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When the 13-inch MacBook Pro with retina display is going to be released?

skaertus said:
How would a HD 4000 handle working at 2880x1800 or 3360x2100? Would it be wise waiting for Haswell?

How does the 15" rMBP handle the 1680x1050 resolution using the HD 4000? I guess the 13" rMBP would have the same behavior.
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Performance is fine at least for Web Browsing and Microsoft Office, and scrolling is very smooth. Problem is, the 15" rMBP automatically switches over to the 650 when I try to do anything intensive. I know I can forcibly turn off the 650 but this is an Apple store machine, and they won't let me install anything extra.

If you can wait, then wait. The next generation will always be superior. I'm not going to wait because when Haswell comes out, something better will already have been planned. I don't intend to wait my whole life.
 
ImperialX said:
Performance is fine at least for Web Browsing and Microsoft Office, and scrolling is very smooth. Problem is, the 15" rMBP automatically switches over to the 650 when I try to do anything intensive. I know I can forcibly turn off the 650 but this is an Apple store machine, and they won't let me install anything extra.

If you can wait, then wait. The next generation will always be superior. I'm not going to wait because when Haswell comes out, something better will already have been planned. I don't intend to wait my whole life.
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What did you try to do that caused the rMBP to switch to the 650?
 
Who takes care of rendering the desktop and the windows at 3360x2100? CPU? or GPU?
Who does the scale from 3360x2100 to 2560x1600? CPU? or GPU?
 
PRICING INFORMATION FINALLY

Finally there are some news on the 13" rMBP... well, not exactly very good news, but at least it seems on schedule for release:

http://9to5mac.com/2012/10/19/estimated-prices-on-13-inch-retina-macbook-pros/

According to 9to5Mac, the base model will cost US$ 1,699 and the higher end will cost US$ 1,999. That's a bit on the higher side. With this pricing, I guess even the base model will come with a 256 GB SSD (after all, charging US$ 1,699 for a model with a 128 GB SSD would be something very hard to swallow).
 
NutsNGum said:
They've probably received that information from a Macrumors thread.
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Well, it's just more rumors.

I think it's quite likely that these end up being the prices of the 13" rMBP models. Charging US$ 1,999 for the higher-end model seems like a little too much, at least in my point of view, since for US$ 200 more you can get a 15" rMBP with a quad-core processor and a dedicated video card. We should wait and see.

MacRumors is now reporting it as well: https://www.macrumors.com/2012/10/19/13-inch-retina-macbook-pro-pricing-to-start-at-roughly-1699/
 
So I guess you all saw for yourself what I meant.

The 13" rMBP will both have a better screen and more screen real estate than the MacBook Air.

Also just want to note, 3840 x 2400 on the 15" rMBP does not look "less sharp" than 2880 x 1800. It just looks smaller. When you are "scaling down", it never looks blurry.
 
bill-p said:
So I guess you all saw for yourself what I meant.

The 13" rMBP will both have a better screen and more screen real estate than the MacBook Air.

Also just want to note, 3840 x 2400 on the 15" rMBP does not look "less sharp" than 2880 x 1800. It just looks smaller. When you are "scaling down", it never looks blurry.
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That's great to hear. My only concern now is how the HD 4000 will handle this scaling.
 
skaertus said:
That's great to hear. My only concern now is how the HD 4000 will handle this scaling.
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It'll do fine. The dGPU almost never kicks in unless I run AVD or iOS Simulator. Maybe my usage is too light, but I never have any problem with HD4000 while browsing the web and writing codes. Photoshop also kicks the 650M in, but aside from those apps, I haven't seen the 650M elsewhere.

Like I mentioned, I can live completely without the 650M in my rMBP if I can have more battery life and less heat down the road. The combination of quad-core CPU + thinner and lighter chassis + more screen real estate is more important to me.

I think you are better off worrying about whether the 13" rMBP will get a dual or quad CPU. That's the bigger contributing factor to performance IMO.
 
I just found out I get $200 off retina models with student discount after someone mentioned in another tread. I'll make me final decision next week.
 
bill-p said:
Photoshop also kicks the 650M in, but aside from those apps, I haven't seen the 650M elsewhere.
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I wonder why... Photoshop uses the GPU for processing, so maybe that's why the 650m automatically kicks in. It probably is something like "if the program uses gpu-specific functions, automatically switch to the dedicated GPU".

But Photoshop should run just fine even with the HD4000, it at least did with a wayyyyy worse GPU on my old mac. The difference between good and bad GPU was negligible. What made a difference like night and day was whether you had a SSD or not.
 
By the way, Prices are out. $1699 for the base and $2000 for the large. Expensive, but well, not unexpected. As stated before, it was very unlikely it'd start at the higher MBA price ($1499) because it'd have the same or better specs + retina, so who would've bought the MBA/cMBP any longer? It would have to be severely crippled (not upgradable 128 gb, weaker i7) to justify such an entry level price.

