Apple 'Spring Forward' Event 09/03/2015

Yeah, normally I'm bored with that part of the announcements, but I found the logic board shrinking and the contoured batteries really impressive.
 
Torn between the new 13" retina or the MacBook.

I don't game at all on PC's as I have a PS4 for that, but I have recently bought a Canon DSLR and can see me editing pictures in the near future (not to any great degree). I'd also need it for Office and I'd like it to be nippy at least.

The increased portability is nice but not a deal breaker, and the difference in screen size is negligible for my uses.

Will have to view both I think.
 
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Id say go for the rMBP.
You say portability isnt a deal breaker, not to say the rMBP isnt protable-ish.
Plus the size is negligible for your uses.
With the rMBP you have that extra option of horse power for editing, whereas you're stuck with the above two on the new MacBook.

Im hovering the buy button and taking out the refreshed rMBP with my student discount.
Just not sure if I should go for 256gb or 128gn + JetDrive.

Also have this in my basket for £40, not sure on normal price.
APPLECARE PROTECTION PLAN UPLIFT MACBOOK/MACBOOK AIR/MACBOOK PRO 13" (HE CONTRACT)

What's the difference to the non uplift version going for £160?

Nevermind, just been on chat.
Only gives you extended phone support to 3 years instead of 1.
Also, buying online for education gives you 3 years parts/labour warranty?
I thought it was only one!
Doesn't seem like I need apple care then :)
 
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Ars is usually a good site for understanding tech specs, just spotted this from their hands on.

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2015/03/hands-on-with-the-retina-macbook-one-port-wonder/

This is still a Broadwell part, so it’s using the same CPU architecture as the improved 2015 MacBook Airs and 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro. It’s a dual-core part with lowish base clock speeds that it compensates for with high Turbo Boost clocks—Apple is using the 1.1GHz (2.4GHz Turbo) Core M-5Y31 and the 1.2GHz (2.9GHz Turbo) Core M-5Y71. The latter is the fastest Core M Intel sells.

We’ll need to have the system in hand to examine how the laptop throttles its CPU and GPU to save power, which will be important for things like gaming, video editing, and heavy Photoshop work. For general-use tasks that don’t peg the processor, the oversimplified version is that Core M performs a lot like the Ivy Bridge Core i5 and i7 CPUs in the 2012 MacBook Airs. If you’ve got a 2013 or 2015 MacBook Air, it will be a step down. If you have a 2012 MacBook Air, it’s a step sideways at best.
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Although Apple do mention "Configurable to 1.3GHz dual-core Intel Core M processor (Turbo Boost up to 2.9GHz) with 4MB shared L3 cache." I'm not sure which CPU that would be, Wikipedia don't list a 1.3GHz unit:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadwell_(microarchitecture)
 
Not sure what to think of the MacBook.

Only one port sucks. And it not being anything that you already have, so needing an adapter for everything sucks. I want 1xpower + 1xUSB + 1xVideo Output.
Also the Core-M processors suck.

So I'm back looking at the 13" MacBook Air. But it only has a 1440x900 screen. Yes that was good a few years ago when other manufacturers were still putting 1280x800 screens on their 15" laptops etc. But for the last couple of years you've been able to get 1920x1080 on a 13" laptop. And then there's retina, and ZOMG the MacBooks 12" 2304x1440 screen.

So I either want a 13" MacBook Air with a better screen, or a 12" MacBook with more ports and better processors.
 
wingman said:
Torn between the new 13" retina or the MacBook.

I don't game at all on PC's as I have a PS4 for that, but I have recently bought a Canon DSLR and can see me editing pictures in the near future (not to any great degree). I'd also need it for Office and I'd like it to be nippy at least.

The increased portability is nice but not a deal breaker, and the difference in screen size is negligible for my uses.

Will have to view both I think.
Click to expand...

I think the CPU is going to struggle with Lightroom and Photoshop work, especially if you start mincing with HDR photography it will end up being a painful experience. I was contemplating it also for this use but the CPU is a donkey. Much better off with the a 13" rMBP.
 
It's a MacBook, not an Air or a Pro, particularly pertinent if you do anything demanding on it (although saying that the 11" Air looks kind of redundant now). I think the problem with this release is that you have the early adopter price premium creating a disparity - look at where it's placed hierarchy-wise in the Store (below the Pro and Air).

