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What made decide for or against the rMBP?

I am finding it very funny that we all have relative success, we have graduated at least high school, function at a high deigree throughout our lives and yet this retina non-upgrade vs proven platform has reduced many of us in to indecisiveness, stress and worry.
Feels like the high school prom all over again.

My worry is the Heat issue, electronics hate heat. Heat will degrade components causing premature failure.

So maybe that is apples hidden plan, maybe they placed the retina on the edge just to cause the constant buzz which keeps the product #1 in the search pages.

Are we being used?
 
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I've just bought what you guys call the the cMBP. Given that i myself have spent a fair bit of time on this subject, might as well add my 2 cents worth:

Pro:
-much better screen. No doubt about it. Was at a shop yesterday looking at one and found that had i looked a little longer i'd get buyer's remorse:mad:

-SSDs instead of HDDs means it's much faster and feels higher-end

-sleeker, lighter, newer build....but particularly lightness means it's more portable. Not nearly as light as MBA but a good choice if you can't decide between MBA and cMBP

-future proof - in the sense that it's the latest thing at the moment so will likely be around longer than cMBP

-worth - i'd say all of the above is worth another $400

Con
- $$$$$$$$ as somebody said already and this is above all else. For $400 you do get a better product, but that doesn't me you should get it. I hate it when people say "might as well spend another $400". I'm hardly against consumerism but when did $400 not matter? Everyone has a budget. Personally, i didn't need the best and latest machine. I switched from PC so Apple prices can be a bit too much. i also originally wanted a MBA so going to MBP 15 already maxed-out my budget. The $400 will be spent on a myriad of things including supporting electronics and software

-256 SSD is fast but too small. I'm planning to run a lot software and maybe even install Windows which would require up to 50 gb

- Lack of certain features like ethernet and superdrive. Not a biggie and depends on the user. I have found i still need to use the optical drive and have used ethernet on one occasion already.

- non-upgreadable - a deal-breaker for many but just a factor in my case. A well-configured rMBP is likely to stay on top for a while but i like the option of being able upgrade my machine particularly when SSDs drop in price

- first generation model - again a small one, but it's sometimes better to wait and see what happens to first generation models and see how well they do and develop. You might want the latest model if you've had a MBP already but i switched from PC
 
Things that made decide for the Retina:

1: The best display on any laptop.
2: Silent operation.
3: Beautiful slim design.
4: Couldn't buy the old model now that it's replacement is here.
 
Price, rev A design, and a vain hope that a 17 inch version is on the way made me hold off. I'll see what the Haswell release brings (and keep borrowing my wife's old MacBook in the meantime)
 
Coming from an early 2009 white plastic pre-unibody MacBook, I was looking to upgrade to a 15" MBP going into the WWDC announcements. I was pleased with the updates that the original MBP received and was also impressed with the rMBP. Immediately after the announcement the cMBP was a lock for me and the rMBP was just an afterthought.

However, after factoring in the price of upgrading to the high-res screen, the RAM, and the HDD to an SSD (even going the third party route with the RAM and SSD upgrades), the cMBP model that I wanted turned out to cost more than a similarly spec'd rMBP. That, combined with the screen, the revamped airflow system, and sleeker rMBP design eventually won me over and now I have a rMBP.

I do miss FireWire, though. I also don't like how expensive Thunderbolt devices seem to still be. Hopefully prices will drop soon. I'd love to get the Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock, but it's $399 price is ludicrous.
 
Display too good -- can't go back

I got a rMBP, 16gb RAM, 500 GB SSD. Now I find it hard to use any other Mac. The screen is so much better that I feel I'm looking at a lot of pixels on the earlier machines, and the SSD is so much faster that I don't feel I'm using the same kind of machine.
 
glhiii said:
I got a rMBP, 16gb RAM, 500 GB SSD. Now I find it hard to use any other Mac. The screen is so much better that I feel I'm looking at a lot of pixels on the earlier machines, and the SSD is so much faster that I don't feel I'm using the same kind of machine.
Click to expand...

I almost sold mine and was going to get a 11"Air. After my wife got an air and I used hers for a bit I couldnt get over how bad the screen looked compared to the rMBP. The colors "pop" on this thing compared to the Air. Its crazy.
 
My 2010 was doing some funky stuff that got on my nerves but I wanted a BIGGER screen.
I opted for the rMBP because I have the 4s and the new ipad (before selling it and getting it again just couple months ago).. I love the retina. Surely spoiled me. Plus it was an added bonus. I was going to upgrade to the 15" anyway, I heard the retina was available and I knew that was going to be the ONE. :)

It's portable. And much sleeker, lighter and just beautiful overall.
I read a lot and use a software for my studies, the retina has made it easier on the eyes when studying.
 
