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Who is actually going to use the new MacBook as their main machine?
- Thread starter PDFierro
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Color me interested. While my heart still lies with a top spec CTO 15" rMBP, I honestly could probably live just fine with this machine as my main one, the maxed out version. However if this thing can't drive a 2008 24" LED ACD, forget it.
The big question is, would it turn out to be a huge pile of junk like my base 1.6 GHz 160 GB HDD Rev. B Macbook Air was back in January 2009? That thing was garbage.
The big question is, would it turn out to be a huge pile of junk like my base 1.6 GHz 160 GB HDD Rev. B Macbook Air was back in January 2009? That thing was garbage.
I don't see much value in specific this out. Unless you really need more storage. 1599+tax. Ouch. I wonder how big the bench mark difference will be on the 1.1-1.3. the processor may be the only thing I upgrade. Hope that comes in at 100. Less on education store. I just hope they can do better than $50 off for education that's a joke. Doesn't even cover taxes.
I plan on it being my main machine. I'm gonna upgrade to the 1.2 512gb.
My main machine right now is MBA i7. I'm a systems engineer so my main programs are safari and terminal. I think rMB should be just fine.
I'm still gonna load WoW on it to see what happens but I'm not a big gamer anymore.
My main machine right now is MBA i7. I'm a systems engineer so my main programs are safari and terminal. I think rMB should be just fine.
I'm still gonna load WoW on it to see what happens but I'm not a big gamer anymore.
Played with new 13" rMBP at an Apple Store today - that machine is such a brick, compared to my current 11" MBA. Just can't see myself giving up the portability and lightness, in exchange for slightly better display.
New rMB is very intriguing to me, but I need to see a solution to simultaneous charging / Display Port output first. I think we are getting close with Google USB-C to DisplayPort cable.. just missing a USB-C mini dock, that can feed the power to MacBook, while it's connected to display.
New rMB is very intriguing to me, but I need to see a solution to simultaneous charging / Display Port output first. I think we are getting close with Google USB-C to DisplayPort cable.. just missing a USB-C mini dock, that can feed the power to MacBook, while it's connected to display.
..I'm still gonna load WoW on it to see what happens but I'm not a big gamer anymore.
Now that would be interesting. Please, let us know how the rMB performs, I am really interested.I am also going to be using the new Retina MacBook 12" not only as my main but also as the only machine.
Currently I have a MBA Late 2010 with 2GB RAM and Core 2 Duo and thus I am not doing any graphic/video editing because its not able to handle it.
I am really suffering now because MBA with such low configuration is so slow that I can run only a few tabs in Safari and when I open more apps at the same time, it is almost unusable as I have to wait for couple of seconds to even switch between apps sometimes. Not to mention heavier usage which really makes mu furious. I was considering buying a rMBP 13" a month ago but guys here in another thread advised me to wait a few more weeks to see what they launch (thank you).
Using MBA for almost 5 years, rMBP is just heavy and bulky machine (crazy as it sounds but thats my feeling when I hold it .. just does not seem like 2015 ultra portable easy to carry machine).
If Core M will be able to handle most of this apps simultaneously, its going be ideal Macbook for me:
If I am doing something more CPU demanding, I will easily close some apps to make some computing space for it.
I am sure Apple engineers have done the optimization well and I guess they would not lunch a choppy Macbook. Having 8 GB RAM and superfast SSD (such as in new rMBP 2015) it will be ok imho.
Nevertheless rational part of my brain still tells me to buy the new rMBP 2015 for the same price (with much better processor just better value for that money) because my laptop is laying on my table most of the time in the office (Pro would not be a problem in that case). But I travel from time to time and I carry only light and small backpack with me so rMB 12" will be beautifuly thin and light for that matter and I also prefer the low front lip for long typing stints.
Will for sure wait for some real tests but I truly believe its gonna be fine for what I use. Do you agree?
Currently I have a MBA Late 2010 with 2GB RAM and Core 2 Duo and thus I am not doing any graphic/video editing because its not able to handle it.
I am really suffering now because MBA with such low configuration is so slow that I can run only a few tabs in Safari and when I open more apps at the same time, it is almost unusable as I have to wait for couple of seconds to even switch between apps sometimes. Not to mention heavier usage which really makes mu furious. I was considering buying a rMBP 13" a month ago but guys here in another thread advised me to wait a few more weeks to see what they launch (thank you).
