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Those that did not go retina

iapplelove

iapplelove

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Original poster
Nov 22, 2011
5,324
7,638
East Coast USA
Do you regret not getting the retina version MBP? I'm about to finally pull the trigger and purchase a MBP(completely sick of waiting for the iMac refresh) but not sure if I want to spend the extra money on retina.

Having an ipad3 I can see the beauty and benefits of a higher performance screen but the rmbp is up there in price so I wanted to hear from those using the non retina day in day out
thanks
 
I will say I am happy with my non-Retina MBP. I probably would have been really happy with a Retina as well. It is a beautiful machine; it's so thin and that display... Holy crap.

I went with the non-Retina because I am not ready to part with an integrated optical drive, and I wanted the assurance of being able to upgrade or replace ram, slap in an off the shelf SSD when the prices come down, and replace the battery on my own when that sad day comes. These things were important to me, so my only option was the non-Retina.

I use my MBP almost exclusively in clam shell mode, connected to an ACD, so actually the Retina screen would have been wasted on me. What I really wanted was an iMac, but I'm forty now, I don't have forever to wait, so I went with the MBP.
 
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Thanks all for the quick replies,appreciated!

Very good reason here,so it wasn't just for the display purposes. Gonna sleep on it tonight and heading down to the local apple shop after work tomorrow. I know playing with them side by side the retina with the thinner frame is always going to feel and look better but days weeks months after having a non retina I don't want to regret

Ahonen said:
I will say I am happy with my non-Retina MBP. I probably would have been really happy with a Retina as well. It is a beautiful machine; it's so thin and that display... Holy crap.

I went with the non-Retina because I am not ready to part with an integrated optical drive, and I wanted the assurance of being able to upgrade or replace ram, slap in an off the shelf SSD when the prices come down, and replace the battery on my own when that sad day comes. These things were important to me, so my only option was the non-Retina.

I use my MBP almost exclusively in clam shell mode, connected to an ADP, so actually the Retina screen would have been wasted on me. What I really wanted was an iMac, but I'm forty now, I don't have forever to wait, so I went with the MBP.
Click to expand...
 
I think it would be hard to regret unless a close friend or someone you lived with got the retina and you got the classic.. It's a hard question to answer for those that didn't get the retina.

From someone who did get the retina but lives with someone that has a 13" MBP, I am glad I didn't get the classic MBP. I have 16GB of RAM and don't see that becoming obsolete anytime soon, arguably the best display on the market, and OWC just rolled out an aftermarket SSD for the rMBP.

I would try to spend some time with retina before you decide on it.
 
Non retina 15 inch. Love it. No interest in the retina mbp.

You can add your own ram up to 16 gigs total.
 
I also have an iPad 3, i love retina; but still, I am happy with my no retina macbook pro.
 
I was sold on going Classic for a few reasons, i could add my choice of SSD and 16GB ram and an optibay data doubler mod. I went into an Apple store and played with the Retina for 30 minutes and went home and ordered a retina with 16GB ram from the education store. Saved $200.

I'm so glad I didn't go with the classic now. My roommate has one, every time I look at his screen I'm turned off lol.
 
Buy one now and decide within 14 days if you would want to keep it.

But definitely, if you buy the cMBP, I bet you would want to return it and purchase the rMBP instead.
 
Until they make a 17" retina, I can't buy a 17" 2011 MBP, or the retina SO FAR outperforms my current 17" MBP, not a chance. In this one case for me, it's function over form as opposed to my mentality with my iOS devices.

----------
ducatiti said:
Buy one now and decide within 14 days if you would want to keep it.

But definitely, if you buy the cMBP, I bet you would want to return it and purchase the rMBP instead.
Click to expand...

Why, is using the cMBP less productive than a rMBP? I they have the same internals, and therefore performance (actually, the cMBP is probably better since it doesn't have sacrifice performance to drive that ridiculous display)
 
Orlandoech.com said:
I was sold on going Classic for a few reasons, i could add my choice of SSD and 16GB ram and an optibay data doubler mod. I went into an Apple store and played with the Retina for 30 minutes and went home and ordered a retina with 16GB ram from the education store. Saved $200.

