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Tried retina macbook today.... not impressed

M

macguy360

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 23, 2011
836
510
I went to the local Apple store today and messed around with one of their retina MacBooks. It felt cheap to me, like a netbook. It just didn't have that feeling I expect from a $1000+ Apple laptop. Maybe it was the keyboard... I definitely feel like the keyboard seemed like one of those bluetooth keyboards that you use with an iPad. The laptop itself just didn't feel like it had any substance to it though.

Oh well. That is just my opinion. I am glad that I bought a 2015 13" rmbp because I think it is a much better laptop.


Time for the usual "Sounds like your reasoning your purchase of the 2015 13" rmbp blah blah blah" or "If you don't like it you don't have to purchase it durka durka dur"
 
On the contrary, i was quite impressed with the Retina Macbook especially the Force Touch Trackpad, keyboard, as well as the overall build quality of it.

There was one thing i did not like though. I rebooted the retina macbook laptop. And it took longer then my Retina Macbook Pro to reboot. My Retina MacBook Pro had to open lots of windows and apps from my last session and it completed it faster then the showroom laptop with nothing else opened, installed, or running.
 
macguy360 said:
I went to the local Apple store today and messed around with one of their retina MacBooks. It felt cheap to me, like a netbook. It just didn't have that feeling I expect from a $1000+ Apple laptop. Maybe it was the keyboard... I definitely feel like the keyboard seemed like one of those bluetooth keyboards that you use with an iPad. The laptop itself just didn't feel like it had any substance to it though.

Oh well. That is just my opinion. I am glad that I bought a 2015 13" rmbp because I think it is a much better laptop.


Time for the usual "Sounds like your reasoning your purchase of the 2015 13" rmbp blah blah blah" or "If you don't like it you don't have to purchase it durka durka dur"
Click to expand...

This post makes no sense.

When Apple moved to Chiclet-Style keyboards, people said the exact same thing about them feeling cheap.

When Apple released the Macbook Air, people said the exact same thing about it feeling too light and cheap.

You're glad you bought a boat anchor? Happy for you. Hardware spec-wise it's definitely a better computer, however it's a BEAST... a BOAT ANCHOR. Huge, massive, oversized. Gross. I travel internationally 2 weeks out of the month, and you couldn't pay me to carry one of those MBPs... If it sits at home and you take it out occasionally, you don't notice the difference. If you were a road warrior, you'd feel different.

But hey, Apple has the MBP line for people who don't need thin\light, so glad you're happy with the bigger laptop. If portability\weight\size isn't important, Macbook Pro is a stellar machine.
 
I went to the local BMW dealership today and messed around with one of their 1-series. It felt cheap to me, like a toaster. It just didn't have that feeling I expect from a $30000+ BMW. Maybe it was the steering... I definitely feel like the steering seemed like one of those cheap rentals that you use when traveling on business. The car itself just didn't feel like it had any substance to it though.

Oh well. That is just my opinion. I am glad that I bought a 2015 7-series because I think it is a much better car.


Time for the usual "Sounds like your reasoning your purchase of the 2015 7-series blah blah blah" or "If you don't like it you don't have to purchase it durka durka dur"
 
Such funny logic here. People correlate light\delicate with the feeling of cheapness. If you look at a TV from 1995, does it ooze quality and perfect manufacturing to you? It's heavy, solid, and you can probably knock it off it's stand and not damage it.

Whenever new technologies come out, people say they feel cheap. People said it when Apple released the Macbook Pro, people said it when the newly designed iMac came out, people said it about the air, and now people say it about the Macbook.

New materials (composites) and new manufacturing processes allow the same durability with a much lighter weight. Cars 30 years ago weighed an average of 3x what they do today, yet today's cars are significantly safer, and many are more durable.

Time to get past the sentiment that light feeling = cheap feeling. I've had the MB for 2 weeks now, and I can't imagine anyone who actually owns it and has a sense of touch saying it "feels cheap"
 
shenan1982 said:
Such funny logic here. People correlate light\delicate with the feeling of cheapness. If you look at a TV from 1995, does it ooze quality and perfect manufacturing to you? It's heavy, solid, and you can probably knock it off it's stand and not damage it.

Whenever new technologies come out, people say they feel cheap. People said it when Apple released the Macbook Pro, people said it when the newly designed iMac came out, people said it about the air, and now people say it about the Macbook.

