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What are the legitimate use cases for Retina?

P

punchwalk

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 16, 2010
223
70
Maryland, USA
I'm trying to understand the practicality of the Retina MBP. To those of you who bought one, can you please answer me this question:

What will a Retina MBP allow you to do better than a non-Retina would?
 
Reading text.

Photos.

Editing movies.

Eye strain for people on the computer all day.
 
scarred said:
Reading text.

Photos.

Editing movies.

Eye strain for people on the computer all day.
Click to expand...

I'll concede #2 and #3, but I think the others are debatable.

To #1 I say that if you're using your MBP mostly to read text then you should probably be using something like an iPad instead.

To #4 I say that almost every complaint I've heard about eye strain when using non-Retinas was due to glare, not resolution (I'd say only 5-10% of complainers own AG models).
 
The Retina MBP lets you have as much desktop real estate as the old 17" MBP (1920x1200) in a 15" form factor that's as light as a 13" MBP.

Text should definitely be an improvement if you're staring at code all day.
 
I want it and for the specs I want, the retina is actually cheaper. I want a multipurpose system that is powerful, thin and light. The retina actually doesn't matter, it is just a nice bonus.
 
You have to see the screen and how crisp images and text are. It's amazing really. (On apps optimized, like Safari).

I use Xcode, FCPX and Photoshop a lot so eventually (once Xcode and PS) are updated I will have a lot more work room.

But honestly, I did everything I am doing now with this MBP w/ Retina Display on a 13" MBA with 4gb of ram with no hiccups. I'm a sucker, Apple makes it and I buy it.
 
Screen, Screen, Screen. The Retina display is amazing. It might not be that big of a deal to some, but its everything to me and I have perfect vision. I also just got done doing some photoshopping and the temp barely rose at all and the fans didn't kick in. My 17" early 2011 would start heating up really quick. This thing kicks ass...
 
IanGahagan said:
Web design
Graphic design as a whole because of the high resolution.
photo editing
video editing
:)
Click to expand...

Actually it's a lot harder to do web design on retina at least for the next year until your tools are updated. Simply because if you make let's say a 100x100 image on your page, that image will look extremely small on your screen and different than what ur users will see.
If you use scaling, that image will scale 200% on ur computer so you can see it the same physical size as your customer. But your image will look jagged and blurry. U can't really know what it will actually look like.

This is just one of many examples I can think of.
 
I think there are some misconceptions regarding images and the retina MBP. Images look actually a little blurry when viewed online compared with a screen running at its native resolution due to the upscaling. I did some side-to-side comparison since this is important for my photography. Chances are that images processed with a retina MBP in Photoshop will look very oversharpened on displays running at native resolution. Using an external monitor might circumvent this problem. I will most likely cancel my retina MBP order. Contrast and blacks look very good on the retina display and text is sharp but the softness of images is a deal breaker for me.
 
I am buying it for Graphic use. More importantly, Flash Animation.

This will be absolutely perfect for my needs.
 
I would make the argument that is could really be anything.

When I switched from a 3GS to a 4S, the difference was phenomenal. Now, it doesn't matter what I do on my phone, I love the higher resolution. Every time I look at an older model, all I see is large pixels and it is annoying.

Same thing for the iPad.
 
Because I want one and have the disposable income to buy it?

I guess if you want a rational "excuse" on why I need it I'm using a late 2008 MacBook with the 9400m graphics card and trying to game on it is like trying to #%^@ a door knob
 
Just to say that you have the newest toy. It's just a sharper image is all that most websites aren't "retina ready" nor do many App developers make apps that are "retina ready" it will be a WHILE. Save your $$

It's kind of like buying a brand new train ticket but they are building the tracks. It will come to your town soon!

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scarred said:
Reading text.

Photos.

Editing movies.

Eye strain for people on the computer all day.
Click to expand...

iPad 3 does all that
 
punchwalk said:
I'll concede #2 and #3, but I think the others are debatable.

To #1 I say that if you're using your MBP mostly to read text then you should probably be using something like an iPad instead.

To #4 I say that almost every complaint I've heard about eye strain when using non-Retinas was due to glare, not resolution (I'd say only 5-10% of complainers own AG models).
Click to expand...

Are you saying you never read text on your MBP? What are you doing RIGHT NOW? 90% of every interaction you have with your MBP is reading text.
 
skywalkerr69 said:
Just to say that you have the newest toy. It's just a sharper image is all that most websites aren't "retina ready" nor do many App developers make apps that are "retina ready" it will be a WHILE. Save your $$

It's kind of like buying a brand new train ticket but they are building the tracks. It will come to your town soon!
Click to expand...
I'm frankly in disbelief that people will take a while to develop for the retina display. Google Chrome and Videolan VLC are good examples.

And especially since so many people are purchasing the new Retina MacBook Pro, it will cause PC builders to follow suit. When that happens (sooner than later), the huge market for hiDPI will cause developers to update even quicker.

P.S. I also am a web designer, it will not be difficult at all for me to update my website for the retina display.
 
Bradllez said:
I'm frankly in disbelief that people will take a while to develop for the retina display. Google Chrome and Videolan VLC are good examples.

And especially since so many people are purchasing the new Retina MacBook Pro, it will cause PC builders to follow suit. When that happens (sooner than later), the huge market for hiDPI will cause developers to update even quicker.

P.S. I also am a web designer, it will not be difficult at all for me to update my website for the retina display.
Click to expand...

Yeah cause i see them running to their computers and CEOs calling their web design team to spend money on updating their websites just for a few RMBP owners. I say give it at least 2 years for the entire web to be updated.

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phixionalninja said:
The iPad 3 can match a quad-core i7, 16GBs of RAM, and a GT650M when it comes to editing photos and movies? Wow... I feel like Apple is not doing their job when it comes to advertising those things...
Click to expand...

Boy didn't know you needed so much horse power to take red eye out or remove a tree in the background. But hey what do I know?
 
skywalkerr69 said:
Yeah cause i see them running to their computers and CEOs calling their web design team to spend money on updating their websites just for a few RMBP owners. I say give it at least 2 years for the entire web to be updated.
Click to expand...


The entire web will never be updated. But sites with developers who like to keep things up to date will surely update ASAP. Just like how all the good developers updated their iPad apps with the new iPad.
 
skywalkerr69 said:
Yeah cause i see them running to their computers and CEOs calling their web design team to spend money on updating their websites just for a few RMBP owners. I say give it at least 2 years for the entire web to be updated.
Click to expand...

You completely disregarded what I said and continued your complaint.

1292214107208.jpg
 
strausd said:
The entire web will never be updated. But sites with developers who like to keep things up to date will surely update ASAP. Just like how all the good developers updated their iPad apps with the new iPad.
Click to expand...

Companies keep sites up to date to sell products, if it has no effect on sales they won't do it. Business 101 they need a good ROI to even consider it. They could care less if the E is a little sharper on your screen verses the other guy.

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Bradllez said:
You completely disregarded what I said and continued your complaint.

1292214107208.jpg
Click to expand...

Upgrade your site just for retina, depending on what you sell you let me know if it effects sales after you do it :)
 
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