Using MBA for almost 5 years, rMBP is just heavy and bulky machine (crazy as it sounds but thats my feeling when I hold it .. just does not seem like 2015 ultra portable easy to carry machine).
If Core M will be able to handle most of this apps simultaneously, its going be ideal Macbook for me:
- Mailbox
- Mail App
- Safari or Chrome (20+ tabs) including various web apps, large gDocs and Facebook etc.
- Evernote
- Wunderlist
- Skype
- iMessage
- Spotify
- Calendar
- Pages/Keynote
- Excel
- MT4
- + small apps in menu bar such as CloudApp, F.lux, Monospan, Caffeinne, Dropbox etc.
- ++ I use VPS almost every day and I would need to virtualize some Win apps soon
If I am doing something more CPU demanding, I will easily close some apps to make some computing space for it.
I am sure Apple engineers have done the optimization well and I guess they would not lunch a choppy Macbook. Having 8 GB RAM and superfast SSD (such as in new rMBP 2015) it will be ok imho.
Nevertheless rational part of my brain still tells me to buy the new rMBP 2015 for the same price (with much better processor just better value for that money) because my laptop is laying on my table most of the time in the office (Pro would not be a problem in that case). But I travel from time to time and I carry only light and small backpack with me so rMB 12" will be beautifuly thin and light for that matter and I also prefer the low front lip for long typing stints.
Will for sure wait for some real tests but I truly believe its gonna be fine for what I use. Do you agree?
Absolutely. I would suggest waiting for the user and professional tests, reviews, experience before buying the rMB. And don't forget it is a first gen. device, whilst rMBP 13" has already proven itself.
Really? That's insane. I'll wager you will be regretting doing this within 48 hours of owning the MacBook.
I'm really considering it. My current machine is a maxed out 2010 13" MBA. It's by far the best machine I have ever owned and it is still going strong four years later, making an upgrade difficult to justify.
However the itch has started and I am looking around for a new machine. Unless I keep my Air another year, it'll probably come down to between the top model new MacBook, or a near-maxed 13" rMPB. A new Air seems like the worst of both worlds, now - no longer the most portable, and no retina screen either.
I carry my laptop literally everywhere I go, and it's a choice between a machine that's 33% lighter or one 17% heavier... That 17% mentally seems like ten stone!
I'm a developer and I mainly use the machine for Xcode, but also for Blender and for digital art. Unfortunately I don't run Adobe software any more since they got hacked.
As for ports, I hope there is going to be a USB-C to Lightning cable for my iPad. And the digital video dongle sounds ideal for my Cintiq (which has far too many connectors itself - could do with a USB-C version of that).
I don't understand all the people bitching that the Core M won't do this or that. Photoshop ran just fine on Core 2s and on Pentiums and even on 486s, back in the day. Has software really got so much slower?
I've looked at benchmarks and at reviews of the Yoga 3 Pro which has the same processor, and it looks like the new MacBook is going to be about twice as powerful as the machine that's done excellently for me for years. In comparison the difference between Core M and i5/i7 doesn't look to be orders of magnitude - it's 20% or 30% at most. It shouldn't make as big a difference as people seem to think?
I'll reckon I'll go in the store the weekend of the 10th and see what I feel. I've played with the new trackpad on the rMBP and I really like it.
However the itch has started and I am looking around for a new machine. Unless I keep my Air another year, it'll probably come down to between the top model new MacBook, or a near-maxed 13" rMPB. A new Air seems like the worst of both worlds, now - no longer the most portable, and no retina screen either.
I carry my laptop literally everywhere I go, and it's a choice between a machine that's 33% lighter or one 17% heavier... That 17% mentally seems like ten stone!
I'm a developer and I mainly use the machine for Xcode, but also for Blender and for digital art. Unfortunately I don't run Adobe software any more since they got hacked.
As for ports, I hope there is going to be a USB-C to Lightning cable for my iPad. And the digital video dongle sounds ideal for my Cintiq (which has far too many connectors itself - could do with a USB-C version of that).
I don't understand all the people bitching that the Core M won't do this or that. Photoshop ran just fine on Core 2s and on Pentiums and even on 486s, back in the day. Has software really got so much slower?
I've looked at benchmarks and at reviews of the Yoga 3 Pro which has the same processor, and it looks like the new MacBook is going to be about twice as powerful as the machine that's done excellently for me for years. In comparison the difference between Core M and i5/i7 doesn't look to be orders of magnitude - it's 20% or 30% at most. It shouldn't make as big a difference as people seem to think?