With the $200 gap it's very possible we can expect a quad core CPU though, and 256 GB even for the base model - which is good!
 
bill-p said:
It'll do fine. The dGPU almost never kicks in unless I run AVD or iOS Simulator. Maybe my usage is too light, but I never have any problem with HD4000 while browsing the web and writing codes. Photoshop also kicks the 650M in, but aside from those apps, I haven't seen the 650M elsewhere.
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Well, I'm going to test a 15" rMBP to see it. I expect to have no lag on the 13" rMBP. If I'm going to have any, I'd rather wait for Haswell...

Like I mentioned, I can live completely without the 650M in my rMBP if I can have more battery life and less heat down the road. The combination of quad-core CPU + thinner and lighter chassis + more screen real estate is more important to me.
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That's also the case for me.

I think you are better off worrying about whether the 13" rMBP will get a dual or quad CPU. That's the bigger contributing factor to performance IMO.
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Well, I was thinking the 13" rMBP would come with dual-core processors. But now that the prices are (apparently) out, then I guess there may be a quad-core processor at least in the higher-end model (at least to justify the US$ 200 price difference between it and the lower-end 15" rMBP).

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0x000000 said:
By the way, Prices are out. $1699 for the base and $2000 for the large. Expensive, but well, not unexpected. As stated before, it was very unlikely it'd start at the higher MBA price ($1499) because it'd have the same or better specs + retina, so who would've bought the MBA/cMBP any longer? It would have to be severely crippled (not upgradable 128 gb, weaker i7) to justify such an entry level price.

With the $200 gap it's very possible we can expect a quad core CPU though, and 256 GB even for the base model - which is good!
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Yes, expensive but not unexpected. The "Apple hype" strategy is working well, apparently. But with these prices I guess Apple will not be able to revert the trend of declining Mac sales.
 
If it's priced 1699$ it'll be too expensive for my wallet.. And not really worth it, since no dGPU seems to be a reality. I'm going with an Air if that'll be the actual retail price. Even with discount that's a lot of dough!
 
Lukewarmwinner said:
If it's priced 1699$ it'll be too expensive for my wallet.. And not really worth it, since no dGPU seems to be a reality. I'm going with an Air if that'll be the actual retail price. Even with discount that's a lot of dough!
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Well, the Air is completely useless for me due to the low resolution of the screen. So... I guess I'll have to swallow the high price of the rMBP (or choose a Windows machine instead)...
 
Well, like I said a few pages back, the cost is expected given current pricing tiers, and that Apple has historically been a company that makes premium laptops at premium price points.

Though this just shows that they are more merciless than I thought. I'd think $1599 made more sense... but hey, if they can charge people $100 more, I guess... why not?

And this'll be a good tradeoff for people to consider. Pay a few hundreds more for a 15" rMBP for more powerful internals but more weight, or cough up for a thinner and lighter notebook with the same amazing display.

I know I won't be able to give up the quad-core CPU, so the choice is clear to me.

Let's see if they'd even bother to squeeze a quad-core CPU in the 13" rMBP.
 
bill-p said:
Well, like I said a few pages back, the cost is expected given current pricing tiers, and that Apple has historically been a company that makes premium laptops at premium price points.

Though this just shows that they are more merciless than I thought. I'd think $1599 made more sense... but hey, if they can charge people $100 more, I guess... why not?
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Yes, they are squeezing the most they can at this point.

I think the high sales of iPads are making Apple comfortable enough to make the Macs a premium-priced computer line. The sales of Macs declined in Q3 2012 compared to Q3 2011, and results will probably not be much better with prices set this high.

Apple could have taken the opposite strategy and choose to gain market share by offering a mouth-watering laptop for a more accessible price while the other manufacturers are still struggling with poor ultrabook sales while customers await for the benefits of Windows 8 and Haswell. The lower margins could be compensated by the higher sales. I think Apple lost an opportunity here, but who am I to say?

And this'll be a good tradeoff for people to consider. Pay a few hundreds more for a 15" rMBP for more powerful internals but more weight, or cough up for a thinner and lighter notebook with the same amazing display.

I know I won't be able to give up the quad-core CPU, so the choice is clear to me.

Let's see if they'd even bother to squeeze a quad-core CPU in the 13" rMBP.
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When 9to5Mac posted the news, it said that the base model would cost US$ 1,699 and the higher-end model would cost US$ 300 more, making it US$ 1,999. The statement was copied in the MacRumors.com post, which reads as follows:

We’ve now received pricing information on the base model and the “better” model. Based on wholesale prices we’ve received, we believe the entry model 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro will cost roughly $1699 at launch while the higher specc’ed model will cost $300 more making the $2000 price point likely.
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However, if you look now at the 9to5Mac website it says the following:

We have now received pricing information on the base model and the “best” model. We believe the entry model 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro will cost roughly $1,699 at launch, based on wholesale prices we received, while the higher spec model will cost $200 to $300 more.
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So, 9to5Mac revised its price estimates for the higher-end model sometime during the day: it was US$ 1,999 and now it ranges from US$ 1,899 to US$ 1,999. We may be looking at a moving target here.
 
skaertus said:
Well, the Air is completely useless for me due to the low resolution of the screen. So... I guess I'll have to swallow the high price of the rMBP (or choose a Windows machine instead)...
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The rMBP has much lower screen estate though.
 