New materials (composites) and new manufacturing processes allow the same durability with a much lighter weight. Cars 30 years ago weighed an average of 3x what they do today, yet today's cars are significantly safer, and many are more durable.

Time to get past the sentiment that light feeling = cheap feeling. I've had the MB for 2 weeks now, and I can't imagine anyone who actually owns it and has a sense of touch saying it "feels cheap"
Click to expand...

The newest iPhones are thinner and lighter than older iPhones, yet they feel solid. They have a density that provides assurance that they will hold up over time. I didn't get this same impression with the rmb. It just felt too much like a netbook, especially the keyboard.
 
macguy360 said:
I went to the local Apple store today and messed around with one of their retina MacBooks. It felt cheap to me, like a netbook. It just didn't have that feeling I expect from a $1000+ Apple laptop. Maybe it was the keyboard... I definitely feel like the keyboard seemed like one of those bluetooth keyboards that you use with an iPad. The laptop itself just didn't feel like it had any substance to it though.

Oh well. That is just my opinion. I am glad that I bought a 2015 13" rmbp because I think it is a much better laptop.


Time for the usual "Sounds like your reasoning your purchase of the 2015 13" rmbp blah blah blah" or "If you don't like it you don't have to purchase it durka durka dur"
Click to expand...

Do you like the keyboard on the 13"? I upgraded from a 2012 and the keyboard seems pretty lousy in comparison. The keys are loose, they rock, are noisy, and are too easily depressed. From that perspective, the 12" seems much better. A little more travel would be good but the keyboard is more stable and solid.
 
each to their own i guess.

Find it hard to believe that he thinks that it feels cheap!

The rMB oozes quality. The build quality is awesome. It feels so solid.

The keyboard in my opinion is a great step forward. It takes some time getting used to it though.

I previously had a 2012 15" rMBP, I loved it, but it feels like a dinosaur now.
I'd be really happy if they bought out a 14" rMB in a very similar form factor as the 12" rMB.

I'm by no means missing my 15" rMBP, the 12" rMB just gets better and better.
 
I appreciate criticism, but OP don't think you can throw a sentence about "here it comes" at the end and trick any of us into thinking you didn't phrase this with intent to get a rise out of others. You aren't as smart as you think. Sniper trolling is still trolling.
 
macguy360 said:
I went to the local Apple store today and messed around with one of their retina MacBooks. It felt cheap to me, like a netbook. It just didn't have that feeling I expect from a $1000+ Apple laptop. Maybe it was the keyboard... I definitely feel like the keyboard seemed like one of those bluetooth keyboards that you use with an iPad. The laptop itself just didn't feel like it had any substance to it though.

Oh well. That is just my opinion. I am glad that I bought a 2015 13" rmbp because I think it is a much better laptop.


Time for the usual "Sounds like your reasoning your purchase of the 2015 13" rmbp blah blah blah" or "If you don't like it you don't have to purchase it durka durka dur"
Click to expand...

Justifying your purchase, nothing more nothing less. Thanks for the amazing insight. This was very worthy of its own thread.
 
macguy360 said:
I went to the local Apple store today and messed around with one of their retina MacBooks. It felt cheap to me, like a netbook. It just didn't have that feeling I expect from a $1000+ Apple laptop. Maybe it was the keyboard... I definitely feel like the keyboard seemed like one of those bluetooth keyboards that you use with an iPad. The laptop itself just didn't feel like it had any substance to it though.

Oh well. That is just my opinion. I am glad that I bought a 2015 13" rmbp because I think it is a much better laptop.


Time for the usual "Sounds like your reasoning your purchase of the 2015 13" rmbp blah blah blah" or "If you don't like it you don't have to purchase it durka durka dur"
Click to expand...

your opinion has been noted
 
It seems quite obvious that the OP is justifying his purchase in order to feel better. The RMB feels cheap? Lol, I know this is just an opinion, but seriously. the RMB is a solid and high quality machine. I even think it feels better than my previous 13" MBA and 17" MBP, and those felt really nice when they first introduced the unibody design. After seeing and now finally owning one and using it in a real life scenario for 2 days now. I can say that the RMB is the best macbook I've own in terms of build quality, looks and performance. I bought this knowing it wasn't going to replace a MBP or MBA, but got it mainly for the portability and to replace my iPad. I already have a 27" iMac if I need to get work done. I solely use the RMB for surfing, watching videos, listening to music, chatting, facetime, email, light gaming, etc. Which performs all those tasks without any problems. Those who were disappointed with the machine seemed to expect too much from it and compared it to the pro models. This machine is not geared for the power crowd. That's what the MBP's are for.
 
