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Who is actually going to use the new MacBook as their main machine?

P

PDFierro

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Sep 8, 2009
3,932
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OK, there's definitely been a lot of different opinions regarding the new MacBook. There are those who are dismissing it completely saying you can't get real done on it and that it's just a toy like an iPad is, while there are others who see that the rMB can be used as a productivity device but don't think it's meant to be someone's only machine.

I for one am going to use it as my main machine. And I have no hesitations about doing so.
 
PDFierro said:
OK, there's definitely been a lot of different opinions regarding the new MacBook. There are those who are dismissing it completely saying you can't get real done on it and that it's just a toy like an iPad is, while there are others who see that the rMB can be used as a productivity device but don't think it's meant to be someone's only machine.

I for one am going to use it as my main machine. And I have no hesitations about doing so.
Click to expand...

Yep, me too. Though, I strongly believe that which machine one uses absolutely depends on what they do. For me, I rarely need ports, never do video editing, rarely edit photos, don't play games, etc...
My main work is writing via Pages, a small amount of spreadsheet work (Numbers) and Keynote presentations. I'm all in for the vision of wirelessly connecting to the devices I need, which I already do on a MBA (printer, HD, projector, AirPlay devices, etc...)
For me, the rMB seems ideal. It seems well suited to teachers, writers, travelers, students, light-use home users, recreational users, etc... But for people who work in contexts requiring robust graphics applications and connection to wired devices, I'm sure the rMBP lineup is a better solution.
 
I am!

My usage:
- webbrowsing
- Mail
- Calendar
- non prof. photo editting (around 20/30 photo's a month)
- NZBVortex
- stream mkv movies to ATV
- Spotify to ATV

I think this workload is excellent for the new rMB
 
Most likely yes.

Software I'll mainly run on it:

Safari
Spotify
Pages
Keynote
Photoshop
Sketchbook Pro
And some Adobe Illustrator

I'm very confident that rMB can handle all that with ease.
 
My goal is to use it as my main computer if it can perform. My blackbook and MBA have served me well while being non-"pro" computers so I don't mind going lightweight and not having the most powerful computer. The heaviest lifting I do is:
- Handbrake occasionally. I don't really do this anymore since I use Beamer to stream any movie type to ATV
- Photoshop/Illustrator/occasional Premiere
- Web Development with Coda
- UI design on Sketch
- Windows VM to run AutoCAD
- LogMeIn Remote Desktop
- Safari with lots of tabs and flash video...
 
I will use it as my main machine:

I will be selling a iMac 27" quad core, 8GB RAM & 2009 & MBA 2010 - 2GB RAM.

I will use the machine for:
Photoshop
iPhoto
Lightroom
Dreamweaver
Email
Web surfing
itunes
Xcode - light use
VirtualBox - Windows XP(boring work VM)

I will buy a NAS to store all my data.

I love the display, lightness and look of the machine.

Not worried about the CPU as the SSD & Ram will do most of the work.

If I find I need a more powerful machine I will consider a iMac retina(once they update them)

I have also held on to my 2010 MBA for too long and will consider upgrading this machine in 3 years.

I will buy the 1.1 256GB version
 
Last edited:
I plan on using it as my main machine. It's the weight and the size combined with the retina display that won me over, and I can't wait to own one.

It should be more than powerful enough for my day-to-day needs.
  • Emails
  • Internet Forums
  • Blogging
  • Word Processing
  • Spreadsheets
  • Light Photo Editing
  • FaceBook
  • Spotify
  • Calendar
 
Glad to see the positive responses. I thought I was the only one! Most of my work is web-based, I do a lot of writing and working with documents. But I also travel daily, hence why I'm going from the 13" rMBP to this. I think it'll work out great.
 
My ideal setup would be to have a riMac as my main machine with the MacBook as my mobile machine, keeping my data files in a syncing service like iCloud or Dropbox.

My real setup, alas, is to use my rMBP all the time, docking it with a Henge Dock at home while working on a 27" Acer 2880 x 1440 monitor.
 
PDFierro said:
Glad to see the positive responses. I thought I was the only one! Most of my work is web-based, I do a lot of writing and working with documents. But I also travel daily, hence why I'm going from the 13" rMBP to this. I think it'll work out great.
Click to expand...

Hey! I am also going from rMBP to the new rMB! The Pro is/was just overkill for my needs/workflows. And I can sell my Pro for a real good price (allready did actually #)
 
Me. I'm a minimalist. I'll have to buy a dongle to plug in a professional microphone to record music, though. Can't rely on the battery for important projects.
 
Geert76 said:
Hey! I am also going from rMBP to the new rMB! The Pro is/was just overkill for my needs/workflows. And I can sell my Pro for a real good price (allready did actually #)
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I'm doing, although I won't be selling my Pro until after I receive the rMB. I got the rMBP basically for just the Retina screen, I had an Air before that. It's my favorite laptop ever, and I love the 13-inch size. But with how much I travel, if I can make an improvement in the portability of my laptop and not lose screen quality and machine performance, then I'm all for it.
 
