Why the retina macbook pro isn't worth it/ why not to buy.

[gentlefury]

Ok; Ill admit, I got REALLY excited when the new line up of macbook pro's came out on Monday. But when I heard the specs and I wasn't so sure about it. Here is 3 reasons why I don't like it.


1) A retina display uses more graphics card ram so the intel 4000 will make it lag like CRAZY. If you play games (such as CSS) don't expect to get a good FPS. The retina uses a lot more pixel detail which will require A LOT of power from the graphics card which it doesn't have a lot of yet (Yes Nvidia 650M is strong but not strong enough for retina yet). So expect to get low FPS. Also a lot of things won't support the retina display.


2) The specs! A 256GB SSD storage? Come on.... People who photo edit/video edit will need ATLEAST 500GB SSD drive. I know that its a VERY thin laptop but i'd rather have the thicker version 750GB ATA hard drive rather than a thin laptop. Plus if i want A thin laptop like that; I'd be looking at the MBA. The 15" isn't portable in general, either way its made to have A LOT of power. I think the non-retina upgraded model with high res gives you what you need already.


3) The battery. Don't expect to get a 7 hour battery. Since the intel 4000 is lagy/useful for a retina display you will probably be running the Nvidia 650M on it which will give you about 1 hour and 30 minutes of battery. The retina will also murder the battery in general.



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Sorry but Apple is trying to go too far ahead of its time. We still need some lower res and a little bit thicker laptops for battery and graphics cards. :/

wow, its amazing how wrong one speculative thread could possibly be!

The intel 4000 is perfectly fine at running the OS at native res. If you need more power for running more demanding apps it switches to the discreet....not too tough....and guess what...battery life is over 5 hours....not 1.5. Also, the graphics card is wickedly fast!! I've been throwing graphically intense games at it all week and it hasn't choked once!! Try a product before you rampantly abuse it.

Sorry but Apple is trying to go too far ahead of its time. We still need some lower res and a little bit thicker laptops for battery and graphics cards. :/

Its a good thing you aren't running apple then! That is the kind of thinking that keeps HP at the bottom of the laptop spectrum....just do what is current and profit! Apple takes risks and starts new trends! Don't be surprised if this time next year all new laptops have retina style displays and SSDs. Apple does what needs to be done, and everyone else follows.

 

[AZREOSpecialist]

if you had done some reading, you'd realize that the retina macbook pros ALL lag...or at least, they did. Until the update, which (admittedly poor timing here), didn't come out until the day after their release. The video in question was taken before the release of the update. I don't know when your experience was, but I think it is safe to assume that not every display has been updated yet...employees may have just not got around to it yet

Please don't speak for me. My rMBP never showed any hint of lag before or after ML was installed. I tested it quite extensively with many windows and open applications using Dashboard, Mission Control, Launchpad. Everything is still nice and smooth after upgrading to ML.

You can say it applies to all retina MBPs all day long, but it's not true.

 

[Tibits]

Sorry but Apple is trying to go too far ahead of its time. We still need some lower res and a little bit thicker laptops for battery and graphics cards. :/

Can't afford the rMPB, huh?

 

[aidogz]

1) A retina display uses more graphics card ram so the intel 4000 will make it lag like CRAZY. If you play games (such as CSS) don't expect to get a good FPS. The retina uses a lot more pixel detail which will require A LOT of power from the graphics card which it doesn't have a lot of yet (Yes Nvidia 650M is strong but not strong enough for retina yet). So expect to get low FPS. Also a lot of things won't support the retina display. :/

Apple has still created one of the (if not, the) best notebooks available by taking risks and developing something that is a truly brilliant product. Sure, they might have overstepped the current capabilities of hardware slightly, but Apple aren't the sort of company to go by half measures - if they want to release a notebook with an incomparable display and remarkably thin design, they are going to do it regardless of the limitations they face in the form of slight lag. There's a reason that they're the most profitable technological company in the world, and that reason is innovative products like the rMBP.

