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What do You Think of the 2015 rMBP 13" So Far? (And My Impressions)
- Thread starter Larrabee213
- Start date
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I am coming from a 6 year old hp laptop that I really liked. I was worried the 13 inch screen wouldn't be big enough coming from a 16.
It's my first mac and I made the jump mostly because I hear the software is really good and because I had an iPhone and iPad already. My first impressions are pretty good. Transferring my files over was easy and getting iTunes set up was easy. I like how safari carries over my browsing from my iOS devices.
the keyboard is a lot better than my old hp as well. the trackpad is pretty good as well. I never used the older one, but the force touch is neat.
Overall I still have a lot to get used to as far as OS X, but I like the transition at this point. I bought the higher end 13 model for longevity since I usually keep computers around at least 5 years. I think this laptop is going to last me that long.
It's hard to tell how fast the mac is. Any upgrade at this point would have been a huge improvement from the laptop I was coming from, but the mac boots up so quickly.
Short story; I'm happy.
It's my first mac and I made the jump mostly because I hear the software is really good and because I had an iPhone and iPad already. My first impressions are pretty good. Transferring my files over was easy and getting iTunes set up was easy. I like how safari carries over my browsing from my iOS devices.
the keyboard is a lot better than my old hp as well. the trackpad is pretty good as well. I never used the older one, but the force touch is neat.
Overall I still have a lot to get used to as far as OS X, but I like the transition at this point. I bought the higher end 13 model for longevity since I usually keep computers around at least 5 years. I think this laptop is going to last me that long.
It's hard to tell how fast the mac is. Any upgrade at this point would have been a huge improvement from the laptop I was coming from, but the mac boots up so quickly.
Short story; I'm happy.
I am impressed by the 2015 13" rmbp.
I think this is the best bang for the buck for Apple laptops right now.
I am able to edit 4k videos in fcpx with zero lag. The laptop lasts forever on battery even with screen at full brightness. There is nothing I don't like about the laptop.
I think this is the best bang for the buck for Apple laptops right now.
I am able to edit 4k videos in fcpx with zero lag. The laptop lasts forever on battery even with screen at full brightness. There is nothing I don't like about the laptop.
Totally, no issues with the editing, the exporting just takes a bit longer. And Handbreak runs fantastically on it.
I think I am going to go with the 13".
I still miss the three-finger drag though. Maybe not many people deem it necessary but I am just used to it. No need to put any force or click on the trackpad to drag things around.
Disappointing battery life
I have the $1799 model with no upgrades.
Mostly, I like it. It's my 3rd Macbook (the other two were Airs) and the first with Retina IPS display. I LOVE the display. Can't go back to an Air, despite the extra 1/2 pound of the rMBP compared to the 13" MBA.
I expected the new rMBP to be faster, based on benchmarks published in professional reviews and because I'm coming from a 2012 MBA. It doesn't feel significantly faster, though I haven't really tried pushing it to its limits with processor-intensive applications.
My big gripe is battery life. I get 6-7 hours with brightness at 6/10 or 7/10 and keyboard backlight low or off. Additionally, clicking on the battery icon gives an estimate of the remaining time, and these estimates are significantly off. Every professional review I've read says that battery life exceeds Apple's claim of 10 hours. I'd be happy with 9 or 10, am very unhappy with 6. Professional review sites like Laptopmag.com and Digitaltrends using the Peacekeeper browser benchmark to measure battery life while browsing and got over 10 hours (12 for laptopmag). I used the same benchmark and got under 7 hours.
I have a genius bar appointment later today to have some tests done. I'll see what they have to say, but my tentative plan is to return it and buy a new one of the same model.
Those of you who own a 2015 rMBP, are you having battery life issues, or are you getting approximately the 10 hours or so that Apple claims this machine should get?
I have the $1799 model with no upgrades.
Mostly, I like it. It's my 3rd Macbook (the other two were Airs) and the first with Retina IPS display. I LOVE the display. Can't go back to an Air, despite the extra 1/2 pound of the rMBP compared to the 13" MBA.
I expected the new rMBP to be faster, based on benchmarks published in professional reviews and because I'm coming from a 2012 MBA. It doesn't feel significantly faster, though I haven't really tried pushing it to its limits with processor-intensive applications.
