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What is the point of rMBP if you use external monitor?
- Thread starter yalag
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I doubt that anyone is buying the rMBP to just keep it plugged in at all times to an external display.
It's a laptop, so most likely anyone buying it, is planning on carrying it around and likely will only plug it up to an external display when at home or at work and when necessary. Some need the extra screen real estate!
Your argument is flawed! I'm surprised this thread is from a 5yr member.
It's a laptop, so most likely anyone buying it, is planning on carrying it around and likely will only plug it up to an external display when at home or at work and when necessary. Some need the extra screen real estate!
Your argument is flawed! I'm surprised this thread is from a 5yr member.
Which is the point the OP is making; a rMBP is pointless if one intends to use it that way.
While quite obvious and hardly worthy of pointing out in a stand-alone thread, it is nonetheless a valid observation.
No, you failed to understand the OPs point.
Don't worry though, I expect this from a seventeen month member.
Which is the point the OP is making; a rMBP is pointless if one intends to use it that way.
While quite obvious and hardly worthy of pointing out in a stand-alone thread, it is nonetheless a valid observation.
No, you failed to understand the OPs point.
Don't worry though, I expect this from a seventeen month member.
I'm in agreement with mohsy90. The 'retina' aspect isn't what I'm after. I'm looking for a portable Mac with as much desktop real estate as possible (therefore will keep my unit at 1920x1200 mode). However, when at work/home I'd rather just plug in to my external monitor and have the same desk space, but on a bigger surface.
Which is the point the OP is making; a rMBP is pointless if one intends to use it that way.
While quite obvious and hardly worthy of pointing out in a stand-alone thread, it is nonetheless a valid observation.
No, you failed to understand the OPs point.
Don't worry though, I expect this from a seventeen month member.
I guess I should correct myself and say that the argument he has is correct but to even imply that people using a rMBP to solely plug it to an external display is absurd. No one is buying a rMBP to keep it plugged to an external display. That's why they have iMacs!
Performance specs...the cMBP is the same as the rMBP. I swear I keep reading...the rMBP is faster..has usb 3.0...blah blah blah. If you going to plug it in a monitor most the time, the cMBP makes the most sense. Same video, same USB 3.0 more ports...yeah so it doesnt have the hdmi port on it...easy fix with mini display port adaptor which can be the last part of the chain if you are using external hard drives on the TB.
Using mine almost all the time plugged into a TB 27" monitor. I would rather have the ram and ssd upgrade capability over retina display. When my company MBP comes up for retirement, I will probably buy it for the kids and get a rMBP when that time comes. Apple may have the bugs worked out of it by then.
Using mine almost all the time plugged into a TB 27" monitor. I would rather have the ram and ssd upgrade capability over retina display. When my company MBP comes up for retirement, I will probably buy it for the kids and get a rMBP when that time comes. Apple may have the bugs worked out of it by then.
Why is it everyone talks just about the retina display. People this machine has the new Ivy Bridge and is a work horse. Yeah the retina is neat but its not like its the only update made to the machine. As I proudly plug in my cinema display into my new Macbook Pro Retina...
there is no point unless you're on the go a LOT. if you're just working at a desk most of the time at work and at home with an external monitor (which is basically what i do), the screen is kind of useless.
right now i'm using my 13" macbook connected to an external monitor. i do all my work on the external and i use the macbook monitor for basically just web browsing on the side and sometimes dragging tools and such over when i need more space on my external.
I disagree here. I'm considering a cMBP vs rMBP right now. I couldn't care less about the retina screen. What's interesting about the retina though is the ability to have 3 EXTERNAL monitors running at the same time. It has 2 TB port outs and 1 hdmi port out. Unfortunately the cMBP doesn't have that... also the iMac doesn't have that. so if you have needs for 3 or even 4 screens, the retina is the one to buy. Or wait for the next mac pro whenever that's going to be.
If I never used a "laptop" I'd probably buy the retina just for the monitor capability.
Sadly I use my laptop (2010 MBP) away from my desk enough and need some apps in parallels that I'm worried it will look too bad on the retina screen that the extra monitors I could gain are not worth it.
But the extra display capability of the retina is a killer feature all on its own.
If you use only the external monitor than you shouldn't get the rMBP. Or a laptop, for what matters.
I think that if you're using 3 external displays it would probably be more beneficial to get a 27" iMac and run two external displays. Yes the retina can run 4 screens, the 4th one being the 15" retina, but I doubt most would even use the 15" retina screen while plugged up to large (27" +) external displays.
And don't forget that the iMac is much more customizable and cheaper than the rMBP. I think you'd be a fool to just buy the rMBP to keep it plugged up to external displays at ALL times.
I would obviously wait till this October when supposedly new retina iMacs are coming and will most likely have 3.0 USB.
The Retina MBP works the same with an external display as a non-retina MBP. The "Retina" term only applies to the display panel built in to the MBP.
Howard Hughes near the end had grown his fingernails a foot long and had bottles of his urine filling shelves. I could see Mr. Hughes buying Retina laptops for every room in his house and using them in clamshell mode with Thunderbolt displays.
The NEXT iMac should be a lot better. I didn't realize that the current 27 inch iMac has 2 thunderbolt ports though. That certainly helps with monitor choice. Of course you're right that it's silly to buy an iMac today until the next rev which should bring usb 3 at least. Who knows about Retina for it yet though. Retina's going to be a problem for a while I think. Especially if you do a lot of screen capture or screencasting.
I never said that you should keep the retina MBP plugged into monitors ALL the time... but even if you're at a desk 80% of the time and want it remote 20%, at least you have excellent external monitor options with Retina. I like to have multi-monitors but I also do work while waiting in my car while the kids have piano practice. Try that with an iMac.
I just wish the cMBP had either an extra thunderbolt port or hdmi.Keep doubting.
There are a many people who buy laptops for only desktop use. There are even more people who take their laptops (Apple or otherwise) away from their desks < 5% of the time.
Worse is the fact that Apple doesn't really sell a consumer desktop (the Mini doesn't really count). You can get a laptop or an AIO. Some people want a discrete large monitor, so MacBook is the only option.
I realized that my 17" monitor runs at the same resolution as the MBP. However, I prefer the external monitor, even at only 2" size advantage.