Who knows when it will get released, but if you were in the market for a new laptop would you buy the current retina macbook? I'm coming from a 2012 cMBP, and currently debating between the 12" rMB and 13" rMBP. I basically use my laptop for office, databasing, email, streaming baseball/basketball games, and browsing. I would like to get into light photo editing, but nothing crazy. I'm always wary about buying first gen tech though. What do you think?
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Would it be worth waiting for second gen rMB?
- Thread starter BallparkDreamer
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You have answered your own question, not being comfortable with being an early adopter. You should wait for the 2nd generation of rMB, performance will be enhanced, likelihood of disappointment will be lessened. "No harm, no foul" here this works for you, so you should stick with this premise.
Q-6
From what you described, the current gen will meet your needs. However, as with everything tech, there will certainly be an improved system just around the corner.
We went ahead and bought two rMBs for our family, but both were one-box (less than $1,000). There are plenty of those mourned, if you look for them.
But, as the person above mentioned, you should delay if you're not the early adopter type. It's all good.
We went ahead and bought two rMBs for our family, but both were one-box (less than $1,000). There are plenty of those mourned, if you look for them.
But, as the person above mentioned, you should delay if you're not the early adopter type. It's all good.
What kind of additions do you think would come with the second gen? My current laptop has really been acting up...in fact it was pretty much unusable for the last 5+ minutes because the beachball. I just had to force quit when I only had 10+ safari tabs open. I might just have to upgrade this week. It's either this or a refurbished 2015 13" rMBP w/ 8 gb of ram and 256 SSD. Both basically the same price. The 12" rMB is so attractive though. 7 hours of battery with that portability would be nice on campus 
Ah, you're a college student...
Well then, the 12" rMB looks cooler and is more likely to get you laid.
I think we've solved this dilemma. LOL
Well then, the 12" rMB looks cooler and is more likely to get you laid.
I think we've solved this dilemma. LOL
7 hours of battery with that portability would be nice on campus
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Lmao I didn't mean look nice in that area, but it wouldn't hurt haha. I just meant it'd be nicer than carrying around a 15" brick in my backpack. Which is what i currently have
It's definitely not the 15" brick, that's for sure. For me, I wanted something portable to replace an aging iPad. The choices I gave myself were: New iPad with keyboard / folio case, or rMB with full computing capabilities. When adding a rigid keyboard case to an iPad Air 2, they're almost the same weight. I went for the rMB, and couldn't be happier. It handles all of my basic to moderate computing tasks, and I use my mid-2015 15" MacBook big boy work-provided machine for anything requiring more horsepower.
The rMB is the perfect portable workhorse for me, and at barely two pounds, I take it pretty much everywhere.
Are you impressed with it as a first generation machine? I know it's not nearly as powerful as the pro, and I never really tap into my pro's power so I'm probably just worried about nothing. Do you have the standard 1.1?
That's encouraging! I might hold off for the second gen, because I'm hoping they bring down the price a bit. I understand that they need to pay for the research that they did, but it's a bit expensive for me right now when I could just put that towards a pro. Thing is I don't really need the power of the pro, ha! Hopefully it's only five or so months away
Very much so ... I have the 1.2ghz 512GB SSD. It works great for me, I use it far more than any other machine in my possession right now, including the 15". It's my daily workhorse.
Similar experience here.
The first rMB I bought was an open-box unit for my woman, who's 11.6" MBA kicked a few months out of Applecare. She loved the rMB, but her compute needs are minimal (FaceBook, Web, MS Word). Eventually, I found myself "borrowing" her system, because it was so light and easy to carry around the house. I was mostly surfing or checking email with it, but it seemed to perform well.
Then I saw another open box unit, at Best Buy, with a steep discount. I bought it on a whim, because I was actually in the Market for a 13" rMBP. I fully expected to be returning it, which I didn't mind as it was open-box anyhow. Fast forward a month or so, and there's no way I'm ditching this thing. Aside from basic Web stuff, it tears through MS Office like nobody's business. It also does a fine job with all the iLife stuff. But MS Office is the most important for me, and I'd say it handily kicks the but of the mid 2013 13" MBA that my company issued me.
When I need to do power user stuff, I log into my 27 iMac. But for everything portable or on the road, the rMB does just fine. I'm actually surprised at how well it does.
The first rMB I bought was an open-box unit for my woman, who's 11.6" MBA kicked a few months out of Applecare. She loved the rMB, but her compute needs are minimal (FaceBook, Web, MS Word). Eventually, I found myself "borrowing" her system, because it was so light and easy to carry around the house. I was mostly surfing or checking email with it, but it seemed to perform well.
