Still not sure, have both - rMB or rMBP 15"

[mac-jam]

Long time reader first time poster on these forums!

I have a late 2014 Retina Macbook Pro 15" fairly loaded and a new Retina Macbook 1.1

I just can't decide on which to keep. Had the Macbook for around a week now but still not fallen for it like I thought I would. The size and look seemed good at first but now I think for the little bit of extra weight the 15" still cleans up and wins.

Anyone else in this situation? I have both but can't decide which to keep - help!

 

[saifrc]

You haven't said that much about your computing needs and circumstances.

Travel a lot, and not a power user? You'll find over time that the rMB's size and weight savings really add up over time.

Do you leave your laptop in one place at a time, most of the time, and just want power/screen size? Then your barely-a-year-old rMBP is great, and you probably shouldn't need anything newer for a while.

If you can afford both and have use cases for owning two computers, keep both. Some people keep a MBP (or other power laptop) for use as a "desktop with mobility options". If you know the computer will stay in one place most of the time, and you just want a mobile counterpart, then having both can make sense. Whether it makes financial sense is another matter, of course.

Why don't you share more info about why you were thinking of buying a second laptop, when your first laptop is so new? In what ways was the rMBP not meeting your needs?

 

[TheSteves]

Long time reader first time poster on these forums!

I have a late 2014 Retina Macbook Pro 15" fairly loaded and a new Retina Macbook 1.1

I just can't decide on which to keep. Had the Macbook for around a week now but still not fallen for it like I thought I would. The size and look seemed good at first but now I think for the little bit of extra weight the 15" still cleans up and wins.

Anyone else in this situation? I have both but can't decide which to keep - help!

Exact same situation. Except my rMBP 15 is 2012.

I wil send back the rMB, because the larger screen real estate is such a feast for the eyes.

Once they bring the rMB tech to a 14 or even 16 inch screen I will be the first to buy.

That said. the rMB Its an amazing little machine. I wish I could just keep it for travelling, which I do a lot.

But 2 macs to keep in sync is too much of a hastle and I can't justify the extra cash.

 

[mac-jam]

You haven't said that much about your computing needs and circumstances.

Travel a lot, and not a power user? You'll find over time that the rMB's size and weight savings really add up over time.

Do you leave your laptop in one place at a time, most of the time, and just want power/screen size? Then your barely-a-year-old rMBP is great, and you probably shouldn't need anything newer for a while.

If you can afford both and have use cases for owning two computers, keep both. Some people keep a MBP (or other power laptop) for use as a "desktop with mobility options". If you know the computer will stay in one place most of the time, and you just want a mobile counterpart, then having both can make sense. Whether it makes financial sense is another matter, of course.

Why don't you share more info about why you were thinking of buying a second laptop, when your first laptop is so new? In what ways was the rMBP not meeting your needs?

I run a real estate agency and also do property developments. I'm not a power user as such as the renderings and marketing material is sent in from agencies we use and I just open the PDFs up to look through.

The machine is often on my desk along side a windows machine and I then take the Mac home with me to use on a night. I go to cafes and meetings but never found the 15 to be too much of a trouble. I'm a long time Mac user and the 15 retina is not bad for the power it punches looking through my MacBook history. The thought of having that one computer with all your data on it and ports you could require is a massive bonus.

I don't think it's the matter of financially owning both but more the inconvenience of having two machines.

The retina MacBook looks stunning but like other users I just think the keyboard is too cramped, keys not great to type on and lack of usbs, MagSafe and poor wifi connectivity let it down.

I've previously owned an 11 MacBook Air but the screen ratio and lack of retina put me off.

 

[ZipZap]

I run a real estate agency and also do property developments. I'm not a power user as such as the renderings and marketing material is sent in from agencies we use and I just open the PDFs up to look through.

The machine is often on my desk along side a windows machine and I then take the Mac home with me to use on a night. I go to cafes and meetings but never found the 15 to be too much of a trouble. I'm a long time Mac user and the 15 retina is not bad for the power it punches looking through my MacBook history. The thought of having that one computer with all your data on it and ports you could require is a massive bonus.

I don't think it's the matter of financially owning both but more the inconvenience of having two machines.

The retina MacBook looks stunning but like other users I just think the keyboard is too cramped, keys not great to type on and lack of usbs, MagSafe and poor wifi connectivity let it down.

I've previously owned an 11 MacBook Air but the screen ratio and lack of retina put me off.

So why did you buy the rMB?

Sounds like it was curiosity and now you know you don't want it but need someone to validate your decision?

 

[mac-jam]

It was indeed curiosity as a lot of people have been raving about it and since I don't do anything too resource intensive at all I thought it would fit the bill. It simply doesn't and I just wanted to see if anyone else was in the same situation.

I've tried to let it grow on me and will give it another week or two. Just a warning to other people thinking of making the switch. Keep a very open mind and be prepared to adapt.

