Soldato
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my quidco edu order tracked....phew!
2013 Haswell Retina MacBook Pro...
- Thread starter Spit
- Start date
I went in to my local Apple shop this afternoon and spent about 45 minutes comparing the non-retina 13" to the new retina 13". I was fairly underwhelmed by the retina screen. I was expecting a night and day difference, but I struggled to find it. Sure, there was a nice added sharpness to the better-quality images I could find on interfacelift. I asked staff if they had any demo image to show the benefits of the retina - none to hand for that purpose.
One thing did strike me though - interfacelift knew the screen res and gave the right size image. However, the rMBP seemed to be showing it at a resolution closer to 1440. Clicking the magnifying glass on the r magnified the image significantly (i.e. not showing at full res), where as on the non-r it was negligible (i.e. showing at full res). The staff couldn't change the resolution to 1960(?) - could this be a reason why I was not seeing the benefit?
At the moment, with the cost difference (£1408 for an rMBP in the spec I want vs. £1k for a non-r with a 16GB upgrade, plus maybe another £150 if I stick an SSD in) I'm leaning towards the non-r.
Am I missing something?
One thing did strike me though - interfacelift knew the screen res and gave the right size image. However, the rMBP seemed to be showing it at a resolution closer to 1440. Clicking the magnifying glass on the r magnified the image significantly (i.e. not showing at full res), where as on the non-r it was negligible (i.e. showing at full res). The staff couldn't change the resolution to 1960(?) - could this be a reason why I was not seeing the benefit?
At the moment, with the cost difference (£1408 for an rMBP in the spec I want vs. £1k for a non-r with a 16GB upgrade, plus maybe another £150 if I stick an SSD in) I'm leaning towards the non-r.
Am I missing something?
I'm really struggling to see where Apple are going with the 13" Retina and the Air, they are converging at an alarming rate, with performance differences negligible, except slightly better graphics performance on the Pro.
Why cant Apple stick a quad core in the 13" Pro and then have the Air as slightly lighter and less powerful (and possibly cheaper) and the 13" Pro as a smaller but almost as powerful 15" laptop.
At the moment you basically have the choice of half a kg lighter or a higher resolution screen between them (unless you really need the 16GB RAM option). They are even the same price almost spec for spec...
Sony managed to fit a quad core processor in the Z series a 2 years ago in a similar size so I don't see why Apple cannot put a Haswell quad in the 13", even if it ends up slightly thicker. Perhaps it will cannibalise 15" sales but at the moment the 13" devices are cannibalising each other.
I have a personal opinion on this because if they made the 13" as powerful as the 15" I would probably sell my current Air and my Windows desktop and dock the 13" when I need the screen estate and a desk. The Air and the current 13" pro just aren't powerful enough for heavy photoshop work and 15" laptops aren't as portable/light as the 13" cousins (whether the Air or Pro).
Why cant Apple stick a quad core in the 13" Pro and then have the Air as slightly lighter and less powerful (and possibly cheaper) and the 13" Pro as a smaller but almost as powerful 15" laptop.
At the moment you basically have the choice of half a kg lighter or a higher resolution screen between them (unless you really need the 16GB RAM option). They are even the same price almost spec for spec...
Sony managed to fit a quad core processor in the Z series a 2 years ago in a similar size so I don't see why Apple cannot put a Haswell quad in the 13", even if it ends up slightly thicker. Perhaps it will cannibalise 15" sales but at the moment the 13" devices are cannibalising each other.
I have a personal opinion on this because if they made the 13" as powerful as the 15" I would probably sell my current Air and my Windows desktop and dock the 13" when I need the screen estate and a desk. The Air and the current 13" pro just aren't powerful enough for heavy photoshop work and 15" laptops aren't as portable/light as the 13" cousins (whether the Air or Pro).
I tried a retina and non-retina next to each other the other day, and to me the non-r looked absolutely awful. Not day and night? The r was like being on a beach in Barbabos at noon in high summer whilst the non-r was like being in the Artic in the middle of winter where the sun never comes up!
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Should have gone to Specsavers.
Caporegime
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i think u speak well and agree with u
Really? Standing there with an Apple employee asking where the improvement was, both of us were struggling to find marked improvements, and this was on a variety of images.
Soldato
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LOL Mines on the same journey as yours. Hopefully get it tomorrow
Does it fit into a normal 20l rucksack? Or the front of a small 35L backpack full of clothes? Nope. It's not necessarily the weight thats the problem but the overall size. I'm sure its fine on a commute but not when you're travelling light with a small backpack for a few days. Years ago I decided I'd never buy a laptop larger than a pad of A4 paper so I'm not about to start now. Try using a 13" and see how liberating it is, even when just browsing from the sofa!