I hope to use it as my main machine. It will be my first mac, coming from the original iPad (and access to a mba every now and then).
But it has to be powerful enough for:

-iMovie (lightweight animations)
-Sketchup
-Eye tv (elgato)
-the usual stuff like mail, safari, numbers, pages, iTunes ++

i'll wait for the first tests on overall performance before I'll pull the trigger. If it handles this than I don't wait for Skylake.
 
I'll use it as my main machine. I'm in grad school it should be great for carrying around. I'll throw my sheet music on it as well and use it for sight reading at the piano. I have a windows gaming machine with a 4790k, that serves as my server and I will remote into that whenever I need to do something on that machine.
 
An iPad is not a productive device for most people. I do not know anyone who uses a tablet for their primary computing device. iPads are great for surfing the web, streaming music/video, playing apps, etc. However, you're not going to write long emails, use Microsoft Office, or any software that is productive on an iPad.

There is a reason why a desktop operating system is...well, a desktop operating system. I don't see why people keep trying to compare a mobile operating system against a desktop operating system. That's like comparing a road bike to a car.
 
AllergyDoc said:
My ideal setup would be to have a riMac as my main machine with the MacBook as my mobile machine, keeping my data files in a syncing service like iCloud or Dropbox.

My real setup, alas, is to use my rMBP all the time, docking it with a Henge Dock at home while working on a 27" Acer 2880 x 1440 monitor.
Click to expand...

Exactly what I plan to do. I used to use the rMBP on a 30" Dell monitor for the last two and a half years. Now on riMac and loving it, but been holding out for a super-small laptop for sofa use and to enable me to keep running the company when I'm away on holidays. Should be absolutely ideal...
 
Hankster said:
An iPad is not a productive device for most people. I do not know anyone who uses a tablet for their primary computing device. iPads are great for surfing the web, streaming music/video, playing apps, etc. However, you're not going to write long emails, use Microsoft Office, or any software that is productive on an iPad.

There is a reason why a desktop operating system is...well, a desktop operating system. I don't see why people keep trying to compare a mobile operating system against a desktop operating system. That's like comparing a road bike to a car.
Click to expand...

I have been using my original iPad (with access to a mba occasionally) as my main machine but I admit that I am not very productive. I don't need a computer for a living.
But now it is showing its age and I have found out osx fits me better than ios.
The rMB could very well fit my needs. iMovie is the heaviest program I use. Alternative will be the 11" mba but I prefer the retina and even smaller footprint of the rMB.
 
No my iMac will continue to be my main machine and is fine for any intensive activity that I need to do. The rMB will be a perfect, secondary computer for me.
 
You guys know you can do almost everything on these lists with an iPhone and/or iPad right? Why spend $1300? Just curious.

----------
retroboyjinny said:
I will use it as my main machine:

I will be selling a iMac 27" quad core, 8GB RAM & 2009 & MBA 2010 - 2GB RAM.

I will use the machine for:
Photoshop
iPhoto
Lightroom
Dreamweaver
Email
Web surfing
itunes
Xcode - light use
VirtualBox - Windows XP(boring work VM)

I will buy a NAS to store all my data.

I love the display, lightness and look of the machine.

Not worried about the CPU as the SSD & Ram will do most of the work.

If I find I need a more powerful machine I will consider a iMac retina(once they update them)

I have also held on to my 2010 MBA for too long and will consider upgrading this machine in 3 years.

I will buy the 1.1 256GB version
Click to expand...

You do know a 1.1Ghz processor is a joke for these tasks right? I would strongly suggest you reconsider or get ready for some major frustration.
 
dexterbell said:
You guys know you can do almost everything on these lists with an iPhone and/or iPad right? Why spend $1300? Just curious.
Click to expand...

OS X is not the same as iOS. different experiences, different ways of working. for many of us, a laptop is more suited to our work than a tablet (even with a keyboard).

somehow i imagine you could figure that out... :rolleyes:
 
fisherking said:
OS X is not the same as iOS. different experiences, different ways of working. for many of us, a laptop is more suited to our work than a tablet (even with a keyboard).

somehow i imagine you could figure that out... :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I wasn't aware Safari, mail, internet forums, Facebook, Spotify, Pages, Keynote, iTunes and Calendar work differently in OS X than iOS...
 
dexterbell said:
I wasn't aware Safari, mail, internet forums, Facebook, Spotify, Pages, Keynote, iTunes and Calendar work differently in OS X than iOS...
Click to expand...

They do, actually. Maybe not those apps in particular, but there's no way I could do my writing/other work on iOS. I need a desktop OS, and many of the apps I use are Mac-exclusive.
 
Yup, I'm planning on using it as my main computer replacing my mid-2010 13'' inch MBP.

Normal usage:
- Lightroom for RAW editing;
- Spotify;
- Keynote;
- Pages;
- Excel;
- EndNote;
- SPSS;
- 4K video reproduction (recorded on my phone);
- Torrenting;

And the occasional game.

If I can do that on the 2014 MBA, I can do it in the Macbook.
 
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