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Roundup: Hands-On Impressions of the New Retina MacBook Pros
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Aaand this is where psychology affects subjective evaluations of things. The new model shouldn't seem speedier, because at least in comparing base configurations, it isn't. Shame on you, TechCrunch.
Well these were all the upgrades for the 15" model we knew were coming, no surprises there (and I didn't think we'd get any, although I do think offering a space grey colour would have been rather nice)
Here I am with my March 2013 retina Macbook Pro and to be honest I want to upgrade, for a number of reasons. I don't believe this machine performs as well as my friend rMBP's do - it might just be me, but with 16gb of ram I'm not overly happy with the huge page files it creates and the fails to release and I get a spinning beach ball on various tasks that friends don't.
i can also upgrade and possibly make a profile with the price I got this for, or at least a very small negligible loss - and I think it best to upgrade to the latest model each time as you lose very little money.
Finally I really don't think the Intel 4000 is capable of driving this retina screen, it baulks after about a day of being on - it hates any of OSX's animations, often swapping to the Nvidea card and back can help, but really I hate seeing mission control animate at about 2 frames per second!
Take that with the improved battery life, a faster drive (and bigger too for the same money) slightly more power, improved wifi speeds, thunderbolt 2 available a new no broke charging cable and a keyboard ready to get the greasy finger stains on all over again and i'm pretty much sold!
Here I am with my March 2013 retina Macbook Pro and to be honest I want to upgrade, for a number of reasons. I don't believe this machine performs as well as my friend rMBP's do - it might just be me, but with 16gb of ram I'm not overly happy with the huge page files it creates and the fails to release and I get a spinning beach ball on various tasks that friends don't.
i can also upgrade and possibly make a profile with the price I got this for, or at least a very small negligible loss - and I think it best to upgrade to the latest model each time as you lose very little money.
Finally I really don't think the Intel 4000 is capable of driving this retina screen, it baulks after about a day of being on - it hates any of OSX's animations, often swapping to the Nvidea card and back can help, but really I hate seeing mission control animate at about 2 frames per second!
Take that with the improved battery life, a faster drive (and bigger too for the same money) slightly more power, improved wifi speeds, thunderbolt 2 available a new no broke charging cable and a keyboard ready to get the greasy finger stains on all over again and i'm pretty much sold!
What on earth makes you say that, aside from the fact that the Iris Pro is a bit power hungry? I'd rather have a 750M over a 650M (yes, it is basically an overlocked 650M), and while I'd have preferred an HD4600 for my iGPU, the fact that battery life improves make it still an upgrade over last year, I guess.
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I have the June 2012 model, money isn't an object (other than principle), and unlike you, I am not at all sold. But to the specific point you raised, the HD4000 is perfectly capable. Wait until you see what it does under Mavericks.
I can't speak to the rest of your post where you seem to be suggesting you got a lemon. If that's your way of talking yourself into an upgrade, uh, whatever floats your boat, I guess.
Well my point exactly is, that the 750M is no more than 10% faster than the 650M (not really an upgrade of any sort, IMO [as everything I post is]) but you have to pay $600 more (high end model) in order to get it this time. Last year, the 650M came in base model too. Now you have to shell out for, for what I consider to be "basically" the same card.
Btw, what do you think of the Iris Pro/750M combo in the high end model. Isn't that quite the ruse?
(speaking about the gap in performance there - ignoring the fact that obviously individuals working with modeling need the dGPU)
That wasn't my main motivation for upgrading...
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Haters gonna hate
Oh please, spare me.
The 2012 already had a (significantly) overclocked 650M though, I do wonder how much better the 750M would really be, if at all. The real improvement with the graphics is the memory (though in theory it'd be possible to have some 2GB chips installed on the old one with some very nice equipment)
I am glad I didn't wait it out this whole year -- definitely got a lot of enjoyment from this laptop since last June.
Um, check the specs. If you take the base 15" for $1999, and then
- upgrade the CPU to 2.3GHz (like the model with 750M), $100
- upgrade the RAM to 16GB (like the 750M model), $200
- upgrade the SSD to 512G (like the 750M model), $300
I suspect that some people might get the non-750M model just to get more battery life.
