Very impressed with 2012 MBP - non-retina

[Dankex]

As i said previously, ill get the 2.3GHz cMBP and will then (~6 months after) upgrade it to 16GB. My question is: is CL 9 better than CL 10? I can see lower CL = lower latency which is good. Am i right? I found this http://www.frys.com/product/7088001 (CL 10) and http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/1600DDR3S16P/ (CL 9).
There is a $30 difference. Which one should i get?

 

[powerslave65]

I just got the 15 2.7 antiglare in the store and I am glad I did. It's as powerful as the retina and upgradeable. I like that this is worthy upgrade on a mature manufacturing line so the build quality should be very consistant. I take my laptop on corporate shows for mobile editing and the retina although cool has one drawback that cannot be fixed. If you are in a dark area and using the lit keyboard you will see it on the screen. I am really liking this thing. Next will be 16g ram and a 512 ssd. Maybe take the 1TB and move it to an optibay. Yeah!!!

 

[whdigital]

I just got my 2.6 HR-AG today... This thing is sweet and I couldn't be happier so far! Not scientific analysis, but I could swear it's a tad quieter than the 2011 I had for a few days. Have to run it through more paces though.

 

[atlasica]

I just got the 15 2.7 antiglare in the store and I am glad I did. It's as powerful as the retina and upgradeable. I like that this is worthy upgrade on a mature manufacturing line so the build quality should be very consistant. I take my laptop on corporate shows for mobile editing and the retina although cool has one drawback that cannot be fixed. If you are in a dark area and using the lit keyboard you will see it on the screen. I am really liking this thing. Next will be 16g ram and a 512 ssd. Maybe take the 1TB and move it to an optibay. Yeah!!!

The 2.7ghz version is available in-store? Or did you order it?

Also, do apple stores stock configurations with the anti-glare screen, or must I order it?

 

[powerslave65]

The 2.7ghz version is available in-store? Or did you order it?

Also, do apple stores stock configurations with the anti-glare screen, or must I order it?

I purchased it in the store. The only Antiglare model you can walk into a store and get is the 15 macbook pro 2.7 1TB 5400 antiglare hi res 8g ram for 2649.00
It's a little pricey compared to a similar build to order model but I did not have to wait. This is a great machine. One thing that may confuse you is the default setting is low power so you have to set it in the energy saver to use the high powered gpu. I you were not aware you might be unimpressed. But change that setting and it's a beast.

 

[atlasica]

I purchased it in the store. The only Antiglare model you can walk into a store and get is the 15 macbook pro 2.7 1TB 5400 antiglare hi res 8g ram for 2649.00
It's a little pricey compared to a similar build to order model but I did not have to wait. This is a great machine. One thing that may confuse you is the default setting is low power so you have to set it in the energy saver to use the high powered gpu. I you were not aware you might be unimpressed. But change that setting and it's a beast.

Dang. Kind of was hoping it would just be the $2199 MBP + Hires Antiglare. Don't need the extra 0.1Ghz which sets me back $250, or the 1TB HDD which sets me back an extra $100 (which I could use to buy another 1TB HDD >.>)

But if that's what it takes to get the AG in-store...I might just have to think of the rip-off HDD price as a no-wait fee. Guess I'll just walk into the store and see...

 

[powerslave65]

Dang. Kind of was hoping it would just be the $2199 MBP + Hires Antiglare. Don't need the extra 0.1Ghz which sets me back $250, or the 1TB HDD which sets me back an extra $100 (which I could use to buy another 1TB HDD >.>)

But if that's what it takes to get the AG in-store...I might just have to think of the rip-off HDD price as a no-wait fee. Guess I'll just walk into the store and see...

Yeah it was a bit of a bummer...but I have a big job this week to pay for it so it didn't hurt too much. Good luck you will love it either way.

 

[MindsEye]

Just ordered the the high end 2.6Ghz 15" cMBP with the 1680 x 1050 anti glare screen at around £1600 with edu discount. Since the announcement last week, i've been deliberating between the retina and this version but as each day passed i kept edging towards this one.

As great as the machine is, to get the retina up to spec it would have cost me an extra £550 (high end + 16GB RAM) and at the low end 256GB capacity is way too insufficient for me. I had 320GB on my 2007 MBP split it almost evenly between Windows and Mac and filled it up very quickly. The lack upgradeability was also a killer. I plan to pretty much do the exact same upgrade the TC has done with RAM coming first and the Hybrid a little later.

