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Should I wait for the 2016 Retina MacBook?
- Thread starter Truefan31
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If you're looking for problems, you will always find one.
Don't buy anything. Problem free.
"stain gate" is a farce.. That crap happens from keeping the notebook surface dirty, usually greasy hands, and then storing under great compression which would keep the dirty surface pressed against the screen for prolonged periods, such as in an overly tightly packed backpack. The oils from the greasy stains will eat away at the glass surface coating over time. It's total PEBCAK. It's very obvious in photos 20 and 21.
Nope. You will always be waiting for the next version.
The question you have to ask yourself is, does an ultra portable cut it? if you look at the 13 or 15 rMBP.
If i had to have just one, I would get the 15 rMBP. As I own the 15, the 12 is perfect, a CPU bump etc, will make little difference to me, the current CPU is plenty fast enough for a ultra portable.
The question you have to ask yourself is, does an ultra portable cut it? if you look at the 13 or 15 rMBP.
If i had to have just one, I would get the 15 rMBP. As I own the 15, the 12 is perfect, a CPU bump etc, will make little difference to me, the current CPU is plenty fast enough for a ultra portable.
If you don't pay attention when you put your notebook into a heavy backpack (filled with books), the screen will get compressed as you walk around. If you don't believe me, have someone wear your bag and you try to put a finger between two books. Walking around like that for miles will eventually compress it hard enough to see those "stain" lines on the screen.
I used to wear a backpack. Booq makes hardshell cases to go in your backpack.
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I was shocked by how poorly the Macbook performs. I have a Macbook Air for comparison, so it's not as if my everyday machine is a powerhouse.
I played with in the Apple Store - opened iMovie, iTunes, Safari, Textedit - general everyday stuff. It was noticeably slow to launch apps and do things. Even Textedit. And this is on a fresh machine, heaven help in a years time when it's bogged down with more services! It was like using an old phone after using a new one, everything seems to take forever in comparison.
The ONLY thing Macbook has going for it in my opinion is the form factor (bit smaller than MBA). However, at the cost of less battery life due to the smaller size, and performance that was miles behind in 'real usage', unfortunately can't even consider it until it improves quite a bit. I hope v2 is much better.
I played with in the Apple Store - opened iMovie, iTunes, Safari, Textedit - general everyday stuff. It was noticeably slow to launch apps and do things. Even Textedit. And this is on a fresh machine, heaven help in a years time when it's bogged down with more services! It was like using an old phone after using a new one, everything seems to take forever in comparison.
The ONLY thing Macbook has going for it in my opinion is the form factor (bit smaller than MBA). However, at the cost of less battery life due to the smaller size, and performance that was miles behind in 'real usage', unfortunately can't even consider it until it improves quite a bit. I hope v2 is much better.
Actually mine does open those apps in 1 second.
Im also very skeptical about keeping it though as I've only had the machine for 4 days. I absolutely love its form factor and how good it is at every day tasks but I don't know if i need something a little more powerful for say year down the line so that is why I am considering trading it for th rMBP even though for at least the next year I won't need the power that comes with the rMBP and this is very very sufficient and actually surprised me with how fast it is because I bought it with lower expectations after reading all the reviews.
If i were you id give it a fair chance. It has definitely exceeded my expectations although I may not keep it.
I love it when people say how slow the MacBook is. It's designed for portability, not for speed. If you need speed, you should consider a MacBook Pro.
I surf the web, send/receive emails, type on Word, etc. For me it's perfect. My wife, on the other hand, uses Photoshop a lot. There's no way she could function with a MacBook. She uses a MacBook Pro 15". When I have to use her laptop, I feel like I have my iMac in my lap.
I surf the web, send/receive emails, type on Word, etc. For me it's perfect. My wife, on the other hand, uses Photoshop a lot. There's no way she could function with a MacBook. She uses a MacBook Pro 15". When I have to use her laptop, I feel like I have my iMac in my lap.
I have a MBP too in addition to the MB. I remote into it using screen sharing (or file sharing) when I have to use it. That way, if you need more power, just remote into it, but you still have the lightness of the Macbook.
The MBP is stationary now, sitting on top of the treadmill desk. The thickness and weight doesn't matter, but I benefit from the slightly larger 13" retina screen.
Just think using the power of your Mac Pro or iMac, using photoshop or whatever editing software, but still have the lightness of the Macbook. You still have access to all your devices and peripherals, but you're not stuck in one place.
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I felt the same the first time I've played with one at the store the day it was released, but I've played with it again recently and noticed it was much more snappier. Perhaps it had something to do with the updates, but every app opened up with no hesitation.