Well I meant, all other upgrades aside. If someone wants a dGPU but doesn't care for the 16GB of ram, or higher storage amount, or faster CPU, then they're stuck shelling out $600 for it. And even with that, the dGPU you get is not even a reasonable improvement over the model that you got with the base model, last year.
Iris Pro and 750M is like the 9400/9600m combo again. That said, this time around, the Iris Pro seems to be up to the job - ordinarily that means less lag in safari, etc. Guess reviews will explain properly!
However, the base model has NO dGPU. Would feel so much better if base had 750m at least, and top end had 765m. I mean spending $2000 on something without dGPU?! Madness.
That said, the 13 inch is now much more solid a proposition by contrast, and partly thanks to the improved intel gpu!
However, the base model has NO dGPU. Would feel so much better if base had 750m at least, and top end had 765m. I mean spending $2000 on something without dGPU?! Madness.
That said, the 13 inch is now much more solid a proposition by contrast, and partly thanks to the improved intel gpu!
Well my point exactly is, that the 750M is no more than 10% faster than the 650M (not really an upgrade of any sort, IMO [as everything I post is]) but you have to pay $600 more (high end model) in order to get it this time. Last year, the 650M came in base model too. Now you have to shell out for, for what I consider to be "basically" the same card.
Btw, what do you think of the Iris Pro/750M combo in the high end model. Isn't that quite the ruse?
Ah, gotcha. Yeah, it's a pretty stiff premium for a 10-15% GPU improvement, but I guess Apple would counter by saying, "Yeah, but for the same price as it would take to upgrade the base model to 2.3/16/512, you're getting the dGPU for free." Of course, for users who only want a better GPU and don't want the extra CPU speed, memory, or SSD space, they're kind of screwed. And, of course, I see you mentioned that in your later post, too.
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Yup, we won't know until the real benchmarks come out, but I think VanillaCracker's 10% number seems about right, given that the "standard" benchmarks show a 10-15% gap. I'm sure the 750M will be better, but I'm also pretty sure the gap won't be that much.
Realistically - anyone who wanted a higher performance video card would ALSO want at least two items on that list, making the upgrade not that much more.
The nice thing about there being a "base" high-end config that includes the graphics card is you'll likely be able to buy it on Amazon and at least save on sales tax.
Yeah, the way they set it up it streamlines quite well with what the general public's buying pattern should be. The lower end model coinciding perfectly for what people would need their performance in - smaller projects, photos, open cl, etc. While those who need more of a workstation type computer would obviously be in need of excessive ram, a dGPU, and likely a faster cpu also. Which is exactly what they provide so it's all in all a good, and a fair situation for the majority.
I'm not really harping on their decisions, more so pointing out criticisms. I think given the somewhat questionable situation they were put in (Iris pro as a potential dGPU killer), they made a good decision with their line up.
Still curious as to what will be going on with that high end model - both for the 750M's performance and also what people say with the Iris Pro beating it out in some categories
For me the new 13" (even the base model) is a step up from my non-working 2008 17" MacBook Pro...
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Where the old model would stutter and lag on web pages and while working with images, the new model's Haswell processor with upgraded Iris graphics was totally smooth. Obviously we didn't get to test it too harshly, but if it holds up when we review it, the 13-inch Pro just reentered the conversation in a big way*-- especially since the base price is now just $1,299.
The old model stuttered and lagged on webpages and while working with images? A 1400,- notebook??
The improvement is that it doesnt do that anymore?
Seriously?
1299,- for 4gb ram and 128gb ssd. Non upgradeable!!
Apple just made the decision for me that i either get the old mbp for 950,- or a mba with 8gb ram.
Where the old model would stutter and lag on web pages and while working with images, the new model's Haswell processor with upgraded Iris graphics was totally smooth. Obviously we didn't get to test it too harshly, but if it holds up when we review it, the 13-inch Pro just reentered the conversation in a big way*-- especially since the base price is now just $1,299.
The old model stuttered and lagged on webpages and while working with images? A 1400,- notebook??
The improvement is that it doesnt do that anymore?
Seriously?
1299,- for 4gb ram and 128gb ssd. Non upgradeable!!
Apple just made the decision for me that i either get the old mbp for 950,- or a mba with 8gb ram.
