Who's using the RMBP for graphic design and web dev full time?

[DavidEther]

*Raises hand*

I'm a full-time graphic designer & web developer using the retina MacBook. Coming from a 2010 17" MacBook Pro I initially did have my concerns about things such as Photoshop not being fully optimized for Retina and how much it'd impact my workflow.

However, when I actually got this MacBook and set everything up, I was pleasantly surprised on how little effect it had at all. I'm settled on working at 1920x1200 scaled at all times, and from my natural viewing distance (usually about 12" from the screen), I really see no major issues working in Photoshop and the other CS apps at all.

UI elements are blurrier, but still readable, and the working canvas I find is comparable to the original non-retina screens unless you really look closely. Of course I'd like for these apps to be optimized for retina, however to say they're completely unusable or the Retina MBP is a waste of time for designers / developers is a serious overstatement in my honest opinion.

Development-wise, the Retina MBP is pretty much perfect already for me. I use Coda 2. It's retina-optimized already. Text is clear as day. Previewing in Safari or Chrome Dev version works like a charm. Not much else to say.

 

[marddin]

...Of course I'd like for these apps to be optimized for retina, however to say they're completely unusable or the Retina MBP is a waste of time for designers / developers is a serious overstatement in my honest opinion.

It warms my heart to read statements like these. I agree with you 100% my friend. I too was worried about all the fuss regarding blurry text and UI elements within non-retina ready apps. But after test driving one at Apple for half an hour with 1920x rez I came to the conclusion, as you did, that people are over-exaggerating, a lot.

Sorry for the off topic response OP!

 

[sireShonBohn]

It warms my heart to read statements like these. I agree with you 100% my friend. I too was worried about all the fuss regarding blurry text and UI elements within non-retina ready apps. But after test driving one at Apple for half an hour with 1920x rez I came to the conclusion, as you did, that people are over-exaggerating, a lot.

Sorry for the off topic response OP!

Of course apps are still usable. A Dell is "usable". An outhouse is "usable". Let's put it this way though, if CS6 actually looked like this on all computers, or if the PS and Illustrator canvas were this badly rendered, Adobe would be out of business in about a month...

 

[thekev]

Who designs on giant 27" screens when 99% of humanity has only seen them in Apple advertisements?

Only the incompetent believe there are rules to what tool you should use to create with.

This is such a silly argument. Bigger screens are great for comparing things side by side and granting more space for ui elements. Not everyone strips their ui down and hotkeys everything. I do that, but I've never seen others do so. There are plenty of advantages to a large display, and they have nothing to do with the eventual size at which content will be served.

 

[Passionated]

Does working at an architecture firm count? The retina displays are a boon to simulating printed line thicknesses. Saves us a ton of trouble from constantly test printing large construction documents with fine details. Think 30" x 42" sheets.

I've currently finished my first year of an undergraduate degree in Architecture. There is nothing more frustrating than printing something only for it to look different from the screen. Looks like the Retina will come in handy!

In general, how do you find the other apps normally associated with architecture such as Photoshop and AutoCAD? I know you already wrote a bit about it in a previous post, but it might be good to hear more details.

 

[voronoi]

I've currently finished my first year of an undergraduate degree in Architecture. There is nothing more frustrating than printing something only for it to look different from the screen. Looks like the Retina will come in handy!

In general, how do you find the other apps normally associated with architecture such as Photoshop and AutoCAD? I know you already wrote a bit about it in a previous post, but it might be good to hear more details.

At native resolution Photoshop and AutoCAD are excellent as long as your eyesight will accomodate the minuscule size of the UI elements. What I did was take a sheet of 8.5 x 11" paper and zoom into the canvas/paper space until I could match the sizes both on screen and in real life. Then I write down the % I zoomed in and I'll have a pretty good preset for approximating what my prints will look like. After you find the initial zoom %, you can use whatever template size you want since the apps scale all documents on screen the same way (within the same app).

 

[sireShonBohn]

This is such a silly argument. Bigger screens are great for comparing things side by side and granting more space for ui elements. Not everyone strips their ui down and hotkeys everything. I do that, but I've never seen others do so. There are plenty of advantages to a large display, and they have nothing to do with the eventual size at which content will be served.

I think you're referring to resolution more than display size. The rMBP does have resolution in spades. Of course, you're currently forced to work with a maximum effective resolution of 1920x1200, but even that is enough for most UI's. In the future the effective workspace will be larger depending on the software package. We should have a UI rendered at scaled res and the canvas rendered at native res giving you a slew of pixels to work within while keeping the UI from shrinking to microscopic proportions.

Don't forget the keynote and the as advertised capability of editing video at 1080p with room for the UI around it.