 

[bcaslis]

I don't really see why anyone would be debating between the 15" rMBP and the rMB. They are completely different machines. If the size of the 15" doesn't bother you, then the rMB has no advantage.

The 13" rMBP and rMB are much closer for comparison. But the killer advantage of the rMB is size. If that doesn't matter to you then are getting the wrong machine.

 

[fisherking]

It was indeed curiosity as a lot of people have been raving about it and since I don't do anything too resource intensive at all I thought it would fit the bill. It simply doesn't and I just wanted to see if anyone else was in the same situation.

I've tried to let it grow on me and will give it another week or two. Just a warning to other people thinking of making the switch. Keep a very open mind and be prepared to adapt.

seems like you've figured it out, that for your own needs, and comfort, the macbook pro is the one to keep.

don't be swayed by 'new', or 'cooler', or style...decide based on your what feels and works best for you.

 

[soulreaver99]

I have both. My main machine is the 15-inch rMBP which usually stays at home. But when I go traveling the 12-inch rMB comes out to play. So if you can afford to keep both, keep both. If you don't need all that power, sell the rMBP

 

[Heisenberg888]

The rMB really is a secondary machine and not a main machine; the iPad for the mac range.

 

[bcaslis]

There's absolutely no reason the rMB can't be a primary machine if it meets your needs. But if portability is not one of those needs then it's probably not the best choice.

 

[johngwheeler]

That said. the rMB Its an amazing little machine. I wish I could just keep it for travelling, which I do a lot.

But 2 macs to keep in sync is too much of a hastle and I can't justify the extra cash.

I would say the combination of rMBP 15 and rMB would be great, especially if you regularly travel.

I'm surprised you think it is difficult to keep 2 Macs in sync - with a combination of iCloud (for app synch) and your cloud storage of choice (DropBox, OneDrive, Google Drive, Apple Cloud Drive) it is trivially easy to have multiple Macs with virtually identical configurations.

The money is another question - if you've borrowed money to buy a second computer on the assumption that you'll sell one of them, then you have a choice to make. I'd just keep both given the possibility - they meet different use cases, and travel is the number one reason for having the rMB.

 

[saifrc]

I run a real estate agency and also do property developments. I'm not a power user as such as the renderings and marketing material is sent in from agencies we use and I just open the PDFs up to look through.

The machine is often on my desk along side a windows machine and I then take the Mac home with me to use on a night. I go to cafes and meetings but never found the 15 to be too much of a trouble. I'm a long time Mac user and the 15 retina is not bad for the power it punches looking through my MacBook history. The thought of having that one computer with all your data on it and ports you could require is a massive bonus.

I don't think it's the matter of financially owning both but more the inconvenience of having two machines.

The retina MacBook looks stunning but like other users I just think the keyboard is too cramped, keys not great to type on and lack of usbs, MagSafe and poor wifi connectivity let it down.

I've previously owned an 11 MacBook Air but the screen ratio and lack of retina put me off.

It seems to me like the 13" rMBP might have actually been the best machine for you. I would have recommended the 13" MBA, except that I couldn't personally stand to look at architectural drawings on that TN display. But otherwise, a 13" laptop might have been the best combination of screen quality, ports, and portability for shuttling between home and office. You'd definitely notice the size and weight difference compared to the 15" rMBP, but not necessarily miss the power and screen size.

I don't feel like the rMB is the right machine for you. I personally love mine, but I'm fully aware of its compromises and am happy to make them. (I actually love this keyboard, and wish Apple made a standalone version!) If Apple had simply updated the 13" MBA with an IPS retina display, I would have recommended that for you, but that didn't happen--and the 13" rMBP is the closest thing.

One thing you didn't mention: do you require any Mac-specific software? There might be Windows-based alternatives, with different compromises, that might work well for you. Perhaps something like the Dell XPS 13, or the Lenovo Yoga Pro 2 or 3, or even the Microsoft Surface Pro 3. These are all Windows machines that provide similar, if not the same, sets of benefits as the Retina MacBook.

 

[nalbagli]

I owned a 15 inch 2.6 GHz mid 2012 Macbook Pro Retina, and it was a great computer but I just sold it today and bought a 1.2 rMB. I gave it a lot of thought but I move my computer fairly a lot, and it was a bit too heavy for that, besides that the performance on my mac was considerably worse after upgrading to Yosemite, and finally because I think that it had too much power for my use, the most heavy tasks I use it for are some large PDF, photo editing on Pixelmator, some large PowerPoints, and only once in a while I do some GoPro Video editing.

I also currently own an i7 Surface Pro 3 which I bought a few months ago for College (even though I really prefer OSX I've gotten used to Windows) and think it's an amazing machine and really powerfull, I am hoping though my New Macbook replaces it to be able to use OSX. The only great loss for me is that I really like inking PDFs on SP3, I just hope they would incorporate thar feature on an iPad but it does not seem possible.

I hope my New Macbook performs as expected and not to expierence any lag on regular tasks.