finance, Management & Accounting Consultant - clients in Europe, North America, and the Middle East/Asia, so get around a bit during the year.

Primary Uses
  • iWork Suite, as little MS Office as possible, though Excel does still pop up from time to time. :rolleyes:
  • SugarCRM (Browser based CRM System)
  • FortNox (Browser based financial accounting software)
  • Dropbox, iCloud
  • Preview, Adobe Acrobat, Pixelmator
  • MS Remote Desktop for accessing a QlikView server (management analysis software, KPI's, etc)
  • Mail (5 primary email addresses, 50+ GB in total probably)
So nothing too tasking as far as CPU/GPU goes.

Written using my brand new iPad mini 3 in super fast typing mode ;)

PS - in conjunction with the MB, have sold my Gold iPhone 6+ and Gold iPad Air 2 and stepped down in screen size to SG iPhone 6 and SG iPad mini 3 to mirror my favorite setup I ever had, 11" MBA, iPad mini, iPhone 5. Perfect combo for me personally :D:apple:
 
I got the 1.1/256/Silver last week from John Lewis.

I'm running a club night in London and needed a laptop for music and video projections. I would have gone with the Air 11, but this is lighter and retina and also such a cute machine. I'd need a dongle anyway if I'd gone with an Air.

I'm a graphic designer and my primary computer is an iMac, so the macbook will be only for club nights and probably travelling. Primary uses: Spotify and flash animations in Chrome.
 
Which Macbook retina?
Space Grey 1.2GHz 512GB SSD

Why did I purchase?
Needed to replace a 7 year old 15" MBP. Had always planned to get the 15" rMBP - even when the new rMB came out I wasn't that taken by it in photos, but when I had a quick play on one in a store I loved it straight away.

More I thought about it I realised that as it wouldn't be my main machine like the old MBP had originally been, I really needed something more portable rather than something more powerful.

Previous Device?
2008 15" MBP - well due for replacing.

Primary Device?
No - also have a 27" iMac. This is mainly for taking out to meetings, or having the odd afternoon working in a coffee shop. (I normally work at home)

Occupation
Freelance web developer.

Primary Uses
Dreamweaver, WordPress, Fireworks, light Illustrator / Photoshop / InDesign, Outlook, Word, Excel, Skype, Spotify, iTunes

Once I got over the over analysis of benchmarks, and realised it was more than adequate for all of the above, and the screen could be set to 1440 x 900 and show as much as the old 15" but razor sharp, in the best looking laptop I've ever seen, for a lot less than a base model 15" rMBP it suddenly became a no brainer!
 
Which Macbook Retina?
Space Gray / 1.3 / 512GB. Ordered it right when it came online at 3 AM Eastern.

Why did I purchase?
Wanted to replace my 2008 MBAir. I say "wanted to replace" because it did not need to be replaced. My old MBAir did everything I wanted it to perfectly.

Previous Device:
2008 MBAir which I still have but rarely (never) use.

Primary Device?
Negative. I have a maxxed out Early 2011 MBPro connected to a nice monitor that I use as my "homebase" machine.

Occupation:
Healthcare consultant, I travel to clients or work from home. I will be a full-time med school student starting August 2015.

Primary Uses:
Currently, I use it for personal travel and when I'm home sitting on the couch or in bed. I use my work laptop when traveling for business. My rMB's purpose will change significantly once I start grad school in the fall. I will return my work laptop to my company and my rMB will be school/class workhorse. I'll still have my homebase machine but I will take my rMB with me everywhere.

I'm running Windows 8.1 Pro via Parallels 10. I'm pretty much only using it for MS Office right now, but I will have some other Windows applications once I start school.
 
Which MacBook Retina? 1.1/256/Space Gray. Got in April 20th and was really lucky to have found it.

Why did I purchase? Fell in love with this little guy after it was introduced in March and was already in the market for a MacBook Air for college. I wanted a small, light laptop with a retina display and the new MacBook seemed to check every box even at the base configuration.

Previous Device? MacBook Pro 13" 2009, MacBook Pro 13" 2012. Both of these were such great computers and got me through several years of college but the old SATA drive and 720P resolution was starting to show its age and I wanted to sell the 2012 model before they stopped selling them.

Primary Device? Yes. It's the only computer I own.