0x000000 said:
The rMBP has much lower screen estate though.
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No, in fact, just like in the 15" rMBP, you'll be able to use smaller screen elements to have more real estate. 2560x1600 is still 2560x1600, and you'll be able to zoom out text and it will still be readable.

The thing I don't swallow in the non-retina Macs is the blurryness of the fonts. The pixel rendering technology Apple uses in OS X makes fonts blurry and I am seriously annoyed with it... to the point that I can barely stand to use OS X in my 13" MacBook (yes, I do use Windows on it most of the time, because of ClearType). There's no such problems with retina resolutions.
 
skaertus said:
Apple could have taken the opposite strategy and choose to gain market share by offering a mouth-watering laptop for a more accessible price while the other manufacturers are still struggling with poor ultrabook sales while customers await for the benefits of Windows 8 and Haswell. The lower margins could be compensated by the higher sales. I think Apple lost an opportunity here, but who am I to say?
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I don't think there is any opportunity to be lost here.

You gotta see where Apple draws the line. Their iPhone, iPad and iPod are the tools they use to gain more marketshare and mindshare. Their Mac computers have always been aimed at the premium market, where customer satisfaction and performance is more important than value or marketshare. I might be wrong here, but I think the premium experience is what makes Apple notebooks stand out from the rest of the crowd.

So, 9to5Mac revised its price estimates for the higher-end model sometime during the day: it was US$ 1,999 and now it ranges from US$ 1,899 to US$ 1,999. We may be looking at a moving target here.
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Edit: actually, I re-estimated this, and it looks more like this:

13" rMBP base model: Core i5 dual-core, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD - $1699 (upgradable options only include 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD and 768GB SSD)

13" rMBP high-end: Core i7 dual-core, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD - $1899 (upgradable options include faster CPUs, 16GB RAM, and 512GB SSD + 768GB SSD)

So yeah, you're right. Maybe $1899. Unless Apple wants to make the high-end model have 16GB RAM standard, but I somehow doubt that.
 
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bill-p said:
I don't think there is any opportunity to be lost here.

You gotta see where Apple draws the line. Their iPhone, iPad and iPod are the tools they use to gain more marketshare and mindshare. Their Mac computers have always been aimed at the premium market, where customer satisfaction and performance is more important than value or marketshare. I might be wrong here, but I think the premium experience is what makes Apple notebooks stand out from the rest of the crowd.
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Yes, I know that. Apparently, Apple is not interested in gaining market in the Mac business. That goes against Tim Cook's speech.

Apple is spoiling its chance of gaining market share. Yes, it definitely is. Ultrabooks haven't caught up yet. People are very skeptical about Windows 8, which may turn out to be a disaster. Apple could offer a very good alternative for a better price, and it would steal away lots of consumers from Windows. That's a golden opportunity which may not happen again in the near future, and timing is of essence The laptops could still carry a premium price, and Apple wouldn't have to give up on customer satisfaction or performance. Just cut its margins a little bit, and it could suffocate the Windows PCs market and become a real contender here.

However, Apple chose not to. Its focus is clear on iOS devices, and they make the bulk of Apple's revenue these days. Macs are only here because they've been here for almost 30 years and therefore Apple has to carry this burden. If it could, I am pretty sure that Apple would abandon the Mac division and focus solely on iOS devices, which is where the money is.

I actually have good reasons to believe the $1699 option won't even come with 256GB SSD (!). That's because the base MBP 13", when upgraded to 256GB SSD costs $1699... not including the 8GB RAM upgrade. It makes no sense for Apple to make an upgraded MBP 13" more expensive than a base rMBP 13" with the same specs.
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It did it with the 15" MBP, and it could as well do it with the 13" MBP. If Apple doesn't even put a 256 GB in the US$ 1,699 model, then that's too much.

So I think the $1699 base model likely will come with 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD, and everything else standard, with no option to upgrade to 256GB SSD, but you can pay $100 more for 16GB RAM.

$300 more will likely net you a faster CPU, 8GB RAM, and 256GB SSD standard, with options to upgrade to 16GB RAM for $100 more, and 512GB SSD for $500 more.

I might be wrong here, but looking at the pricing tiers, there is no way for Apple to include an SSD larger than 128GB in the base 13" rMBP.
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I think Apple will put a 256 GB SSD in the 13" rMBP. If Apple is adopting the strategy of making the 13" rMBP a higher-end option than the 13" MBA, it makes no sense to offer less storage than in the higher-end MBA, while charging more for it.
 
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