Besides, if you are so concerned with gaming, Mac probably isn't the platform that you want to use for obvious reasons. Stick to PC and remain disappointed.

 

[wethackrey]

This section is getting cluttered with people that for whatever reason didn't get the rmbp yet they feel the need to come up with "facts" (most of them on the dumb side) why it's awful so they can feel justified.

I for one do not have the time/desire to spam/attack every section of the mac line which I do not own with commical observations but it seems to be consuming alot of people.

I agree. It isn't worth the time and energy to jump on every one of these uninformed screes.

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Sorry but Apple is trying to go too far ahead of its time. We still need some lower res and a little bit thicker laptops for battery and graphics cards. :/

How 'bout this for an idea? You don't like it? Don't buy it.

 

[clyde2801]

Agreed. It's about as annoying as the Retina fanatics jumping on every thread disagreeing with someone else's personal preference on buying the classic over the retina. I thought the Retina Wars were amusing at first, but it seems like its

Different folks for different folks. Can't we all just get along?

 

[sireShonBohn]

Agreed. It's about as annoying as the Retina fanatics jumping on every thread disagreeing with someone else's personal preference on buying the classic over the retina. I thought the Retina Wars were amusing at first, but it seems like its

Different folks for different folks. Can't we all just get along?

How is Retina not for everyone? I don't think you get it.

 

[ColoArtist]

Agreed. It's about as annoying as the Retina fanatics jumping on every thread disagreeing with someone else's personal preference on buying the classic over the retina. I thought the Retina Wars were amusing at first, but it seems like its

Different folks for different folks. Can't we all just get along?

Sounds good to me. How about I promise not to ever label a group as "Classic fanatics" if you drop the "Retina fanatics"? You can call me a "Retina Fan" though.

 

[clyde2801]

Sounds good to me. How about I promise not to ever label a group as "Classic fanatics" if you drop the "Retina fanatics"? You can call me a "Retina Fan" though.

Deal!

 

[ixodes]

This section is getting cluttered with people that for whatever reason didn't get the rmbp yet they feel the need to come up with "facts" (most of them on the dumb side) why it's awful so they can feel justified.

I for one do not have the time/desire to spam/attack every section of the mac line which I do not own with commical observations but it seems to be consuming alot of people.

Is there a point to this post?

 

[Sdahe]

Funny how the rMBP is multiple times better in gaming than 360 or PS3.

It could be... but a laptop is something you use for other things than play. That's how I see it. Don't get me wrong.. you can use your laptop for anything you like. I just don't see it as a gaming device. It's my opinion.

 

[dccorona]

Please don't speak for me. My rMBP never showed any hint of lag before or after ML was installed. I tested it quite extensively with many windows and open applications using Dashboard, Mission Control, Launchpad. Everything is still nice and smooth after upgrading to ML.

You can say it applies to all retina MBPs all day long, but it's not true.

The update I was talking about isn't Mountain Lion. It was a build of Lion. Very few people ever saw or used an RMBP without this update, but there were some who experienced it on the first day due to this update being released just a tad late.

I don't know where you got the impression that I was talking about Mountain Lion at all, to be honest

 

[Textureboy]

Lol

 

[725032]

Completely agree with you... Im waiting for the next gen when it offers a more user friendly package

 

[rockyroad55]

I'm a student who is looking for a desktop replacement. Do I need it? Nope because I can do fine with the legacy version. Do I want it? You bet I do. It's really hard to let go of that "want" feeling.

 

[12dylan34]

How is Retina not for everyone? I don't think you get it.

The creative professional market, which is primarily Mac based. Look through my post history if you want detailed reasons as to why. Long story short, performance robbing and technical issues with working on graphics on a 2x resolution display.

 

[rockyroad55]

The creative professional market, which is primarily Mac based. Look through my post history if you want detailed reasons as to why. Long story short, performance robbing and technical issues with working on graphics on a 2x resolution display.

Would you recommend me getting one? I keep "wanting" one but I think it may be a total waste of money if the most intensive thing I will be doing is typing papers and reading textbooks.