I'll reckon I'll go in the store the weekend of the 10th and see what I feel. I've played with the new trackpad on the rMBP and I really like it.
Considering I use a Chromebook as my main machine I could easily get by with one of these. People are making too big of a deal about the specs, if all you do is the regular stuff like internet, music, office docs, etc, this machine will not disappoint. If you need to do high powered movie editing or heavy Photoshop work obviously look elsewhere.
The only real question is whether or not it's worth the money. The Core M is not terrible performance but it's not exactly modern performance either. It's as fast as a laptop from 2012 yet this is a £1k machine. It looks beautiful no doubt but enough to justify the price? Not sure. Especially when the rMBP is way better value.
No doubt these will fly off the shelves anyway.
The only real question is whether or not it's worth the money. The Core M is not terrible performance but it's not exactly modern performance either. It's as fast as a laptop from 2012 yet this is a £1k machine. It looks beautiful no doubt but enough to justify the price? Not sure. Especially when the rMBP is way better value.
No doubt these will fly off the shelves anyway.
I am. I mostly use it for programming, photoshop and surfing the web.
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I had a 2010 MBA and with lower specs and it could handle coding just fine. I'm unbothered. The only reason I use the ports at all is for charging other devices like my iPhone and iPad. So... it was a natural progression away from ports as far as I can tell. I personally felt the 11" was too small and think 13" is the perfect size but I think I want to buy one of these and see if I like it.
I didn't know anyone was still using Dreamweaver for anything. I thought we left it in 2005 somewhere... lol!
On a serious note you should try out Sublime Text 3 or ATOM. ATOM is a little slow for my tastes but it was written in javascript via nodejs. Some of my friends at work still seem to like it. Sublime Text 3 is a pleasure to use and is written in python.
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Seriously. Ive programmed in much less powerful machines. Lightroom is pushing it a bit...though
Depends what kind of coding.
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Like I said, it depends what kind of coding. Some codes will struggle to run on it. Mostly heavy modelling codes which are extremely CPU intensive.
Since both are around the same price your choice is between ultra portability or high performance. High performance meaning CPU intensive tasks.
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I would use it normally for browsing, iTunes and some indie games. And with some battery external, would fit very well my nomad lifestyle. But:
-i use a 15.4" laptop. It has less resolution display, but more physical siZe, and the last is better for the eyes.
-my laptop (sony vaio ns11z/s) still serves me very well, even with 6 years...
1299 bucks (probably 1500 euros in Portugal, with taxes) is good price for all technology and industrial design applied in MacBook, but for my type of usage is a lot of money.
-i use a 15.4" laptop. It has less resolution display, but more physical siZe, and the last is better for the eyes.
-my laptop (sony vaio ns11z/s) still serves me very well, even with 6 years...
1299 bucks (probably 1500 euros in Portugal, with taxes) is good price for all technology and industrial design applied in MacBook, but for my type of usage is a lot of money.
It will be my only computer. I am an engineer and I use the following:
MATLAB (Algorithm development and visualization)
MS Office
Parallels
CAD Software (Schematic capture and PCB layout tools)
XCode
Freescale DSP and PIC uC software development/debugging
It challenges my MBA but I love the portability enough that I'm willing to put up a non-ideal set-up (I can bring my work anywhere with the new rMB and the display will blow away what I had before on my MBA)
MATLAB (Algorithm development and visualization)
MS Office
Parallels
CAD Software (Schematic capture and PCB layout tools)
XCode
Freescale DSP and PIC uC software development/debugging
It challenges my MBA but I love the portability enough that I'm willing to put up a non-ideal set-up (I can bring my work anywhere with the new rMB and the display will blow away what I had before on my MBA)
I basically don't do any of the things that I used to that require large amounts of computing power. I hardly ever run parallels anymore. Video encoding is a thing of the past for me. I'll be switching over from a Macbook Pro.
But why would you buy this over a Pro 13? I don't get it. Everything about the Pro is better and its only 1.45 pound heavier.
Heck, after you buy the required dongles for the Macbook, it'll be cheaper too!
Heck, after you buy the required dongles for the Macbook, it'll be cheaper too!
That's not the case for a lot of us. I love my rMBP, but in the new MacBook I can lose that extra weight, keep the same quality screen, and not lose performance for the things I do on my Mac. Sounds like a fair trade to me.
Sounds like you should save your money.
A move from ANY rMBP will be a drop in performance. I wouldn't pay a penny for that. Perhaps if you had an old plastic MB I'd understand.