Then I saw another open box unit, at Best Buy, with a steep discount. I bought it on a whim, because I was actually in the Market for a 13" rMBP. I fully expected to be returning it, which I didn't mind as it was open-box anyhow. Fast forward a month or so, and there's no way I'm ditching this thing. Aside from basic Web stuff, it tears through MS Office like nobody's business. It also does a fine job with all the iLife stuff. But MS Office is the most important for me, and I'd say it handily kicks the but of the mid 2013 13" MBA that my company issued me.
When I need to do power user stuff, I log into my 27 iMac. But for everything portable or on the road, the rMB does just fine. I'm actually surprised at how well it does.
Unless there is some urgency or you have the disposable cash, I think it is wise to wait for a revision. Regardless of company or product, it is generally unwise to buy a first-generation product. It might work well, but there are almost certainly going to be kinks that will be corrected in the next revision. This applies to everything from cars to refrigerators to laptops to skis. I say let those with the cash or the urgency find the kinks.
The original MacBook Air had some design flaws and characteristics that were dramatically improved by the 2010 MBA. One assumes that Apple, in their infinite wisdom, will address the rev 1 issues in the MacBook and fix 'em. Suffice it to say, the rMB has been out for a while but might be quickly replaced in 2016 so the market might end up deluged with unwanted 2015 models, so buyer beware.
That'd be cool, because I'd scoop up a few more for the family!
But really, there's always something bigger and badder on the horizon. There are now plenty of rMBs out there for about $1,000, tax free. You can find spec bumped models for a bit more. That's a future-proof way of buying, IMOHO. If you decide you really must have the next release, you'll be able to sell it for much closer than what you paid for it, because you got a deal (save 25%+ at purchase).
Now, I'm patiently waiting for the open-box Skylake iMacs to roll out... LOL Should be January or so, before config availability is good.
But really, there's always something bigger and badder on the horizon. There are now plenty of rMBs out there for about $1,000, tax free. You can find spec bumped models for a bit more. That's a future-proof way of buying, IMOHO. If you decide you really must have the next release, you'll be able to sell it for much closer than what you paid for it, because you got a deal (save 25%+ at purchase).
Now, I'm patiently waiting for the open-box Skylake iMacs to roll out... LOL Should be January or so, before config availability is good.
Best Buy has the 12" on sale for $1150, plus I'd get a $50 student discount which brings it to $1100...making it really difficult to resist haha.
Same as you I am a college student,rmb will certainly be looking great when you put it on the desk during the courses
Personally I'd say go for the Macbook Pro...I woudln't want to use a tablet (albeit super high-end tablet) CPU for my main system, and the Pro is still crazy small. That said, if you must have the non-Pro, and can wait, the Skylake version of this will be at least a bit more powerful and Apple may have worked bugs out.
Totally get it. I just never need to use the Pro to its full abilities which is why I'm considering the rMB.
Considering that the iPad Pro's A9x kills the CPU/GPU on the 1st get rMB I would wait for Skylake.
Yeah, that definitely makes me hesitant. Hopefully we start to get some leaks once iPad Pro is out for a while.
I'm in the same boat. I'm grad student who besides working with some larger excel files, really only needs the power the rMB seems to offer. My post-grad job is gonna require lots of traveling so the rMB is ideal.
Only issue I'm having, is that the graphics card in my 2010 MBP 15" has been acting up and my computer urns off when i have 4+ applications open. I really hate the idea of getting a first gen device, so heres hoping I can last until late January or February. Since skylake has been out for a while, and it doesn't look like apple is gonna surprise us with a release prior to the holiday season, my guess is they're waiting until right after the holiday exchange period runs out to make the big release.
Fingers are still crossed that we may see a 14" too!
Only issue I'm having, is that the graphics card in my 2010 MBP 15" has been acting up and my computer urns off when i have 4+ applications open. I really hate the idea of getting a first gen device, so heres hoping I can last until late January or February. Since skylake has been out for a while, and it doesn't look like apple is gonna surprise us with a release prior to the holiday season, my guess is they're waiting until right after the holiday exchange period runs out to make the big release.
Fingers are still crossed that we may see a 14" too!
just grabbed the 13" not even an hour ago, because I was able to find a good deal! Didn't want to wait for Skylake, and also got tired of carrying the 15" around campus. I'm excited .
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I have a 15 inch maxed out MBP less than a year old and went with the 12 inch new MacBook as a supplement.. I got the upgraded version, bought at Apple retail store. It's really a great computer for on the go, and the light weight and low resistance keyboard, updated keyboard, and 3D touch on the track pad are awesome developments that I hope will find their way to the next MBP updates.