My big gripe is battery life. I get 6-7 hours with brightness at 6/10 or 7/10 and keyboard backlight low or off. Additionally, clicking on the battery icon gives an estimate of the remaining time, and these estimates are significantly off. Every professional review I've read says that battery life exceeds Apple's claim of 10 hours. I'd be happy with 9 or 10, am very unhappy with 6. Professional review sites like Laptopmag.com and Digitaltrends using the Peacekeeper browser benchmark to measure battery life while browsing and got over 10 hours (12 for laptopmag). I used the same benchmark and got under 7 hours.
I have a genius bar appointment later today to have some tests done. I'll see what they have to say, but my tentative plan is to return it and buy a new one of the same model.
Those of you who own a 2015 rMBP, are you having battery life issues, or are you getting approximately the 10 hours or so that Apple claims this machine should get?
I easily get 9 hours on mine. I disabled Flash and I completely do not use Chrome, for Chrome is a resource hog.
Goto activity monitor and see whats overusing your CPU.
You most likely have a program installed thats causing your CPU to run high (Chrome is notorious for this). Also try Force Quit (Apple on top left -> Force Quit). Anything that you're not actively using, close and quit out of.
I had the 13" for awhile and got over 10 hours...but I kept backlight low and keyboard light usually off, and only had what I needed running.
This thing is freaking awesome. Got mine last night. Got it all setup and have been running on battery all morning. Giving Safari a try. I really miss Chrome.
My suggestion is do what I did when you get a brand new one (and I just got mine last night). Don't install anything on it. Use whatever you can (safari, pages, preinstalled software, etc). Get a baseline of what the battery life should be. Then, you'll have an idea of any changes that are occurring.
In my case, I have good news and bad news. ... The bad news ... it will take a while ... The good news ... it will take a while.
In my case, I have good news and bad news. ... The bad news ... it will take a while ... The good news ... it will take a while.
Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! Fast, too! Runs circles around my older machines! I am still in the process of getting things set up so right now am still running with the machine plugged in but will be unplugging after a while to check out battery power and usage.
I had no idea Chrome did this. Does Firefox have this issue also? I'm not a fan of Safari.
If it isn't working for you then just exchange it. Or not, and get a refund. I'm sure your machine has a problem but trying to make it sound as if the problem that you are experiencing is somehow what everyone else is experiencing is obviously not true. It's pointless to complain about it at every opportunity and the time you spent complaining about it you could have put into exchanging for a different machine or if you haven't already, reinstalling OS X to see if that fixes your issues.
I haven't yet installed Chrome on my new machine, but it is on the other ones and I've not experienced any particular issues with it being a battery-life hog..... My preference for general everyday web browsing/usage is Safari, and in the past I've only popped into Chrome when I've had problems with Safari or with Ghostery (which I use as an extension on Safari).
I presume you know this, but if not, you can disable Ghostery in Safari on a temporary basis. I do that sometimes when that extension gives me problems. The Ghostery icon next to the URL allows you to temporarily pause Ghostery. Then just reload the page. That works for me.
Indeed I am aware of that -- it really makes a big difference when on some pages! I've definitely had to do that from time to time -- temporarily disable blocking and reload the page to have a look at whatever had been blocked. This is something fairly recent that they've implemented in Ghostery, and since then I've hardly ever gone into Google Chrome, no need to do so. I probably won't even bother installing it on this new machine, as I really do not need it.
The guys that upgraded to a 2015 rMBP, are you using it in scaled mode to get 1440x900, or are you using it in retina mode, which gives you an effective 1280x800? I don't want to give up the real estate of the MBA you get at 1440x900.
I'm currently running it at 1680x1050. I love the extra desktop space over the 1440x900. I haven't been able to test performance properly yet as I'm on vacation, but from what little I've used it it seems great
It does actually click. It takes less force that before too, which is nice. You can adjust the pressure it takes to do a "force click"
Quick update:
I have had the $1799 2015 13" now for about a week and I love it. Everything is incredibly snappy, even more so than my maxed out 15" 2013 rMBP. Not missing the 16GB of RAM much. The 13" handles 1080p video editing no probable and Handbreak runs great.
The portability, extra battery life, and faster SSD seem to be worth it. Going to sell my 15" rMBP.
I have had the $1799 2015 13" now for about a week and I love it. Everything is incredibly snappy, even more so than my maxed out 15" 2013 rMBP. Not missing the 16GB of RAM much. The 13" handles 1080p video editing no probable and Handbreak runs great.
The portability, extra battery life, and faster SSD seem to be worth it. Going to sell my 15" rMBP.
i absolutely love mine! i came from an early 2008 white macbook. everything is just so fast and beautiful. i love the trackpad. i gotta remind myself there are levels to how i press though. can't believe i lived with my old macbook for so long.