MacBook Pro with Retina: Should I take the plunge?

[cardfan]

It's retina screen but compromised with a little harddrive and little ability to upgrade. The 13" seems even worse with no video card or quad core. Some of that has to improve first IMO. If I had to buy one i'd grab the 15" one off the apple refurb store online. Refurbished 15.4-inch MacBook Pro 2.3GHz Quad-core Intel i7 with Retina Display - Apple Store (U.S.)

 

[mab4285]

True with the capacity to upgrade, but the hard drive really isn't an issue for me. Most of my media is in iTunes with an iTunes match subscription. For documents and files, I've got my own mini network set up at home with an airport extreme with a 750GB HD and a 2TB HD hooked up to it. For other storage, I use dropbox/skydrive, so it's really not an issue. I'm not a video editor or RAW photo editor, so I really don't need a massive hard drive.

 

[anon(4698833)]

I'm not a video editor or RAW photo editor, so I really don't need a massive hard drive.

To be honest with you, unless you just want to have the newest machine, without the necessity to really use the retina display for things that would find benefit in such a high resolution setup, i think it will be overkill for you, and in the end, will cost you more than a very satisfying upgrade to your 2011 models (RAM, SSD, etc). Right now, with the retina MBP, it does not really boot any faster than my early 2011 model did after SSD upgrade, I was running 16GB of RAM on my early 2011...where as my retina model (WITH an expensive upgrade to 8GB of RAM) is kind of there, and the amount of cash to fork over for 16 (if it's even possible) is just not going to happen.

I love my Macbook Pro Retina...it's a great machine. It's fast, reliable, familiar and the screen is truly beautiful. Where my problem thus far has come in is that i ALSO loved my early 2011 MBP in the same ways (albeit a little lesser on the screen for obvious reasons), but the amount of money i spent vs. what i did on my early 2011 (and what i got out of it when i sold it), i certainly have some regrets, though nothing to do with the machine itself (outside of some petty b*tching about the weight, which is really no big deal).

 

[mab4285]

I think I've talked myself out of it again. I swear I do this every few months or so. I"m kind of a geek like that. lol

 

[anon(4698833)]

I think I've talked myself out of it again. I swear I do this every few months or so. I"m kind of a geek like that. lol

Trust me, i know the feeling. And the retina display model could just knock your socks off. I'm like you, i get the bug to get the newest gadget every few months and it just so happened that i found a buyer for my 2011 machine without even looking (guy i work with snagged it up) and i just happened to be going to the Apple store to get mophie case for my wife's iPhone and the bug bit, I bought it, sold my 2011 and over that weekend developed the worst buyers remorse.

Take my word when i tell you this...i don't do a lot of photo or film stuff on my MBP (my wife does a ton of that and got the retina MBP as soon as it was released), this computer is super nice, but it's essentially like buying a Porsche 911 to go get groceries with, major over kill, lots of money spent on a feature that i personally won't get much use out of, and in the end, I think i would take it back and have my 2011 model back with the extra cash if i could.

If you have the buyers itch, and you haven't already, go switch out your HDD with an SSD in your 2011 model...it will MORE than satisfy your need for a new gadget, then get into the data doublers out there to replace your optical drive and check into running RAID setups with two SSD's in the same machine. You can turn the 2011/2012 non-retina MBP's into monsters that will eat the retina machine alive!

 

[spark032207#WN]

Trust me, i know the feeling. And the retina display model could just knock your socks off. I'm like you, i get the bug to get the newest gadget every few months and it just so happened that i found a buyer for my 2011 machine without even looking (guy i work with snagged it up) and i just happened to be going to the Apple store to get mophie case for my wife's iPhone and the bug bit, I bought it, sold my 2011 and over that weekend developed the worst buyers remorse.

Take my word when i tell you this...i don't do a lot of photo or film stuff on my MBP (my wife does a ton of that and got the retina MBP as soon as it was released), this computer is super nice, but it's essentially like buying a Porsche 911 to go get groceries with, major over kill, lots of money spent on a feature that i personally won't get much use out of, and in the end, I think i would take it back and have my 2011 model back with the extra cash if i could.