I'm going to be thrilled if there is truth in Ivy Bridge being able to house 32GB of RAM. Imagine being able to run and Allocate 5-6 VM's all with 4GB and still have a but load of memory to spare.

 

[thomaskc]

I'm going to be thrilled if there is truth in Ivy Bridge being able to house 32GB of RAM. Imagine being able to run and Allocate 5-6 VM's all with 4GB and still have a but load of memory to spare.

yeah same, when ordering the non retina, do people just go for the 4GB version and then buy 16GB non apple memory?

EDIT: nvm, they top end base line comes with 8GB.

 

[alembic]

Snow Leopard

With the the updated ports, I don't think the new non-retina models can run Snow Leopard like the late 2011 line. Am I right?

 

[whdigital]

Dang. Kind of was hoping it would just be the $2199 MBP + Hires Antiglare. Don't need the extra 0.1Ghz which sets me back $250, or the 1TB HDD which sets me back an extra $100 (which I could use to buy another 1TB HDD >.>)

But if that's what it takes to get the AG in-store...I might just have to think of the rip-off HDD price as a no-wait fee. Guess I'll just walk into the store and see...

Felt the same as you, but don't fret the CTO ship time. It is crazy fast! Purchased my CTO 2.6 w/7200rpm HD and HR-AG last Thurs. night right before Midnight and I have it in hand as of this morning! It's literally just a few days to build in China and get through Customs (U.S. anyway) and to doorstep. Don't spend $300 extra for something you don't want al just to save 2 days.

 

[thomaskc]

With the the updated ports, I don't think the new non-retina models can run Snow Leopard like the late 2011 line. Am I right?

If lion is so bad why don't people just run the developer build of mountain lion?

 

[BoredAtWork]

Not sure if anyone mentioned this before.

The fact that they called the retina MBP "Next generation" is worry some. This essentially means the "regular" MBP this year is the last of which that is user upgradable.

Buy now, or starting next year, you may be stuck with non-upgradable macs for quite a while.

 

[alembic]

@thomaskc, I'm really happy with SL and there's nothing in Lion that would improve MY computing experience. The more I read about Lion adopting the iOS look and feel, the more I'm inclined to stay with SL. Eventually hardware supporting SL will be phased out and by then I'm hoping Mountain Lion will have addressed Lion's shortcomings. I think there are more than a few end users who feel the same way.

 

[MacBookProzak]

Not sure if anyone mentioned this before.

The fact that they called the retina MBP "Next generation" is worry some. This essentially means the "regular" MBP this year is the last of which that is user upgradable.

Buy now, or starting next year, you may be stuck with non-upgradable macs for quite a while.

This is an excellent point to consider. Perhaps this is why it may be a really good idea to just get the highest spec MBP they put out now, while just getting the minimal HDD and RAM since those 2 can be continually be upgraded.

*** As an update on how my 2012 MBP is doing (if anyone cares at this point) I have easily 90 hours of active use on this machine since I got it last week (not counting the 2 nights I let it run over night to encode some batches of video in Compressor). I would break down my usage since getting this last Tuesday like this: 75% video editing/encoding - 15% Web browsing/web based work - 5% Photoshop - 4% MS Office applications - 1% General goofing around.

Summation: This machine ate through anything I threw at this machine. The upgrade to the 750 Momentus XT that has 8GB of SSD has performed flawlessly, no beach ball, no studder, no lag, just zippy performance that was better than the 512 Momentus XT that has 4GB of SSD that was in my previous 2011 MBP. The 16GB of Corsair Vengeance RAM that I put in has worked like a charm and has not produced any beach balls or any issues to speak off. I did run this new MBP for a day with just the stock 8GB and then after I put in the 16GB I noticed a smother, faster performance for how I use a machine over the 8GB stock RAM. A note about the OS, I stuck with Snow Leopard on my 2011 MBP, and since this 2012 came with Lion, instead of staying behind, I choose to move forward and for everything I ask of this 2012, the OS Lion has not been a noticeable factor in holding me back from anything and everything runs well.

There you have it, that is my experience. Hope this has helped many of you out there in the choices you make or don't make on the classic version of the MBP.

 

[Dankex]

MacBookProzak, you're posts are most welcome!

