will be exchanging my 2.6/16/512 for base MBPr

[keramidas]

so i have had my MBPr for a week now and tomorrow I will take it back.

It's a fantastic piece of machinery but the 800+tax that apple wants for 512 + 16 gb ram i think is overpriced.

for that amount of money i will get a base MBPr and either a display (30%) or an air 11' (70% )

don't get me wrong the machine is super great. and if somebody has a fast external drive (thunderbolt or usb3) then the 256 gb ssd will be enough (at least until haswell arrives )

 

[Slivortal]

so i have had my MBPr for a week now and tomorrow I will take it back.

It's a fantastic piece of machinery but the 800+tax that apple wants for 512 + 16 gb ram i think is overpriced.

for that amount of money i will get a base MBPr and either a display (30%) or an air 11' (70% )

don't get me wrong the machine is super great. and if somebody has a fast external drive (thunderbolt or usb3) then the 256 gb ssd will be enough (at least until haswell arrives )

If you don't need the extra 256GB of space, then the 2.6 upgrade is absolutely useless. I would still recommend the 16GB RAM if you use any sort of programs where it would become useful (such as multiple VMs, etc), but other than that, I feel you've made the right decision.

Especially if you're just planning on flipping it in a year anyways - upgrades tend not to be good ROIs.

 

[gentlefury]

so i have had my MBPr for a week now and tomorrow I will take it back.

It's a fantastic piece of machinery but the 800+tax that apple wants for 512 + 16 gb ram i think is overpriced.

for that amount of money i will get a base MBPr and either a display (30%) or an air 11' (70% )

don't get me wrong the machine is super great. and if somebody has a fast external drive (thunderbolt or usb3) then the 256 gb ssd will be enough (at least until haswell arrives )

That is a ridiculous statement! 512+16GB is actually cheaper in the new rMBP than if you upgrade to a 512SSD with 8GB ram on the regular MBP.

BTW, you knew how much it was when you bought it. Why would you spend the money then return it???

 

[keramidas]

If you don't need the extra 256GB of space, then the 2.6 upgrade is absolutely useless. I would still recommend the 16GB RAM if you use any sort of programs where it would become useful (such as multiple VMs, etc), but other than that, I feel you've made the right decision.

the 2.6 upgrade would mean something only in high end media production/editing. i work with coding/auditing/administration so even in the occasional handbrake i really don't give a damn for a couple of seconds increase in my encoding times. in real life i really do think the performance difference is less than 5%.

as far as MEM goes i chose the 16GB mainly because of VMs. i really don't keep my machines for too long because if I did I would definitely take 16GB as it will be necessary in 2-3 years time. but i already have a lot of VMs on my desktop (32GB of RAM). so i think that while an extra $226 dollars for running a couple more VMs on your laptop is an ok price the 3-4 weeks i would have to wait certainly is not. i got the base MBPr from Bestbuy just going into the store. waiting 0 days

Especially if you're just planning on flipping it in a year anyways - upgrades tend not to be good ROIs.

exactly my opinion. i have ever treated everything i owned as disposable/replaceable. if someone wants this laptop to last him a good 3-4 years then 2.6/512/16 is superb! i mean that. but if somebody can get by with external storage then there is no need for 800 + tax (it's 13% here in Ontario)... so CDN $904 more.

 

[leenak]

Well I'm keeping my 2.6/16/512

Good luck to you.

 

[keramidas]

That is a ridiculous statement! 512+16GB is actually cheaper in the new rMBP than if you upgrade to a 512SSD with 8GB ram on the regular MBP.

BTW, you knew how much it was when you bought it. Why would you spend the money then return it???

why the comparison with the base MBP ?

as far as why buy it in the first place (besides being my money so I could pretty much do whatever I want with it - no pun intended) i thought it would be a good choice to get rid of my desktop (where i have my VMs). But after a week I can tell you that I cannot get rid of the advantages of a desktop just yet. Maybe next year.

so if you do need a desktop there is no reason either for 16GB or 512 in your laptop.

 

[gentlefury]

And the reason I bring up the SSD upgrade in the regular MBP is because I have SSD's in all of my macs and I will NEVER go back to a platter drive! They are night and day!! And the controller on a SATA SSD won't even come close to the speed of the rMBP SSD. My fastest SSD (256GB Samsung) cost me $500 and gets speeds of about 250MB/s read/write. So it's twice as fast!!

I'm personally replacing my Mac Pro with this new rMBP.

 

[keramidas]

Well I'm keeping my 2.6/16/512

Good luck to you.

fantastic machine m8 i hope you agree. on top of that i was really lucky no ghosting in either of my MBPrs

----------

And the reason I bring up the SSD upgrade in the regular MBP is because I have SSD's in all of my macs and I will NEVER go back to a platter drive! They are night and day!! And the controller on a SATA SSD won't even come close to the speed of the rMBP SSD. My fastest SSD (256GB Samsung) cost me $500 and gets speeds of about 250MB/s read/write. So it's twice as fast!!

yes but the base MBPr i got actually has the same controller as the 512.

 

[gentlefury]

fantastic machine m8 i hope you agree. on top of that i was really lucky no ghosting in either of my MBPrs

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yes but the base MBPr i got actually has the same controller as the 512.