If you have the buyers itch, and you haven't already, go switch out your HDD with an SSD in your 2011 model...it will MORE than satisfy your need for a new gadget, then get into the data doublers out there to replace your optical drive and check into running RAID setups with two SSD's in the same machine. You can turn the 2011/2012 non-retina MBP's into monsters that will eat the retina machine alive!

I've heard this argument before, but I completely disagree. The Retina display isn't just for photo or video editing. I do a lot of reading and document editing on my laptop (8hrs/day), and it makes a huge difference. Is it still an overkill? Maybe. Probably. But if you can afford it by selling gadgets that you don't even use, I see absolutely why not. I spend a ton of time on my computer, and the screen alone makes the daily experience a thousand times better.

 

[mab4285]

Part of the reason I talked myself out of it for now is waiting to see what gets released at WWDC this year!

 

[jclisenby]

Probably a spec bump but I'd doubt there would be major form factor changes. But who knows!

There will probably be some changes to the standard MacBoom Pro models. Most likely they will be thinned out and the optical drives removed. The Retina models, as you stated, shouldn't change except for some spec bumps or tiny changes.


Tappin and Talkin from my iPhone 5

 

[jclisenby]

I think retina MacBook airs are what about of folks are hoping for.

Doubtful. Unless Apple does some big things with graphic processor and display thickness, there's no way it'll be as thin as the air. I think we are a few years off from an air-thin, retina Mac. I could be wrong, though, as the iPad already has a similar technology but with more limited internals.


Tappin and Talkin from my iPhone 5

 

[anon(4698833)]

I've heard this argument before, but I completely disagree. The Retina display isn't just for photo or video editing. I do a lot of reading and document editing on my laptop (8hrs/day), and it makes a huge difference. Is it still an overkill? Maybe. Probably. But if you can afford it by selling gadgets that you don't even use, I see absolutely why not. I spend a ton of time on my computer, and the screen alone makes the daily experience a thousand times better.

You completely disagree with what...my opinion of my Macbook Pro w/ retina display? lol...ok. I don't recall ever saying that the retina display was only for photo or video editing, and i don't recall telling the OP that it was the wrong choice for him/her, i simply offered my experience, which makes your disagreement kind of irrelevant since it still doesn't change my experience, my stance and my regrets/joys after buying the computer.

And just to clarify, at no time was i making an argument against the Macbook Pro with retina display as a blanket statement, again...if you look back at my posts, they were purely my experience and my thoughts and opinions having owned a very nicely modified i7 macbook pro (early 2011) and then the retina display model. It wasn't worth it for me, though i still very much love the thing.

 

[Fausty82]

I think retina MacBook airs are what about of folks are hoping for.

"They" said/expected the same thing with the last refresh of the iMacs... didn’t happen then... may not happen now with the MBPs.

 

[spark032207#WN]

You completely disagree with what...my opinion of my Macbook Pro w/ retina display? lol...ok. I don't recall ever saying that the retina display was only for photo or video editing, and i don't recall telling the OP that it was the wrong choice for him/her, i simply offered my experience, which makes your disagreement kind of irrelevant since it still doesn't change my experience, my stance and my regrets/joys after buying the computer.

And just to clarify, at no time was i making an argument against the Macbook Pro with retina display as a blanket statement, again...if you look back at my posts, they were purely my experience and my thoughts and opinions having owned a very nicely modified i7 macbook pro (early 2011) and then the retina display model. It wasn't worth it for me, though i still very much love the thing.

In the post that I quoted, you very strongly implied that the extra features on the MBPR are not worth the money if you don't do much photo or video editing. You compared it to driving a Porsche to do grocery shopping and you'd take it back if you could. Oh you know, since this was in a thread in which the OP is trying to decide whether to get it or not, the conclusion I got was that the OP shouldn't get it (yes, based on your experience with it). Once again, in THIS post, you said it wasn't worth it

I'm trying to say that the clarity of the screen alone can be worth it to me and other people if you do a lot of reading (even if no video editing is done.)

I know you were sharing your experience and your opinion that it wasn't worth it because you thought it was an overkill if one doesn't do much video editing. I'm disagreeing with your opinion and sharing that I think it's more than worth it if you do a lot of reading and document editing.