When I had the original iPad it seemed fine. Then I got a v3 and the old one was suddenly slow for everything! Could be the same thing.
"Designed for portability" - outside of on a plane, can't think of any time I've thought "god this MBA is so big and bulky!". That was more my point, the MB is a bit smaller & lighter, however seems FAR slower, battery life is worse, ports suck (no SD card for camera, and I'm often overseas so I charge my phone over USB) and the cost is very high - I paid $1000 AUD for the Macbook Air, Macbook is $1600 AUD. That's a lot of compromise to then pay 60% more for it.
I'm hoping for the MB2 they improve it substantially - at the moment I wonder what void are they trying to fill? If I have a work computer & an iPad, why would I want a Macbook? Do I use it instead of an iPad? But it costs 3x as much, sucks to use around the house in comparison, doesn't have a SIM card slot etc. At the moment it's a weird niche: it's not great for work, and it's not great for consuming media. MS Surface is much better hybrid and a ton cheaper, although to me it's still in the "not great for work, not great for media" category. It does a much better job of trying to do both then the MB though.
Screen size isn't too much of a problem personally, if you're at home you can dock it to an external monitor.
"Designed for portability" - outside of on a plane, can't think of any time I've thought "god this MBA is so big and bulky!". That was more my point, the MB is a bit smaller & lighter, however seems FAR slower, battery life is worse, ports suck (no SD card for camera, and I'm often overseas so I charge my phone over USB) and the cost is very high - I paid $1000 AUD for the Macbook Air, Macbook is $1600 AUD. That's a lot of compromise to then pay 60% more for it.
I'm hoping for the MB2 they improve it substantially - at the moment I wonder what void are they trying to fill? If I have a work computer & an iPad, why would I want a Macbook? Do I use it instead of an iPad? But it costs 3x as much, sucks to use around the house in comparison, doesn't have a SIM card slot etc. At the moment it's a weird niche: it's not great for work, and it's not great for consuming media. MS Surface is much better hybrid and a ton cheaper, although to me it's still in the "not great for work, not great for media" category. It does a much better job of trying to do both then the MB though.
Screen size isn't too much of a problem personally, if you're at home you can dock it to an external monitor.
I hate to keep harping on it because I almost feel like I'm shilling for Apple but I'm going to anyways.
Yes, undoubtedly once the 2nd and 3rd generation of the rMB rolls around, this 1st gen will feel much slower. As for your points about it versus the MBA:
however seems FAR slower
Depends on what you're doing on it. Honestly, when I'm just using it to browse the web, send emails and watch videos, it doesn't feel that much slower than my late 2013 13" rMBP. Certainly, it is slower to boot up but aside from that I haven't really noticed any appreciable difference in speed for my use case. Of course YMMV especially when using CPU intensive programs, but then again the rMB wasn't really meant for people with those kinds of needs.
battery life is worse
Compared to the 13" Air, totally. Compared to the 11", it's maybe an hour or so worse. However, it's been more than enough to get me through my work day and still have a good chunk leftover for when I get home.
ports suck (no SD card for camera, and I'm often overseas so I charge my phone over USB)
Mm-hm, you won't hear any argument from me. However, even on my 13" rMBP, I only really used the magsafe "port" with any great regularity. I would plug in a USB/external drive or use the HDMI to plug into an external monitor from time to time, but I can live without attaching it to an external monitor and I bought the USB-C to USB adapter for the rare occasions I need to plug something in.
and the cost is very high - I paid $1000 AUD for the Macbook Air, Macbook is $1600 AUD.
Are the specs completely the same? I'm not sure about in Australia but in the US at least if you want comparable specs (8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) for the 11" Air you're looking to pay $1199 versus $1299 for the rMB, which is a difference of around 8%.
For me, it's the only Mac I have. I have a Windows desktop at work for some work programs that I have to be on the local work intranet to access and I have a Windows PC at home for gaming and media. My MacBook is my portable option at home and at work which is more than powerful enough for what I need: emails, Word/Excel, web browsing, iTunes and watching videos. It's the perfect tool for me because it's lighter than the rMBP that I had, but has a much better screen than the MBA. I also, personally, didn't need the ports so the lack of them doesn't really hurt me. I know that doesn't go for everyone, which is why the rMB isn't necessarily for everyone.
Not really directing this at you in particular, but I often wonder why so many people try to make it seem like Apple is marketing this thing as the one-stop solution to everyone's needs? Clearly the rMB isn't for you and that's fine, but why the need to question why anyone would buy it at all?