How you figure? Unless you were adding the cost of the SSD and ram upgrade from Apple over inflated prices, then I can see that. But I got my 15" MBP, AG, 2.3ghz, 4gb, 500gb model for $1830~ shipped with $100 gift certificate. Then I purchased 16gb of ram Corsair Vergence (however it's spelled), for $85, then 256gb Samsung 830 SSD for $215 which is $300~ bucks. Add that to the $1830 = $2130 and that blows away the specs of the rMBP and is much faster and higher quality upgrades.

Even add to that a OptiBay for the oem HD, external unit for the dvdrom and it still came out to under $2200.

Like we have said, the cMBP is the better bargain especially if you want a display that shows the pictures not so saturated and with correct color.

Also the rMBP airflow is worse than the cMBP due to it's size. They revamped it only because they had to shrink the size of the laptop down. The bigger the laptop, the better the airflow will always be.

terriyaki said:
Coming from an early 2009 white plastic pre-unibody MacBook, I was looking to upgrade to a 15" MBP going into the WWDC announcements. I was pleased with the updates that the original MBP received and was also impressed with the rMBP. Immediately after the announcement the cMBP was a lock for me and the rMBP was just an afterthought.

However, after factoring in the price of upgrading to the high-res screen, the RAM, and the HDD to an SSD (even going the third party route with the RAM and SSD upgrades), the cMBP model that I wanted turned out to cost more than a similarly spec'd rMBP. That, combined with the screen, the revamped airflow system, and sleeker rMBP design eventually won me over and now I have a rMBP.

I do miss FireWire, though. I also don't like how expensive Thunderbolt devices seem to still be. Hopefully prices will drop soon. I'd love to get the Belkin Thunderbolt Express Dock, but it's $399 price is ludicrous.
Click to expand...
 
nizmoz said:
How you figure? Unless you were adding the cost of the SSD and ram upgrade from Apple over inflated prices, then I can see that. But I got my 15" MBP, AG, 2.3ghz, 4gb, 500gb model for $1830~ shipped with $100 gift certificate. Then I purchased 16gb of ram Corsair Vergence (however it's spelled), for $85, then 256gb Samsung 830 SSD for $215 which is $300~ bucks. Add that to the $1830 = $2130 and that blows away the specs of the rMBP and is much faster and higher quality upgrades.

Even add to that a OptiBay for the oem HD, external unit for the dvdrom and it still came out to under $2200.

Like we have said, the cMBP is the better bargain especially if you want a display that shows the pictures not so saturated and with correct color.

Also the rMBP airflow is worse than the cMBP due to it's size. They revamped it only because they had to shrink the size of the laptop down. The bigger the laptop, the better the airflow will always be.
Click to expand...

The cMBP that I was initially looking at was the 2.6 model. Yes, I know the two have slightly different CPUs but the 2.6 cMBP and 2.3 rMBP have 1GB of VRAM, whereas the 2.3 cMBP only has 512MB and for how I was trying to best compare two similar but obviously different machines this seemed the best way.

I still feel that the rMBP's airflow is improved over the cMBP's. Air actually flows from front to back. Whereas with the cMBP the intake and outtake are both found on the back of the machine.
 
terriyaki said:
The cMBP that I was initially looking at was the 2.6 model. Yes, I know the two have slightly different CPUs but the 2.6 cMBP and 2.3 rMBP have 1GB of VRAM, whereas the 2.3 cMBP only has 512MB and for how I was trying to best compare two similar but obviously different machines this seemed the best way.

I still feel that the rMBP's airflow is improved over the cMBP's. Air actually flows from front to back. Whereas with the cMBP the intake and outtake are both found on the back of the machine.
Click to expand...

Wrong. The intake is the keyboard.
 
nizmoz said:
How you figure? Unless you were adding the cost of the SSD and ram upgrade from Apple over inflated prices, then I can see that. But I got my 15" MBP, AG, 2.3ghz, 4gb, 500gb model for $1830~ shipped with $100 gift certificate. Then I purchased 16gb of ram Corsair Vergence (however it's spelled), for $85, then 256gb Samsung 830 SSD for $215 which is $300~ bucks. Add that to the $1830 = $2130 and that blows away the specs of the rMBP and is much faster and higher quality upgrades.
Click to expand...

Just curious. Did you get this from the Apple store, gift certificate and all? And i take it you've not included Applecare?
 
For me it was

- usb 3.0 (still I would like at least one more :( )
- OSX (starting with programming for ios so I needed it)
- gaming
- HDMI
- the silence
 
DavidLeigh said:
not to be nosey, but i was just thinking $1830 for hi-res AG and including sales tax is a pretty good deal!
Click to expand...

