Will MacBook be good enough for me?

[alexfc]

I'm asking myself If I should get a MacBook or a 13 rMBP. I currently have a late 2010 MBA (2gb of RAM) and I can't stand it anymore because:

1) Oh, you want to open 10-15 tabs on Safari, use Spotify, Word/Pages, Mail and some simple App Store apps at the time (Tweetbot, Chatty for Facebook...) ? Let me sing the song of my people (coolers spinning fast) until you close some tabs and show a funny spinning rainbow everytime. And yes, I've tried cleaning it and everything.


2) I really want Retina display.


3) Sometimes (once in a month maybe) I play Left 4 Dead 2, and the coolers won't stop spinning. It's honestly the only game I play and I probably won't play something more than that.


As I said, I only use simple apps like Safari with 10/15 tabs open, Spotify, Word processing apps, Email and some other simple apps.

Keep in mind that I'm also looking to keep this MacBook for 4/5 years. First, this current MBA would do this simple tasks perfect, now it performs like ****. How long will this MacBook perform great? Will it still performs great in 2/3 years? Or will it be as disappointing as this MBA has been?


Thanks a lot and have a nice weekend

 

[Gav2k]

The MacBook will cope with all your tasks with exception of the game side. I can't answer that as I've not played the game personally.

What I can say is I play simcity 4 without an issue.

Looking at the age of the game and the low specs requirement it may be ok. If I get time tomorrow I'll download the game and give it a shot if you don't get an answer by this time tomorrow. (Pm me if you need help on that)

 

[tbirdparis]

Not to thread jack too badly but if you don't mind: how is Sim City 4 on the rMB? I used to love Sim City 2000 when I was a kid.. am kinda tempted to try installing SC 4 on the rMB as my one and only game (a bit worried that it will be a massive time wasting vortex!), but does it run well?

And to contribute to the thread itself: I think if you're fed up with your older MBA always giving you the spinning wheel of death and crazy fan noise, the rMB might be just the breath of fresh air for you indeed, given what your usage looks like. You only have 2GB of RAM on the MBA, so that isn't helping things when you start having a lot of browser tabs open and multiple apps running. The combination of 8GB of RAM along with the _very_ fast built in PCI storage means that the rMB is definitely capable of jumping between a fairly sizeable number of things without punishing you with slow downs. I certainly always have safari open with a whole bunch of tabs, and I jump around between them and other applications all the time never once seeing a spinning wheel. Really not once at all.

Don't know anything about the game you want to play - but I just googled it and saw it's from 2009. So, unless the version you're playing is more recent for some reason (upgraded game pack or something?), then in all likelihood it's going to use the kind of resources that machines had back then. In which case, the rMB should be up to the task. But I'd check into that first if I were you.

 

[AFEPPL]

rMP will be more than fine for what you want, but the question id ask would be do i need the portability or do i want the power of a rMBP - only you know that.

 

[ixxx69]

As I said, I only use simple apps like Safari with 10/15 tabs open, Spotify, Word processing apps, Email and some other simple apps.

Keep in mind that I'm also looking to keep this MacBook for 4/5 years. First, this current MBA would do this simple tasks perfect, now it performs like ****. How long will this MacBook perform great? Will it still performs great in 2/3 years? Or will it be as disappointing as this MBA has been?

As everyone else has said, it sounds like the base MB is fine for your needs.

You have to keep in mind that just about all computers will feel slower 4/5 years from now - it's just relative to what you're used to and type of usage. That's just the nature of ever-increasing hardware demands of software and internet services. 5 years is a long time in computer years. And it especially tends to affect "first-gen" products like the new MB more-so (see first iPhone, first iPad, first MBA, etc.).

I wouldn't let that deter you though. If you like the MB's form factor and screen, I say go for it.

 

[Gav2k]

Not to thread jack too badly but if you don't mind: how is Sim City 4 on the rMB? I used to love Sim City 2000 when I was a kid.. am kinda tempted to try installing SC 4 on the rMB as my one and only game (a bit worried that it will be a massive time wasting vortex!), but does it run well?

I'll load it up tomorrow with an established city and see if the fps command from sc3 will run to get a true measure. I've started fresh and only played for 6-7 hours so my city is still small.

 

[seong]

As a former rMBP 15" 2013 user, I can tell you with certainty that whatever you are about to do (all those day-to-day tasks) will do just fine, EXCEPT the gaming part.
Honestly, if you are going for portability (which I presume it is your main concern as there is no reason to choose rMB over MBA or MBP if portability wasn't the issue,) you should just buy the rMB and get a custom built PC for $600 or combine the money and get a rMBP 15".

 

[tbirdparis]

To be fair though, the OP specifically mentioned only one game they want to keep being able to play. So I wouldn't really categorise that as "gaming", unless the OP has expectations to be able to just stay on board with current games and install whatever... Seeing as the one game they want to play seems to be from 2009 (at least that's what I saw on a quick google search), it's possible that this specific game could run perfectly fine compared to something that's made for much more recent machines. But if it were me, I'd at least check the minimum specs for the game and also try to find someone who has played it on the rMB to see what it's like.

 

[Wallabe]

Get the rMBP. You're going to be disappointed with the MB if you really want to play games on it.

Even if the current Macbook can barely able to play your favorite game, in a few years, it will be too slow if you want to play an updated game. Wait for the upcoming rMBP update and get that.

 

[AFEPPL]

lets be clear the rMP has the SAME performance as the 2013 & 14 MBA, so while its not the latest hardware its not backwards either..

 

[wchigo]

lets be clear the rMP has the SAME performance as the 2013 & 14 MBA, so while its not the latest hardware its not backwards either..

My understanding of it was that it was closer to being between the 2011 and 2012 MBAs in terms of performance...?

 

[lagwagon]

My understanding of it was that it was closer to being between the 2011 and 2012 MBAs in terms of performance...?

Initial tests put it at 2011/12 MBA performance. But later tests (especially with the 1.2 and 1.3 configs) it's more in the 2013/14 MBA performance.

The OP shouldn't have any issues at all playing Left 4 Dead 2. The game was released in 2009 and the requirements are WELL below rMB specs.

 

[wchigo]

Initial tests put it at 2011/12 MBA performance. But later tests (especially with the 1.2 and 1.3 configs) it's more in the 2013/14 MBA performance.

Ah, ok, didn't realize that. Cheers