Being in store was already booted. I opened Textedit, Safari & visited a few sites, iMovie, iTunes. As I said originally it was surprisingly slow. It's not like I was converting videos or anything CPU heavy, it was basic usage.
For me personally:
- SD card slot
- a 2nd USB port
are near necessities. Isn't Apple against cables? So why can't I just use my camera, instead I've got to bring a cable to connect it? (which also means going off power. And I can't just grab from my SD card & put on the external drive, I have to middle man it via the computer - lame!). People still use Cameras, we're not talking CDs which have a ton of better options. A lot of cameras don't have wifi & even when they do it's commonly sketchy.
Gun to their head, I'm positive they'd tell you they could have done it, simply if they play all their cards now there's little for future versions. That's the stage they're at with the MBA - slight processor upgrade, ssd upgrade and that's it for a number of years now.
The rMB hardly fits anyones needs, though, which is my point. It's a confused product.
Want a good device for consuming media? iPad (with keyboard dock if doing 'work')
Want a portable laptop with great battery life & enough power for even 'moderate' gaming and editing? MBA
Want a powerful machine while still being somewhat portable? MBP
Want a powerful desktop machine? iMac
I'm not sure why they don't drop the MBA line & make the MB even 25% faster and give it a reasonable amount of ports. Their product lines are becoming a mess especially if an iPad Pro is released. MBA is basically dead in the water. My assumption would be as long as the MBA is around, the MB will remain deliberately 'dumbed down'. If they drop the MBA line, then expect the MB line to be sped up & have more ports. Not that I'd wait for any new Apple product - they release very little information and lots of rumours of upgrades 'around the corner' never eventuate. Where is my new Apple TV, I thought Steve had solved it?!
Just buy whatever suits now and then sell should the product you want be released.
EDIT: Macbook made more sense in the line as an underpowered entry level cheapest product. Now it's almost double the price and still the slowest product in the line. It's a bit odd having a good screen on a slower computer, and having a better computer with a worse screen. Perhaps someone at the Apple store has knowledge of internal guides of who they're recommending it to/what it's target market actually is. $1800 (inc tax - $1600 is without) is almost 2 weeks average salary in Australia. That's a lot of money for a computer with those specifications. How much of a market is willing to pay so much extra for a more polished computer + screen? Especially when the MBA is more future proof, has more battery, more ports/usability, and is considerably cheaper (if it's slow today, heaven forbid 3 years time! My iPhone 5 runs like a $50 knockoff these days). It just doesn't make sense to me, as I said seems a confused product especially in the context of their overall product lineup.
For me personally:
- SD card slot
- a 2nd USB port
are near necessities. Isn't Apple against cables? So why can't I just use my camera, instead I've got to bring a cable to connect it? (which also means going off power. And I can't just grab from my SD card & put on the external drive, I have to middle man it via the computer - lame!). People still use Cameras, we're not talking CDs which have a ton of better options. A lot of cameras don't have wifi & even when they do it's commonly sketchy.
Gun to their head, I'm positive they'd tell you they could have done it, simply if they play all their cards now there's little for future versions. That's the stage they're at with the MBA - slight processor upgrade, ssd upgrade and that's it for a number of years now.
The rMB hardly fits anyones needs, though, which is my point. It's a confused product.
Want a good device for consuming media? iPad (with keyboard dock if doing 'work')
Want a portable laptop with great battery life & enough power for even 'moderate' gaming and editing? MBA
Want a powerful machine while still being somewhat portable? MBP
Want a powerful desktop machine? iMac
I'm not sure why they don't drop the MBA line & make the MB even 25% faster and give it a reasonable amount of ports. Their product lines are becoming a mess especially if an iPad Pro is released. MBA is basically dead in the water. My assumption would be as long as the MBA is around, the MB will remain deliberately 'dumbed down'. If they drop the MBA line, then expect the MB line to be sped up & have more ports. Not that I'd wait for any new Apple product - they release very little information and lots of rumours of upgrades 'around the corner' never eventuate. Where is my new Apple TV, I thought Steve had solved it?!
Just buy whatever suits now and then sell should the product you want be released.EDIT: Macbook made more sense in the line as an underpowered entry level cheapest product. Now it's almost double the price and still the slowest product in the line. It's a bit odd having a good screen on a slower computer, and having a better computer with a worse screen. Perhaps someone at the Apple store has knowledge of internal guides of who they're recommending it to/what it's target market actually is. $1800 (inc tax - $1600 is without) is almost 2 weeks average salary in Australia. That's a lot of money for a computer with those specifications. How much of a market is willing to pay so much extra for a more polished computer + screen? Especially when the MBA is more future proof, has more battery, more ports/usability, and is considerably cheaper (if it's slow today, heaven forbid 3 years time! My iPhone 5 runs like a $50 knockoff these days). It just doesn't make sense to me, as I said seems a confused product especially in the context of their overall product lineup.
