rMBP or new (possibly not this year) iMac 2012?

[stevelam]

I dont really need portability but laptops seem easier to sell and maintain, as well as fix if a repair issue were ever to arise. New battery needed or dead hard drive? no problem, just take it to your local Apple store, and a quick swap is made. It's much easier to carry a rMBP to a local Apple store for repairs than lug around an iMac. Also, I don't have a big room and desktop space is limited, so even if I did go the iMac route, I would have to get the 21.5".

are you serious? one of your considerations is the weight of carrying it back to an apple store for repair?

and good luck repairing the RMBP. if they dont have your specific model (which they wont since it seems like you'll be after a CTO), you'd have to wait for a new machine to actually come in as a replacement since they pretty much can't replace a single part of it.

 

[Atisha]

The iMac is extremely mature and stable and will last you the longest and will never really be outdated as it can, 10 years later, do double duty as a secondary monitor even if the computer components are made obsolete.

The Retina Macbook Pro is a first generation beta-ish product that has many issues at this point, the screen quality uniformity being a huge one.

I would wait for 2nd generation Retina MBP.

As far as I'm concerned I waited 2+ months after the first lineup went out, and I feel safe. Apple is investing everything in mobile devices and laptops. rMBP will receive overwhelming support, and Applecare for 3 years definitely doesn't hurt. I guarantee Apple has been testing them for almost a year before release -- they are not going to replace thousands of entire MBP units, without replaceable parts really, due to tiny problems.

iMac retina will be in beta also. Apple will not invest much in it. It will have longer and longer refreshes. They will use crappy parts IMO, moreso than rMBP, and there may be some added TV utility. I figure, with my rMBP I can just buy a F ing tv and plug into it. You can get a new monitor. What CAN'T rMBP do? Great resale value even if the new iMacs turn out to be amazing. It's mobile. It might be 15% slower than an iMac of the same price range -- not a big deal.

Hell, I would rather have a new Mac Pro than either of them, but especially more than an iMac. If I want a hunk of metal sitting around I want it to be exceptionally fast. Mac Pro is not going to happen any time soon, and iMac STILL might not even come out in 2012.

 

[stevelam]

So basically the general consensus is just to get the rMBP over the 2012 iMac. Something I thought about is that the 21.5" iMac has only a max resolution of 1900x1200 while the rMBP is much higher. This is a tough decision to make. Anyone here games on their rMBP?

am i wrong or are you just playing the dumb number game here? there is nothing good about running super high res's on a tiny 15" screen. people only do it because certain staple apps like photoshop aren't retina friendly at all and require a native res rather than a scaled one, making everything incredibly small and unusable.

i mean really, if your uses are "I do word processing, web browsing, email, iTunes, movies, and gaming"
super high resolution doesn't help you one bit except make everything much less readable.

 

[iAppl3Fan]

OP, get a similar setup to mine and forget the iMac.

 

[MagicThief83]

am i wrong or are you just playing the dumb number game here? there is nothing good about running super high res's on a tiny 15" screen. people only do it because certain staple apps like photoshop aren't retina friendly at all and require a native res rather than a scaled one, making everything incredibly small and unusable.

i mean really, if your uses are "I do word processing, web browsing, email, iTunes, movies, and gaming"
super high resolution doesn't help you one bit except make everything much less readable.

I am not playing the dumb number game. I understand that retina resolutions can place considerable strain on a system and make screen text extremely tiny. However, retina is by far, a more pleasurable viewing experience than the max lower resolutions of other non-retina displays. You're right as to that retina will not enhance my "word processing, web-browsing, email, iTunes, movies, and gaming" but I'd rather pay more for the latest and greatest and get more bang for my buck. Even so, many sources and rumors have already confirmed the 2012 iMac will lack retina and a major overhaul.

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As far as I'm concerned I waited 2+ months after the first lineup went out, and I feel safe. Apple is investing everything in mobile devices and laptops. rMBP will receive overwhelming support, and Applecare for 3 years definitely doesn't hurt. I guarantee Apple has been testing them for almost a year before release -- they are not going to replace thousands of entire MBP units, without replaceable parts really, due to tiny problems.

iMac retina will be in beta also. Apple will not invest much in it. It will have longer and longer refreshes. They will use crappy parts IMO, moreso than rMBP, and there may be some added TV utility. I figure, with my rMBP I can just buy a F ing tv and plug into it. You can get a new monitor. What CAN'T rMBP do? Great resale value even if the new iMacs turn out to be amazing. It's mobile. It might be 15% slower than an iMac of the same price range -- not a big deal.

Hell, I would rather have a new Mac Pro than either of them, but especially more than an iMac. If I want a hunk of metal sitting around I want it to be exceptionally fast. Mac Pro is not going to happen any time soon, and iMac STILL might not even come out in 2012.

I completely agree and I personally believe that the rMBP is far from a beta-ish product. I would love a retina iMac but it seems that technology isn't ready for prime time yet.

 

[mzjin]

Excellent response, issue is that I would like a decent computing/gaming machine now with the latest technology and the rMBP seems to offer all of the above. Which would you choose? Sure, I guess I could wait for the 2nd gen rMBP but I really would like a great machine (especially to order soon before the back to school promo ends �&#56841. The current rMBP is way more powerful than the current high end 21.5" iMac and that is just incredible. I really do regret picking up the MBA and should've just ordered the rMBP from the get go. All these rumors an waiting are driving me nuts!

If you want a decent gaming computer, don't even bother with the Retina MBP.

You must run at lower resolutions even in games like Diablo 3. Even on the maxed out 2011 iMac 27"s, Diablo 3 still struggles and is impossible to run @ 60 FPS with VSYNC at native resolutions.

 

[MagicThief83]

If you want a decent gaming computer, don't even bother with the Retina MBP.

You must run at lower resolutions even in games like Diablo 3. Even on the maxed out 2011 iMac 27"s, Diablo 3 still struggles and is impossible to run @ 60 FPS with VSYNC at native resolutions.

I would like a Mac and I personally believe Macs are capable of decent gaming, including the rMBP. I have no qualms about running games on lower resolutions as long as they are playable and look decent.