Cvx5832 said:
I went to the local BMW dealership today and messed around with one of their 1-series. It felt cheap to me, like a toaster. It just didn't have that feeling I expect from a $30000+ BMW. Maybe it was the steering... I definitely feel like the steering seemed like one of those cheap rentals that you use when traveling on business. The car itself just didn't feel like it had any substance to it though.

Oh well. That is just my opinion. I am glad that I bought a 2015 7-series because I think it is a much better car.


Time for the usual "Sounds like your reasoning your purchase of the 2015 7-series blah blah blah" or "If you don't like it you don't have to purchase it durka durka dur"
Click to expand...

You obviously aren't a member of BMW Rumors. :rolleyes:

I am a member of BMW Rumors and I went to BMW Rumors and saw a blog post about the new model that was pretty incomplete, but hey, it had a kind of negative slant and I get off on that kind of thing.

So I then posted some comments that had a whole lot of "facts" that I made up and "summaries" of user reports that were based on posts by people who'd read about the new BMW on the forum or had taken it for a test drive, and I ignored all the favorable reports by people who actually owned one. The way I see it, facts don't really matter, and I can make things up and tell people what they need in a car because I know much more about what they need than they do.

By the way, just so you know, I don't actually drive cars or anything like that. I just read forums and rumors websites. There's no need to use a product if you just spend enough time measurbating with product specs you find on the internet.

----------
dugbug said:
Op never used a netbook. Those barely opened windows and were cheap as hell
Click to expand...

That's true of all the _______ posts that sling "netbook" around. They are clueless. Not only clueless about netbooks, but clueless about how Core M behaves. You have to use it for a while for real world tasks and watch it react to really appreciate (1) how well it behaves in real life and (2) how elegant and smart the engineering is. There is *absolutely no question* that Core M is the leading edge (and it's good enough to say that it's not the bleeding edge) of mobile CPU tech. I love my rMBP, but c'mon, does it really need a 28W CPU? :rolleyes:
 
macguy360 said:
The newest iPhones are thinner and lighter than older iPhones, yet they feel solid. They have a density that provides assurance that they will hold up over time. I didn't get this same impression with the rmb. It just felt too much like a netbook, especially the keyboard.
Click to expand...

You seriously think the new iPhone 6 feels as solid as the iPhone 5? 4? Or original iPhone? Not sure what you're feeling.
 
macguy360 said:
I went to the local Apple store today and messed around with one of their retina MacBooks. It felt cheap to me, like a netbook. It just didn't have that feeling I expect from a $1000+ Apple laptop. Maybe it was the keyboard... I definitely feel like the keyboard seemed like one of those bluetooth keyboards that you use with an iPad. The laptop itself just didn't feel like it had any substance to it though.

Oh well. That is just my opinion. I am glad that I bought a 2015 13" rmbp because I think it is a much better laptop.


Time for the usual "Sounds like your reasoning your purchase of the 2015 13" rmbp blah blah blah" or "If you don't like it you don't have to purchase it durka durka dur"
Click to expand...

Of course the 2015 13" MacBook Pro is a better machine. No one has ever said the Retina MacBook is a better and more powerful machine than the MacBook Pro. The bigger issue is people who have the MacBook Pro want the Retina MacBook to be in upgradable machine for them, however it is not. Also, if you do not want people to tell you "just don't purchased the laptop" don't come here posting your personal opinions on the message board.
 
I agree with some of the points in the OP. I ended up trying the rMB, 13" MBa and the 13" rMBP and ended up with a maxed out 13" rMBP. It really came down to the keyboard on the rMB, I just couldn't stand it.
 
Hankster said:
Of course the 2015 13" MacBook Pro is a better machine. No one has ever said the Retina MacBook is a better and more powerful machine than the MacBook Pro. The bigger issue is people who have the MacBook Pro want the Retina MacBook to be in upgradable machine for them, however it is not. Also, if you do not want people to tell you "just don't purchased the laptop" don't come here posting your personal opinions on the message board.
Click to expand...