There's a lot of cool design stuff with this MacBook but it looks like the people that wanted a 'Retina Air' are going to have to wait and see what Apple do with the Pro/Air lines later in the year (my bet is you'll never see a Retina MacBook Air - they'll slim the MBP down further with a redesign and slowly phase the Air out).
 
I don't think this makes the 11" Air redundant at all, especially with a 2.2ghz I7 cpu.

It doesn't really compete with the 13" either since that faster and has 12 hours battery life.

Another thing that might bug some is that the camera in the Macbook is only 480p as oppose to 720p in the Airs.

I wanted something to replace my 11" for travel. I don't think this is it. The surface pro 3 looks interesting.
 
Quite tempted by the 13" rMBP with the new updates. It seems like a nice jump up from my current 2012 13" MacBook Air. Should get a bit of a battery increase, retina display, and the new force trackpad which does look pretty nice.

My only concern is how much heavier and thicker the 13" rMBP will be in comparison to my air. Will it be very noticeable?
 
Go for the 256GB, 128gb is so small given the OS/core Apps easily need 30gb, you have like 90~GB left for all your stuff. The standard Apple care on HE store is 3 years (Apple Care Plus), uplift just includes phone support I believe.

Size wise its not too bad the 13" rMBP is 1.5KG but you get so many more ports, CPU is a nice upgrade, GPU is faster, better battery life (going by apple stats) and you get the force touch.
 
englishpremier said:
I don't think this makes the 11" Air redundant at all, especially with a 2.2ghz I7 cpu.

It doesn't really compete with the 13" either since that faster and has 12 hours battery life.

Another thing that might bug some is that the camera in the Macbook is only 480p as oppose to 720p in the Airs.

I wanted something to replace my 11" for travel. I don't think this is it. The surface pro 3 looks interesting.
Click to expand...
I used a MacBook pro for 4 years at work and a heavy Apple user, I switched to a surface pro 3 couple months ago for work and it's excellent, battery will run all day and that's with 2 1080p monitors plugged in it
 
Jony27 said:
Anyone confirm if the refresh rMBP have the new butterfly keys?
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It doesn't. The 13" had a soft refresh - only internal hardware and the track pad (I assume the new one is a like-for-like swap and requires no modification of the existing unibody) - if they're going to change the keys on the MBP it'll be with the next 'hard' refresh.
 
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Fallen god said:
Go for the 256GB, 128gb is so small given the OS/core Apps easily need 30gb, you have like 90~GB left for all your stuff. The standard Apple care on HE store is 3 years (Apple Care Plus), uplift just includes phone support I believe.

Size wise its not too bad the 13" rMBP is 1.5KG but you get so many more ports, CPU is a nice upgrade, GPU is faster, better battery life (going by apple stats) and you get the force touch.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info.

What's the Intel Iris Graphics 6100 like for gaming? Not after anything hardcore but enjoy the odd steam game on the MacBook Air. I guess Intel Iris Graphics 6100 is also quite a jump up from the 2012 air's graphics?
 
Jony27 said:
Anyone confirm if the refresh rMBP have the new butterfly keys?
Click to expand...
Just to be clear, think of the butterfly mechanism as an answer to the new MacBook requiring a low profile keyboard rather than improving the typing experience. As usual they greatly exaggerated the difference (watch it back and you'll notice where they pressed the keys), both on camera and in description.

The "wobble" of the normal keyboard doesn't hamper the typing experience (as there is little of it), and you get a longer stroke on the normal keyboards. In other words, its different, not better. It'll almost certainly not be as nice to type on as the Air's keyboard (which I think is the best keyboard Apple do, and probably the nicest notebook keyboard out there), purely because of the short stroke.

If you want to know what a wobbly version of Apple's keyboard feels like, try their desktop chiclet keyboards. They're not great (I don't like mine at least!).
 
That reminds me to have a moan at no-one in particular; as an owner of the mouse, keyboard and trackpad it's a bit annoying they haven't updated the peripherals in forever.
 
New Macbook looks tasty, but I won't be swapping my 2014 Pro for one.

Phonesis said:
Quite tempted by the 13" rMBP with the new updates. It seems like a nice jump up from my current 2012 13" MacBook Air. Should get a bit of a battery increase, retina display, and the new force trackpad which does look pretty nice.

My only concern is how much heavier and thicker the 13" rMBP will be in comparison to my air. Will it be very noticeable?
Click to expand...

You will notice the difference, not just the weight but the form factor as well. I really liked the way the Air tapers, but ultimately after a couple of weeks of usage you won't look back I don't think.
 
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