I found the 15jnch fits in most styles of bags.
I upgraded from a 13.3 MBA and not found it anymore of a strain, sure it's bigger but still manageable in one hand.
I sat in bed with it last night and it really didn't feel heavy. A lot of perceptions based on the old weight of these machines.
Considering the new ipad air, I think a lot of people are getting confused with what platform they want. If you want the true retina power experience then get the 15, if you want computing on the go that's super light get an ipad.
I just don't see the Point in compromising on screen quality for lightness. You after all look at this think more intensely then any other device!
I upgraded from a 13.3 MBA and not found it anymore of a strain, sure it's bigger but still manageable in one hand.
I sat in bed with it last night and it really didn't feel heavy. A lot of perceptions based on the old weight of these machines.
Considering the new ipad air, I think a lot of people are getting confused with what platform they want. If you want the true retina power experience then get the 15, if you want computing on the go that's super light get an ipad.
I just don't see the Point in compromising on screen quality for lightness. You after all look at this think more intensely then any other device!
Caporegime
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LOL dont mention the ipad as a blooming computer. Besides the windows surface pro, all other tablets are just toys with nothing you can do productive.
No one here including you buys laptops just to browse ocuk. you buy it to do some productive work which most tablets cant do.
i traveled with a 15inch last gen macbook pro. the weight wasnt too bad but took up some space in my bag and wasnt as mobile as i would have hoped for such things as whipping it out in a busy train.
Dont get me wrong. it is a fabolous device but you need a backpack to carry it though
Yes it's an interesting one, I generally noticed the guys who really need the power carry a decent backpack too so its a not a issue but I guess if you want to 'chuck' it in any old bag then it becomes an issue.
I've got my haswell MBA on ebay now but part of me feels i am going to end up being a device in between the 15inch and my phone which points at ipad but i am pleasantly surprised how much more portable the MBP is.
the 13inch RMBP always seems to have something wrong with it, or not enough power and options but this i the challenge power v portability will always have.
I really do not believe youll either have both and its something some people should stop reaching for. Its just two different markets.
I've got my haswell MBA on ebay now but part of me feels i am going to end up being a device in between the 15inch and my phone which points at ipad but i am pleasantly surprised how much more portable the MBP is.
the 13inch RMBP always seems to have something wrong with it, or not enough power and options but this i the challenge power v portability will always have.
I really do not believe youll either have both and its something some people should stop reaching for. Its just two different markets.
After a conversation with Mrs HJ this morning, who was going to be getting my current MBP, I think I'll hold off buying anything. She's not that fussed about having a new machine, and can use her Lenovo X121 for our trip next year (though she'll want to use my MBP for photo editing).
Maybe it was the bright store lighting, the fact it was awkward to put both machines side by side, the fact that the screen on the retina MBP seemed to be running at lower than max resolution even though in settings it was set to 'best(retina)'. I just wasn't blown away by the difference in screens. There's an independent place near where I work that I'll pop in to next week to make certain. The staff there seem much more knowledgable, and might be able to give me a proper demonstration of the new machine's talents.
Maybe it was the bright store lighting, the fact it was awkward to put both machines side by side, the fact that the screen on the retina MBP seemed to be running at lower than max resolution even though in settings it was set to 'best(retina)'. I just wasn't blown away by the difference in screens. There's an independent place near where I work that I'll pop in to next week to make certain. The staff there seem much more knowledgable, and might be able to give me a proper demonstration of the new machine's talents.
Soldato
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The point i'm trying to make is a small powerful laptop does all of that. Yes you compromise the screen space while travelling but you dock the device when at home to a much bigger screen. For me the 15" inch is a compromise, it's bulkier than the 13" but the screen isn't big enough to do anything you couldn't do on a 13", you'd still have to connect the 15" upto an external monitor so you're just lugging a bigger laptop around for no reason.
At the moment I have a desktop for the power I need to edit photo/video properly, a 13" air to edit photos and browse the web when I have some space and am on the go and an iPad mini to view photos and browse when space is at a premium. 3 different devices. With a 13" laptop with lots of power I could get rid of the desktop and just dock the laptop to a screen and seperate keyboard/laptop and have less issues with data transfer between devices (although I'm just setting up a NAS to sync data between all devices).
Sony did it with the z series 2 years ago (almost got one rather than an air but at the time it was about £300 more expensive and didn't seem as sturdy - it was made out of carbon fibre). As you said yourself the 13" and 15" arent that much difference in size, just make the retina slightly thicker and you'd be back to three distinct devices.
A 15" for power and size
A 13" for power and portability
A 13" (air) for portability
Far more sense than having two 13" devices that are basically the same.