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Geekbench 64 bit:
Macbook Air 2013: 6183
Macbook 2015: 5297
Stats aren't accurate, as an indicator I expected something in the ballpark. I use MBA for work every day and it's more than adequate, hence why I was shocked at how slow it was in comparison. I wasn't expecting it to run Crysis
Being in store was already booted. I opened Textedit, Safari & visited a few sites, iMovie, iTunes. As I said originally it was surprisingly slow. It's not like I was converting videos or anything CPU heavy, it was basic usage.
For me personally:
- SD card slot
- a 2nd USB port
are near necessities. Isn't Apple against cables? So why can't I just use my camera, instead I've got to bring a cable to connect it? (which also means going off power. And I can't just grab from my SD card & put on the external drive, I have to middle man it via the computer - lame!). People still use Cameras, we're not talking CDs which have a ton of better options. A lot of cameras don't have wifi & even when they do it's commonly sketchy.
Gun to their head, I'm positive they'd tell you they could have done it, simply if they play all their cards now there's little for future versions. That's the stage they're at with the MBA - slight processor upgrade, ssd upgrade and that's it for a number of years now.
The rMB hardly fits anyones needs, though, which is my point. It's a confused product.
Want a good device for consuming media? iPad (with keyboard dock if doing 'work')
Want a portable laptop with great battery life & enough power for even 'moderate' gaming and editing? MBA
Want a powerful machine while still being somewhat portable? MBP
Want a powerful desktop machine? iMac
I'm not sure why they don't drop the MBA line & make the MB even 25% faster and give it a reasonable amount of ports. Their product lines are becoming a mess especially if an iPad Pro is released. MBA is basically dead in the water. My assumption would be as long as the MBA is around, the MB will remain deliberately 'dumbed down'. If they drop the MBA line, then expect the MB line to be sped up & have more ports. Not that I'd wait for any new Apple product - they release very little information and lots of rumours of upgrades 'around the corner' never eventuate. Where is my new Apple TV, I thought Steve had solved it?!
EDIT: Macbook made more sense in the line as an underpowered entry level cheapest product. Now it's almost double the price and still the slowest product in the line. It's a bit odd having a good screen on a slower computer, and having a better computer with a worse screen. Perhaps someone at the Apple store has knowledge of internal guides of who they're recommending it to/what it's target market actually is. $1800 (inc tax - $1600 is without) is almost 2 weeks average salary in Australia. That's a lot of money for a computer with those specifications. How much of a market is willing to pay so much extra for a more polished computer + screen? Especially when the MBA is more future proof, has more battery, more ports/usability, and is considerably cheaper (if it's slow today, heaven forbid 3 years time! My iPhone 5 runs like a $50 knockoff these days). It just doesn't make sense to me, as I said seems a confused product especially in the context of their overall product lineup.
Equally for some of us the Retina MacBook is working as intended by Apple and fits the niche perfectly. My own 1.2 rMB has paid for itself multiple times over, if it doesn't meet your needs move on Apple has a range of portables for that very reason. As for the slowness your describing, not present on my rMB, nor would it be of much use if it did perform as portrayed...
Q-6
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Geekbench 64 bit:
Macbook Air 2013: 6183
Macbook 2015: 5297
Stats aren't accurate, as an indicator I expected something in the ballpark. I use MBA for work every day and it's more than adequate, hence why I was shocked at how slow it was in comparison. I wasn't expecting it to run Crysis
And that Geekbench tells you exactly what? I'm planning to switch from my MBPr 15" 2012 to my Macbook 1.3 and sell the MBPr when El Capitan is ready. I tested them side by side on Yosemite and for MY heavy tasks (SW development, 10 min batch jobs single core) the Macbook is about 20% slower than the Macbook Pro, wich is totally fine for me. On normal usage it feels just as fast. Besides, El Capitan is a completely different experience on the Macbook.
I can say that the Macbook is a perfect fit for me. I bought the USB-C to USB adapter. The only time I've actually used it is to test my SD card adapter. It stayed in the closet ever since. I'm not a photographer, but I do take vacation pictures. Even then, I don't care to upload them until I get back. I'm the perfect candidate for this Macbook. Sure I'd like to have all the ports built-in, but I never connect an external monitor, rarely plug in an external backup drive. The power and headphone port is all I actually use. The Macbook lets me be entertained with a headphone so no one needs to listen to the crap they don't want to hear. The headphone I got with my iPhone is perfect. It actually sounds better than beats wireless headphones.