 

[Mojo1]

Would you recommend me getting one? I keep "wanting" one but I think it may be a total waste of money if the most intensive thing I will be doing is typing papers and reading textbooks.

What I do for part of my income is essentially read textbooks and write papers. My early 13" MBP is more than capable for that purpose and so is yours. I also use it for pro image editing, which it easily handles.

If you don't already have an external display you will derive significantly more benefits from a monitor than a computer that is overkill for your purposes and pocketbook. A 24" display is the sweet-spot size and price-wise, but even a 20" is better than adequate.

Being able to discern the difference between your "needs" and "wants" so you can make wise financial decisions is important if you want financial security and the freedom to do what you want vs. being a wage slave burdened with unnecessary debt. Many people on this forum would encourage you to spend money you may not have on computer hardware you don't really need. What do they care? It's not their money being wasted...

You already know that an rMBP is a waste of money for you. Follow your intuition.

 

[sireShonBohn]

The creative professional market, which is primarily Mac based. Look through my post history if you want detailed reasons as to why. Long story short, performance robbing and technical issues with working on graphics on a 2x resolution display.

Performance issues are minor and many were solved or greatly alleviated with Mountain Lion. As for the technical issues, those are the same as working with print. Make the mental leap and you'll find there's nothing to it.

 

[cambookpro]

People who want a new MBP but can't afford the $$$ so try to justify why it's bad

vs

people who have one and are slightly snobbish towards people who use the old models.

What it all boils down to in the end

 

[12dylan34]

Would you recommend me getting one? I keep "wanting" one but I think it may be a total waste of money if the most intensive thing I will be doing is typing papers and reading textbooks.

If you want to pay the extra price because of the mandatory SSD, I would say go for it. It's a great machine, I just don't want to alter my workflow because of the new screen. I probably will eventually, but not now.

 

[tillsbury]

Would you recommend me getting one? I keep "wanting" one but I think it may be a total waste of money if the most intensive thing I will be doing is typing papers and reading textbooks.

The retina will never be a total waste of money. It might be more than you absolutely had to spend to get a machine that does what you need, but it more than makes up for it by being such a good machine. And anyway, I've already forgotten how much it cost... it's just great.

 

[12dylan34]

Performance issues are minor and many were solved or greatly alleviated with Mountain Lion. As for the technical issues, those are the same as working with print. Make the mental leap and you'll find there's nothing to it.

I'm mostly concerned about 3D viewport performance in Cinema 4D, since that's driven by the GPU. I'm also not sure how it handles preview renders, since it potentially renders them in 2x resolution, which would take twice as long. I'm in the market for a desktop, though, so it's sort of a moot point for me at this time. If I could afford top end 12 core Mac Pro, I could use it. I'm on a student's budget (motion graphic design) now, though, so not quite. I'm planning on getting a top end iMac, which could potentially be retina with the update expected in late September/early October though, so we'll see.

 

[FrankParker]

There is only one thing worse than a fanboy gloating about what they have and you don't; a fanboy who blasts negative unsupported complaints about a product they're unable to afford.

 

[sireShonBohn]

I'm mostly concerned about 3D viewport performance in Cinema 4D, since that's driven by the GPU. I'm also not sure how it handles preview renders, since it potentially renders them in 2x resolution, which would take twice as long. I'm in the market for a desktop, though, so it's sort of a moot point for me at this time. If I could afford top end 12 core Mac Pro, I could use it. I'm on a student's budget (motion graphic design) now, though, so not quite. I'm planning on getting a top end iMac, which could potentially be retina with the update expected in late September/early October though, so we'll see.

3D viewports will not be retina scaled, they will be 1:1 and will perform at the maximum speed the GPU is capable of.

The Retina MBP is really fast, but it's nowhere near a 12 core Mac Pro obviously. It will play Call of Duty 4 at 1920x1080 and max settings, no AA. It will almost play COD4 at retina resolution, not quite.