I'm so glad I didn't go with the classic now. My roommate has one, every time I look at his screen I'm turned off lol.
Click to expand...

Yup, 100% correct. Did the same thing, tho just went with the regular base model Retina over a 13" Air. Don't need a ton of horsepower because I've got my gaming PC with all of the power.
 
dbdynsty25 said:
Yup, 100% correct. Did the same thing, tho just went with the regular base model Retina over a 13" Air. Don't need a ton of horsepower because I've got my gaming PC with all of the power.
Click to expand...

funny how that is huh lol.

I originally ordered the Base, then I returned it. I wanted 16GB to give me more longevity.
 
No retina for me can't get over the sealed body thing.... I opted for an old fashion almost obsolete MBP 2012 13"....
couldn't go without superdrive and the option of upgrading RAM and HDD to SSD. Also the 13" size is a good portable one, I had a 15" but I could hardly convince myself to walk out the door with it...
 
Ahonen said:
I went with the non-Retina because I am not ready to part with an integrated optical drive, and I wanted the assurance of being able to upgrade or replace ram, slap in an off the shelf SSD when the prices come down, and replace the battery on my own when that sad day comes. [...] I use my MBP almost exclusively in clam shell mode, connected to an ADP, so actually the Retina screen would have been wasted on me.
Click to expand...

Similar to my situation, though the assurance I wanted had more to do with the logics of repair and long-term fortunes of soldered equipment, since I'm basically maxing out the MBP now. Sometimes I spend months at a time in Europe for work and need to keep repair downtime minimized and options flexible, but really that's the case in general for me as an academic. Also (and I don't believe I've read mention of this yet) the lack of a Kensington slot in the MBPr is a turn-off for somebody who does research in libraries and archives. Add to that nonoptimized MS Office, suboptimized virtualization for a crucial bibliographic program with 1500+ references saved, and I just couldn't bring myself to do it this round. Happy to have definitively entered the Mac stream, though!

I have no doubt that this is the future, but I will freely admit to v1 jitters, worries about gfx headroom, disinclination to play display roulette, etc. My gaze will start to wander around 2015-16.
 
Actually was in the Apple store earlier today agonizing over this exact same thing as haven't pulled the trigger yet on new laptop.

Being an IT professional (have ran fusion for years now for windows vms I need )I was sold on cMbp as there are plenty of times I HAVE to have ethernet and optical and often at same time with another external drive running some specific VM I use , and having all those connectors/dongles etc be required at once is not something I wanted to do.

But I'll admit I loved the look of the retina screen enough to consider dealing with it.

I lined up a non and retina model side by side and mucked around with various things for almost 30 mins trying them out. I had almost talked myself into the retina , but I can say 100% I noticed scrolling on multiple websites to "hitch" at times on the retina while they scrolled perfectly smooth on the non , and a couple of the UI menus "jerked" open on the retina while smooth on the classic.

Now the scrolling wasn't "slow" on the retina , it went down the long page fast but definitely stutter stepped it way down , while flicking the scroll bar on the classic made it glide. Doing it side by side I cant believe even the biggest retina fan could say they cant tell the difference.

So I walked out getting neither , still deciding , as again , I loved the screen's brightness and look overall , but now have to decide again between the missing port issues (not sure if want to be dongle man :p ) , and the definite graphical (albeit minor) issues , vs the classic.

But to answer your question OP , I dont think theres any way youd be disappointed in a classic.
 
Dahkot said:
Actually was in the Apple store earlier today agonizing over this exact same thing as haven't pulled the trigger yet on new laptop.

Being an IT professional (have ran fusion for years now for windows vms I need )I was sold on cMbp as there are plenty of times I HAVE to have ethernet and optical and often at same time with another external drive running some specific VM I use , and having all those connectors/dongles etc be required at once is not something I wanted to do.

But I'll admit I loved the look of the retina screen enough to consider dealing with it.

I lined up a non and retina model side by side and mucked around with various things for almost 30 mins trying them out. I had almost talked myself into the retina , but I can say 100% I noticed scrolling on multiple websites to "hitch" at times on the retina while they scrolled perfectly smooth on the non , and a couple of the UI menus "jerked" open on the retina while smooth on the classic.