I'm buying the 15" base one as i can't afford a better one. The only thing i hate is tthe 4GB standard...it shoule be 8GB. However, i've chosen to wait about 6 months after purchase the MBP (will do so in a month) to get me 2x8GB RAM just like yours (quick question CL 10 is better then CL 9, right?) and, after that, will remove the superdrive and get an optibay with an SSD in there. Hopefully, that final setup will last me for a long time. This Late 2007 MacBook was a true rocker, im so proud of it...i never shut it down, it is my desktop computer as well, i almost never reboot, always have tons of tabs in the browser...all of this with 4GB RAM (updated 2 years ago). That i think is impressive.
Hopefully, the new one will keep even happier for 5 or 6 years.

I just hope i can get the 2x8GB RAM for a cheaper price than what they cost right now...If they were cheaper, i would buy it right after the MBP purchase. But i think that with these Ivy Bridges we will see 16GB DIMMs pretty soon and so the 8GB price will drop.

I want it so badly, right now!

 

[MacBookProzak]

MacBookProzak, you're posts are most welcome!

I just hope i can get the 2x8GB RAM for a cheaper price than what they cost right now...If they were cheaper, i would buy it right after the MBP purchase. But i think that with these Ivy Bridges we will see 16GB DIMMs pretty soon and so the 8GB price will drop.

I want it so badly, right now!

The 16GB of Corsair Vengeance RAM for this 2012 MBP is on $139 which is not too bad considering that it was $1500 when it first came out a year ago, so I would say to just factor that in and get it from the get go and you will love the added performance. The price may drop $20 or so in the next few months, so $20 extra now for the enjoyment factor is worth it.

 

[Dankex]

Thank you!

I can see they have that Vengeance here in Portugal for 130€. I will grab it few months after i get the MBP, for sure.

One other thing i'm scratching my head now is the HR option and the AG too... I've been with this late 2007 MacBook and i like the new glossy MBP screen because of the colors and whatnot - it is great for movies and games under low direct light, but i do hate the glare... coming from a 2007 model with fluorescent screen, do you think the AG one is pretty much like this one, or that much better? Because i just want it to be better then this one - i don't need that much vivid colors...i don't work with images neither play games... I just write a lot of code and need big space to accommodate all of my apps in the screen. But, again, i'm coming from a 2007 model which is a 13" with a maximum of 1280x resolution... Maybe the 15" 1440x is already good enough for me...

Decisions decisions...too bad i can't see one HR AG live in the stores, here in Portugal...

 

[whdigital]

This is an excellent point to consider. Perhaps this is why it may be a really good idea to just get the highest spec MBP they put out now, while just getting the minimal HDD and RAM since those 2 can be continually be upgraded.

*** As an update on how my 2012 MBP is doing (if anyone cares at this point) I have easily 90 hours of active use on this machine since I got it last week (not counting the 2 nights I let it run over night to encode some batches of video in Compressor). I would break down my usage since getting this last Tuesday like this: 75% video editing/encoding - 15% Web browsing/web based work - 5% Photoshop - 4% MS Office applications - 1% General goofing around.

Summation: This machine ate through anything I threw at this machine. The upgrade to the 750 Momentus XT that has 8GB of SSD has performed flawlessly, no beach ball, no studder, no lag, just zippy performance that was better than the 512 Momentus XT that has 4GB of SSD that was in my previous 2011 MBP. The 16GB of Corsair Vengeance RAM that I put in has worked like a charm and has not produced any beach balls or any issues to speak off. I did run this new MBP for a day with just the stock 8GB and then after I put in the 16GB I noticed a smother, faster performance for how I use a machine over the 8GB stock RAM. A note about the OS, I stuck with Snow Leopard on my 2011 MBP, and since this 2012 came with Lion, instead of staying behind, I choose to move forward and for everything I ask of this 2012, the OS Lion has not been a noticeable factor in holding me back from anything and everything runs well.

There you have it, that is my experience. Hope this has helped many of you out there in the choices you make or don't make on the classic version of the MBP.

I think this is covered elsewhere so I know I need to look, but curious what your procedure was for swapping out to the Momentus XT. I have the same 2012 MBP and a Momentus in a box ready to go... Did you reinstall Lion from a Recovery or move internal to outside case and use Migration Assistant? Seems to me there is a preferred way, but can't remember what I read. Want to do it before I get it all set up too far.