Yep, and that's why I jumped on it. You just have to tell them to add the Apple Insider deal 3% to the price and they will do it. And MacMall doesn't charge tax.
 
nizmoz said:
How you figure? Unless you were adding the cost of the SSD and ram upgrade from Apple over inflated prices, then I can see that. But I got my 15" MBP, AG, 2.3ghz, 4gb, 500gb model for $1830~ shipped with $100 gift certificate. Then I purchased 16gb of ram Corsair Vergence (however it's spelled), for $85, then 256gb Samsung 830 SSD for $215 which is $300~ bucks. Add that to the $1830 = $2130 and that blows away the specs of the rMBP and is much faster and higher quality upgrades.
Click to expand...

Since we're playing this game...

2 month old "used" late 2011 2.4 i7 17" glossy display with extended Applecare included off of CL for $1450. $75 for 16 gb of gskill ram and a Crucial M4 512 gb for $380. Total: $1905.

I absolutely love this system, and don't diss my glossy Samsung screen! Direct lighting is not a problem where I use it, and I really like the contrast of it.
 
clyde2801 said:
Since we're playing this game...

2 month old "used" late 2011 2.4 i7 17" glossy display with extended Applecare included off of CL for $1450. $75 for 16 gb of gskill ram and a Crucial M4 512 gb for $380. Total: $1905.

I absolutely love this system, and don't diss my glossy Samsung screen! Direct lighting is not a problem where I use it, and I really like the contrast of it.
Click to expand...

Good deal, but older CPU architecture. Apples to Apples rMBP vs cMBP.
 
nizmoz said:
Good deal, but older CPU architecture. Apples to Apples rMBP vs cMBP.
Click to expand...

Eh, considering the same setup through Apple until June 10th would have cost $4,049 (NOT including sales tax), I'd say it was a great deal. I'd rather have the savings over a theoretical 10-20% performance boost any day of the week.

Sounds like you really got a deal on your system, too. Cheers!
 
Picked up the cMBP today, to tell you the truth, when I looked at them next to each other I was not that blown away! Plus first gen blues and then to top it off, I will be docked 85% of the time so I really don't see the need. My job has drastically reduced on site visits thus the cMBP fits me perfect. Same exact spec's and I can upgrade to an SSD later. My mind is at ease cause I have 14 days to confirm my theory.
 
nizmoz said:
Pro means for the professional. When they took the ports all away and made it more like a MacBook air is when it lost that. Also the fact it isn't upgrade able really. There is a reason why the Mac pros have all those ports. Also like professional pc systems.
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USB 3, thunderbolt and HDMI cancel out your argument straight away. For professional users like myself the addition of a second thuderbolt port is a god send in the field. A more portable machine with a retina display = less work and more space for other equipment if needed.

Retina users can show clients work and projects via a hdmi TV without adaptors, I can sample and edit work that would otherwise require a higher specification machine.

Add in the fact that I can output to 3 displays natively! Yeah, I think it has all of the Professional angles covered. Lack of Firewire, please. :rolleyes:
 
13" rMBP

Reasons against:
- iGPU maybe not strong enough, gui-performance (not performance itself) sub-par compared to 2012 machines, more comparable to 2011 or 2010 even?
- It's a 1st or 1.5th generation mac, so maybe riddled with bugs like image retention or worse
- The steep price compared to MBA or 15" rMBP
- A possibly weird workflow when having to build pixel exact web designs (I'm a web designer) due to the retina display.

Reasons for:
- Size and weight
- The retina display
- GUI-performance seemed completely fine in the store
- I needed a computer right now
- I had the MBA before and wanted something new and shiny
- I had the money

I pulled the trigger.
 
All Taken said:
rMBP - just so I could make the people who bought the old and bulky, poorer screen cMBP feel angry and hit out at this new technology!

'Those darn kids and their mobile phones' :rolleyes: Your cMBP days are numbered, it's inferior. rMBP FTW!!!!!!, sorry couldn't resist ;)

P.S the guy who mentioned the rMBP shouldn't be called a pro. WOW. That's just sad, it has two thunderbolt ports, solid state storage, a retina display and a more portable form factor. To a PRO who would rather time be used making money instead of worrying about an upgrade to a two year old machine it's a no-brainer.
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I bought the cMBP, and I actually feel sorry for u! Give up so much for just a pretty screen and a thin form factor.

Plus did not want to do the dance with Apple to find the PREFECT rMBP.

PRO machines are not usually held back with just 8G and 256. That is not PRO. JMHO
 
All Taken said:
USB 3, thunderbolt and HDMI cancel out your argument straight away. For professional users like myself the addition of a second thuderbolt port is a god send in the field. A more portable machine with a retina display = less work and more space for other equipment if needed.

Retina users can show clients work and projects via a hdmi TV without adaptors, I can sample and edit work that would otherwise require a higher specification machine.

Add in the fact that I can output to 3 displays natively! Yeah, I think it has all of the Professional angles covered. Lack of Firewire, please. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Keep spewing bs all you want dude but its still not pro material.
 
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