Ummm, no it doesn't The regular MBP is using a SATA controller. The rMBP is a direct link connection more similar to a PCI-e SSD.

 

[keramidas]

Ummm, no it doesn't The regular MBP is using a SATA controller. The rMBP is a direct link connection more similar to a PCI-e SSD.

hmmm... again

I got a base Macbook pro Retina 2.3/8/256 and I will return my Macbook Pro Retina 2.6/16/512.

so where do you see the difference ???

 

[jcpb]

Ummm, no it doesn't The regular MBP is using a SATA controller. The rMBP is a direct link connection more similar to a PCI-e SSD.

You, sir, are truly talking out of your ass.

Regular MBPs use industry-standard SATA connections. MBPRs use custom SATA connections - they are electrically standard SATA, but physically different than anything out there, including all standard mini-PCIe and mSATA connectors.

Also, a PCIe-based SSD is not just very expensive, but also way too much overkill on a consumer laptop right now.

 

[kdoug]

You, sir, are truly talking out of your ass.

Regular MBPs use industry-standard SATA connections. MBPRs use custom SATA connections - they are electrically standard SATA, but physically different than anything out there, including all standard mini-PCIe and mSATA connectors.

Also, a PCIe-based SSD is not just very expensive, but also way too much overkill on a consumer laptop right now.

There are other ways and phrases to prove your point. Let's keep it civil.

 

[Fortimir]

BTW, you knew how much it was when you bought it. Why would you spend the money then return it???

Yep. This. Is exactly the only thing that is going through my mind reading this thread.

 

[minnus]

BTW, you knew how much it was when you bought it. Why would you spend the money then return it???

He realized that he didn't need the extra features after trying it for a week? Isn't that what the 14 day return policy is for?

 

[kdoug]

He realized that he didn't need the extra features after trying it for a week? Isn't that what the 14 day return policy is for?

Exactly. The OP had a simple case of buyers remorse. It can go both ways.

 

[Evil Spoonman]

MBPRs use custom SATA connections - they are electrically standard SATA, but physically different than anything out there, including all standard mini-PCIe and mSATA connectors.

To be fair, we are not sure if the current rMBP is electrically compatible with SATA or not. We know there is SATA in there somewhere however, it might be quite different at many levels. Not just in the physical connector.

 

[keramidas]

He realized that he didn't need the extra features after trying it for a week? Isn't that what the 14 day return policy is for?

----------

Exactly. The OP had a simple case of buyers remorse. It can go both ways.

Exactly. I don't feel like I did anything "bad"'.

The policies are there for a reason. It sure is far better than the majority of people getting edu prices online while not eligible. At least I paid full price plus 13% HST

 

[daleski75]

I think you made the right choice.

 

[ZipZap]

That is a ridiculous statement! 512+16GB is actually cheaper in the new rMBP than if you upgrade to a 512SSD with 8GB ram on the regular MBP.

BTW, you knew how much it was when you bought it. Why would you spend the money then return it???

As is yours.

Why do you need to know?

----------

there are other ways and phrases to prove your point. Let's keep it civil.

myob

 

[theSeb]

so i have had my MBPr for a week now and tomorrow I will take it back.

It's a fantastic piece of machinery but the 800+tax that apple wants for 512 + 16 gb ram i think is overpriced.

for that amount of money i will get a base MBPr and either a display (30%) or an air 11' (70% )

don't get me wrong the machine is super great. and if somebody has a fast external drive (thunderbolt or usb3) then the 256 gb ssd will be enough (at least until haswell arrives )

Cool potatoes.

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

And the controller on a SATA SSD won't even come close to the speed of the rMBP SSD. My fastest SSD (256GB Samsung) cost me $500 and gets speeds of about 250MB/s read/write. So it's twice as fast!!

Let's put this to rest right now, as far as anybody can tell the Retina MacBook Pro uses a "logical" SATA interface at standard SATA III speeds, and is exactly the same speed as a classic MBP running a SATA III SSD.

1. The rMBP is almost certainly using a logical SATA interface (even if it is not using a physical SATA connection). It's even listed under Serial-ATA in System Information. Let me quote Anadtech:

"Keep in mind that although the interface is electrically SATA, it is not physically SATA or mSATA or any other standardized interface"​

2. The 2012 (and 2011) cMBP runs SSDs at full SATA III speeds, exactly the same as the rMBP. Unsurprising really as it's been confirmed the rMBP's SSD is effectively a Samsung 830 in a different format. Let me again quote Anand:

"...I hypothesized that the SM512E part number in my review system was a drive based on Samsung's PM830 controller (the OEM version of what's used in the Samsung SSD 830). I can now confirm that the PM830 is indeed what is used in Apple's SM512E SSD."​

3. If - as it appears - you are really obsessed with having the fastest SSD, it may upset you to learn that the 2012 cMBP can run two SATA III SSDs in RAID 0, and achieve read/write performance of around 1000MBps. Borrowing a quote from a particularly ill-informed commenter...

So it's twice as fast!!

...I'm sure you'll have some strange twisted reasoning why that's too fast, and that the rMBP is the exact right speed, but hey, I've put the information out there, I can do no more*.

* except perhaps not be a douche about it, but I'm unwilling to do that.