Now the scrolling wasn't "slow" on the retina , it went down the long page fast but definitely stutter stepped it way down , while flicking the scroll bar on the classic made it glide. Doing it side by side I cant believe even the biggest retina fan could say they cant tell the difference.

So I walked out getting neither , still deciding , as again , I loved the screen's brightness and look overall , but now have to decide again between the missing port issues (not sure if want to be dongle man :p ) , and the definite graphical (albeit minor) issues , vs the classic.

But to answer your question OP , I dont think theres any way youd be disappointed in a classic.
Click to expand...

I dont have any of these Lag issues on my rMBP but lots have complained of them.
 
Orlandoech.com said:
I dont have any of these Lag issues on my rMBP but lots have complained of them.
Click to expand...

I tried it on every 3 different retina laptops they had in store , set at both default and scaled up and down resolutions.

Simple and quick test was simply to hit Apple's store , go to the configurations page for a macbook pro and start at the top and attempt a full immediate scroll to the bottom.

All the Retina ones did it fast but visibly "hitched" on the way down , the other customers around me saw it plus the employee.

A non glare cmpb at 1680x1050 they had and the base 1400 res normal screen cmpb "rolled" smoothly to the bottom with zero hitches.

And going up and down produced same behavior on each model.

Honestly the speed was about the same or within a second at most , but the visual effect was definitely noticeable.

Just not sure if the better look of the screen overall trumps the hitching that can hit in places or the smooth scrolling of the cmpb trumps the not as good looking overall screen.

And again the overall brightness and beauty of the retina screen was enough to make me reconsider the loss of the ports I need so thats saying something.
 
I regret going for retina in the first place. Sure the screen and viewing angles were wonderful but I returned it got 2012 cMBP with the same specs. A data doubler with OWC 6G SSD and new amazing speakers. My computer is faster than a retina with more storage and I saved $700 bucks even with all the upgrades and new speakers.
 
Nope. No regrets. I wanted the 500gb drive & 16gb Ram (post purchase $114 install). I could have done without the optical drive and ethernet port, but meh.. I got what I needed in a 2012 MBP for less than $1000 with discounts.
 
BlazednSleepy said:
I regret going for retina in the first place. Sure the screen and viewing angles were wonderful but I returned it got 2012 cMBP with the same specs. A data doubler with OWC 6G SSD and new amazing speakers. My computer is faster than a retina with more storage and I saved $700 bucks even with all the upgrades and new speakers.
Click to expand...

Provide the numbers. Same spec with $700 savings after mods. Doubtful.

What are these "amazing" speakers, Bose? Lol
 
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iapplelove said:
Do you regret not getting the retina version MBP? I'm about to finally pull the trigger and purchase a MBP(completely sick of waiting for the iMac refresh) but not sure if I want to spend the extra money on retina.

Having an ipad3 I can see the beauty and benefits of a higher performance screen but the rmbp is up there in price so I wanted to hear from those using the non retina day in day out
thanks
Click to expand...

Im perfectly happy with my cMBP:)
The way I see it, the first generation of virtually every device is always overpriced and overhyped.
20% of rMBP owners have had to return their Mac atleat once and there are numerous factors that can lead to being unhappy with the rMBP (Samsung vs. LG Screen, non-retina ready apps, lack of upgradeability, etc.)

Just think back to the first iPhone and first iPad. Those devices have made leaps and bounds each year a new model is released.

Two main reasons I didn't get the retina was:

1. Too unstable, too "new"
2. In order to get a decent SSD (512GB) and 16GB of RAM it would cost me over $2,500
This rMBP is just the beginning of a whole new line for Apple MBP's. I am content on waiting until 2013-2015 to get a retina model
 
The scrolling under Safari would annoy the hell out of me. I tried 4 different rMBPs at various times at various stores and encountered the same issue. This definitely doesn't happen under the Air and the cMBP. If it's a software issue Apple sure is taking their sweet time rolling out a solution. I like both form and function, but as of now it seems rather disappointing.
 
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