Occupation? Student in college.

Primary uses? Research, Safari, Word 2016, Excel 2016, PowerPoint 2016, iTunes, and light Adobe programs. It's runs all of these applications beautifully.
 
Which Macbook Retina?
1.3/512/Gold: Ordered at April 11, I used to order it at April 10, but I can't connect to internet while I am in a business travel, the hotel wifi sucks.

Why did I purchase? I want something super light, and can do business work on it. And I just need to bring one charger to charge my iPhone 6 Plus and Macbook in the future!

Previous Device(s): Macbook Pro -> Macbook Pro Retina -> Macbook Air 13" + iMac -> Macbook Air 11" + Mac Pro with 3 x 4K Screen -> Macbook 12" + Mac Pro with 3 x 4K Screen

Primary Device?: Yes, I use it all day. The Mac Pro is my supplementary device, since I always in Business travel and in fact not always using the Mac Pro:rolleyes:

Occupation: CEO, unfortunately.

Primary Uses: Checking Email with Airmail, Word, Powerpoint, Excel, Microsoft Remote Desktop, Logmein, Twitter, Beamer, Guild Wars 2 (I love this game, and my only game), some light coding (Ruby, Python <- I used to be a science student), Photoshop and Photos.
I installed Chrome but I use Safari most.
 
seong said:
I do not play any games. Used to be hard core up until high school (SC1/SC2, LoL, any RTS,) but now I'm all in for programming.

Honestly, people who are buying this to play games, especially 3D intensive ones, should stay away from this MacBook. It's not meant for them. Rather, they should look into either rMBP 15" with dGPU or an iMac (or Mac Pro for that matter.)
Click to expand...

Totally agree. And as other people have mentioned, there are consoles for that purposes. However, I'm more into classic games anyway and emulators run fine on this thing. Just need the USB-C to USB-A adaptor to plug in a game pad!
 
tillsbury said:
Which: 1.3 Space Grey. Got bored of looking at specifications of computers, and always find that the price differentials for Apple products (new, refurb, or second-hand) are pretty much exactly balanced by the specifications. So buy the maxed out of anything.

Why: Converted fully to mac when the rMBP came out, bought one first day as a desktop replacement with a Dell 30" monitor. Waiting for a large retina display since that day, and bought the riMac the day it was launched. Sold the rMBP for about 50% of its cost to fund the iMac. It's great, but missed the opportunity to use the notebook on holiday (or rather, to go on holiday when I want and still run my business). Reverted to a 10-year-old Sony Z portable (lol) over Christmas, waiting for a retina Air. The 11" Air was perfect but for the awful screen -- I just couldn't bring myself to pay for one. The moment the rMB was announced it was exactly the machine I had been waiting for.

Previous: covered that above. When on Windows I have always had a top-end tiny laptop as a portable "fun" device, used mostly on the sofa and occasionally on the road. Sony Vaios often used to have one of those. My rMBP was the only time I've used a laptop as a main computer. Now I've gone to an iMac I needed a tiny laptop.

Primary device: no, as above. Fun only, or allows me to be away with my girlfriend or on holiday and still do the tiny amount of work I need to do.

Occupation: semi-retired, but have a small company which requires me to be online for about 10-15 minutes in the middle of the day. A portable allows me to do this on the beach or wherever.

Primary uses: Basic office stuff/word/excel, web management and PHP coding, iMessage, controlling music/video servers, and accounts/emailing for my business which runs on XP (under VirtualBox or Parallels). I also do a lot of photography, video (FCPX), music (Logic Pro), 3d printing (Sketchup and other apps). Most of these I've usually done on the iMac, but am experimenting with their use on the rMB. Logic Pro at native 2304x1440 is really surprisingly good. Otherwise I stick to 1440x900.
Click to expand...


Have not seen anything posted on this site to make me think the 1.3 is worth the additional money.

In truth 1.2/256 is probably the sweet spot given this is version #1
 
Which Macbook Retina? 1.3/256/SG - Just got it yesterday, set up was a breeze, came preloaded with 10.10.3

Why did I purchase? My previous early 2008 Macbook would need a new battery and I can't upgrade past Snow Leopard, so it was time to replace it. Plus, I will be spending much of my time writing grants and I prefer to do that at coffee shops where there are less distractions than work or home.

