Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
I jumped the gun on the Retina MBP a few weeks after it came out as well. After playing around with it for a week, there are number of factor which led me to the same decision as the OP.

First off, the screen brightness is about 30% dimmer than previous gen. Yes, many ppl are saying that the contrast is vastly improved, thus evening it out, but the factor of matter is that I like my screens to be able to reach a level of brightness when i need it to be.

Next, the graphics lag is definitely an issue here. the 4000 simply doesn't cut it. I would need the dedicated graphics on at all times in order to have a smooth user experience.

These issues are most likely Apple decisions to preserve battery life. But face it, launching any graphics intensive application will switch to dedicated. Whats the point?

Has anyone noticed that the remaining time estimate on the battery icon no longer shows?

These problems I believe will likely be sorted out on the next revision of the Retina Mac - like they did with the missing backlit keyboard on the MBAs. It's just a matter of time.

My advice, wait until next year and see. Then again, if everyone waited for the next revision and no one bought the current retina, apple would be unlikely to produce it again.. =/
 
"since when was the pc market this bad?"

Since Apple blew everyone out of the water with the rMBP. I cant fault mine yet. I couldnt go back to another computer after using the retina display. It would feel like a massive step back to the cave.
 
"since when was the pc market this bad?"

Since Apple blew everyone out of the water with the rMBP. I cant fault mine yet. I couldnt go back to another computer after using the retina display. It would feel like a massive step back to the cave.

Apple has always been ahead of the PC market, design wise. They might fall behind upgrading the internal components every 8 months or so, but their industrial design and quality of computers are high-grade.

The PC market, regardless of how much of a premium you pay, are always riddled with subpar components, materials, etc.

Not an Apple fanboy by any means, but at least Apple cares....enough to make a good product, which in turn makes them a profit and keeps their name on a pedestal.
 
If I would ever consider a Windows machine it would be a Lenovo Thinkpad W series. Look at how you can configurate the machine, and you'll see what a powerful machine it can be. You definitely won't be saving money with that machine when you max it out, but there will be a couple advantages like integrated broadband internet if you like. The known disadvantage is using windows...
Anyway, best alternative in my eyes.
 
integrated broadband internet if you like.

That can be alleviated with Personal Hotspot on the iPhone :)

I use my MBP with my iPhone 4 all the time. Just leave it in my pocket and use the internet on the go.

Lenovo's are good for what they are...but PC manufacturers cut corners all the time.

Even Sony does.
 
That can be alleviated with Personal Hotspot on the iPhone :)

I use my MBP with my iPhone 4 all the time. Just leave it in my pocket and use the internet on the go.

Lenovo's are good for what they are...but PC manufacturers cut corners all the time.

Even Sony does.

Good point. That's what I do as well ;)
I am just saying, if he doesn't want to go with the classic/unibody MBP, and is seriously looking into Windows machines, then Lenovo Thinkpads are the way to go imho.
 
No laptop is ever future proof, especially if you want to play games. For that matter, no portable laptop is actually any good at playing games.

That’s the reason I replaced mine with an iPad + Desktop PC last March, for less than half the price of a top spec MacBook Pro. The iPad is far more portable, even than the 11″ MacBook Air, has significantly better battery life than any of Apple’s laptops, is much better suited to reading, and is far cheaper to upgrade on a yearly basis.

The desktop PC I built is has an overclocked 2500K and GTX 570 in it, an will run just about anything in 1080p at a solid 60fps (no framerate drops/stutters) even the latest games. Desktop app performance is still faster than any machine Apple sells today.

I do miss OS X though, and once (if!) they update the Mac Pros to use modern hardware again, I will probably buy one to get back to it.


All that said, if it’s a laptop you want, keep the Retina MacBook Pro. There’s nothing better today, and you will regret it once more apps are updated with retina support. If you really plan on keeping it until 2016, who cares what the state of retina updates are now? You’re going to be on the leading edge of updates, and I bet most of your important apps will be updated long before the new Retina MacBook Pros are introduced.

And yes, it’s going to start feeling slow by then, but any laptop will. It’s an especially bad time to buy one for gaming, as next year the new consoles will be out and hardware requirements for games will go up considerably. (Even if you buy a laptop next year, it will struggle with them)


The only reason to buy a PC notebook, is either because you don't care about weight, size, heat, noise, build quality, or battery life, and want a fast “gaming” laptop (which will still be out of date in a year) or because you want something cheaper that you’re happier about replacing in a year or so.

Personally I’d still recommend buying the Retina MacBook Pro, selling it and upgrading in a year or two instead, or buying a gaming PC that will last, and a properly mobile laptop/tablet. After having a couple of iPads now, I couldn't go back to any notebook as they have about half the battery life at best, regardless of what the advertised times are.
 
Has anyone noticed that the remaining time estimate on the battery icon no longer shows?

These problems I believe will likely be sorted out on the next revision of the Retina Mac - like they did with the missing backlit keyboard on the MBAs. It's just a matter of time.


Do you realize that doesn't make sense right? You think its a "problem" the time isn't there?

They removed the time in rMBP Lion's version (which has a newer build) like they removed it on every single Mac on Moutain Lion! It was a "cosmetic" decision!

You can always see the time remaining with other apps like iStat Menus or simply going with you mouse and click the battery icon ;)
 
Do you realize that doesn't make sense right? You think its a "problem" the time isn't there?

They removed the time in rMBP Lion's version (which has a newer build) like they removed it on every single Mac on Moutain Lion! It was a "cosmetic" decision!

