I am soon going to purchase a new rMBP (Either 13" or 15") and I currently have a 2010 13" MBP... It came with Core 2 Duo, a 10 hour battery, AND a real graphics card (NVIDIA GeForce 320M 256 MB)
I am worried about upgrading and getting Intel graphics and only a 7 hour battery... Is it really that big of a difference?
I don't know if I want a 15" rMBP laptop, but if I get a 13" rMBP I am not sure if I will be happy with the lack of a real graphics card! If I get the 13" rMBP will I notice the lack of a real graphics card? And if I get a 15" rMBP, will I notice the difference in the weight and size? And if I get EITHER, will I notice the difference in the 7 hour battery, instead of the 10 hour battery?
EDIT: I have no budget
So, I have a couple of disappointing revelations to impart to you.
1. For one, if by "real" graphics card, you mean discrete graphics card, then you are mistaken, the NVIDIA GeForce 320M is not a discrete graphics card; it shares the same die as the system controller chip and has no dedicated VRAM of its own; it uses 256MB of your system RAM.
2. You have a ten-hour battery life as rated by Apple in April of 2010 before they switched to more stringent tests. That battery is more or less the same battery used in the Early 2011 13" MacBook Pro, the Late 2011 13" MacBook Pro, and, you guessed it, the Mid 2012 non-retina 13" MacBook Pro as well. Your current battery under these new tests is rated at 7 hours also.
Given these revelations, a couple more facts:
1. While the GeForce 320M's successor in 13" MacBook Pros, MacBook Airs, and Mac minis, namely the Intel HD 3000, is on par with (if not slightly inferior to) the GeForce 320M, the Intel HD 4000 used in the 2012 versions of those products (including the 13" retina) is substantially better than both. You do not lose performance when going from GeForce 320M to HD 4000, but rather you can performance, and a lot of it.
2. The 15" rMBP is lighter than your Mid 2010 13" MacBook Pro. Battery life is also comparable as the other poster said. If you have no budget, go with the 15" as you have not only an integrated Intel video card that kicks the crap out of your two year old NVIDIA integrated card, but you also have a discrete NVIDIA card that adds to performance; both cards are upgrades from what you currently have. Otherwise, you won't hate the 13" rMBP either, given that, again, the Intel HD 4000 is an upgrade over what you have.
3. If you like having the drive capacity of traditional hard drives and if you like optical drives, FireWire 800 or built-in Ethernet, the only way you get those things on-board is by going with the non-retina versions. Again, the 13" machine is the exact same form-factor you're used to with your current machine. Similarly, if you value the ability to upgrade your RAM and hard drive down the road, go with the non-retina versions. If not, retina all the way.
Wow, do you have trouble reading?
No he doesn't. He read your post correctly, but you posted incorrect statements about your computer that he is subtly correcting you on. You should be nice to people that know more about things than you do.