Previous Device(s) early 2008 Macbook, Apple LCII, Mac Classic, Mac Plus. Other devices I currently use: Mac Mini i7 (2014) at work, quad-core Mac Mini (2012) at home, iPad 3, iPod Touch (5th gen).

Primary Device? For now, still the mac mini at work and the one at home. rMB during grant writing and travel.

Occupation Assistant Professor (research in immunology/virology).

Primary Uses Word, Powerpoint, Keynote, email, web browsing. Use mac mini at work to do more processor intensive tasks like data analysis, Illustrator figures.

----------
ZipZap said:
Have not seen anything posted on this site to make me think the 1.3 is worth the additional money.

In truth 1.2/256 is probably the sweet spot given this is version #1
Click to expand...

you mean the 1.1/256 or the 1.2/512? There is no 1.2/256.
 
Which Macbook Retina?
1.2Ghz, 512gb in Space Gray. Ordered the 11th April.. Hadn't arrived by 8th May - ordered John Lewis on the 8th and picked up on the 9th May.

Why did I purchase? Freelancer in Television production, so move around contracts every 3 months or so - this goes with me and also becomes my work machine. Need to be very portable and always wished for an Air but non-retina screen always put me off. I also currently have a 13'' Macbook Pro Early 2015 with Force Touch.

Previous Device(s): White Macbook / Macbook Pro 13'' / Macbook Pro 15'' with Retina / Macbook Pro 13'' with Force Touch. Also own an iMac 5K at home for heavy duty task, video editing, iTunes server connected to Apple TV. And an iPhone 6+.

Primary Device?: Yes - used all day at work and then at home on the coffee table for leisure use and taking work home.

Occupation: Television Production Manager.

Primary Uses: Email, Web Browsing, Excel-budgets, staffing spreadsheets, schedules , Word, streaming video, remote desktop connection for accounting packages, iPhone iTunes database, light-photo editing.


I've had it for a week now and TOTALLY LOVE IT. I bought it because it looked so beautiful and have always had a sneaky suspicion that I was buying above my needs and this has totally proved it.. I'll be selling the MacBook Pro that was recently purchased.. I half thought that I might be getting rid of this within the 14 days but there is absolutely nothing that I need to do that I have had any problem with so far even though it is far less powerful than the Pro I have owned..

Amazing piece of kit..
 
soulreaver99 said:
Just curious on why you decided to purchase the Retina MacBook, and what you use it for? I'll start...

Which Macbook Retina? 1.1/256/Silver - initially ordered the 1.2/512/SG but got an awesome open box deal at best buy. No regrets!

Why did I purchase? Needed a full desktop operating system in a small package to take on the go when I travel for business. Also a gadget addict!

Previous Device(s) Macbook Air 2013 -> Surface Pro 3 -> MacBook Air 2013 -> Surface Pro 3 -> MacBook Air 2013 -> SOLD BOTH! I loved both of them and they are still one of the top portable solutions out there. I kept going back and forth between two of them and sold them both to downsize.

Primary Device? Nope, have a MacBook Retina 15" 2013 hooked up to a 30-inch screen

Occupation Director of Sales managing 6 sales managers and 54 B2B sales reps!

Primary Uses My main uses are Outlook, Power Point, SalesForce (web based CRM), Microsoft Lync, Twitter, Facebook, Evernote, Chrome, and Parallels for Internet Explorer specific websites. This handles ALL of these applications running at the same time without any issues even on the 1.1/256 base model. If I can manage 60 employees with this thing on the go, then most people should be able to watch cat videos all day no problem.
Click to expand...

Which one? Base line model 1.1

Why did I purchase? Mostly for school, for taking notes during lecture and portable productivity.

Previous: MBPr 13 mid 2014, Surface 3, and Tower PC (Gaming computer)

Primary Device? For the most part, except when I feel need to use a tower computer.

Occupation: Marketing Student

Primary Uses: Word Processing, Browsing the web, occasional World of Warcraft playing, Videos, and reading PDF's/ Powerpoints

Love it so far meets my portability needs without a doubt, packs a large punch in terms of conformity compared to a Surface 3, which I returned due to this hybrid thing. It really doesn't work there a medium between a tablet and laptop and there will always be.
 
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