Well my point exactly is, that the 750M is no more than 10% faster than the 650M (not really an upgrade of any sort, IMO [as everything I post is]) but you have to pay $600 more (high end model) in order to get it this time. Last year, the 650M came in base model too. Now you have to shell out for, for what I consider to be "basically" the same card.
Btw, what do you think of the Iris Pro/750M combo in the high end model. Isn't that quite the ruse?
But the CPU is 2.3Ghz, vs 2.7Ghz for last gen. and Haswell is ~3% faster... and you're complaining about only having a 10% boost for the dGPU???
AM i missing something?
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Yeah, and? Some restaurants give you free sugar water with your meal... do you need diabetes?
Point being... if you're never going to use the dGPU why have it? It's only a $40 gpu... sucking on your battery.
My Apple laptops seem to last an exceptionally long time before I feel like it's time to upgrade, so my mid-2010 is still great for my needs (for a laptop). That said, if I was in the market for a new laptop, the 15" MBP looks so nice. I really can't believe how thin they've gotten.
Did didnt expect any major leaps in performance, but a gtx750 is pretty lackluster for a $2000 machine. If you hit up GPUboss, the bench is almost identical to last years model - http://gpuboss.com/gpus/GeForce-GT-750M-vs-GeForce-GT-650M.
Im sure its gonna be faster, but COMMON! Moores law says 18 months, and from a dark corner apple whispers "and thirty years".
Apple have always been splitting hairs when pointing to performance increases, but where almost at the point of "well, it might be faster?".
Im sure its gonna be faster, but COMMON! Moores law says 18 months, and from a dark corner apple whispers "and thirty years".
Apple have always been splitting hairs when pointing to performance increases, but where almost at the point of "well, it might be faster?".
I don't care how fast the CPU is, if it's anything more than a 30% gain then that's great, if not, it's not a bother to me. I do care about the dGPU because I play games. Simple as that. I'm no pro, I just like my games. Yes, it is a shiity (less than $100) low-mid end mobile dGPU but it's all I'm able to get in the MacBook. If I could strip it open and stick in a 765M I would do it in a heartbeat, even if it cost me $400
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It's quite disappointing to say the least haha
Dude... you are so on the wrong platform if you like games.
The MBP is a thin, high computational notebook... it doesn't have the enough cooling for a good GPU.
The CPU will burn your nuts if you encode.
The 650m would burn my nuts if I watched a 1080p youtube clip.
If you game, there are some really cool mATX cases that accommodate full length GPU's, + a monitor and you're in gaming heaven.
Macs will never compete.
Oh and btw: http://browser.primatelabs.com/mac-benchmarks
MacBook Pro (15-inch Retina Late 2013)
Intel Core i7-4850HQ 2300 MHz (4 cores)
11794
MacBook Pro (15-inch Retina Early 2013)
Intel Core i7-3740QM 2700 MHz (4 cores)
11511
We're NOT talking 30%, we're talking 0.024%!
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Thanks for the comment. It's almost as if you think I own a mac for gaming. That's furthest from the truth. I own a mac for the same reason most other people own macs. However I happen to enjoy casual gaming, like many other people, and do it as a hobby. I don't play games at maxed out settings, and don't plan to.
I didn't expect anything above the 750M in this refresh, but the only reason I didn't expect it is because I know apple under-delivers. Maybe it's true that they couldn't cool a 760M, but I know that the razer notebook is only 14", is smaller, thinner, lighter, and has a 765M graphics card which it manages quite well. I'm mildly disappointed, but since I am a patient and loyal customer, I will wait until they do something better with graphics - in next years model.
The Razor runs hot, not as hot as the original but still hot... read the reviews.
Apple want you to game on the iFad, phone... Macs are going to productivity OpenCL... so next gen will probably not have a dGPU.
Quote Gizmodo: "It gets hot enough to physically burn you if you do something dumb like rest it on your chest"
The MBP's used to be the same way. The cMBP has burned quite a few people's thighs. But yes, I believe you when you say that they will take the dGPU out of next years model. We will have to wait on leaks and other information about Nvidia's Maxwell graphics (TDP, etc) to see if it's a viable option at all. I still see them keeping a dGPU in the higher end if possible - as they did this year.