You can always see the time remaining with other apps like iStat Menus or simply going with you mouse and click the battery icon ;)

People sometimes like to exaggerate things *facepalm*, they can't differ which one can be fixed via software update, which one is hardware issue that can't be fixed.
 
I think the suppressing thing is that the people claim they can make the £3000 splash on a laptop they self admittedly claim they don't need, only once every 2 or 3 years.

It says a lot about something I'm sure.
 
why not return it for the base config rMBP? That way when the next generation comes out you could sell it for minimal loss (BTO's tend to lose out because most buyers won't care about specs) and purchase an upgraded laptop. My guess is that it will be quite a while before GPU's and Processors get to the point where this laptop is flawless. Even the unibodies took a while to tempt me when they first came out
 
.....
Windows is a nasty, nasty OS which I was reminded of earlier when I just wanted to use boot camp for some gaming. There are always horrible delays and holdups and anti virus updates to deal with. The fact that it is an absolute necessity to install a third party anti virus on windows does enough to show that Microsoft really need to radically change their OS.

Anyway, sorry for that, I was just reminded of how disgusting windows is and how sub par it is to osx. So yeah, stick with mac.

So you would rather run Windows on your rMBP than OSX for gaming? Is that because OSX is bloated and sub par to Windows?

BTW - If you are just running games in Windows via Boot Camp, why would you have antivirus installed?
 
So you would rather run Windows on your rMBP than OSX for gaming? Is that because OSX is bloated and sub par to Windows?

BTW - If you are just running games in Windows via Boot Camp, why would you have antivirus installed?

I would much rather play games on OSX. Unfortunately, not enough are designed for the platform.

Anti virus is for the odd occasion that I need to use the Internet on it. And because there's a chance I've downloaded windows virus on osx inadvertently.
 
Do you realize that doesn't make sense right? You think its a "problem" the time isn't there?

They removed the time in rMBP Lion's version (which has a newer build) like they removed it on every single Mac on Moutain Lion! It was a "cosmetic" decision!

You can always see the time remaining with other apps like iStat Menus or simply going with you mouse and click the battery icon ;)

On my base 2.3 the battery`s estimated run time shows when you hit the drop down menu, it`s just no longer an option to show the time persistently in the menu bar, icon & percentage, no need for any other SW
 
On my base 2.3 the battery`s estimated run time shows when you hit the drop down menu, it`s just no longer an option to show the time persistently in the menu bar, icon & percentage, no need for any other SW

The post you quoted just stated that.
 
Return it. Buy base rMBP and a USB 3.0 hdd and AppleCare. For 2199 USD you really can't find anything comparable.

Also gpu is very over clock friendly in windows.
 
You should buy another maxed-out rMBP just so you can say you have two. I mean thats the only logical thing to do...

Sometime the questions on here are so subjective i dont know how people expect to get a solid answer...:D
 
I'm thinking about doing the same. I simply can't get over the fact that if anything happens to it, I would have to take it into an Apple store to get it repaired.
 
I'm thinking about doing the same. I simply can't get over the fact that if anything happens to it, I would have to take it into an Apple store to get it repaired.

Why is that such a big deal? If your smartphone breaks you have to send the whole device in for service, why is it anymore different with a computer?
 
The PC market, regardless of how much of a premium you pay, are always riddled with subpar components, materials, etc.

Apple does this too, yet we end up giving them a free pass. I've had idevice battieries die before their times, dead chargers, flickering displays, dead inverters, one of the older Cinema displays develop that vertical line issue long before the backlight was on its way out. Further back we had the G5 mess. It's not any different. There isn't anything that's somehow available to Apple yet unavailable to other oems. If you open one up, the internals are mostly the same down to the brands used for cooling fans and power supplies.
 
Why is that such a big deal? If your smartphone breaks you have to send the whole device in for service, why is it anymore different with a computer?

The machine seems incredibly delicate. I would not be surprised if it came back with dings in the aluminum somewhere.

The truth is that I have OCD when it comes to electronics and don't trust anybody to handle my things. And I still think the retina screen is unimpressive when compared to the iPad 3.
 
The machine seems incredibly delicate. I would not be surprised if it came back with dings in the aluminum somewhere.

The truth is that I have OCD when it comes to electronics and don't trust anybody to handle my things. And I still think the retina screen is unimpressive when compared to the iPad 3.
Most of these 'dings' in the aluminum are cosmetic. You're just as likely to scratch it inside a bag as you would if someone else is handling your stuff. Don't worry about it.

If the 'dings' make part/all of your device unusable, send it in for repairs.
 
Apple does this too, yet we end up giving them a free pass. I've had idevice battieries die before their times, dead chargers, flickering displays, dead inverters, one of the older Cinema displays develop that vertical line issue long before the backlight was on its way out. Further back we had the G5 mess. It's not any different. There isn't anything that's somehow available to Apple yet unavailable to other oems. If you open one up, the internals are mostly the same down to the brands used for cooling fans and power supplies.

No free pass given here ... in the past 7 years Apple has got 80% of our computer business, some years we spend $80,000 on notebooks and desktops ... ZERO PROBLEMS, ZERO WARRANTY issues, nothing.

I'd write how our experiences with Dell, HP and Sony were but there's not enough writing space on the internet. Suffice it to say is was hell.

We've never had a Thinkpad fail either, but we've exchanged a bunch trying to get "lucky" and get a decent display.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.