I don't edit videos or photos, so CPU power isn't a problem at all for me. If anything, I want more battery life. I also hate being tied to a (sitting) desk for hours. The only time I actually am at a desk is when I'm on my treadmill desk using my MBP. With that MBP, the only ports I use are power and headphones.
I bought into the hype long ago about big, all-you-can-eat ports laptop. I was listening to people who say "real estate", back when desktop replacement laptops were the fad. I bought a 17" Powerbook. All those ports and I rarely use any of them. Certainly some people will need the real estate and the extra ports, but it all depends on each individual use case. What's perfect for one person is impractical for another.
A person who constantly going places and need to plug into an external monitor to work, show presentation, or take lots of pictures and need to upload them, have different needs than a person who just want an ultra lightweight laptop that do low CPU intense work, like browse and email.
Think of it like.. barbie dolls or stuff animals. They may not be useful for one person but they may be useful for someone else.
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Being in store was already booted. I opened Textedit, Safari & visited a few sites, iMovie, iTunes. As I said originally it was surprisingly slow. It's not like I was converting videos or anything CPU heavy, it was basic usage.
For me personally:
- SD card slot
- a 2nd USB port
are near necessities. Isn't Apple against cables? So why can't I just use my camera, instead I've got to bring a cable to connect it? (which also means going off power. And I can't just grab from my SD card & put on the external drive, I have to middle man it via the computer - lame!). People still use Cameras, we're not talking CDs which have a ton of better options. A lot of cameras don't have wifi & even when they do it's commonly sketchy.
Gun to their head, I'm positive they'd tell you they could have done it, simply if they play all their cards now there's little for future versions. That's the stage they're at with the MBA - slight processor upgrade, ssd upgrade and that's it for a number of years now.
The rMB hardly fits anyones needs, though, which is my point. It's a confused product.
Want a good device for consuming media? iPad (with keyboard dock if doing 'work')
Want a portable laptop with great battery life & enough power for even 'moderate' gaming and editing? MBA
Want a powerful machine while still being somewhat portable? MBP
Want a powerful desktop machine? iMac
I'm not sure why they don't drop the MBA line & make the MB even 25% faster and give it a reasonable amount of ports. Their product lines are becoming a mess especially if an iPad Pro is released. MBA is basically dead in the water. My assumption would be as long as the MBA is around, the MB will remain deliberately 'dumbed down'. If they drop the MBA line, then expect the MB line to be sped up & have more ports. Not that I'd wait for any new Apple product - they release very little information and lots of rumours of upgrades 'around the corner' never eventuate. Where is my new Apple TV, I thought Steve had solved it?!
EDIT: Macbook made more sense in the line as an underpowered entry level cheapest product. Now it's almost double the price and still the slowest product in the line. It's a bit odd having a good screen on a slower computer, and having a better computer with a worse screen. Perhaps someone at the Apple store has knowledge of internal guides of who they're recommending it to/what it's target market actually is. $1800 (inc tax - $1600 is without) is almost 2 weeks average salary in Australia. That's a lot of money for a computer with those specifications. How much of a market is willing to pay so much extra for a more polished computer + screen? Especially when the MBA is more future proof, has more battery, more ports/usability, and is considerably cheaper (if it's slow today, heaven forbid 3 years time! My iPhone 5 runs like a $50 knockoff these days). It just doesn't make sense to me, as I said seems a confused product especially in the context of their overall product lineup.
Think of it like a car. A 13" Pro is a 4wd Tacoma. A 15" Pro is an F150 with a v8, crew cab and the 8' bed. Sure, those are useful tools if you need them, but most people don't need those capabilities most of the time, and carrying around that extra power and weight all the time is just a burden. Some people also make it sound like tools like those are the only way one can do useful work. The Air line is like a 2012 Camry; utterly sensible and dependable, but not the most cutting edge or interesting. The 12" MB is like a Chevy Volt; not able to meet every single person's need on the tail ends of the bell-curve, but built to meet the needs of the heart of that curve, with cutting-edge technology and pushing the envelope of what more conservative folks will say is possible or a good idea. Yet these 'less capable' tools are exactly what the bulk of the world uses to meet their needs and allow them to do their jobs effectively.
Man... I think your analogy clued me into my fascination with the rMB. It's a bloody VW Golf!
it would be cool if they put an SD card reader in it and two thunderbolt 3 ports
I don't see that. The rmb is very forward thinking. Really I think 2 usb c ports would quell many concerns. Can charge/sync natively.