 

[Rene Ritchie]

The MacBook Pro with retina display is the best computer I've ever owned. However the current generation Intel graphics chips are straining to drive all those pixels. I absolutely recommend the machine, but I'd wait until the next generation of processors are out. I'd wait until after WWDC for sure

 

[mab4285]

The MacBook Pro with retina display is the best computer I've ever owned. However the current generation Intel graphics chips are straining to drive all those pixels. I absolutely recommend the machine, but I'd wait until the next generation of processors are out. I'd wait until after WWDC for sure

Oh hey now. The man himself Rene Ritchie responded to my post. Day=Made.

 

[anon(4698833)]

In the post that I quoted, you very strongly implied that the extra features on the MBPR are not worth the money if you don't do much photo or video editing. You compared it to driving a Porsche to do grocery shopping and you'd take it back if you could. Oh you know, since this was in a thread in which the OP is trying to decide whether to get it or not, the conclusion I got was that the OP shouldn't get it (yes, based on your experience with it). Once again, in THIS post, you said it wasn't worth it

I'm trying to say that the clarity of the screen alone can be worth it to me and other people if you do a lot of reading (even if no video editing is done.)

I know you were sharing your experience and your opinion that it wasn't worth it because you thought it was an overkill if one doesn't do much video editing. I'm disagreeing with your opinion and sharing that I think it's more than worth it if you do a lot of reading and document editing.

If you clearly read the sentence you're referencing, you'll notice this key piece of information which still leaves me baffled how you're disagreeing with my experience...

i personally won't get much use out of

...if i made any reference to the computer being ONLY good for graphic arts projects of some sort, i would understand your disagreement, but i never did, i simply pointed out my own personal usage experience and what i felt, it's hard to disagree with me explaining my own personal experience, that's like me going out to eat, saying i didn't care for the food and you coming back with "No, it's good."...sure, you get usage out of the retina display in a way that i don't use it, so our experience differs...I don't disagree that the computer would make for a fantastic reading environment with the clarity of the retina display, but i don't use it for that, so in my experience, that fact has no relevance, as true as it may be.

As far as implying...if you're going to point out one portion of my post and essentially stand in disagreement, be fair and go to the very beginning of it, where i said this...

And the retina display model could just knock your socks off.

...there i "imply" that it could be perfect for him/her. My point is that there's really nothing for you to disagree with here, because disagreeing with what i said in my post would mean that you felt i made an inaccurate comment, and i didn't, i made an experienced based opinion on the macbook pro with retina display, that it wasn't worth it to me, but could be perfect for someone else. There's nothing inaccurate about that statement, and is about as neutral to the device as one could be honestly while still properly expressing an opinion.

 

[Ipheuria]

This thread makes me sad I recently got a 15" Retina MBP, my 2010 MBP has a 256GB SSD already so the Retina MBP's SSD was not an issue for me. It was fast, the screen was amazing! and I mean that I didn't notice when I first got it but I certainly noticed when I had to go back to my 2010 MBP Circumstances with the deal resulted in me having to send the Retina MBP back and it was a sad, sad day. So OP waiting for what comes after WWDC is certainly a good idea since you don't want to buy something for the same price when a few months would get you something even slightly faster or slightly better. I'm telling you as someone with actual experience the Retina MBP is teh awesome

 

[Diego Herrera1]

if you have the money and want to keep you other models just buy the new macbook pro retina, but if money is an issue just sell the 2 macs you have and get the pro with retina display. You deserve it man.

I wrote about it t Thoughts About My New Macbook Pro Retina

 

[neurodave]

Once you go retina, you don't go back. I have owned mine for about 5 months now, and while the Airs extended battery life does intrigue me, the retina display makes up for it. I get about 9 hours out of my retina anyway.

On a side note, I know a few people have concerns in terms of the small SSD storage and the lack of a CD drive.

SSD too small? Buy an external drive! Or turn an old internal HD (like I have) into an external one with the adapter from Best Buy ($14)

Lack of a CD drive? Think back to the last time you actually used a CD. Most will say it's been a long time. But, if it's ultimately necessary, you can purchase an external drive from a variety of places. Alternatively, it may be time to transfer all those old CD's onto a USB thumb drive or an external HD.

 

[micaels]

My retina macbook is arriving today, glad I made the switch.

 

[Terry1960]

The retina MacBook Pro looks sweet, but I can't justifying the cost, personally.


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