 

[MacBookProzak]

I think this is covered elsewhere so I know I need to look, but curious what your procedure was for swapping out to the Momentus XT. I have the same 2012 MBP and a Momentus in a box ready to go... Did you reinstall Lion from a Recovery or move internal to outside case and use Migration Assistant? Seems to me there is a preferred way, but can't remember what I read. Want to do it before I get it all set up too far.

What I did first was run migration assistant from my 2011 to the 2012 MBP in its fully "stock" state. Now that I had everything on the original 1TB hard drive that came in the 2012, I then took out the original 1TB hard drive and replaced it with the Momentus XT 750GB drive. Since I live within 5 minutes of an Apple store I made a Genius Bar appointment and told them that I needed the Lion OS put back on this machine. They hooked it up to their high speed connection and put Lion OS back on the new Momentus drive. Then I went home and did a migration assistant once again from my original 2011 MBP to put everything on to the new 2012 MBP that now had the Momentus XT in it.

There may be another way to do this through the recovery mode, but since the Apple store was so close I found it easier for me to just go there and have them put the Lion OS on it and start fresh.

The benefit for me in doing this and perhaps for others is that the original hard drive that I took out of the new MBP, I just put it back in the sleeve and box that the Momentus XT came in so that I would have a back up hard drive that would be ready to go if I had any hard drive issues or if I needed to send the 2012 MBP in for service.

I know that this answer was long winded, and I hope it helps you out as to how I did this.

 

[canadianrider]

Hey guys, I'm looking at the base model 15" MBP. Originally I was looking at getting the new MBPr but due to some money issues the extra $500 is not looking too possible.
Do you guys think that the 512mb 650m will be ok for 'some' gaming? I'm not looking for ultra details but more like medium on the native res every now and then. The computer will be used for mostly just browsing/******** around.
Also can more then 1 person confirm that the new MBP is running cooler then last years?
Cheers.

 

[MasterMacBook]

Interestingly enough, they put it in the new macbook airs according to ifixit. Nothing on apples site mentions it for the airs

These "new" fans that apple spent a minute talking about as a new ground breaking feature for the MBPRetina, has been in MB Airs for years, not just introduced this year.

Recycling old technology much, haha. Go Apple.

 

[whdigital]

The 16GB of Corsair Vengeance RAM for this 2012 MBP is on $139 which is not too bad considering that it was $1500 when it first came out a year ago, so I would say to just factor that in and get it from the get go and you will love the added performance. The price may drop $20 or so in the next few months, so $20 extra now for the enjoyment factor is worth it.

Can you confirm if this is actually the Corsair RAM you put in your new MPB?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233265

If so, I'm wondering what the deal is with the fact that the timing, latency and voltage are all different than what the board (supposedly) calls for. Any problems after a couple of weeks? The Corsair is significantly cheaper than OWC's (with the "right" specs) so it's tempting, but the last thing I want to do is tip the balance on how quiet and cool this new cMBP is running by putting in RAM that will tax it somehow!

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

Can you confirm if this is actually the Corsair RAM you put in your new MPB?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233265

If so, I'm wondering what the deal is with the fact that the timing, latency and voltage are all different than what the board (supposedly) calls for. Any problems after a couple of weeks? The Corsair is significantly cheaper than OWC's (with the "right" specs) so it's tempting, but the last thing I want to do is tip the balance on how quiet and cool this new cMBP is running by putting in RAM that will tax it somehow!

I'm interested to hear about this too. I was under the impression - perhaps misguidedly - that Ivy Bridge required RAM that operated at 1.35v. OWC and Crucial both specify 1.35v RAM for the 2012 cMBP, but the only suitable Corsair RAM I could find was 1.5v. Perhaps the Corsair RAM is auto-undervolted?

 

[jacg]

Beware of spinning boot drives...

Thought I'd just add my thoughts, having just received a non-retina MBP to replace my 2008 model. Firstly, I'm liking the HiRes non-glossy display. Graphics-wise, everything is as smooth as possible. Very nice. Extra real estate is much greater than you'd think from the numbers. Nice to have it without any lag (that may or may not affect rMBP).

However, I'd pimped my old MBP with an Optibay SSD conversion and I am really feeling the slow down from the single 7200 rpm boot drive. My plan was to wait a year then up the RAM to 16GB and swap the drive for a big (and by then much cheaper) SSD or perhaps go the Optibay route again. Not sure if I'm really going to be able to wait a year - for opening apps and files, this computer feels years older than my SSD-based MBP.

Hopefully I will begin to notice the speed up in other areas to put my mind at rest for a while.