"Better" doesn't exist in a vacuum. The question is always: better for what?
 
newellj said:
You obviously aren't a member of BMW Rumors. :rolleyes:

I am a member of BMW Rumors and I went to BMW Rumors and saw a blog post about the new model that was pretty incomplete, but hey, it had a kind of negative slant and I get off on that kind of thing.

So I then posted some comments that had a whole lot of "facts" that I made up and "summaries" of user reports that were based on posts by people who'd read about the new BMW on the forum or had taken it for a test drive, and I ignored all the favorable reports by people who actually owned one. The way I see it, facts don't really matter, and I can make things up and tell people what they need in a car because I know much more about what they need than they do.

By the way, just so you know, I don't actually drive cars or anything like that. I just read forums and rumors websites. There's no need to use a product if you just spend enough time measurbating with product specs you find on the internet.
Click to expand...

Yeah I thought the OP was hilarious. I thought inserting [brand name here] would help him/her understand the hilarity of confusing choice with competition within a brand, especially since Apple made it clear by design that they're not meant for the same usage.

But hey if that's what makes him feel happy about his choice, criticize away OP...
 
macguy360 said:
I went to the local Apple store today and messed around with one of their retina MacBooks. It felt cheap to me, like a netbook. It just didn't have that feeling I expect from a $1000+ Apple laptop. Maybe it was the keyboard... I definitely feel like the keyboard seemed like one of those bluetooth keyboards that you use with an iPad. The laptop itself just didn't feel like it had any substance to it though.

Oh well. That is just my opinion. I am glad that I bought a 2015 13" rmbp because I think it is a much better laptop.


Time for the usual "Sounds like your reasoning your purchase of the 2015 13" rmbp blah blah blah" or "If you don't like it you don't have to purchase it durka durka dur"
Click to expand...

Funny read... Its like comparing a Toyota Corolla with Toyota Yaris. But please note there is a market for both. Thus none is superior or inferior to the other.
 
I've tried the new rMB several times at Apple store and Best Buy. Felt great and high quality everytime.

I consider a laptop cheap if I go to open with one finger and the entire device slides backwards. Again, Apple made this device very balanced like their other laptops. Most 1k+ Samsung slide back- that's crappy build quality.
 
shenan1982 said:
This post makes no sense.

When Apple moved to Chiclet-Style keyboards, people said the exact same thing about them feeling cheap.

When Apple released the Macbook Air, people said the exact same thing about it feeling too light and cheap.

You're glad you bought a boat anchor? Happy for you. Hardware spec-wise it's definitely a better computer, however it's a BEAST... a BOAT ANCHOR. Huge, massive, oversized. Gross. I travel internationally 2 weeks out of the month, and you couldn't pay me to carry one of those MBPs... If it sits at home and you take it out occasionally, you don't notice the difference. If you were a road warrior, you'd feel different.

But hey, Apple has the MBP line for people who don't need thin\light, so glad you're happy with the bigger laptop. If portability\weight\size isn't important, Macbook Pro is a stellar machine.
Click to expand...

I'm assuming you're joking that a 13" retina is a "beast" of a computer.

laptops have come so far from when they were truly "beastly." I remember when they were pretty damn thick and heavy - todays laptops are great.

I even use to travel with a 15" classic MBP and thought I was lucky to be traveling with something "thin and light."

The 13" retina fits well on a plane and I don't think anyone would ever call it physically a "beast" of a computer..
 
Cvx5832 said:
Yeah I thought the OP was hilarious. I thought inserting [brand name here] would help him/her understand the hilarity of confusing choice with competition within a brand, especially since Apple made it clear by design that they're not meant for the same usage.

But hey if that's what makes him feel happy about his choice, criticize away OP...
Click to expand...

Your post was brilliant. It was a great way of illustrating some points. I was taking advantage of your work. ;)

----------
David58117 said:
I'm assuming you're joking that a 13" retina is a "beast" of a computer.

laptops have come so far from when they were truly "beastly." I remember when they were pretty damn thick and heavy - todays laptops are great.

I even use to travel with a 15" classic MBP and thought I was lucky to be traveling with something "thin and light."

The 13" retina fits well on a plane and I don't think anyone would ever call it physically a "beast" of a computer..
Click to expand...

You have to handle the rMB to appreciate why he said "beast." I agree with both of you, actually. I'm back to carrying my 13" rMBP around, but for pure portability I really wish I were still carrying the rMB around.
 
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